Page 28 of Finding Home at Hearts Hotel

"I won a cruise," Linda explained, her hand resting against the edge of the desk. "I won the grand raffle at the Summer Lake Games."

"Darius won't go with her," Maggie said, her attention fully distracted by the glittering diamond in Michael’s hand, a million frantic thoughts spiraling through her mind. "He is terrified of the open ocean."

"It's a cruise to Hawaii and a week at a resort there," Linda added, looking between them as she tried to smooth over the tension.

Michael’s dark eyes met Maggie’s. The intense, unyielding devotion shining in his gaze made her heart pound with a frantic, wild rhythm. Her knees felt so weak that she reached out to grip the back of the nearby leather chair just in case they buckled beneath her weight.

"I’d love to go," Michael said, his gaze never breaking from hers. "When is it?"

"Two months' time," Linda answered.

"That doesn't give us a lot of time," Michael said. “But it’s doable.”

A quick spark lit his dark eyes, a look Maggie couldn't quite define. Then a devastatingly handsome smile split his face. Maggie knew that look. It was the exact expression Michael wore whenever his analytical mind had finalized a major decision.

"Time... time for what?" Maggie barely managed to croak out, her voice breathless as her heart rate increased even further, a wild flutter of butterflies going crazy in her stomach.

Before she could process what was happening, Michael was out of his leather chair. He walked around the massive mahogany desk, closing the short distance between them, and dropped down onto one knee, lifting the blue velvet box toward her.

"I love you," Michael said, his deep voice thick with a raw, powerful emotion that vibrated right to her core. "I've always loved you. Please marry me. Let's get married before we go away, and that cruise can be our honeymoon."

Maggie's breath caught in her throat once again as she stared down at the man who had occupied that one massive, permanent place in her heart since she was a child. She had dreamed of this exact moment since she was twelve, or perhaps even younger.

She heard a small, quick intake of breath from the side of the room and glanced at Linda, whom she had nearly forgotten was there. Linda's eyes were wide and glassy with unshed tears of joy as she stood silently witnessing her brother and best friend's most tender milestone.

"Yes," Maggie whispered, a beautiful, watery smile breaking across her face as she looked down at him. "Yes, let's get married."

A loud, joyful squeal split the still room. Linda let out the high-pitched sound, making Maggie jump slightly in surprise.

But the next second, just as Michael was carefully sliding the polished band onto her finger, the office door was banged open with a loud crash.

Owen and Martin tripped over themselves, hurtling through the threshold in a blur of frantic energy.

"What happened?" Martin breathed, his eyes wide as he looked around the room, having mistaken Linda's squeal of joy for some kind of medical emergency.

"Who got hurt?" Owen's voice was frantic as he checked the corners of the office.

Then they both stopped dead in their tracks, gaping at the scene before them in stunned, silent shock.

Michael straightened to his full height, fully ignoring the audience that had just invaded the room. His dark eyes heldMaggie's with an intense devotion. Before she had time to think, Michael had her engulfed in an embrace, kissing her senseless in front of an audience of people to witness their love.

The quick burst of applause and the happy cries of the other three people in the room faded into a distant, muffled hum as Maggie melted into the embrace of the man she had just committed to spending the rest of her life with. This was really going to be a summer none of them would forget.

LINDA

The quiet of the penthouse suite was heavy, filled with the scent of old cedar wood, lemon polish, and the faint, salty tang of the bay drifting through the high windows. It was strange being up here without Uncle George's booming voice echoing off the plaster walls. This apartment, perched securely on the top floor of the Hearts Hotel, had served as his private sanctuary for nearly forty years, a place where he’d retreated from the busy world to guard his memories.

Linda stood in the center of the spacious living room, her canvas sneakers making zero sound on the faded Persian rug as she walked toward the corner study. Her uncle had been remarkably specific before his physical therapy session began down at the main house. He wanted his current financial records and a copy of his master will retrieved from the private safe, claiming he needed to review the estate distributions before the week ended.

Linda moved the watercolor painting of the Sweet Blossom Bay shoreline aside, revealing the heavy iron door of the wall safe. She turned the dial slowly, entering the simple, four-digitcombination her uncle had stubbornly refused to change for decades. The heavy lock gave way with a metallic click.

She reached into the dark, cool interior of the safe, her fingers closing around the thick leather binder that held his personal will. As she pulled the heavy binder out, a loose sheaf of legal papers tucked behind the leather slipped free, fluttering downward to land flat against the polished floorboards.

Linda set the binder onto the mahogany desk and bent down to gather the scattered documents. She expected to see old tax receipts or property surveys. Instead, her eyes locked onto a bold, blue legal backing sheet bearing the official gold-embossed seal of the Florida Family Court.

Her breath caught sharply in her throat as she read the typed heading at the top of the first page:Petition for the Dissolution of Marriage.

Her hands began to shake slightly as she flipped through the pages, her gaze tracking past the financial disclosures and the standard division of assets until she reached the final signature page. The document was dated decades ago, during the exact summer her aunt had left the island. The lines for the attorneys' signatures were signed, and the judge’s preliminary findings were stamped in dark ink.