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Beck received a framed page of manuscript paper—his arrangement for the band’s first hit, saved all these years by Jack. As the others told him how much he meant to them, he grew visibly emotional. I watched Blake lean closer to see what he was holding.

Then Jasper called Grant’s name.

Grant caught his parcel and unwrapped it. He held up a length of rope.

“Um, okay, this may indicate I’m on the naughty list.”

“That’s part of Soren’s guide line,” Jasper said. “The one that helped Grant bring Knox back in safely. Jack thought you ought to have a piece of it to remind yourself how brave you are.”

“Oh, I see.”

The smile left Grant’s face. A muscle moved in his jaw as he looked down at what he was holding.

Knox leaned forward. “That rope and you—that’s why I’m here. You know it’s true.”

Grant shrugged. “I did what anyone would do.”

I hated thinking about that night. Even now, with both of them sitting safely beside the fire, I could make myself feel sick imagining how it might have ended. But it didn’t end badly. We had them both back with us, safe and sound.

“I doubt that,” Jack said. “Regardless, you’re a hero, and I wanted to acknowledge that.”

I watched Grant instead of my brother. He was rubbing a section of the rope between his fingers, his gaze lowered. I wondered if he could hear what Jack was telling him without arguing against it in his head.

“Thank you, Jack. It’s very kind of you.”

I laid my hand on his forearm. He glanced at me, and I leaned over to kiss his cheek.

He turned his hand beneath mine and held on while Jasper moved to Knox’s present.

It was his crutch, covered in messages from everyone, which got us laughing again. Knox looked thoroughly pleased with it. I suspected he’d be showing off the least appropriate inscriptions for years.

Holly opened a brick. “It’s a—Jack, it’s a brick.”

“Open the other one,” Jack said.

Jasper handed her the tube containing building plans. Jack explained they were the plans to rebuild the Boys & Girls Club in Stonehaven.

A new Boys and Girls Club. Completely funded.

I looked from the plans in Holly’s hands to my brother. We’d spent so much of our childhood there. I knew exactly what a place like that could mean to a kid whose mother was working and whose house was empty after school.

“The brick’s from the original building.” Jack paused for a second, glancing at Rhett. “I had only one request. I asked them to name it after Rhett.”

I pressed my lips together as Rhett tried to answer him.

Holly had the brick in one hand and the plans in the other. Watching her, I found myself trying to imagine the new building where the old one had stood. The doors opening. Children coming in after school. All the things that could happen for them because they had somewhere to go.

My gift was next.

Jasper held out an envelope. It was small enough that I assumed there was a card inside. I slipped a finger beneath the flap and pulled out the contents. For a moment, I couldn’t make sense of what I was reading. Then I looked across the fire at Jack.

“Jack, no.”

“It’s done,” he said. “There’s nothing to argue about.”

I looked down again. The words were perfectly clear. I’d understood them correctly the first time.

“Jack, this is too much.”