Then, as Peyton stared back at the sketch, her heart stopped at the sight of the door and what was above it. “The Spencer?” she breathed out, her eyes filling with tears.

“It’s time you started new, Peyton. This rebuild is about you, not the town. This town doesn’t deserve to have their name even close to yours or the hotel,” he explained.

The Spencer.

She let those two words replay through her mind. In that moment, life made sense and hope returned to her. She dropped the paper in her lap and grabbed his face.

“I love you,” she said with as much honesty and purity as she could voice out loud. Tears rolled down her face, but she didn’t care. “I love you,” she said once more before she kissed him fully on the mouth.

She had all but forgiven him. He had given her a path in life to take and she would. He had given her a form of freedom to be her own. He had given her the chance to be who she was instead of what the town believed her to be.

“I forgive you,” she said against his lips.

Callum stilled instantly and pulled back. “What?” he said breathlessly. His eyes were wide in disbelief.

“Callum Reid, you have your redemption,” she confirmed.

His eyes glazed over in unshed tears and his hands wrapped around her wrists. “Thank you,” he breathed. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

For the first time in a long time, she gave him the most honest and truthful smile she could make. Her mouth inched closer to his, ready to be lost in the pleasures of his lips, but her phone vibrated in her pocket, interrupting them. That’s when she let out a groan, pulled it out, and looked at the screen. She quickly swiped across to answer the call.

“June, this is a surprise!” Peyton’s voice hitched higher and she moved back from Callum.

“Peyton, I saw the news. Your hotel,” June said unbelievably.

“Jenny was going to call you later. I’m sorry to have to cancel your spring booking,” Peyton said, devastated not to have June at her hotel working on another album.

“Oh, I’ll still be coming in spring. I’ll just stay at your place. You, Peyton Spencer, are a great person to run songs with. Do you need me to come help out?”

Peyton heard someone play a song she had never heard and she knew June was in the recording studio. That’s when the idea hit her.

“Callum, does Marissa like June Sinclair?” she asked.

His mouth dropped. “Marissa loves June. Is that who you’re talking to?”

Peyton nodded her head. “June, I have a wedding next Saturday. Do you mind performing? We’ll discuss an appearance fee and everything.”

June laughed lightly. “We’re friends, Peyton. I’ll only do it for free. The band and I will be up Saturday morning. See you then!”

“See you then, June.” Peyton hung up with a large grin on her face.

When she looked down at Callum’s rough design, her heart twitched at the sight of The Spencer he had drawn her.

I will make his plan a reality.

Eight days passed. Eight days of clean-up and planning. Eight days, she spent with him, loving him harder. But those days passed far too quickly. Setting up Marissa and Oliver’s wedding took up most of their time. When he wasn’t with her, Callum was redesigning his rough draft of The Spencer onto blueprints. People in town stopped by the burned remains and offered their condolences, but Peyton kept her head down and thanked them. The town had lost a source of income—that, she was aware of—but she couldn’t dwell too much thought on anything other than the hotel.

Investigators who had searched the remains had put the accident down as an electrical fire that had come from the kitchen. But Peyton knew the source. The dishwasher—the same one Jay was meant to have fixed weeks ago. Peyton hadn’t told them, though. She’d just agreed that the burning of her hotel had been an accident. Jay’s mistake had cost her, but she wouldn’t let him go to jail for faulty electrician work. No matter how much wrong he had done to her.

“That’s going to be you one day,” Jenny whispered.

Peyton looked as Oliver and Marissa danced on the lakeside dance floor. The lanterns on the lake as the sun started to set were breathtakingly beautiful. She couldn’t deny wanting this someday. Wanting the man she’d married to dance with her, their first dance of forever.

Peyton just smiled. In reality, this would just be a dream for her. There was no one else after Callum. Her heart had been stained by his name, and she would rather it that way.

“He can’t keep his eyes off you, even with that bridesmaid in his arms.”

She moved her eyes away from the bride and groom and stared at Callum, who was dancing with Victoria, Marissa’s maid of honour. His eyes were on Peyton. They were filled with an apology she understood. If life and time were working with them, this could have been a possibility for them one day. But they weren’t. Life and time were working against them. Tonight was their last. The ending had finally caught up to them.

“He leaves tomorrow,” Peyton finally said before she looked down at the clipboard.

Thankfully, the hotel in Creswick had been more than happy to help out with the wedding, providing Peyton’s staff with everything they needed to make the wedding happen. Oliver and Marissa married near the path that led to Callum and Peyton’s spot under the large trees. Callum had been right—Marissa had been heartbroken that the hotel had burned to the ground but she didn’t want to change venues. She had just wanted to marry Oliver.

The moment June started setting up with the band, Marissa cried and kissed her new husband like crazy. The song June played was new and heartbreakingly beautiful. The soft sound of the guitar and June’s voice made the song Peyton’s favourite.

Timing got us wrong.

Life put us on show.

Separating all that we knew.

The dark times stole you.

I hid from all I knew.

Waiting for you to find me.

Peyton looked over at Callum the moment she heard June sing and smiled at him. In some ways, she had been waiting for him for all these years. She didn’t take her eyes off him as his lips curved when he caught her staring. Callum blinked once, and without a word, he walked away from Victoria and approached her.

“What are you doing?” Peyton asked as she looked over Callum’s shoulder to see Victoria less than impressed.

“About to dance with the woman I love,” he said, holding out his hand.

She looked down and shook her head. “I’m working, Callum.”

He took the clipboard from her and gave it to Jenny. “I’m sure Jenny doesn’t mind taking over for a bit.”

Peyton turned away from his grin and faced Jenny. The moment she saw Jenny nodding, she rolled her eyes. “Fine. One dance. Then I have to get back to work.”

“Okay,” he said and took her hand.

The way her heart picked up from his touch was one that she would miss come tomorrow. But for tonight, he’d be hers and she’d be his.

Callum pulled her away from the dance floor and up the hill.

“Where are we going? I thought we were dancing?”

He didn’t stop or look her way as he said, “There’s only one place I want to be with you.”

Her heart ached—both in pain and pleasure. She knew where he was taking her. Hand-in-hand, they walked through the path, into the forest, past the circular rock and down the small incline until they reached their spot.

Once they were in the middle of the circle, he brought her close to his body and placed his hand on the small of her back. The music from the wedding was almost like a whisper in the wind as he swayed with her. Nothing else mattered in this moment.