Page 76

Beck wraps an arm around me when I step beside him.

“You did this,” he says quietly.

I smile. “We all did.”

But he shakes his head.

“No, Abs. This… this was you.”

His voice breaks a little. “I didn’t know how much I needed this until it happened.”

I lean into him, love spilling through me like sunlight I can’t contain.

Because this? This is pure love.

With all the bedrooms upstairs now ready and waiting, Beck naturally hopes Greg and Daniel will stay here at the farmhouse. It is sohim— wanting to fold his brother right into the chaos and comfort of his life now. Jake is already making grand plans about which dog could sleep where, and Spotty seems entirely ready to share his domain.

But it turns out Beck isn’t the only one with plans.

The moment Mary Hayes catches wind of that idea, she shuts it down with the kind of gentle but unshakable force only a mother could summon.

“Oh no, sir,” Mary announces, hands firmly on her hips. “Gregory Allen Hayes is cominghome.”

Roger stands beside her, silent but with that rare glimmer in his eyes—the one I’ve only seen when Beck proposed or when Jake called him Grandpa without thinking.

“Our house has had a hole in it for too long,” Mary adds softly. “Our son belongs under our roof, at least for a little while. And Daniel is very welcome as well.”

And I get it. This isn’t about logistics or spare bedrooms.

This is about the years lost.

It’s about late-night talks over mugs of tea. About Roger getting to shuffle into the kitchen in his slippers and see both his boys in the same room again. About Mary fussing over Greg like she’s been saving up mothering energy for a decade and finally has a chance to spend it.

Greg hesitates. He’s awkward and uncertain, but Daniel just smiles, squeezing his hand.

“I think your mom’s earned this one,” Daniel says gently.

And the look on Mary’s face?

That is all it took.

Beck just chuckles, shaking his head as Greg finally nods.

“Guess I’ve been outvoted.”

“Not outvoted,” Mary says, her voice thick and her eyes glistening with more unshed tears. “Just loved.”

I pull Beck into my best “I love you” embrace and tell him toget his jammies and toothbrush because his momma wants him home now!I’ll clean up the yard and lock up the house, I tell him and off he goes. The newly reunited family of five and two dogs leaves to spend the night together, for the first time. Soon that family will add me and Jake.

And I cannot wait.

Chapter twenty-five

Beck

Sixmonthslater…

I’ve faced a lot of high-pressure moments in my life.