EPILOGUE
LUKE
Iwake before the alarm and lie there for a moment, listening to Hannah’s steady breathing beside me.
The room's dark except for the faint glow of predawn light filtering through the blinds.
I turn my head and watch her sleep with one hand resting protectively over the small swell of her belly.
Something in my chest tightens with a feeling I haven't felt since I was a child.
It feels like family, and it feels like home.
I slip out of bed quietly, pull on a pair of sweatpants, and start the coffee maker.
While it brews I step onto the deck and breathe in the cool late-July air.
The water's calm this morning, reflecting the first pale streaks of color creeping over the mountains to the east. I hear Hannah stir, then her soft footsteps pad across the floor toward me.
It's nice having her here, though we haven’t fully discussed her moving in, but I'm going to ask.
It makes sense, since we're together now and we both work down here at the marina.
She joins me wearing one of my old Marine Corps T-shirts that hangs almost to her knees. Her hair's messy and her eyes are still heavy with sleep, but she smiles when she sees the two mugs in my hands.
“Sunrise on the dock?” she asks.
“Sunrise on the dock,” I confirm, leaning in to kiss her cheek. We're early enough that most of the fishermen aren't out yet, but she might need to hide in my office before this is all said and done or risk them seeing her in a night shirt.
We walk down together barefoot, and I hold her hand the whole way.
It feels so nostalgic of things I used to do with Nick, it's hard to fight back the tide of emotion as I spread a thick blanket and we settle side by side with our legs dangling over the edge.
She takes a sip of her coffee and leans her head against my shoulder as the sky begins to bloom in soft pinks and oranges.
The town is still quiet. Only the distant call of gulls and the gentle lap of water against the pilings break the silence.
I wrap my arm around her and feel the warmth of her body against mine.
This is the kind of morning I never let myself dream about during all those years away.
Someone to come home to, who knows me and commits to me fully.
Now it's real, and I don't want to waste a single second of it.
“Today's the day,” I say after a while. “We find out if I'm getting a son or you're getting a daughter.”
Hannah laughs softly. “I still say it's a girl. I can feel it.”
I grin and shake my head. “Boy—Maddox men run strong in my family. Besides, I need someone to teach how to throw a perfect spiral.”
She nudges me with her elbow. “Girls can throw spirals too, you know. But if it's a girl, I already have the perfect name picked out.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Let me hear it.”
“Nicki,” she says quietly. When her eyes rise up to meet mine, I see how sincere she's being. “Nicole if we want to be formal, but Nicki feels right.”
I can't think of a more fitting way to honor the past at all. “Nicki Maddox. I like it. A lot.”
We sit in comfortable silence as the sun lifts fully above the mountains and paints the harbor in golden light.
I think about how much has changed in such a short time.
The town feels different now. People smile at me when I walk down the street.
They stop to ask how the pier repairs are going or how Hannah's feeling.
The shadow that once followed me everywhere has finally lifted.
Hannah sets her mug down and rests both hands on her belly. “I've been thinking about maternity leave. I want to keep the business running, but I also want to be present for the baby. I don't know how I will balance both without dropping something important.”
I turn toward her and take one of her hands in mine, lacing our fingers together tightly.
“You don't have to figure it out alone. I'm here.
Whatever you need, I'll help. If that means I handle more of the pier operations so you can rest, I'll do it.
If you want to work part-time from home, we'll make that work too.”
She looks at me with soft eyes. “Luke…”
“I mean it,” I continue. “And there's something else I've been wanting to say.
You should move in with me—officially. No more splitting time between your place and mine.
We're a family now. There's no reason for you to keep paying rent when this house is already ours. The baby needs both of us under one roof.”
Tears gather in her eyes. She blinks quickly, but one slips down her cheek anyway. I reach up and brush it away with my thumb.
“I didn't mean to make you cry,” I say gently.
“They're happy tears,” she whispers. “I just… I didn't know if you were ready for all of that so soon.”
I set my coffee aside and pull her onto my lap so she faces me. Her legs straddle my hips, and I wrap my arms around her waist. Up close, I can see every detail of her face in the morning light. The faint freckles across her nose. The way her eyes still shine with emotion.
“Hannah, listen to me.” My heart is pounding, but I have no doubt in my mind that this is the right thing.
“For the past month, ever since we found out about the baby, I haven't been able to think about anything else except you being by my side for the rest of my life. Not just sharing a house. Not just raising this child together. I want it all. The quiet mornings, the late nights, the hard days and the good ones. I want you to be my wife.”
She sucks in a breath as her hands come up to rest on my chest.
I reach into the pocket of my sweatpants and pull out the simple ring I've carried with me for two weeks, waiting for the right moment. The diamond catches the sunrise and throws tiny sparks of light across her shirt.
“Marry me, Hannah. Make it official. Let's build this life together right here in Bandon where we both belong.”
Her lips are parted in surprise. Then a smile breaks across her face so bright, it rivals the sun behind us.
“Yes,” she says as tears of joy cloud her eyes again. “Yes, Luke. Of course I'll marry you.”
I slide the ring onto her finger, and she leans forward and kisses me. When we pull back, I rest my forehead against hers and breathe her in.
“We're really doing this,” she whispers.
“We are,” I answer. “And I can't wait to start.”
Eventually, we head back inside to get ready for the day.
Hannah makes us a simple breakfast while I shower.
We talk about prenatal classes and tour options for birthing centers in Coos Bay.
She wants a natural birth if possible. I just want both of them safe.
We compromise by agreeing to tour two places next week and decide together.
Every second with this woman is better than the last. When Nick died I thought my life in Bandon was over.
I packed up and headed out, hoping to heal my broken heart and find a new path.
Dad's death wasn’t supposed to call me back to this place, but it did.
Even when I tried to fight coming home, the tide always returned to the shore, pulling me with it.
Now I have a strong woman by my side, whom I love with every fiber of my being, and a community around me supporting both of us.
They say love always finds a way, but I never believed it until Hannah's warmth took me by surprise.
Never again will I doubt the possibility that fate has been weaving a tapestry behind my back that I could never see.
Because the picture it's been painting for me the whole time is woven with such love and affection, I'd never believe it if I didn't see it for myself.
I have a new lease on life.
I have my father's business and the whole town rooting for me. And I have a woman I love and a baby on the way to make my future even brighter than ever. And to think I have a weapons smuggler to thank for all of it.
Had Dorsey not been conniving and wrapping Hannah up in his mess, I may never have wanted to protect her, and that urge to build a shield around her and fight for her the way I should've fought for Nick is what ultimately sealed our hearts together.
Life has a mystery to the way it works out. We're all just along for the ride. And they say all things work out for the best. I've just learned that if it doesn't look like "the best" yet, keep waiting. Something good is bound to happen.