“Tell me again,” he whispered to her.

She smiled as she slid closer toward him to wrap her arms around his neck and entwine their legs together. They’d made love in the shower and he looked forward to making love again in his bed. “I love you, Kaegan. I had planned to tell you over dinner last night, but then Jeremy interfered with those plans.”

Sawyer had finally told him what the FBI agent had confided to him earlier. When federal agents in Shreveport had gotten a warrant to search Skinner’s home, there was evidence that two women who’d been missing for two years had been there. The authorities had discovered some of their personal belongings. Bryce had corroborated the findings by telling the FBI agents what Jeremy had told her about the two women.

“I’m glad it’s all over and you came for me,” she told him.

“You found your way home, Bryce,” he said, referring to their private place on the inlet that he would always think of as their first home together. “And I found my way home, too. My home will always be in your heart.”

“Oh, Kaegan...”

“I have something for you.” He eased out of bed and went to the safe behind the framed picture on the wall. After pulling out the small box, he returned to the bed. “The reason I’d come home that night ten years ago was to surprise you with this,” he said, handing her the box.

She took it with shaking hands, then opened it and looked up at him. Tears suddenly sprang into her eyes. “An engagement ring?”

“Yes. I had planned to ask you to marry me that night. I kept it all these years. Since I know it’s never too late for us, will you marry me, Bryce?”

He saw happiness on her face when she smiled through her tears and said, “Yes! Yes! I will marry you!”

Smiling brightly, he pulled her into his arms for a long and deep kiss, knowing they’d both found their way home again.

EPILOGUE

“WASN’T GLORIA A beautiful bride?” Bryce whispered to Kaegan as they walked around the grounds of Reid’s estate, where the wedding had taken place. Her son, Percelli, had given her away, while her granddaughters, Jade and Kia, had been her flower girls. Her daughter-in-law, Alma, and Vashti were her maids of honor. Reid hadn’t spared any expenses in making this a beautiful day for a wedding.

“Yes, she was, and I could tell from the look on Reid’s face that he’s happy, and I’m happy for him. They make a beautiful couple. But then, so do we.”

She beamed over at him. “Yes, we do.”

Kaegan and Bryce had decided on a June wedding under the gazebo at Shelby by the Sea. The wedding was seven months away, but they had plenty to keep them busy in the meantime. There was the expansion of Kaegan’s company to Boston and the increase in her business since she was now a multistate real-estate broker.