The next day, Aiden signed the deal with Tom. It was a stressful week of ups and downs so yes, I'm glad Aiden didn't propose that week.
"Let's go inside," Aiden says, taking my hand. "It's chilly out here."
As we walk inside the inn, we're greeted by the sweet aroma of cinnamon rolls and buttermilk pancakes.
"I'm starving," I say to Aiden. "Do you have time to have breakfast with me?"
"Always," he says, giving me a kiss.
"What are you lovebirds up to this morning?" Tom asks, a mug of coffee in his hand.
"We're going to have breakfast," Aiden says, "and then get to work on the new brochures."
"I thought you were doing those," I say.
"I'd like your help if you have the time."
I smile. "I'd love to help."
Aiden includes me in every decision, the big and the small. I keep reminding him it's his place, not mine, but he still wants my input, which I think is sweet. I love him so much. I can't wait to marry him.
"How's Lois doing today?" I ask Tom.
Lois' cancer treatment ended two months ago. The doctors say her prognosis is good but Tom doesn't want her coming back to work, at least not full time. They've been working their whole lives and now he just wants to enjoy retirement with her.
"She's good," he says. "She wants to stop in later and spend some time in her kitchen."
"Are you sure she's ready for that?" I ask.
"No, but she thinks she is, and once she gets here, she'll want to stay. It's impossible to keep that woman out of the kitchen."
"Tell her she's welcome to come in and cook any time," Aiden says.
"Speaking of that, she wondered if you two would like to come over for dinner next week."
"You really have to ask?" I say, smiling.
"Just tell us what day," Aiden says.
"I'll ask her and let you know. I better get back to the desk." He walks off.
Tom works here one or two days a week. It gets him out of the house and lets him still feel connected to the inn. I can tell Tom misses it, but he said he couldn't imagine anyone better to take his place than Aiden. I agree. Aiden loves this inn. It's like this was what he was meant to do.
"I think I ate too many pancakes," I say as we get up from breakfast. "Where do you want to meet about the brochures?"
"Let's go to our room."
"Our room?" I look at him, confused, because our tiny room is not a good place for a meeting. "It doesn't even have a table."
"We don't need a table." He takes my hand as we leave the dining room and go up the stairs.
"Aiden, let's just meet in your office."
He stops at our room. "It's going to be your office too. We're going to remodel it."
"I don't need an office. I can just work in the dining room."
"You need an office." He opens the door and we go in the room.
Aiden keeps saying we need to buy a house. He says this room is too small to keep living here, which it is, but it's the room where we spent our first night together, so I kind of like that we're still here. Maybe after we're married we can look for houses.
"Where are the brochures?" I ask.
"Downstairs," he says, opening the top drawer of the dresser.
"Then why are we up here?"
"I want to show you something." He walks to the bed, holding a folder. "Come sit down."
I sit beside him on the bed. "What's that?"
He hands me the folder. "Open it."
I pull out a piece of paper. It's some kind of document. "What is this?"
"It's paperwork listing the owners of the inn."
"Owners?" I look at him. "Did you get a partner?"
He smiles. "Just read it."
Looking back at the document, I see my name listed. "Aiden, you didn't."
"I did."
My eyes slowly rise to his. "You made me an owner?"
"It was going to happen anyway when we got married. I just didn't want to wait. You've been in this with me from the start, and you love this place as much as I do." He takes the paper from me and sets it down, taking my hands in his as he turns to me. "You always say this is my inn. But it's ours. It doesn't matter who bought it. It's our inn, and I want you to stop thinking of it as mine."
"I don't know what to say." I pick up the piece of paper, looking down at my name. "This is a big deal. Are you sure about this? You put your life savings into this place."
He lifts my face up to his. "And now you're my life. I am absolutely, one hundred percent sure about this. Unless you don't want to be my partner."
I toss the paper aside and hug him. "I would love to be your partner."
He pulls back enough to kiss me, then glances at the bed. "I know we have work to do, but as long as we're here." He looks at me, his brows raised.
"As one of the owners, I say we take a break." I fall back on the bed, pulling Aiden down to kiss me.
We make love, in our room, our inn. I own an inn. I can't believe Aiden did that. It's more proof of how much he loves me, and how committed he is to us, and our life here.
"I have one more surprise for you," Aiden says when we get downstairs. "Tom," he says to him. "Get the box."
"Sure thing." Tom goes to the office behind the check-in desk.
"What box?" I say, looking at Aiden.
"I thought it'd be good to remind people to respect the environment."
"What are you talking about?"
He points to the wall behind the check-in desk. "We're going to hang it right there."
"Here you go." Tom appears, handing Aiden a small shadow box.
"To always remind us what brought us together," Aiden says, handing me the
