He moved back onto the sofa and took her into his arms, kissing her. “And we haven’t even begun to celebrate. How about some champagne?”

“I’d love some—after you kiss me some more.”

“I can do that,” he said, thrilled to have the rest of his life to kiss her and love her and have everything with her.

Chapter 14

Next door at the Jameses’ house, Quinn’s four-month-old puppy, Brutus, had the full attention of three adults, all of whom were on the floor playing with him. He was a mixed breed of some sort, with floppy ears and huge feet that he constantly tripped over. Expecting him to be a big dog, Quinn had given him what he called a “man’s” name.

“He’s adorable,” Lizzie declared as she tugged one end of a rope while Brutus pulled from the other end.

“He thinks he’s so fierce,” Quinn said, amused by everything Brutus did, which Lizzie took as a positive sign that her brother-in-law was coming out of the fog he’d been in since his last deployment overseas. Something had happened over there. Something he didn’t talk about to anyone, even Jared.

After asking his family to give him time and space to deal with some things, he’d fallen off the radar for months. He hadn’t said what he was dealing with or where he’d been, and they hadn’t asked. The one thing Jared had asked of her before Quinn arrived to spend Christmas with them was not to ask him about where he’d been or what he’d been doing.

That wasn’t easy for someone who was curious by nature, but she’d respected Jared’s wishes. Besides, she wanted Quinn to love it here so much that he’d accept their offer to run their rest home. Now that they were nearly finished with the addition to the O’Gradys’ home, Mac McCarthy, his cousins, Riley, Finn and Shane, as well as Luke Harris, would begin gutting the interior of the former school building in January.

They had promised to have the construction finished by June, which would give her and the team she planned to hire over the summer time to furnish and equip the facility with everything they’d need to begin accepting patients in September. The best news of all? They already had a waiting list of people interested, either on behalf of themselves or an elderly family member.

The one thing they didn’t have yet was a medical director, and that was where Quinn came into play.

“Did you have a good time today?” Lizzie asked him.

“I did. They’re a fun group of people.”

“We do have a good time around here,” Lizzie said, encouraged to hear he’d enjoyed the day. “There’s always something going on, even in the winter.”