Darion had waited long enough for his kiss, and he leaned in to brush his lips against mine. I could hear the cheers from everybody I loved and who loved me, right there on this cliff.
The wind picked up, and Darion’s finger touched my cheek. I pulled back from him, just an inch, and looked up into his eyes. My future was right in front of me.
I took his hand and led him to the edge of the cliff, a few feet beyond the arch. Like our wedding vows, this part wasn’t scripted. There was no repeating other people’s words, other weddings’ sentiments. This moment was all our own.
I grasped the shell necklace and pulled hard, snapping the fragile chain. Darion frowned, lifting his hand to catch it. “You broke it,” he said.
I nodded. I held the locket in my hands. Below, the ground fell away to the sea, waves crashing below. I felt I knew every boulder and tree after attempting to paint it so many times.
My fingernail slid into the locket’s clasp and flipped it up.
Darion knew what I was doing and cupped his hands beneath mine. I flicked the locket open and the wind caught the ashes.
They spiraled up a moment, just a puff against the open sky. Albert and Peanut, airborne, a soft cloud against the Blick Cerulean Blue.
Then, just as quickly, they dissipated, disappearing into the light. Gone.
Darion’s hands tightened on mine. Behind me, Corabelle came up and placed her arm around my shoulders. Then Jenny. Then my mom. Then Layla.
We looked out onto the sea from the cliff. The violin played again, a gentle tune, and I knew, without a doubt, that I was ready for whatever came next.
Epilogue: Gavin
The three girls were all sitting at the water’s edge. Jenny’s daughter, Phoenix, was the big kid, toddling along, falling face-first in the sand, getting up, and doing it all over again.
I elbowed Chance. “I see where she gets her coordination.”
He shook his head and stuck his hat back down over his eyes. He’d been up half the night at some rock-star party and was seriously not thrilled about being out before noon. Tough life. I didn’t feel one bit sorry for him.
The doc was digging through the cooler, probably looking for something healthier than the pastrami on rye I was eating. He occasionally looked up to watch Tina with their baby, who was big enough to sit up, laughing her head off every time a wave came in and touched her feet.
“Give it up,” I said. “Eat crap and drink beer.”
He held up a bag of carrots like it was a gold nugget he’d personally cut from a mine. “Never surrender,” he said.
Corabelle tried sticking Ethan’s feet in the water, but the minute the cold touched his toes, he seized up like a frog and screamed. He was two months old and had definitely discovered how to get people to act fast.
“Your kid has some lungs,” Darion said, plunking back down in the sand. “I bet he keeps you up at night.”
I could hear his wails over the waves. “I’ve got three words for you, Doc. Noise. Canceling. Headphones.”
Darion laughed. “Smart man.”
Corabelle lifted Ethan to her shoulder and patted his back. He quieted down. She glanced over at me and shrugged her shoulders. So much for his first swimming lesson.
“So, what’s she going to do about the teaching position?” Darion asked me.
“I think she’s going to turn it down,” I said. “It doesn’t pay squat and it’s not worth missing Ethan’s first year. We’ll just tough it out.”
Darion crunched into a carrot. “That’s a good plan. It’s time you can’t get back.”
“Says the workaholic.”
“Part of the job,” Darion said. He nudged Chance’s boot. “At least I’m not hungover after being out half the night.”
“Somebody’s got to make the sacrifice,” Chance grumbled from under his hat.
The girls headed our way. Jenny stood out with her crazy pink ponytails. Tina was so tiny that you couldn’t even imagine the chubby baby she was holding had actually ever been housed inside her.
Corabelle’s black hair whipped in the wind, like a goddess. Some things had changed about her over the years, but not that classic beauty. Even though I’d known her since I was in diapers myself, looking at her never failed to catch my full attention.
“You’re up,” Jenny said, dumping the wriggling toddler onto Chance’s belly. She immediately rolled off and took off for the waves again. “Better catch her.”
Chance shifted the hat, saw Phoenix making a beeline for the ocean, and jumped to his feet, mumbling something that sounded pretty colorful.
Jenny smacked him as he passed. “Don’t teach her advanced cursing just yet,” she said. “You know we can only get away with damn and hell!”
I took Ethan from Corabelle. “Didn’t much care for the Pacific?”
“It’s like he knows,” she said.
“I remember that day,” Jenny said. She shuddered. “Don’t ever get in that water again,” she told Corabelle. “I so do not want to be fishing anybody else out.”