Page 140 of Freefall

“I came back.” I rest my forehead against hers. “I will always come back for you, Dani.”

34

HARPER

The ocean has a way of swallowing sound.

Laughter. Shouting. Tears.

I watch the waves crashing against the rocky shoreline, each one disappearing under the next until there’s nothing but a steady rhythm.

White noise.

Daisy used to have a sound machine that mimicked the ocean. I would turn it on every night before putting her to bed, and it drowned out everything else. Cars, sirens, the occasional drunk guy stumbling down the sidewalk at two in the morning.

It’s the same now. People talk in hushed voices, but I can’t make out a single word. Salt air blows in from below, and I’m grateful I can't hear what they're saying. It would only take away from the moment, and I want to enjoy the quiet.

The kind that comes before something irreversible.

With unsteady hands, I lift the camera to my eye. The shutter clicks. Once, twice.

Luke stands under a cedar arch overlooking the water, his hands clasped so tightly in front of him that his knuckles have turned white. Beside him, Nate leans over and whispers something that makes Luke smile.

Declan stands on Luke’s other side, the silver ring in his lip catching in the sunlight. He elbows Nate, who rolls his eyes before letting him in on whatever he told Luke. Next to Declan, Ashton straightens his tie and winks across the aisle at Allie and Skylar, who stand together holding bouquets of white roses and eucalyptus.

I snap another picture of the six of them.

Luke exhales slowly and looks toward the aisle, anticipation brightening his features.

My chest tightens.

It was only a little while ago that I waited with anticipation while someone I loved was fighting to survive.

The bullet missed Jace’s heart by inches. After surgery, he refused every prescription painkiller they offered, insisting Tylenol was enough. Preston called the rehab center to explain what had happened, and they agreed to hold his bed until he was cleared to travel. Jace checked in three days ago.

I don’t know if getting shot has a silver lining, but if it does, it's that our parents showed up. There’s going to be a long road to forgiveness, but it’s a start, a spark of something, and for that I’m grateful. The irony is that just as Jace slowly finds his way back to them…I’m stepping away.

I lower my camera and pull my coat tighter. The ceremony is being held on Baybridge Inn’s private oceanfront patio. It’s the same one I visited when I still thought Nate was marrying someone else. That feels like a lifetime ago, but it’s only been a few months. Most people would probably call Emory and Luke crazy for planning an oceanfront wedding in November, but the patio is sheltered from the worst of the wind, and there are plenty of heaters.

I adjust the strap on my camera just as the first soft notes of a guitar float across the space.

I look up.

Nate’s sitting on a stool now, next to the arch, his acoustic guitar resting on his knee. His fingers move across the strings with an ease that still amazes me, filling the space with an instrumental version of Mess Is Mine by Vance Joy.

He looks up while strumming and, for a split second, our eyes meet. A small smile curves his lips before he glances back toward the aisle.

Daisy appears first, wearing an ivory cardigan over her flower girl dress. She tosses handfuls of petals down the aisle, only for the wind to send half of them tumbling back toward her basket. Her brows furrow at the rebellious flowers, but she refuses to be defeated. I bite back a laugh, snapping a picture of our daughter mid-toss.

Our daughter.

The words still feel different, but I’m not afraid of them anymore.

Emory follows Daisy. The breeze catches her veil, sending it billowing behind her. Her father walks next to her, and on her other side, she holds the tiny hand of a boy who looks no more than two. He’s wearing a little gray suit complete with a navy gingham bowtie.

Dark hair and cornflower blue eyes like his daddy.

Rowan.