“You want to come inside?” She opened the door a little wider. “I have leftovers I can heat up.”

Kincaid shook her head. “No, thank you. I have a few errands to run. I’ll stop by soon and we’ll have dinner, okay?”

Grace gave her a quick hug. “Sounds good. And we’ll makes plans for who’s bringing what for the holidays.”

Kincaid perked up. “Is Ash coming back for that?”

Grace sighed. “No. He said he wouldn’t be able to make it this year. I think he’s going to be headed to his next adventure. You know that boy. Can’t stay in one place too long.”

Kincaid’s heart sank lower. “Right. Well, thanks again. I’ll see you.”

“Good night, hon.”

Grace shut the door, and Kincaid walked on wooden legs down the sidewalk. Taryn was frowning at her from the car.

Kincaid fiddled with the envelope in her hand. Part of her wanted to toss it into the trash and not look. He’d left. What else did she need to know? Whatever was inside would only make it hurt worse. But after a few seconds, she couldn’t help it. She needed to know what he had to say. She pushed her finger under the flap and opened it. There was no letter inside, only a slip of paper. She pulled it out and stared down at it, the moonlight giving her just enough illumination to see what it was.

Her hands began to shake.

A cashier’s check with her name on it.

For two hundred thousand dollars.

Her body went hot all over. She flipped the check over. The sticky note on the back simply read in that familiar slanted handwriting: For the Breslin B and B.

She sank down, her legs giving out on her, and plopped onto the lawn. She heard the car door slam and saw Taryn approaching, but her vision blurred with tears. Her head was spinning. Her one glass of wine now felt like ten. She lay back in the grass, the stars winking above her.

Two hundred thousand dollars. The exact amount that had been sitting in his parents’ account for over a decade.

She closed her eyes, clutching the check to her chest, letting the reality of what this meant sink in.

Ash had apologized to his father. Ash had done the one thing he’d sworn he’d never do.

For her.

So she could have her dream.

Hot tears tracked down from her eyes and to her ears. The thing that bloomed inside her heart was unprecedented. She’d never felt such a powerful force before, such an all-knowing assuredness that finally…finally…

She had found her soul mate.

He’d been there all along.

And she’d let him go.

She’d hurt him and had no idea where to find him or how to get him back.

This wasn’t supposed to be how her story ended.

Twenty-Nine

Tuesday—1:15 a.m.

Kincaid: Hey, Ash. Not sure where you are right now, but I got the money you left with Grace. We need to talk.