Jasper pays extra for a seat in the front row at Sloane’s performance. Afterward, he runs to greet her, introducing himself to her fellow cast members as her “boyfriend.” He finds watching Sloane perform to be intensely arousing, and he is desperate to get his hands on her. Once in her dressing room, he wastes no time; they have rough, passionate sex, which Jasper sees as “therapeutic. Like we’re punishing each other for so many years and moments missed” (379). Though Jasper is entirely in control during sex, he worries when he realizes that he is entirely consumed by her. He fears that he will somehow make a mistake and ruin their relationship. Suddenly, they are interrupted by a knock on the dressing room door.

Sloane covers herself with a robe and answers the door to find her parents standing there. Her parents’ expressions reveal that they could clearly hear the activities in the dressing room. Robert demands to know why Jasper is there, and Jasper sneers smugly. Robert speaks to Sloane as if she were a child and calls Jasper a “boy.” He threatens to ruin Jasper’s career and manipulatively tells Sloane to reconsider this relationship, lest she ruin Jasper’s chances of success at hockey. Robert then tells Sloane to meet them for dinner on her birthday, but not to bring Jasper. She refuses to go to the dinner because Jasper has a game that day, and she also refuses to take any further orders from her father. Throughout the altercation, Sloane’s mother, Cordelia, remains silent, her face a mixture of fear and sadness.

Jasper and Sloane drive home to the house they’re currently renovating. Jasper must return to the city for a hockey game, and Sloane wants to be on the ranch when he’s gone. She begins crying and tells Jasper that she fears her father will make good on his threats; she doesn’t want Jasper to risk his hard-earned success just to be with her. Jasper reassures her that her father cannot ruin him. Privately, she worries that she and Jasper have been merely “playing house”; they haven’t spoken seriously about their relationship because the dynamic that they have feels “tenuous, too unsettled” (389). Jasper urges her to attend the birthday dinner in order to get closure. She explicitly asks Jasper if he is willing to risk it all to be with her, but instead of answering, he sits in silence. Sloane tells him to “take time and space” (393) to think things over.

Summer asks Sloane and Willa to join her for brunch with her estranged sister, Winter, as the two siblings have not been on the best of terms. At brunch, Willa and Summer encourage Winter to leave the city and move to Chestnut Springs. Sloane says that Winter can rent one of Jasper’s houses. She then tells them the story of how she and Jasper met. Internally, she is confused because although she knows that Jasper loves her, he has not yet verbally expressed this or given her any tangible proof that he cares. She admits that she hasn’t done this either, and she is feeling lost and unsure of what to do next. Winter says that in the short time she has been around them both, she can tell that Jasper loves Sloane. Winter adds that if the relationship doesn’t work out, Sloane should “move on,” but Sloane knows that such a thing would be impossible.

Sloane isn’t answering Jasper’s texts. Earlier, he went to their house but saw her with the other ladies. Deciding not to intrude, he slept in the house next door, just to be close to Sloane. Jasper has also spoken with his manager, explaining the situation with Sloane’s father. Jasper wants to tell Sloane they have nothing to fear, but he keeps losing his nerve. When he goes to Harvey for advice, Harvey calls him foolish for failing to express his love to Sloane. Jasper says that he loses everyone he loves through either death or abandonment. Harvey reassures Jasper that he loves him like one of his sons, and he encourages him to find happiness with Sloane. Jasper declares that he would give up everything for Sloane, including his hockey career.

Cordelia, who is Sloane’s mother and Harvey’s sister-in-law, arrives unexpectedly with suitcases, asking to stay at the ranch. She has left her husband Robert and implores Jasper to go to Sloane’s birthday dinner because she fears that Robert and Sterling are planning an ambush for Sloane. Before she can even finish her sentence, Jasper is out the door.

Cordelia texts Sloane to announce that she can’t attend the birthday dinner, and she also reveals that she was the one who sent Sloane the incriminating video of Sterling on Sloane’s wedding day. Sloane arrives at the dinner alone, wearing a black power suit that she bought at Winter’s bidding. From afar, she can see her father and Sterling, who now seem to her like “little boys” rather than “real men” like Jasper and the Eatons. Sloane feels empowered. She has decided that no matter what, she will return to Chestnut Springs and forge her own path without her father or Sterling’s interference.

Sloane pretends not to know why her mother is absent. Jasper arrives, having skipped his hockey game to be there for her. He tells her that he is ready to “take the gamble” to be with her. Robert orders Jasper to leave, and Sterling calls him “trash.” Jasper kicks over Sterling’s chair, causing him to fall and spill his wine. Laughing, Sloane declares that she will never marry Sterling and that she has lost the engagement ring. She laments that her father cannot love her the way she deserves, and she hopes he will see the light one day. She and Jasper leave, holding hands.

Outside the restaurant, Jasper apologizes to Sloane for being “late” for more than just the dinner. He is done wasting time on fears of losing her and is now ready to commit himself wholeheartedly to their relationship. He has bought her a white Volvo SUV for her birthday so that she can come and go as she pleases. Jasper says that he loves her, and Sloane returns the sentiment.

For Christmas, Sloane and Jasper celebrate with her mother and the Eatons at the ranch. They begin a new family tradition of having a family hockey game. Sloane steals a kiss from Jasper to score a goal. Everyone cheers at their public display of affection—except for Luke, Cade’s son, who calls it “gross.” Sloane and Jasper leave early to be alone in their home.

Six months later, Sloane attends the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals along with Violet, Harvey, Beau, Summer, Cade, Willa, Luke, and the new baby, Emma. These days, Cordelia is still living at the ranch, and she and Harvey argue “like an old married couple” (441). Sloane loves being a part of this family. As the game clock winds down, Jasper assists on the winning goal. When Sloane runs to celebrate with him on the ice, he gets down on one knee and proposes, and Sloane accepts.

On Sloane and Jasper’s wedding day at the ranch, Harvey walks her down the aisle because Robert has refused to attend the ceremony. Before the wedding, Harvey meets with Jasper and tells him that he is proud to have Jasper as part of their family. He gives Jasper and Sloane the deed for a quarter of the ranch: the same gift that he has given to his other children. Sloane arrives, wearing her gown, and Jasper shows her his new tattoo and ring on his left finger. They embrace under the window where Sloane first saw Jasper at the ranch.