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He would take every angel just to see her look at him like that. The way he saw it, everybody won. The children had their miracle and he got his angel.
“What am I missing? There’s so many, why hasn’t the whole fucking city of LA come out here to help these little guys?”
“They will. You might want to leave some for others.”
He plucked another handful off the fronds and slipped them into his pockets. He’d come back later for more, but Juniper looked ready to push him along.
Juniper eyed the sky and her watch. “Okay then. Now we really have to hurry. Come! I want to show you why I do what I do.”
That caught his interest. To see behind the veil and see what made Juniper tick was too tempting to pass up.
Sand ground underfoot as the double-wide sidewalk dipped around a small bend and opened up to reveal a large gazebo at the end. White polished wood rimmed with more lights. It was spacious and could probably fit an entire orchestra under its domed ceiling. Weather had chipped at the dark blue paint of the roof and sand dusted across the floor.
Juniper climbed the few steps and looked at her watch again.
“Here, stand here.” He did.
“Three, two, one. Look!” He followed the line of sight she pointed to out over the water. Bursts of light shot out and struck the moving water in such a way that a million diamonds scattered across the wide expanse as a final send-off before the sun set for the day. Everything shimmered and glittered but not as much as Juniper. He couldn’t look away. She shined just as brilliantly. More so, in his opinion.
“Magical, isn’t it?”
“Indeed, beautiful too,” he added, his eyes riveted to the true beauty.
“One day shortly before my eleventh birthday I snuck out of school and came here. As usual the sun was high and the heat so intense. It was glorious. I spotted a couple and hid behind a large palm trunk. Given I wasn’t supposed to be off school grounds, I didn’t want word getting back about my little adventures in case they knew my parents.”
Marshall laughed. “Such a bad girl. Go on.”
“So I ducked behind a tree and witnessed in awe as a man knelt on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. I can still see her expression, the way her eyes lit up. She wasn’t looking at the ring either. Her eyes were all on him. The light hit the ocean just right to cast the same illusion of magic over them. But at the time I thought it was real magic. That day, that moment, that’s when I knew. I knew love was magical or was supposed to be. And perfect and I wanted that for me. Then I went to law school, but that’s another story for another day.”
“Hence your list?” he said softly.
She nodded. “Truth be told, and don’t you ever repeat this to anyone, I wished I never created that thing. I don’t know why I keep it now.”
He sealed his lips and threw away the invisible key. “I promise to never tell a soul.”
She laughed and leaned in a little. “Good. You know I’ll do bad things to you if you do.”
“Now that’s just tempting me.”
He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “So you had your perfect wedding all planned out and then I came along. I admit I’m happy you have your list.”
Her brows rose in surprise. “Oh, really? Do tell why?”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear that slipped from the ponytail she had it tamed with.
“It saved you for me.” He hadn’t expected to let that particular truth slip, but he didn’t want to lie either.
And the reaction on her face hadn’t been what he expected either.
“Marshall, what are we doing? The lie…” Juniper stared out over the lake and the families that were packing up for the evening after a beach day.
So much for hoping she would believe him. The more he thought about it the more he had a gut sinking feeling the emotions she lured from him would never stand a chance.
He sighed. He didn’t like where this was going. He didn’t need to hear what she had to say next. His gut already knew. She hated lying as much as he did and tonight proved that.
“Juniper, I’m sorry. We can’t tell them. It’s too complicated. Dangerous, even.”
“I know, but the falsehoods around our supposed love, the hope I saw in my mother’s and gran’s eyes nearly killed me.” She turned to him and he could see the warring conflicts in the depths of her eyes.
