Hope on the Rocks (Rainbow Cove)

“I like the sound of that.” Home. Maybe one day it would truly be our place we headed to. I wanted that, wanted him, wanted it all. “Do I get to keep you until morning?”

“You can keep me as long as you want.” His expression went serious again as he stopped his cleaning and leaned toward me, eyes intense. “I love you.”

A surprised noise escaped my chest. “No fair springing that on me in the middle of the bar where I can’t kiss you.”

“Sure you can.” He gave me a lightning-fast kiss. “It okay that I said that? I’ve been thinking about it all day. Was planning on saying it later, some place more romantic maybe, but it kind of slid out.”

“It’s more than okay. It’s perfect.” I didn’t need a big romantic gesture. Only him. “I love you too.”

“Good.” He didn’t kiss me again, but it was all there in his tender expression—desire, affection, connection, and gratitude. Which was funny because I was the grateful one. He’d rescued me in so many ways, given me the fresh start I’d sought by first coming here to Rainbow Cove, showed me I wasn’t broken after all, and reminded me how wonderful it felt to care about someone and have those feelings returned.

“Come here,” I demanded, giving him the kiss he’d held back, onlookers be damned. This was good, so good, and it was ours, and that would always be worth celebrating.

Thirty-Eight

Adam—December

“Goodbye is hard.” Quinn nodded sagely, way more comfortable in this moment than I was.

“I didn’t think it would be.” My gulp seemed to echo across the parking lot. I circled the truck one last time. I’d already quadruple-checked the interior, but I wasn’t quite ready to walk away. Damn it.

“Of course, it would be difficult.” Quinn put an arm around me. A blustery winter day equaled few others interested in car buying and a nearly deserted car lot. “You’ve had this, what, ten years?”

“More like thirteen.” It had been my first big purchase ever, right here at this very dealership, and even used it had been a stretch. This time the off-season combined with year-end deals meant a killer bargain for me. I supposed if my transmission had to finally give up the ghost, I could have picked a lot worse time of year to be emergency car shopping. But even if the timing was decent, Quinn was still right, and I leaned into his embrace. “I didn’t think I was that attached.”

He laughed loud and long at that. “Anyone who knows you knows you were attached to this thing. And that’s okay. You’re allowed to feel sad.”

“Hey, I thought I was the one with all the wisdom?” I managed to joke past my increasingly tight throat.

“You are.” Arm still around me, he patted my side. “You could keep it, you know? Do the restoration yourself.”

I’d thought about that option quite a bit myself, but the simple truth was that the truck needed a lot of work. This latest catastrophe meant the cost of someone else fixing would be more than the thing was worth. Buying something new-to-me made more sense.

“Nah. I’m pretty handy, but I’m not an engine expert.” The truck likely needed hours and hours of work, and I had worked hard all fall at being realistic about what I could take on time-wise. This sort of project would be too much, and I had big plans for my time, ones I hadn’t worked up to sharing with Quinn yet. This was the right call on a number of levels. “And that kid is super stoked to get his hands on it. He’ll take good care of it.”

The saleswoman at the car lot had a seventeen-year-old nephew with mechanic aspirations and a deep love of older trucks. Mine wasn’t quite a classic, but it was close. He couldn’t wait to start work on the truck, and his enthusiasm had gone a long way to easing my mind.

“He will.” Quinn hugged me tighter. “You’re doing a good thing, giving him a deal.”

“Moving on. Man. Now I’m sorry for all the lectures I gave you in the summer.” My laugh came out a little harsh, breath hanging in the chilly air. “It’s hard to leave something behind.”

“It is. Sometimes it’s necessary though.” He had a thoughtful expression, one he didn’t use as much these days. He truly had moved on, and I wanted to join him in moving forward, not back. “And it’s a great present to yourself.”

That part of the timing wasn’t intentional. Christmas was right around the corner, and all the jokes about Santa getting me a new truck were already old and I hadn’t even driven the thing home yet. I’d rather focus on my first holiday with Quinn.

“Ha. I’ll save the presents for Teddy. And you.” I gave him a pointed look. “But the new truck should last a good long while.”