“Make a wish, Row.” He tilts his head to look at me.
“My wish already came true.”
He beams at me while nodding. “I told you. It’s destiny, kiddo. Plain and simple. You were always meant to be ours.”
“Can’t fuck with destiny.” My entire body shakes with laughter.
“Nope. You can’t.”
“If this is my destiny, Pappy, I’ll gladly take the happily ever after.”
He pats my hand. “It’s coming, kiddo. You just had to reach out and take it.”
Squeezing his hand, I say what I should have said years ago. “I love you, Pappy. I always have and always will.”
The old man blubbers and chokes on his words. It takes a full minute before he can compose himself. “I love you too, Row. Always have and always will. Now, I have to go find some damn tissues.” He stands, flustered, but his expression is filled with pure joy.
Glancing around the bonfire, I find so many faces of people I’m growing to love.
Never in my lifetime did I think that a lullaby sung twenty-five years ago would lead to late nights and love lines that wrap me up with my entire future.
Late nights and love lines. It kinda sounds like a song.
EPILOGUE
ONLY TIME WILL TELL
SEBASTIAN
Ruby and Kade barrel into the conference room like the little Tasmanian devils they are. I love the friendship they’ve formed, even if Kade does push all of Beck’s buttons by constantly reminding him that he plans to marry Ruby.
My gaze stays glued on the doorway, knowing that at any moment, the woman I said I’d marry when I was ten years old will walk through it.
And she doesn’t disappoint. Her hair is as wild as ever, the salt air giving it more volume than she knows what to do with. She’s still uncomfortable with the uncontrollable, but I hope her hair is never tamed.
I narrow my gaze when I find her cheeks flushed and her chest heaving.
Stella enters right behind her, holding up an empty bag. “Who’s going to give us a jockstrap?”
Beck slams his laptop closed and stands abruptly. “Stella,” he mutters. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“We also need a cotton-candy-flavored,” Rowan cups her mouth with both hands, then whispers, “condom.”
My grin grows. It’s been three days since Seren’s recital, and there’s been a shift in our relationship since. Neither of us has commented on it, but it’s there, growing and expanding to catch up with the love that hangs in the air all around us.
Even when Seren introduced her as my girlfriend to her new teacher, Rowan didn’t run.
She’s got twitchy fingers, and her toes tap every time she considers pulling away, but she’s stayed, she’s fought, and I love her all the more for it.
“I need a holey sock, a skipping stone, and a mouse,” Seren says, holding up a sheet of paper.
“What’s going on?” Teddy asks. He’s technically Beck’s general counsel, but as our companies become one, he’s slowly making the transition to Meridian Waters. It’s a lot more work, but he’s handled it seamlessly. He’s the only one Beck trusted enough to handle the Bryer-Blaine account, and as I spend more time with him, I can see why. The man doesn’t have a disloyal bone in his body.
Kade pushes himself between Beck and Stella, then jumps up and down in front of him. “I need a grasshopper and a lollipop.”
“Leo has the entire town in a tizzy over this scavenger hunt the camp’s hosting,” Stella explains. “Each age group has a different list, and everyone in town is in on it. You should see Main Street right now.”
Across the room, Leo shrugs with a mischievous grin on his face. “I’m only sponsoring it. Wanda put the list together at her store. I haven’t even seen them yet.”
