AllFreeNovel
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Epilogue
One week later
“You ready for this?”I ask Annie.
She bends toward the sand next to me, her flowing skirt getting tugged by the breeze as she inspects the cage. “Yes.”
The hotel attendants surround us on this important day.
Important, it seems, to my wife, and I guess to the bird.
Annie opens the door, tugs it wide.
Hugo peeps from his cage a couple of times before hopping toward the outside. He twitches his wings a few times before lifting off and sailing into the sky.
“It’s a big world,” I say solemnly. “Make good choices.”
My wife laughs. “You think he’ll be okay? He’ll find his mate?”
“Let’s fucking hope so. Otherwise, he’s a goner.”
She shoots me a look at my teasing, and I drag her against my side, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
In the week we’ve been here since the wedding, we’ve been unwinding a few degrees at a time. Annie’s better at it than I am.
One of the attendants’ phones go off.
“It’s been nonstop since the concert,” he says.
Concert is using the term loosely, but Finn and the others’ little acoustic session on the beach led to a viral internet presence.
“You’re going to be inundated with tourists,” I say.
“We tried so hard to hide it.”
“Some people still recognized it.”
“We’ve been telling them it wasn’t us,” the attendant says, smiling.
“It’s suspicious given your new merch,” Annie deadpans.
One of the women is wearing a tour T-shirt.
Zeke sent way too much, so I diverted one case of it for the hotel staff, who’ve been amazing while we’re here.
The attendants disperse, and I thread my hand through Annie’s. Her ring rests against my skin, and I love the feel of it.
“I have plans for us. We’re going for a ride.”
I cover her eyes and walk her toward the circular drive in front of the hotel. When I pull back my hands, her attention lands on the motorcycle.
Annie’s jaw drops. “Oh my God. I love it.” She circles the bike, running her hands over it before her gaze returns to mine. “Where are we going?”
“I have a spot in mind.”
I shift onto it, and she gets on behind me. I navigate us through back roads to a beautiful secluded area, complete with protective trees, on a bluff.
“I can hear the fruit doves,” Annie gushes. “It feels like we’re on the edge of the world.”
