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He would love her like he’d never lose her, and if he did, it would’ve been worth all the years he had.

And if that loss sent him to his grave...it was worth it.

He’d avoided this all of his life because he never understood it. His father had been at peace because it was all right. Because he had love. Real love. The best love, and he was going toward it that day in the field.

And Levi had been afraid of it. But not now. Not now. And he knew that his parents still loved. Even now. Because he felt it. In everything he did. It had made him who he was. How had he ever questioned it? It was love that had made him into the man that could stay. That wanted to. That took care of those kids. And it was love that brought him here now. He wouldn’t let go of loving his parents, no matter what. So why would he let go of Quinn? There was no point in preserving himself, not if he didn’t have her.

Then it was like the floodgates opened. And for the first time, sorrow, joy, understanding, acceptance. Here on his land, a place where his blood soaked the dirt, the tears began to soak it, too, because he finally understood. He finally grieved.

And in that grief was love.

It was like all those lost years came to him then. Came through Quinn. Who didn’t need him to be perfect or invulnerable. Who saw the dyslexia and everything else. Who saw the man, the boy and all the things in between and loved him anyway.

He knew that very few people would understand this, but he was facing down his fear. And the knowledge that the best kind of life would be one where he knew that at the end of all things, when he lay down and went back to this land, her headstone would be beside his.

That would be the sign of a good life. A real life. That was what was real.

The sun was starting to come up in earnest now, the sky going from pink to a lighter blue, and he knew that he had to go.

He had to find Quinn.

He wiped his face and walked back to his truck. And then he drove to Sullivan’s Point.

Toward his heart. Toward his soul.

Toward his future.

The fulfillment of all the life he ever needed to live.

QUINN WAS SITTING listlessly at the kitchen table, next to a giant stack of pancakes that Rory had made for her desperately.

“It’s okay, Rory.”

“It’s not okay. It’s not okay.”

“I’m going to gut him,” said Fia.

“Please don’t,” said Quinn. “I’m sad. But he has been through hell. I’m not angry at him for this.” She was just brokenhearted. There was a difference. And she still had hope. She despised that part of herself. Why wasn’t she hopeless? Destitute. It made no sense. Because he had made himself clear.

And she had never once seen an instance where true love conquered anything.

Well, not in her life, anyway.

“He’s being an idiot,” said Fia.

“Right. Because you’re so emotionally healthy, Fia. You literally hate a man that you’ve barely spoken to for years. You never date. If you got laid in the past decade I would be shocked. So maybe take your umbrage down a peg.”

Great. She hadn’t gotten angry at him, but now she was being petulant at her sister. But she felt defensive of Levi.

“I’m sorry,” said Quinn. “I’ll leave...”

“Your pancakes,” said Rory, slapping the top of the stack with her spatula.

“You’re bossy,” said Quinn.

“You need it,” said Fia.

She sighed heavily and started to put some pancakes on her plate, when she heard the sound of tires on the gravel.