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It finally happened.

The realization hit Hez as he drifted into wakefulness. He and Savannah were actually getting married again. The ring was out of his pocket and on her finger. It was official.

He stretched and rolled over, relishing the sensation of being in his own bed for the first time in a week. Better yet, he’d slept through the night without having anyone come in and check on him—except for his dog. Cody had been overjoyed when Hez arrived home yesterday evening and had been very clingy ever since. Cody was a rescue and feared being abandoned again, so he hadn’t taken Hez’s weeklong absence particularly well.

Hez rolled out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, creating warm, bright spots on the hardwood floor. He stood in one while he made coffee. He inhaled deeply, savoring the rich aroma of brewing coffee as he poured himself a bowl of granola and sliced a banana on top of it, all while his emotionally needy dog kept trying to trip him. It was wonderful to be back in his own space again.

It wouldn’t be his space for much longer, though. He pictured Savannah walking out of the bedroom, lured by the scent of fresh coffee. The sunlight would bring out her first-thing-in-the-morning beauty: the gold flecks in her sleepy green eyes, the highlights in her auburn hair, her perfect zero-makeup skin. She’d slip into his arms, still warm from the bed.

Would they stay in his condo? Probably not. Savannah’s cottage was just off campus, so it would be more convenient for them both. But her place wasn’t much bigger than his, and hopefully they’d need room for a nursery soon. He smiled at that thought and carried his breakfast into his home office to do a little virtual house hunting.

He turned on his computer—and was greeted by a notification that he had 536 unread emails. He sighed and took a swig of coffee. Maybe he could look at houses while he took a break later in the day.

Since Hez’s surgery and in-hospital recovery had gone well, his hospital discharge instructions had been mostly limited to incision care and avoiding driving or strenuous activity. However, the neurologist had warned that he might have problems with his vision and ability to focus for long periods. An oversized monitor and the large-font option on his computer solved the vision issue. The big, steaming TGU mug next to his keyboard helped with his focus.

The first mug powered him through an initial pass as he culled spam, notices of meetings that happened while he was in the hospital, perky announcements about campus recycling day, and the sort of things even his foggy brain could handle. By the time he went back to the kitchen for a refill, his inbox was down to 253 and he felt pretty productive. But his ears were ringing and his vision was blurry. It was probably time for a break, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop now.

He finished his breakfast and half his second mug as he triaged the remaining emails. He flagged the ones that could wait until he was back in the office in a week or so when he could think more clearly, starred the ones he needed to deal with before then, and put exclamation points on the handful he really should get to today. Fortunately, most of those didn’t require much work.

Hez drained the last of his coffee and took his dishes to the sink. Cody had been asleep under the desk, but he woke as soon as Hez moved and trailed him into the kitchen, his nails clicking on the floor. He even tried to follow Hez into the bathroom and sat outside, whimpering and scratching the door until his owner reappeared. The poor dog really was convinced that Hez could vanish without warning again if he let him out of his sight.

Despite the heavy dose of caffeine, Hez yawned as he sat in front of his computer again. He shook his head. Despite a good night’s sleep and having worked for barely an hour, he felt a nap coming on. He decided to knock one last item off his to-do list. Then he could find a sunny spot on a comfy couch and browse real estate listings until he drifted off.

He opened the email from Savannah with the attached loan documents she’d asked him to look over. It had arrived in his inbox at almost the same moment he was attacked. Was that a coincidence? Or was someone trying to stop the loan from going through? He couldn’t be sure, but that just made him more determined to read the documents before he did anything else.

Hez wasn’t a corporate lawyer, but he could see why Jess was eager to close the loan. TGU currently had over two dozen loans from eleven different lenders, each with its own terms and payment schedule—and none of those looked as good as this one. The interest rate was lower than any of the other loans, there was no prepayment penalty, and TGU could make payments either monthly or annually. Not bad. Not bad at all. The numbers and letters danced a bit in his vision, and he blinked before continuing.

Hez had never heard of the lender, Hornbrook Finance, LLC, but that didn’t mean much. New York was full of serious financial firms that no one outside of Wall Street knew anything about. After a little googling, Hez was satisfied that Hornbrook was a serious company. The founder, James Hornbrook, had left Goldman Sachs a decade ago to found his own firm. Jess had also worked at Goldman, which was presumably how she knew him. Hornbrook had over $3 billion under management, so he would have no trouble making the loan to TGU. Besides, he had a dog in one of his publicity pictures—a magnificent cream-colored golden retriever—which boosted Hez’s view of him.

Hez could feel the tug of his overstuffed sofa in the sunlit living room, but he forced himself to read—or at least skim—the dozens of pages of boilerplate terms. Even blown up to sixteen-point font, they made his vision blur. These turgid, complex clauses had all been written by Hornbrook’s lawyers, of course, so they favored the lender. Hez was pretty sure this was all standard language that Hornbrook included in all deals and that he wouldn’t be willing to negotiate. Still, Hez owed it to Savannah and TGU to have at least a general idea of what these documents said.

He sat back and rubbed his eyes. Cody took the opportunity to jump onto his lap, lost his balance, and tumbled back to the floor. Hez laughed and leaned over to scratch his dog’s huge, scraggly ears. Cody gave a doggy grin and panted, alerting Hez to the fact that no one had given his dog a brushing chew while he was gone.

Hez coughed and waved his hand in front of his face. “Whew! What did Savannah let you eat?”

He got up and walked over to the dog closet. “Actually, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

Cody’s grin widened at the sight of the bag of brushing chews. He ran over to his bowl and wagged his tail in anticipation. Hez dropped two chews in the bowl for good measure. Then it was back to work while Cody gnawed on his treats.

Hez stared at the screen for a long moment. Should he call it a day? He’d put in two hours, and his brain was starting to feel like oatmeal. His discharge instructions said he should try to go for at least one walk per day. Maybe he should take Cody for a short trip to the beach and then let that nap take him. He could give the loan documents a fresh look tomorrow.

But would tomorrow be too late? He remembered the urgency—almost fear—in Jess’s face when she pressured him to look over the documents two days ago. Was there something she wasn’t telling them? Were their enemies putting some secret pressure on Hornbrook that only she knew about?

He sighed and forced himself through the remaining pages. He wasn’t retaining much, but there probably wasn’t much worth retaining. Twenty minutes later, he reached the end. Finally.

He created a reply to Savannah’s email and typed, “These look fine.”

He paused for a moment, then added, “Nice work by Jess.”

Then he hit Send.

* * *

Savannah hurried through the bustling administration building, making a beeline for Jess’s office. She rapped her knuckles on the door, then pushed it open. “I have what you’ve been waiting for.”

Jess looked up from the computer, and her gaze fell to the papers in Savannah’s hand. “You signed the loan papers?”

“I did. Hez said they looked fine.”

She had called him as soon as she got his email, happy for an excuse to hear his voice. “He was impressed you got such a great interest rate and terms.”

Savannah slid the papers across the desk and watched Jess snatch them up.

“Oh, I did.”

Jess held up the papers in a triumphant gesture. “This will make my upcoming trip to New York City much less stressful. I was so worried we would lose out on this outstanding deal. Let me shoot the financiers an email to let them know I’ll upload the signed documents in a few minutes.”

“You’re going to New York?”

Jess didn’t look up as she tapped away at her keyboard. “It just came up.”

She pushed back from her computer when she was done. “That reminds me—can you watch Simon for a few days? I leave on Tuesday. I know that’s only four days out, and I’m sorry for the short notice.”

Savannah hesitated. Her nephew would have to be kept in the dark about her plans to trap the smugglers. Simon tended to rush in without thought of his own safety.

Jess eyed her when she didn’t reply. “I know you’re busier now that you’re president, but Simon is self-sufficient. He announced a few weeks ago that only babies get walked to the bus stop, so he goes by himself now. And I haven’t even had to help him with any homework. I’ve been slammed here in the office, and he’s even started cooking dinner for both of us. It’s just warming up freezer meals, but he’s great at it. He won’t be a bother.”

“Of course he won’t. Of course he can stay. I was thinking through my week, but it will be fine. I love having him around.”

Savannah tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and her ring caught the sunshine and glowed when she dropped her hand back to her side.

Jess’s eyes homed in on the dazzling light. “Let me see. And I want to hear the full story now that we have a little time.”

Savannah held out the ring for her sister to admire. “Isn’t it gorgeous? You’ll never believe how he proposed.”

She launched into the story of how she tackled him into the mud.

Jess’s lips curved in a genuine smile. “I wish I’d seen that.”

“Blake got pictures, and I’ll share them with you when I get them. We’re going to have a big engagement dinner for friends and family. I’ll make sure it’s at a good time for you.”

A frown settled on Jess’s face. “What family will be there?”

There weren’t many Legare family members around, but Savannah knew Jess was asking about her father. “I’ll invite my dad, but he may not come. I’m not his favorite person right now. There’s really only you and Dad around, so it will be mostly friends. And Hez’s family. Would you be my maid of honor? I’d like to announce it at the dinner. I know you haven’t always been a fan of Hez’s, but I think you’re getting over it. And I want you to be happy for me.”

Jess held her hand to her mouth, and her eyes went luminous with moisture. She came around the end of the desk and folded Savannah into a tight hug. “I want you to be happy and safe,”

she murmured against Savannah’s ear. She stepped back and dabbed at her eyes. “Sorry for being so emotional. Things have been so hard, and I’m thrilled to know life will be better for you. You’re getting everything you’ve ever wanted. President of TGU, Hez back in your life, a close community of friends and people who love you.”

“And a nephew I adore,”

Savannah added.

“That too.”

“He’d be a great ring bearer.”

Her glance sank to the ring on her finger again. Though they hadn’t talked about it yet, she knew Hez would welcome the thought of a baby. She pictured Simon and their child playing and laughing together someday. The future looked so bright that it felt like tempting fate.