WAVES CRASHED on the sand as the tide came in, and I sat on Castle Beach wondering how the hell I was going to get us out of this mess.
I love you, she had said.
My hands made fists, eager to call her, find her, pull her toward me and tangle my fingers into her soft hair, but she didn’t want that. She wanted space.
Right now, she was probably regretting having anything to do with me.
I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face.
She wasn’t going to give up her restaurant, I’d make sure of it. No fucking way. It was the only thing she wanted. The Arbutus was everything to her, and she was everything to me, so there was no way in hell I’d be the reason she didn’t buy it. Not after what we’d been through to get here. Especially not after what she told me about her dad. I’d never do that to her. I’d made her a promise right here on this beach.
My heart twisted in my chest. I missed her. It had only been about eight hours but I missed her.
My phone buzzed again in my pocket and I shut it off without looking at the messages. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I needed to be by myself so I could concentrate and come up with a plan.
Avery snuck into my thoughts, though. The soft, content expression on her face when I woke her up this morning. The way she rolled her eyes and bit back a smile when I teased her. And then the look of horror and confusion on her face at today’s town council meeting, when she realized I stood in the way of her restaurant. What she was trying to avoid this whole time.
I wanted this marriage between Avery and me to be real, but if she didn’t get her restaurant, I wasn’t sure she’d be able to forgive me. I don’t know if I could forgive myself.
I rubbed the scar on my lip and stared at the water. The only way I could help Avery buy the restaurant was to step out of the mayoral race. If I did that, this whole problem would vanish.
But what about Will? What about Kara and Nat? What about all the business owners in town who lost power every time we had a windstorm? What about Div, who had worked his ass off on this campaign so I would be elected?
No one would say a word if I quit. Will would understand. I’d feel like a failure, though. I made them a promise, too.
It was one or the other, though. Anguish tore at me and my chest ached. I couldn’t keep my promises to both Avery and Will.
“You’d be a difficult guy to find—” Avery took a seat on the log beside me, and my heart shot into my throat. “—if I didn’t have the top-secret directions to this place. I asked your brothers how to get here.” Her pretty mouth pulled into a smile, and she dropped a kiss on my cheek.
I stared at her with confusion. She didn’t look mad, worried, or upset. It was like the whole town hall thing never happened.
And then she did something that made my brain flip upside down inside my skull.
She laughed.
My mouth fell open.
“Emmett, I’ve got a proposition for you.” She wiggled her eyebrows with a smug smile.
“You have a proposition for me?” I blinked. “We tried that and it didn’t work.”
She shook her head and fished a large envelope out of her bag. “Before you say it didn’t work, read this.”
I took the envelope from her, flipped it open, slid the papers out, and read.
“This emergency motion proposes the following,” I read aloud. “If a conflict of interest exists between the owner of a Queen’s Cove business and a member of the Queen’s Cove town council, that council member will be exempt from decisions, input, and votes concerning that business. The remaining council members will oversee matters concerning said business. It is proposed that this motion be voted into effect immediately.”
The paper was a photocopy of the original. HIGH PRIORITY had been stamped along the top, and beneath the text, every member of the town council except Isaac had signed. I stared at the signatures.
Avery nudged me. “They’re voting right now.” She reached out and flipped the page, revealing another long list of signatures. Hannah. Keiko. Holden. Wyatt. My parents. Miri. Scott. The owners of the hardware store, the grocery store, and several hotel managers and owners.
I glanced at Avery. My heart beat hard in my chest. “You did this?”
She nodded. “With Hannah’s help. We got most business owners in town to sign in support.” She smiled and my heart flipped over. “It’s going to work, Emmett, I know it. There’s no way Isaac could say no to everyone. The council will outvote him.”
The earth had been ripped out from underneath me. Here I was, moping and staring at the ocean, when Avery was busting her ass to figure things out.
I searched her face. “You said you needed space.”
She chewed her lip. “I did. And then I wanted to fix it.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “You take care of everyone, Emmett. Everything’s always on your shoulders.” She twirled the ring on her finger. Seeing her still wearing it eased something in me. “We’re in this together. This is real for me.”
This was new to me, this feeling that someone had my back like this. The light caught her deep blue eyes, and it occurred to me that for as long as I lived, I would never see a color more beautiful.
“This is real for me, too.” I glanced at the list of signatures again. My chest filled with pride at her quick thinking and tenacity. “You think this is going to work?”
Her phone buzzed and she held up a finger once she saw who was calling. “Hold that thought.” She answered. “Hey.” She listened and I could hear a voice through the phone but couldn’t make out the words. Her neutral expression told me nothing. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.” She hung up and looked at me with glittering eyes.
A smug grin grew on her face. “That was Keiko, calling to inform us the council voted the motion in, and our meeting at the bank tomorrow still stands.”
“It worked.”
She nodded. “Mhm. I’ll accept your endless gratitude in the form of morning oral.”
“It fucking worked.” I couldn’t believe it. The nightmare was over and my Avery had knocked it out of the park. “Get over here.” I pulled her onto my lap and cut off her surprised laugh with my mouth on hers.
“I love you so much,” I said against her mouth in between kisses. Her hands felt so good, roaming my shoulders, raking my hair, sending shots of electricity down my spine. “I’m so grateful for you. You’re everything to me.”
“You’re everything to me.” Her breathlessness made my cock stiffen.
Something popped into my head. It’s real to me, she said.
“Wait.” My hands stilled on her ass. “There’s something else.”
A little frown creased her forehead. “Okay.”
Out with it. I blew a breath out. “Wyatt filed the marriage certificate.”
Her eyes went wide.
“I didn’t ask him to,” I added in a hurry. “I told him to put it in my car but he thought he was doing me a favor by leaving it at town hall.”
Avery was frozen on my lap, eyes still wide and lips slightly parted.
“We can get it annulled if you want, that’s fine with me. It’s just a piece of paper and it doesn’t change how I feel about you. I still want this to be real, but if you’re not ready to make it legal, that’s fine. After everything that happened with your parents—”
“No.” Her hand covered my mouth and she looked down at me.
“No?” The word was muffled against her fingers.
“I don’t want to get it annulled.”
“You don’t.”
She shook her head, and the frown disappeared from her face. She took a deep breath and let it out before nodding once. “I want this to be real. This is real.” She looked into my eyes with so much trust and love that I fell one step further in love with her. “You’re nothing like my dad. And I’m not my mom. I trust you. Let’s just leave the certificate where it is.” She gave me a hesitant smile. “Let’s be married for real. If that’s what you want.”
This woman. So fucking brave and sweet and smart and perfect for me. Made for me.
“It’s what I want.” I pulled her mouth back down to mine. “It’s all I want. I love you, sweetheart.”
She whispered the words I wanted to hear more than anything. “I love you too, darling.”
