Page 99 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

“Why?”

“I was just wondering.”

“May tenth.”

Callum got his—For now, For always—tattoo the same day he proposed to Felicity. That had to mean something. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

“Why?” Daphne questioned.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost again. Just like on New Year’s Eve.” Ashley took a step toward me. “What’s wrong?”

Before I could answer that question, the doors opened, and Lorraine Shelby, the wedding planner, walked in.

“We’re ready to get started,” Lorraine announced.

Daphne, Ashley, and I all huddled around Zoe once more and told her how beautiful and amazing she looked. As we were leaving, AJ appeared at the door. He looked so grown up. He was wearing a suit and tie and was going to be giving his mom away. I remembered going over to see him after he was born when we were still in high school. It was crazy how that seemed so long ago, and also like it was yesterday.

Daphne, Ashley, and I made our way to the auditorium where the ceremony was going to be held. Daphne found Harlan, who was seated with his grandfather and Mrs. B, who ran the boarding house, as well as her Aunt Rhonda and her aunt’s new boyfriend, Albert. Ashley went to join her husband, Declan; sister Skylar, and brother-in-law, Hank, who was seated with his brothers, Jimmy and his wife Isabella; sister Cheyenne; and her husband, Cash. In the row in front of them, Hank’s third brother, Billy, was sitting with his wife, Reagan, who was my college roommate.

I could go over and join them, but honestly, I was just so tired of being the third wheel, or in this case, I would be the eleventh wheel. I scanned the room to find a place to sit. It was hard not to be discouraged as I looked out over the crowd. Besides all of my besties being wifed up by their soulmates, all of the Comfort brothers and their little sister found their HEAs, and they had a family curse that was working against them.

It wasn’t just the younger crowd in Firefly Island who had been struck by Cupid’s bow. The senior citizens were getting in on the action. Besides Harlan’s grandad and Mrs. B, being loved up, Zoe’s father-in-law, Walter, and my old babysitter, Anna May Birch, had been spotted ‘necking’ in her classic ‘63 Oldsmobile Cutlass after Bingo night. Buzz and Agnes had hearts floating around them on their Pace Maker walks. Even Nora, who hadn’t dated in a decade, looked head over heels when I’d seen her with Michael Robbins.

Everywhere I looked, people were coupled up. I felt like I was a cast member in a real-life Love Island, and I was at risk of being dumped from the island because I was single. Doing the scavenger hunt with Callum, I didn’t feel single. It felt like old times. We were hanging out on the pier just having fun, and when we finished with the scavenger hunt, we had even more fun. I just wanted to be back together with him more thananything I’d ever wanted in my life, but we hadn’t had that talk, and I just didn’t know what was stopping us.

For all the years Callum was gone, I’d been able to, for the most part, bury my feelings for him, numb myself, and lead a relatively normal life. But now that he was back, there was no denying how I felt. If Callum did stay in town and we didn’t work out, I was going to have to move. There would be no way I could have a front-row seat to watch him falling in love with Ariana or Kendra, or even casually dating them.

Until then, I needed to find a seat to watch my friend get married. I walked to a row that was occupied by the Jenson family and took my seat beside the nine-year-old identical twins Harry and Fred, whom I taught a few years ago. They were distinguished by their favorite colors. Harry loved blue, and Fred loved green. Today they were in khaki slacks, white shirts with black suspenders, and bowties, one blue, one green.

“Hi, Miss Nadia,” they both spoke in unison.

“Hi, boys. You both look nice.”

“It’s itchy.” Harry frowned as he shifted in his seat and pulled at his collar, trying to undo his blue bowtie.

Fred, the more, shall we say,adventurousof the two, pulled his suspenders out as far as they could stretch in front of him and then let them go. There was a loud snap and a wince/whimper.

“Boys.” Lucy Henson snapped her fingers at them.

Fred’s expression revealed he was clearly proud of himself. Harry’s frown deepened, and it made me wonder how many times Harry got lumped in on the scolding for something his brother did. I would guess many.

My head was still facing the boys when I felt someone sit down beside me.

I was turning my head when I felt fingertips graze my ear as my hair was tucked behind it, and warm breath fanned my neck as a deep voice whispered, “Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s okay.” Goosebumps rose on my arm as my entire body tensed and relaxed simultaneously. The anxiety I’d felt about Callum not showing up was gone; it was now replaced with tension of the sexual variety.

He moved even closer, and his clean, woodsy scent lit up my pheromones like triple sixes on a slot machine. “Chloe had a hair emergency. She wanted to call you, but I told her you were with Zoe, helping her get ready.”

I couldn’t help but feel a little bit giddy that I was the person Chloe wanted to speak to when she had a hair emergency, which for a thirteen-year-old girl, is very serious. Felicity lived in the house and was a beauty influencer, but it was me she wanted to call.

“Did she get it worked out?”

“My mom helped her.”

“Good,” I was feeling a little breathless and dizzy from just being this close to Callum after being apart from him. I needed to build up a tolerance again.

A door on the side of the stage opened, and Miles walked out with his assistant, Jada. They both took their places beside Pastor Miller, and the music began to play softly through the speakers. All of the attendees stood as the doors opened and Zoe appeared, holding onto AJ’s arm.

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