35. Two Months Later
Two Months Later
Sloane
Paint fumes mixed with cool December air as I stepped back to admire our work.
Island Adventures’ front entrance gleamed with fresh coral and turquoise paint, the colors Claire had chosen twenty years ago, now restored to their original vibrancy.
Knox stood beside me, roller in hand, satisfaction evident in his relaxed posture.
“Mom would approve,” he said quietly.
“She’d love it.” I touched the newly installed sign. Island Adventures: Your Gateway to Carolina Bay Exploration. A pink neon sign in the window let guests know this was also where they could find Stride’s newest location. A perfect combination.
The partnership was official. Our futures further intertwined.
Knox set his roller down. “Think we’re ready for the grand reopening?”
“Almost. I still need to finish the classroom space for the women’s programs, and there’s one more thing I want to run by you.”
Knox tipped his head. “What’s that?”
“I have an idea for honoring your mother’s memory.”
His lips quirked in that sexy, almost smile. “More than this?” He raised a finger toward the freshly repainted building.
“Yeah.”
“I like it already. What do you have in mind?”
I bit my lip, unsure if I was overstepping.
“I’d like to contribute to a scholarship for young women who want to pursue environmental science or outdoor recreation careers.
The Claire Hawthorne Memorial Scholarship.
” I wet my lips, pushing ahead with a backup idea in case he wouldn’t accept the money.
“We can fund it through our businesses moving forward. There are solid tax benefits, and we can do something to help the next generation of conservationists and adventurers. But I can get it started for us this year.”
Knox stepped forward, his face alight with pleasure. “Mom would have loved that.” He kissed the top of my head and held me close, the way he always did.
And I melted into his embrace, the way I always did.
“Thank you,” he whispered into my hair. “For loving her.”
“Claire was incredibly lovable. Like her son.”
We turned in unison to the sound of tires on the worn gravel behind us.
Archer parked beside Knox’s Jeep and climbed out with Colton.
Each man carried a box of security system components to be installed.
They’d both fulfilled their active-duty requirements before being honorably discharged.
Then, they’d invested in the startup costs for a new business providing security to locals as needed.
The phone was quiet for now, but they’d have their hands full with the summer crowd in a few months. I was sure of it.
“Hey, wow,” Colton said. “This place looks great.”
“Thanks.” I smiled. “I was waiting for you guys. I got you a little Christmas gift.”
The Marines alternated between looking pleased and confused while I hopped inside the shop to retrieve a box I’d been hiding for at least a month.
“What is that?” Archer asked, the moment I returned to the porch.
“I hope you’re set on that business name you seemed so excited about before.”
Knox crossed his arms. “I hope so too, because I ordered shirts.”
“Good.” I opened the box to retrieve the carved wood sign I’d commissioned from a local artist.
Then, I spun the gift to face them. “Ta da!”
I’d had the piece outfitted with S hooks to attach it to the bottom of the larger, Island Adventures sign. “Carolina Security is open for business.”
“Hey,” Colton called. “That’s all right!”
The men exchanged fist bumps and back claps.
“Whose number is that?” Knox asked, lifting his chin toward the sign.
“Yours.” I dug into the box and retrieved three small boxes. “As congratulations gifts to you, and your first official business write offs, I bought you all cell phones. You can pay me back when you make some money.”
Archer took the stack and passed them out. “Sweet.”
“I’m really proud of you guys,” I said. “And I have a good feeling about this. I think you’re going to help a lot of people.”
Colton looked more emotional than I’d seen him. “We were talking on the drive over, and we wanted to thank you both for giving us a reason to stay. And for helping us figure out what came after the Corps.”
“You’re helping us,” Knox countered. “Making this place safer and giving people peace of mind is priceless. I couldn’t do it without you. I wouldn’t even have tried.”
Archer clasped the other men on their shoulders. “Brothers look out for each other.”
Watching these men who’d served together and survived together, now building a business and future together, made my chest ache with gratitude. Knox had found his place. His purpose. His family.
And somehow, miraculously, I’d become part of it.
Archer and Colton went inside the shop to get started on the security system installation, and Knox took my hand.
“Walk with me?”
We followed a nearby trail toward the dock out back. White twinkle lights were draped along a wooden fence leading around the building.
Wind whipped off the water, and I burrowed deep into my hooded jacket. Knox held me against his side.
“Are you finally going to show me what you were working on all morning?” I asked. “Tell me you didn’t paint the dock bright orange.”
“I did not,” he said, leading me past a series of tall bushy grasses and sand piled high in dunes.
Then, around the corner, I saw it.
He’d alternated vases of flowers and white pillar candles along each side of the dock, all the way to the end, where a plaid woolen blanket was spread out with a picnic basket.
“You did all this while I was painting?”
“I had a little help,” Knox said, leading me between the candles and flowers. He knelt beside the basket and tugged me down to him, then lifted the lid and produced two steamy to-go mugs of something smelling delightfully like hot chocolate.
I laughed.
“Cheers.” Knox tapped his cup to mine and waited while I got comfortable, feet dangling over the edge.
“Who helped?” I hadn’t seen anyone come or go.
“Maggie delivered dinner and hot cocoa by boat.” He checked his watch. “About five minutes ago.”
I laughed. “This is amazing. Thank you.”
Knox set all of my favorites from Maggie’s family’s restaurant on the blanket between us, looking very proud. “I like to surprise you. It makes your cheeks all pink and your eyes crinkle.”
“Hey!” Archer’s voice carried down from the shop. “Is that dinner?”
“No!” Knox hollered back. “Mind your business.”
“Bring us the leftovers!” Colton said, poking his head through the window beside Archer.
Knox shot me his most bland expression. “We asked these guys to move here. Do you remember why?”
I smiled as I dug into my crab cakes.
The sun was low in the sky when we finished, its apricot and scarlet glow reflecting on the water.
“I really love it here,” I said.
Knox leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I really love you.” He reached back into the picnic basket.
“If you pull a dessert from there I will explode. I’m definitely going to eat it,” I said. “But then, I might die.”
Knox shifted, rising onto one knee with a small velvet box. “I really hope you won’t eat this.”
My breath caught and my eyes misted. “No promises.”
Knox extended the box in my direction, ignoring my terrible joke.
“I know we haven’t been together that long.
By any logical measure, I’m asking way too much, way too soon.
” He opened the box to reveal a delicate rose gold band with a single round diamond twinkling in the sunset.
“But I’ve never been as sure of anything as this. ”
I covered my mouth, willing myself not to cry or scream or shout, “Yes!” before he had a chance to finish.
“I love you, Sloane Mercer. I love your courage, your passion, and your fierce dedication to protecting the things you care about. I love how you make me laugh, how you challenge me, and how you see possibilities where everyone else sees obstacles. I want to share a very long life with you. I want to raise kids with you on this island and grow old watching them from the porch.” Knox’s voice was steady, certain.
“I hope you want that too. And I hope you will do me the complete honor of allowing me to be your husband.”
I rose onto my knees and framed his face with my hands. “Absolutely yes to all of that and more.”
Knox slipped the ring onto my finger. A perfect fit. As if it had been made for me.
He kissed me gently, and I might’ve drowned in the overwhelming rightness flooding through my system. If not for the hooting and hollering raining down from the shop above.
“Whooo!!” Archer yelled.
Someone whistled.
There was clapping.
But I fixed my eyes on Knox, smiling widely, proudly, and I kissed him again.
I HOPE you enjoyed KNOX and Sloane’s story, as well as the beautiful coastal Carolina setting and the sexy heroes of Carolina Security.