Page 74 of The House on Firefly Beach
“Absolutely.” He gave her a wink, his elbow leaning on the open window like he always had, his other hand resting on the top of the steering wheel. “I’m never letting you go again.” She scooted over so that she was right next to him on the old bench-style seat. He eyed her with a suggestive look on his face. “I should’ve thought this whole family gathering out… I want you all to myself.”
“There’s plenty of time to be by ourselves,” she said, kissing him on the cheek.
He nodded. “We have our whole life ahead of us.”
She put her head on his shoulder.
When the truck came to a stop, next to a line of familiar cars belonging to her family and friends, they were outside of an enormous red barn with white trim. Nate got out and opened her door before running up to the barn and sliding the large panel to open the space. Inside, it was finished with hardwood floors and an enormous chandelier hanging from the vaulted A-line ceiling. “What is this?” she asked, coming up beside him and waving to everyone inside.
Lewis was there and Uncle Hank. Mama and Robby were both grinning like crazy, and Hallie had her hand on her heart lovingly as she stood by Ben and Malory. Juliana was grinning from ear to ear.
“Well, by day, it’s a whiskey distillery. And by night, it’s a private concert venue … I thought we could get married on the beach and have our reception here, if that’s what you still want to do.”
Robby ran forward and put his arms around them both. “Hey, buddy,” she said, her two realities colliding. “I want to tell you about Nate,” she said.
“Ben told me!” Robby said excitedly.
“Oh?” she asked. “What did he tell you?”
“He said that Nate loves the two of us very much and that he’s going to take care of us and play all the football I want!”
Nate and Sydney both laughed, their gaze moving over to Ben, who shrugged with a guilty smile.
“He’s right,” Nate said. “Football all day, every day! But right now, we have a party to go to.”
As they went inside the barn, Sydney noticed a table full of boxes of pizza and bottles of soda. She looked at Ben questioningly.
“It’s the best I could do on short notice. I know you’ve never been a big planner, Nate, but thirty minutes would be difficult for anyone,” he said with a laugh. “The rest of town should be here in about an hour. Fingers crossed they can find the place. But I do have a surprise.” He pointed to the corner of the barn, and Uncle Hank pushed a lever on the wall illuminating a small stage. The back door opened and one of Ben’s super-groups that he produced, Sylvan Park, a band that recently had been selling out whole stadiums, walked in and took their places on stage.
Sydney clapped a hand over her mouth. “How did you manage this?” she asked through her fingers.
“They’re on vacation down the road in Seaside at the moment, and they owed Nate and me a favor.”
The lead singer tapped his microphone, the amplifiers on the walls thumping. “This is a song that Nate wrote for Sydney. It’s on our next album. You all are the first to hear it live. I hope you enjoy it. It’s called ‘It Was Always You’.”
Rest your head tonight
In your bed tonight,
Close your eyes
And think of me
I’m out here all alone
Hoping you hear me,
Wishing you knew
It was always you…
Nate took Sydney’s hand and walked her out under the chandelier to dance with her. As they moved to the music, he whispered in her ear, “It was always you.” And Sydney danced with Nate Henderson for the rest of the song, and forever.
Epilogue
“You know I don’t like you flying to New York in your state,” Nate said to Sydney, kissing her as they sat together on the porch swing at their cottage. “NY Pulsewill have to wait for our little Abigail to make her appearance.”
They’d decided to name their baby girl Clara Abigail after Aunt Clara instead of their original choice of Melody. Abigail and Robby were going to grow up in Firefly Beach, and it was only fitting that the next woman in the family carry Aunt Clara’s name. Abigail would have her whole life ahead of her to choose what she wanted to do, but one thing was for sure: Clara Abigail Henderson would be born into a strong line of creative and innovative women. And Nate and Sydney would be right there with her to help her along the way.
