Falling For You (Honey Leaf Lodge #1)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Violet

Thanksgiving at Honey Leaf Lodge was always a bustling, noisy affair, filled with the smells of roasting turkey, warm spices, and my family’s laughter as we all gathered to celebrate. This year, though, things felt different.

A good different.

A lightness in the air made every sensation more vivid, spreading a feeling of peace over the place.

And then there was Owen, sitting at the dining room table in the middle of it all. He was being kind and laughing at one of Beck’s ridiculous stories and looked at ease.

Owen had come to Buttercup Lake with an agenda, but now he was part of my life, and if I were honest, part of my family.

He’d been spending more time at the lodge since we reconciled, getting to know everyone better.

My parents, my siblings—they’d all welcomed him in despite everything that had happened.

I wasn’t sure how they’d react initially, given that he’d almost been part of the deal that could’ve torn our family apart. But Owen had won them over in his quiet, steady way, and now, watching him joke around with Beck and Liam, it was hard to imagine a time when he hadn’t been a part of this.

“I’m just saying,” Liam said, grinning as he leaned back in his chair. “Next year, we need to have a pumpkin pie eating contest. I think Owen here might give me a run for my money.”

Owen chuckled, shaking his head. “I don’t know, man. I’ve seen how much you can eat. I think I’d end up regretting that one.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Fifi chimed in from across the table, her hands wrapped around a mug of hot cider. “He’s bluffing. Liam’s never met a pie he couldn’t finish.”

We all laughed, and the sound filled the room. I just sat back and watched the scene before me, letting the warmth spread through my chest.

I had always wanted this—family, love, and a sense of belonging that living in the city couldn’t give me.

And now, with Owen here, it felt like I had everything I needed.

I caught his gaze across the table, and he gave me a soft, almost private smile. My heart skipped a couple of beats.

It was hard to fathom how far we’d come.

Despite all the odds, we’d found our way back to each other, and it was better than I could have ever imagined.

As the conversation flowed around us, I excused myself to help our mom with the final touches on dinner. She was busy stirring a pot of mashed potatoes, humming quietly as she worked.

She wouldn’t let my sisters or me help much with the main course. She’d said we did enough of that the other 364 days of the year.

We both turned around and saw some smoke coming from the toaster oven.

“Oh, crud. Can you open the window? I forgot I put the Brussels sprouts in there.” My mom laughed, shaking her head.

“I’m telling you, Mom,” I said, leaning against the counter, “apart from your nearly burning the house down, this is the most relaxed Thanksgiving we’ve had in years.”

She smiled, not looking up from charred green balls. “It feels that way, doesn’t it? I think we’re all just thankful for how things turned out. With the land, the lodge… everything. I was worried there, but we have much to be grateful for this year.”

I nodded, my heart swelling with gratitude. It wasn’t just about the land—it was about the people who had stood by us and helped us save it.

And it was about Owen, too.

He’d been part of the solution, even when I hadn’t known it.

The sound of a knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned to see Dad walking toward it, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

“I wonder who that could be,” he said. He opened the door to reveal Vern holding a large gift basket.

“Vern!” Dad exclaimed, stepping aside to let him in. “Come on in. We’re just about to sit down to dinner.”

Vern smiled, his face a little weathered from the past few weeks of stress, but there was an ease in his eyes now that hadn’t been there before. “I won’t stay long,” he said, stepping inside and setting the basket on the table. “Just wanted to drop this off. Thank you for all the help you’ve given me over the years and for your recent understanding.”

Dad clapped him on the shoulder. “You didn’t have to do that, Vern. We’re just glad everything worked out the way it did.”

Vern nodded, his gaze flicking over to where Owen sat at the table, still chatting with Liam and Beck. There was a brief moment of hesitation before he spoke again, his voice quieter. “Well, you’ve got Owen here to thank for that too. He’s the one who made it all possible.”

The room went silent. Everyone’s attention shifted to Vern, and the tension suddenly rose. The air thickened with unspoken questions.

“What do you mean?” Dad asked slowly, his brow furrowed.

Vern glanced at Owen again before turning his attention back to our Dad. “When it came down to it, I was ready to sell to those developers. They were offering me more than I could ever dream of. But then Owen came to me. He told me he wanted to make sure your family got the land andthat it stayed in the community. He paid the difference—out of his own pocket.”

The words hung in the air like a bombshell, and I felt my heart clench as I turned to look at Owen. He hadn’t told me any of this. I had no idea he’d done something so huge, something so… selfless.

Mom and Dad exchanged a stunned glance, and Fifi’s mouth dropped open in shock. Beck and Liam stared at Owen, their expressions mixing confusion and disbelief.

“You did what?” I finally asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Owen shifted in his chair, looking a little uncomfortable under the weight of all the eyes on him. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” he said, calm but sincere. “But when I saw what was at stake, I couldn’t just stand by and let your family lose the land. It wasn’t right. So, I offered to cover the difference for Vern. That way, you could buy it at market value.”

My mind spun nonstop. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he had done something like this—something so monumental—for us.

For me .

And he hadn’t even told me. He’d kept it quiet, not looking for credit or praise. He’d just… done it.

“Owen…” I started, but I didn’t know how to finish the sentence. There was too much swirling inside me—gratitude, disbelief, and something even deeper that I couldn’t quite name.

Mom was the first to break the silence. She walked over to Owen, her eyes soft and filled with emotion, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “What you’ve done for us… we could never repay you.”

Owen shook his head quickly. “There’s nothing to repay. I did it because it was the right thing to do. Your family deserves that land. You counted on it. Your family needs to stay here to run this lodge. It’s who you are. And I couldn’t just sit by and let it be taken away.”

Dad, who had been standing quietly by the door, walked over and extended his hand to Owen. “I’m not sure I can ever thank you enough for what you’ve done,” he said, his voice steady but filled with emotion. “You’ve saved our family’s future.”

Owen stood and shook Dad’s hand, his expression humble. “I didn’t do it for thanks. I did it because this place matters. Your family matters.”

As I stood there, watching this exchange, my heart felt like it would burst. Owen had always been someone I cared about deeply, even when things were complicated between us. But now, seeing him like this—seeing the lengths he’d gone to for my family—I realized that what I felt for him went beyond care. It went beyond anything I’d ever felt before.

Sitting silently throughout the conversation, Liam finally spoke up, his voice full of admiration. “You know, man, I didn’t think anyone could surprise me anymore. But you just did. Big time.”

Fifi grinned and gave Owen a playful shove. “You need to stop with the secrets.”

Beck laughed and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’d have put you through the wringer if you’d kept that from us any longer.”

“Even good ones?” Owen asked.

Vern chuckled, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean to drop that on you all like this. I just figured you deserved to know, especially since he’s sitting at your table. Don’t give me too much credit. The deal was still more dollars and cents than I would rather admit.”

“Well,” Mom said, wiping a tear from her eye, “we’re glad you did. Owen, you’re a part of this family now. Whether you like it or not.”

There was a round of laughter, but I barely registered it. I was still trying to process everything. I hadn’t known Owen was capable of something so… incredible. He’d risked so much for us, for my family. And he hadn’t asked for anything in return.

As the conversation around me picked up again, I found myself drifting toward the lodge's back door. I needed a moment to gather my thoughts. The frigid evening air hit me as I stepped outside, and I let out a shaky breath, staring up at the sky as the stars began to twinkle overhead.

Soon, snow would cover the ground, and temperatures would be below freezing. The seasons would come and go, and I hoped that Owen would be here for them all.

He’d already become a part of my heart. But this? This was something else entirely. How could I ever begin to understand what it meant for someone to do what he’d done? To put everything on the line for me and my family?

The door creaked open behind me, and I didn’t need to turn around to know it was Owen.

“Hey,” he said softly, stepping up beside me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, still staring at the stars. “Yeah. I just… I needed a minute.”

“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” he said after a moment. “I just wanted to ensure you could keep the land. That’s all.”

I turned to face him, my heart pounding in my chest. “But you didn’t have to do that. You didn’t have to risk so much for us.”

Owen’s eyes softened, and he reached out to take my hand. “I didn’t have to. But I wanted to. Because you—and your family—you mean everything to me.”

Tears welled in my eyes, and I blinked them back, trying to find the words to express my feelings. But all I could manage was a whisper. “Thank you.”

Owen smiled, his thumb brushing gently over my knuckles. “You don’t need to thank me, Violet. I did it because I love you.”

Those three words hit me like a wave, washing over me and filling me with a warmth I hadn’t felt in a long time. He loved me. And in that moment, I realized that I loved him too.

“I love you, too,” I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them. But as soon as I said them, I knew they were true.

Owen’s smile widened, and he pulled me into his arms, holding me close as the cool breeze rustled the leaves around us.

We stood there for what felt like forever, wrapped in each other’s warmth, the weight of everything we’d been through lifting, leaving only the promise of what lay ahead. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like the future was something I could look forward to—because I wasn’t facing it alone.

Back inside, the sound of my family’s laughter filtered through the open window, and I knew that this—this moment, this love, this life—was more than I could ever dream of.