Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 491

CHAPTER 258-2

I looked down at the workshop again.

The past year had changed everything.

I had started the year trying to save Lawson Customs, and somehow, Lawson Customs had

become the place where I found the rest of my life.

I had fallen in love. I had ended a war. I had built a family. I had become a mother. I had

repaired relationships I once believed were beyond saving.

Charles had come back into my life slowly, and Victoria had learned that showing up

mattered more than promises.

Charlotte had taken responsibility for what she had done, and although our relationship still

had scars, we were finally learning how to be sisters again.

I had stopped expecting the past to disappear. Instead, I had learned how to live beyond it

and Jace squeezed my waist.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked and I smiled as I looked at him.

“Everything.” I said.

He waited and I rested my arms against the railing.

“I was thinking about how much changed.” I said.

“That’s one way to put it.” He said and I laughed softly.

“I spent so much time believing I had to do everything myself.” I said.

“You probably still believe that.” He said.

“I’ve improved.” I said.

“Have you?” He asked and I turned and gave him a look.

“Don’t ruin my emotional moment.” I said and he smiled.

“I’m listening.” He said and I looked toward Will’s motorcycle again.

“I keep thinking about Uncle Will.” I said as Jace followed my gaze.

CHAPTER 258-2

“He would be proud of you.” He said and my throat tightened.

“I wish he could see this.” I said.

“He does.” He said and I looked at him.

“You really believe that?” I asked.

+25 Pomts

“I believe that everything you built here carries a piece of him.” He said and I looked down at

the workshop.

He was right. Will had given me more than a business.

He had given me somewhere to belong.

When nobody else believed in me, he had. When people looked at me and saw someone who couldn’t possibly handle the weight being placed on her shoulders, Will had looked at me and

seen someone capable.

He had trusted me. He had taught me. He had believed in me. And I had spent years trying to

prove that belief had not been misplaced.

I rested my hands against the railing.

“Thank you, Uncle Will.” I said and Jace looked at me but didn’t interrupt.

“Thank you for believing in me when nobody else did. Thank you for giving me this place, even though I didn’t understand what it meant until you were gone.” I whispered and the

words caught in my throat.

“I wish you could have met our daughter.” I said and Jace’s arm tightened around me.

“She would have loved him.” He said and I smiled through the ache in my chest.

“She would have.” I said.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

We simply stood together as the sky changed from gold to orange, and then from orange to

deep pink.

The last sunlight reflected against the windows of the workshop, making the entire building

seem to glow.

Then the sound of motorcycles broke through the quiet.

CHAPTER 258-2

I looked toward the driveway. One motorcycle turned into the yard. Then another. Then

another and I laughed.

“Apparently, nobody told them Sunday was over.” I said and Jace smiled.

“They probably decided the night was too quiet.” He said.

+25 Points

More motorcycles rolled into the parking lot, and familiar voices carried across the yard.

Children ran between the bikes. Someone laughed loudly near the garage.

Emma called after one of the kids to slow down. Sophia was carrying a tray of drinks. Mia appeared from her car and immediately started complaining about everyone coming back

after she had already cleaned up.

Ben returned with Aiden, and within minutes, the workshop lights came back on and Jace

looked at me.

“You want to go back down?” He asked and I smiled.

“Of course.” I said as he took my hand.

We walked downstairs together and the moment we stepped into the workshop, the noise

surrounded us.

Laughter filled the garage. Children played near the safe end of the building while their parents watched them.

Friends gathered around motorcycles. Someone started telling a story that had already been told at least twenty times, and everyone still laughed at the punchline.

Our daughter was passed from one pair of loving arms to another, and every time she laughed, someone nearby smiled.

I stood there with Jace beside me and looked around.

This was Lawson Customs. Not the building. Not the tools. Not the motorcycles.

The people. The family and the life.

I looked toward Will’s motorcycle, sitting proudly beneath the lights.

For years, I had thought the greatest thing I could do was save the business he left me.

Now I understood that saving Lawson Customs had never really been the point.

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CHAPTER 258-2

The point was what came after.

+25 Points

The people who found a place here. The apprentices who learned their first skills. The

mechanics who found work. The friends who became family. The children who grew up

knowing they were surrounded by people who loved them.

The couples who found happiness. The people who came through the doors carrying nothing

but a broken motorcycle and left feeling like they belonged somewhere.

That was what Uncle Will had wanted.

He hadn’t wanted a perfect business. He had wanted a place where people could come

together.

A place where nobody had to stand alone and Jace slipped his arm around my shoulders.

“You okay?” He asked and I looked at him so I smiled.

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