Page 92 of Fire

Relief has me laughing. This is the Ivy I know, confident enough to bust my balls during a proposal. “Yes. Please. Put me out of my misery.”

Before I finish speaking, she’s out of her chair, jumping into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. “Yes, Micah. Yes! I can’t think of anything I want more.”

EPILOGUE

Ivy

Mom puts her hands on my shoulder and meets my eyes through the mirror in a dressing room at the Hutton Hotel. Her blonde hair is swept back in a French twist. Her makeup is on point, highlighting a pair of sky-blue eyes just like mine. And for the first time in my life, her smile looks real. “I can’t believe my little girl’s getting married!”

“And I can’t believe mine’s finally getting a divorce.” Grandma stands behind my other shoulder, beaming at us through the mirror. “The choices I made with my husband affected you, Sheila, which led to your choices affecting Ivy. I’ve carried so much guilt about that over the years. But here we all are. Together. Free.”

“And strong,” Mom says, her eyes misting.

“And capable,” Grandma adds.

“And loved.” I place a hand on my heart, pleased beyond measure to have these women with me. “It feels so good to be loved.”

Not long after my engagement, my mother called, sobbing so hard I couldn’t always understand her. She’d been mulling over everything I said on the phone when my relationship with Micah was new and slowly but surely, she’d seen the truth of her marriage for herself. How Dad twisted her thoughts until she genuinely thought she was losing her mind. How he made her believe she was so broken that every idea she had was wrong, so all she dared do was agree with him. The more time passed with me here in the Keys, she saw how happy and strong I was becoming. She reconnected with Grandma and the two of them had several difficult but honest conversations, and Mom finally decided she wanted out of her marriage.

It took some time, and a whole lot of bravery, but my mother finally left Dad right after the New Year. It was the contrast between the sterile evening she spent with her husband and the pictures of Micah, Nell, Grandma, and me at a Hutton party—all of us laughing and smiling and wearing ridiculous hats—that finally did it. Mom’s been living with Grandma for the last couple months, trying to remember herself. They come to dinner every Friday, and Mom spends time with Nell in a way she never has. Watching her come out of her shell has been one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

Though I guess that could be said for all of us.

Mom pins my veil into place, smoothing the lace down my back. “You look beautiful, my darling.” She turns to Nell, who’s sitting cross-legged in a chair beside me, reading. “Doesn’t your mom look beautiful?”

Nell glances up from her comic book and nods. “She looks like a princess, and not in a bad way.”

Mom fiddles with my veil even though it’s perfectly smooth. Her smile is warm and her eyes glitter with pride and unshed tears. “Is there a bad way to look like a princess?”

Nell closes her book and climbs onto her knees, crushing the royal blue dress she picked out for herself. “Remember when I told you about the girl in the dress in Aunt Cat’s pool? She looked like a princess and it was bad. Real bad. But we haven’t seen her in a long time.”

A soft knock sounds at the door and Micah’s mom pokes her head in. “It’s time!” she squeals, then dabs her eyes. “Oh, Ivy. I can’t believe we’re finally welcoming you to the family. You’ve always been an honorary Hutton, but I’m so happy to finally make it real! I always knew you’d end up one of us.”

My mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and daughter all hug me and tears wobble in my vision. I pull back, waving my hands at my eyes to dry them. “Five strong women in this room,” I manage. “I love you all to pieces.”

After another round of hugs and a few more tears, we shuffle out of the dressing room and wait for our cue. As the bridal march sounds, I step forward. Micah smiles, his hand on his heart like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

I elected not to have my father give me away. I’m not his to give. The choice to marry Micah is mine and mine alone and each step down the aisle is symbolic. Me, strong on my own, walking towards my future, my husband, a man who knows the difference between support and control. A man who will help me grow into my best self, a man who swears I’ll return the favor.

A man who promised to love me forever.

And we all know what it means when Micah Hutton makes a promise.

* * *

Micah

“Ladies and gentlemen!” The emcee’s voice booms over the speaker in the reception hall. “May I have your attention! For the first time as husband and wife, please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Micah Hutton and their daughter, Penelope Michaela Hutton!”

I take Ivy’s hand on one side and Nell’s on the other and we step into the reception hall as a family. My daughter was over the moon the day she became a Hutton. She wiggled and danced after the paperwork was signed, gleefully singing her new name for everyone to hear. That’s when the idea to have her announced along with Ivy and me struck. Ivy cried when I suggested it, much like she’s crying now, standing in front of an army of family while they cheer and clap and whistle, celebrating our union.

We cut the cake and have our first dance as husband and wife, followed by a Daddy Daughter dance for me and Nell, while Dad spins Ivy around the dance floor with the ease of a man used to being the center of attention.

“You look very beautiful tonight, LG,” I say to my little girl. “Even if you are wearing a dress.”

She laughs, wrinkling her nose in that adorable way of hers. “You look like Batman when he’s not Batman.”

“You mean Bruce Wayne?”

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