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The big man just rolled his eyes and carried on, used to being hit on in his own bar. “Without further ado, my friend and songwriter, Dec Boggs!”
I nearly slid right off the barstool. There, in jeans molded to his thighs and a pair of scuffed brown boots, stood the man who still took my breath away. He stepped up onto the stage and clapped Ezra on the shoulder before taking the mic from him. He looked right at me, a faint smile on his tanned, handsome face.
“I figured since everyone knows who I am now anyway, I could finally sing on karaoke night. You have no idea how much it’s killed me not to be able to get on this stage.” The crowd was loud and rowdy, but I heard nothing but Dec’s smooth voice coming out of the speakers. “Not sure about you, but I’m sick of hearing Harley sing.”
Harley, having entered the bar at some point, booed from behind us. Everyone else cracked up laughing. Dec pointed to Ezra and an old familiar track started playing.
“Tonight is for Sunshine Key, my home.”
And then Dec opened his mouth and sang.
His voice was beautiful. Deeper and raspier than it had been ten years ago, but better in its maturity. The words and notes flowed over me, reverberating through my ribs and into my heart. My lips mouthed the memorized words while my eyes drank him in. The hat he always hid behind was nowhere to be seen. He wore the same black leather cord around his neck, but now a small silver disk winked in the lights above the stage. He’d fixed the good luck charm I’d given him, wearing it proudly. Like he was making a statement, one only I’d know.
When he ended one song and immediately launched into another one, he shot me a wink and a smile that obliterated all the uncertainty I’d been feeling. Char grabbed my arm and squealed, bobbing up and down in her seat. The bar was now packed, as if word had gotten out ahead of time that Dec would be performing. Bodies pressed in around us, but we stayed center stage. I couldn’t have looked away from him even if the place was on fire.
When the final note of that song faded away and the crowd clapped and cheered, Dec waited for the hubbub to die down. He looked out into the crowd and explained that the next song was a new one, one he’d written a month ago. He hopped down from the stage and sauntered up to our table before reaching for my hand. The crowd noise was hushed as they all waited to see what he’d do. My heart was in my throat, cutting off my breath. His thumb swept along my skin.
“This song is just for Kenna.”
Harley appeared on stage with a guitar and began to play. Dec didn’t let go of my hand. He began to sing a slow love song about a woman rising from the ashes with her head held high and lighting the way for him too. Every word out of his mouth was our story. Every word an apology. Every word a plea.
And when he was done, I got off my barstool and let go of his hand.
So I could throw my arms around his neck. He dropped the microphone on the table and held me close, his face buried in my neck. The man was practically trembling.
“I’m so sorry, sunshine. I love you, and I know I fucked up.”
There was a huge difference between Dec and Justin, a realization I came to on the plane back home to Sunshine Key. My ex-husband had never been sorry for deceiving me and his deception had happened while we were together. Dec’s inability to tell me the truth about his past was simply pain he wasn’t ready to address. If Dec could be mature enough to face his past trauma for me, I could be mature enough to offer forgiveness. I pulled back to make sure he heard me.
“You’re forgiven. And I love you too.”
He crushed me to his chest in relief and then spun me around. The crowd cheered obnoxiously loud and hands patted us on the back. Harley took over the mic while Dec hauled me through the back hallway, past the bathrooms, and out the back door. He spun me around and pulled me in close, his hands on my hips.
“I was too busy running from myself to see the truth,” he said. “You pulled me out of hermit mode, and now that I’ve seen what life can be like, I want more. I need you, Kenna. I want to wake up next to you and have your gorgeous hair across my face. I want to see you draw and hear you talk to Maeve’s urn when you think no one hears you. I want to sit around a table with our parents and roll our eyes. I want to weather every storm with you. I want to be there next to you during your highest highs and your lowest lows. I love you, sunshine. So much. Please say we can have a life together. Please say you’ll give me another shot.”
The tears had gathered in my eyes during his love song and now they freely flowed down my cheeks. They weren’t the same tears I’d cried at the beginning of the summer. These were tears of happiness. Hard-fought happiness and contentment that couldn’t be contained in words alone.
Dec caught my face in his hands, thumbs swiping away the tears. He gazed down at me adoringly. “I want to give you the salt life, sunshine, but not from tears.”
My face felt like it might split in two with my smile. “Nah, we have a salt love.”
His head dipped and his warm lips set my brain ablaze, blocking out the world and promising forever. And this time, when his tongue met mine, he truly let me inside.
Chapter Thirty
Dec
Today marked our six-month anniversary. A half a year that Kenna had been in Sunshine Key, a curly-haired temptress who’d flipped my life upside down somewhere between a crying fit and learning how to hang her own ceiling fans with ease. I slid my anniversary gift into my pocket and headed downstairs where I heard her talking to Mona who’d swung by to borrow a waffle maker. Mona wanted to attempt making waffles for her and my father on Christmas morning, a domesticated act that surprised Kenna.
“You know, it could use new flooring,” I heard Mona suggest as I arrived downstairs. I rolled my eyes and strolled into the kitchen to put my arm around Kenna. She fit perfectly against my side, her head resting against my shoulder like she was made for me.
“I’m sure you could hire someone to install new carpet, Mona.” I shot her a knowing grin. She narrowed her eyes at me for a half a second before her face cleared.
Mona would always be Mona. She’d push Kenna for favors until she took her last breath and most of the time Kenna would give in and take care of things for her mother. But now I was part of the equation and I wasn’t about to sign my girlfriend up for the manual labor of installing carpet at Mona’s new condo just because she had the skills to do it. Kenna had told her to move out last month, a gentle announcement that had led to days of wailing hysterics before Pops was able to console Mona. Most likely it was the tour of the condos along the causeway that had her tears finally drying up. An ocean view will do that to a person.
“I’m making good money at the farmer’s market,” Mona agreed, then shrugged. “Maybe I’ll save up for it.” She’d taken her hippie wares of knitted pot holders with bawdy sayings, painted pots, and bedazzled bongs to the farmer’s market, causing a stir and lining her pockets.
Kenna reached out to squeeze her mom’s arm. “I’m happy for you, Mom. And more importantly, Maeve would be so happy to have you living in Sunshine Key.”
