After picking up the picture of Madilynne in her tulle mermaid wedding dress, she put it in the black frame, ready to be placed on the wall of sometimes moments. Then she held another stack of pictures from her trip from Austria and smiled. It was a trip she’d never forget. She had done it all. Everything she couldn’t do with Callum, she had done for them.

The day she’d come home, Jay had been at her door. They sat on the step and stared at the Reid house together. Then he apologised and Peyton listened. In the end, she’d forgiven Jay just to keep peace. She wanted to live a life with no burdens, and Jay had been one. The moment she’d forgiven him, she’d felt free, ready to live every day like her last. After that day, when they walked past each other in town, they would turn and smile but never stop.

“I’ll grab some of the frames from the office,” Jenny said.

Peyton nodded and opened the lid of the pink box Oliver had delivered to her almost a year ago. Then she pulled out a stack of their Polaroids and smiled. She no longer cried as often as she had when Callum had died. She’d learned to appreciate their time together. And he’d been right—she did reflect on their time together.

She picked up the instant picture of him that she had taken and placed the rest in the box. The sight of him had her heat aching. It still did that. Peyton ran her finger down his beautiful face and smiled. She missed him. Her love still burned brightly and it always would.

When the doorbell rung, she set Callum’s picture down. Peyton looked up, expecting a guest. Instead, a man holding a large bundle of lavender walked through the door. The first things she noticed were his plaid flannelette shirt and his work boots. Then she frowned at the muddy boots, which would leave dirt on her floorboards. She noticed that he held a clipboard, staring at it.

“I’m looking for Peyton Spencer,” he said the moment he reached the desk.

When he lifted his chin, their eyes met. His light-brown ones had her breath catching. And for a moment, she swore her heart stopped. It was brief, but she felt it. Her heart hadn’t done that for quite some time.

Since…

Peyton stopped her train of thought and focused on the surprised look on his face. The way his eyes twinkled and his lips parted had her breath catching. The unnamed man placed the lavender and clipboard on the desk before he rubbed his short beard.

“I’m Peyton Spencer,” she said as her palms started sweating, which wasn’t something she was familiar with.

“I have a delivery for you. Just need a signature here,” he said, picking up the clipboard and handing it to her.

She let out a laugh, but she wasn’t sure why.

“Is something funny?” he asked, raising his brow.

She shook her head, getting some control over herself. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. That was rude.” Peyton grabbed a pen and signed her name on the line. Then she took off the small envelope from the bundled lavender. After removing the card, she read it.

Have a great first day.

Love,

Mr & Mrs Scott.

“Thank you,” she said, looking up at him. As she noticed the curiosity in his eyes, a blush reddened her cheeks.

“Cooper Hepburn. I’m the new operations manager while Graham and Mads are on their honeymoon,” he said, introducing himself.

She nodded. “And I’m still Peyton Spencer. I’m the owner of The Spencer-Reid.”

She handed over the clipboard, his hands gazing over hers. Her heart stopped once more and she became a little breathless. It was the smile he wore. It was beautiful and genuine.

“Well, maybe I’ll see you around town, hotel girl.” He grinned.

She shook her head. “Maybe I’ll see you around…”

Cooper nodded at her before he turned and walked towards the exit.

The moment he reached the door, Peyton breathed out and said, “Lavender boy.”

He stopped and quickly spun around, smiling at her. “Lavender boy?” he asked. The playful grin had her heart racing.

Callum’s words ran through her head. “I always knew you’d marry lavender boy.”

The twinkle in Cooper’s eyes had Peyton swallowing hard. She knew that look. He might not know it, but she might have just seen forever in Cooper Hepburn’s eyes.

She nodded. “Yes. Lavender boy.”

“I’m glad I made this delivery today. It was nice meeting you, Peyton Spencer.”

“You, too, Cooper Hepburn.”

Cooper nodded once with a smile before he walked out of her hotel. When she felt the butterflies soar in her stomach, she knew. Pulling out the picture of her and Callum, her heart warmed at the look in Callum’s eyes. It was the same look she’d seen in Cooper’s.

“Thank you for sometimes, Callum. I think I may have found my forever with lavender boy.”

Dear Callum Reid,

You don’t know who I am, but I like to think you had an idea of me. My name’s Cooper Hepburn, the husband to Peyton Hepburn and father to our child, Callum Stuart Hepburn. I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, but when Peyton got pregnant, my focus was on her and getting ready to welcome our son into our lives.

I feel like I know you. I’ve heard enough stories to know I would have liked you… Actually, that’s probably a lie. I would have respected you, but I think if I had met you, I would have hated you. At the time, you had my wife’s heart. And that would have killed me. You still have a place in her heart, and that’s something I would never want to have. Her love for you will be something I can never try to claim.

I want to say that we’ve had the easiest of loves, but I would be lying. We’ve had an adventure, and adventures come with a lot of complications and a lot of successes. Peyton claims that I’m perfect, but I’m far from it. I try my best to be for her. But I want to tell you the two worst days of my life. They were the times I thought I had lost her. I will never forget those days.

The first day was when we were dating. I didn’t know of you very well then. I was still trying my best to get her to trust me. It was the day after we’d first been intimate. She had cried, and I hated myself for making the woman I love cry. I didn’t understand why she had cried. I didn’t know. Peyton made me leave and she didn’t talk to me for almost a week. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I stormed to her house and demanded to know what I had done. She wouldn’t answer me, and that’s when I yelled at her. It was the first and last time I ever yelled at her. From the top of my lungs, I screamed, “You’d rather me dead and Callum alive, don’t you? You hate that I’m alive and he’s dead! You hate that you slept with me. You wish it were him and not me! Well guess what, Peyton? He’s dead! And right now, the way you look at me, I’d rather I were the dead one. Maybe you’d love me more.”

I’m not proud of those words. I’ll always regret saying them. Peyton didn’t speak to me for three weeks. I deserved it. I had accused her of not loving me because I wasn’t dead. I was scared to lose her, but I had said everything that ensured that I would. I was jealous of you. I have never been jealous of anyone until I was of you, Callum. I wanted Peyton to love me. I wanted Peyton’s heart. I believed there wasn’t room for her to love me after you. I had planned to work the last few months off my contract and return to the suburbs. But I needed to leave quickly. I wasn’t needed in town anymore. It was the night before I was going to leave when Peyton was at my door, crying. She apologised, saying that she was being selfish and that she should have told me. Graham had told her of my plans of leaving. She begged me not to go. She begged me to listen to her. When I agreed, she said only three words, and they were ‘I love you.’