Page 85 of Revelry
“Can you stay with me tonight?” he asked, voice just above a whisper in my ear.
I nodded, and he kissed my forehead before addressing the group.
“Alright, gawkers, you’ve seen the show. Now get out of here so this gorgeous girl and I can make some plans.”
They all cheered, a mixture of laughter andI told you so’s andcongratulationsandabout damn time’s rolling in at us all at once. I just smiled up at Anderson as he looked down at me like he was the luckiest guy in the world.
“You ready?” he asked.
And even though I had no idea how we would make it work, or what would come next, I answered without a single doubt in my mind.
“Ready.”
AB OVO
ab-OH-voh
Adverb
From the beginning
My hand shook a little as I released Wren’s and unlocked the door to my cabin. It was the first time I’d invited her inside it, the first time I’d let her in to see the place I called home.
The funny thing now was that she felt more like home than any cabin or town ever did.
When I pushed the door open and placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her inside, I swallowed back the last bit of nerves still hanging around. She was here, she was staying—at least for the night—and she loved me, too.
Nothing else mattered.
Wren unwrapped her scarf, hanging it over the coat rack and gently placing the sketchbook I’d made her on my dining room table before running her fingers over the polished wood as she looked around. We were both quiet, yet comfortable, and I stood back with my hands in my pockets and watched her take it all in.
“It’s exactly what I’d imagined it’d be,” she said softly, crossing the room to the large windows that lined the back of the living room and overlooked the river. Now that she was inside, it was exactly what I’d imagined it could be, too.
Ever since Ron had verbally smacked some sense into me, my hands had been working on her sketchbook while my mind worked on what I’d say to make her see she belonged with me. I’d barely slept, my stomach in knots over how she’d react. But it was better than I could have imagined, and though I knew there were still a million questions we needed to answer, I wasn’t worried about a single one.
Wren turned, the evening sunlight a soft glow behind her as she made her way back to me. I still hadn’t moved from the front door, and she carefully threaded her hands behind my neck, playing with the edge of my hairline as her green eyes flicked back and forth between mine.
“I’m so sorry, for everything,” she said again but I shook my head, lowering my lips to hers to silence her apology. I’d missed her—God,I’d missed kissing her—and having her in my arms again almost felt like a dream.
I pulled back, brushing the sliver of fallen hair from her face. “These past two weeks have been hell, but I needed them as much as you did, Wren. I think being away from each other made us realize that everything we felt when we were together was real. Before, when we were spending every day together, it was too much. It was toogood, and neither of us felt like we deserved it. Or like it was right.”
She nodded. “There’s still so much to figure out... I still have to go back to Seattle. At least, for a little while. Maybe forever.”
“I know,” I assured her. “And we’ll figure it out.”
Wren smiled, hands sliding down from where they were hooked around my neck to rest on my forearms. Then her eyes fell to the corner behind me and she paused. “That’s her, isn’t it?”
I didn’t have to turn to know she was looking at Dani’s picture, the one that’d been by my front door since I’d moved in. And I didn’t have to answer, because she already knew.
Wren slipped from my arms and reached for the frame, running a finger along the edge as she looked into the eyes of the first person to ever show me what family was. Dani would have loved Wren, and for a moment I felt a stab of pain low in my stomach at the realization that they’d never meet.
“I went to see her,” I said after a moment, my voice a little raw.
Wren set the frame back down and turned to me. “Dani?”
I nodded. “I knew I had to let go of the guilt I held over her death. I’ve been harboring it for so long. It changed every fiber of my being, so much so that I didn’t even know who I was when you first met me. But being around you, talking to you about her, about me, about dreams and hopes again... it woke me up.Youwoke me up. And I realized that I couldn’t keep living with that guilt, whether you were in my life or not.”
She swallowed. “Momma Von told me about that day... about what happened.”
