“This conversation is over.” Beau threw open the car door. “Now let’s go get your girl.”
Beau was hiding something, but right now his focus was finding Pepper.
As they drew near, a local string band, Empire State, was playing in the gazebo, filling the air with guitar, mandolin, and dulcimer. Fairy lights were strung through the live oaks and magnolia, and the temperature had dropped to the sultry low eighties. A perfect Georgia summer night. Friends and neighbors dressed in their Sunday best waited in line for the oyster bake, sipping sweet tea. He sought her out, looking for a smudge of black amid the pastels, but she wasn’t to be seen.
His heart sank. Had she left?
“They’re over there.” Beau nodded to the left, without glancing over. “See? By the gazebo. The sister’s making a spectacle of herself.”
Ah. Tuesday was dancing, her white-blond hair swishing over her shoulders as she let the General lead her around the dance floor. And behind her, studying a table of silent auction bids, was a knockout in a white sundress.
He’d know those legs anywhere.
He didn’t have to call out. She was turning as if already sensing his approach. The lively song ended and a slower, more romantic song came on, a cover of an Iron and Wine song.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Beau muttered. Rhett didn’t turn to watch his friend go. Beau would know he was grateful for his help. But he knew Beau would kick his ass if he delayed a second longer.
“May I have this dance?” he asked, not reaching for her supple waist until her shy nod. As he interlaced his fingers with hers, he dipped his head, breathing in her familiar apple scent. Murmuring rose from around the dance floor. He was dimly aware of flashes going off. He didn’t care. He didn’t have a care in the world except to never let this woman out of his arms.
“You came back,” he murmured.
She nodded slowly. “Turns out I needed to wrap up some unfinished business.”
“Yeah. What kind?”
“Me.” She pulled back, pain etched on her face. “I didn’t mean to hurt you by leaving. It was selfish. The worst thing I could have done. I was terrified by the feeling of needing. Of needingyou. I’ve done everything I could to never need anyone.”
He twirled her around. “I know. I know. But you know what? None of that matters. Not one single stupid thing we’ve done in our pasts.”
“Why?”
“Because every step and every misstep has brought us here, right here, to this moment.” He dropped his head, resting his cheek on hers. “And now I’m a small-town guy, dancing with a big-city girl to one of my favorite songs.”
“It doesn’t feel too complicated?” she teased.
“Making a decision to be with you is the simplest decision I’ve ever made.” As he pressed a kiss to her ear, smiling at her happy sigh, his gaze met Birdie’s across the dance floor, where she danced with her husband and twins, the four of them holding hands and turning in a laughing, tripping circle.
She winked at him and he winked back, warm to his toes. Thank God she’d let him go all those years ago. Because it made space in his life for this moment. And as the song finally came to an end, he couldn’t feel regret, because his and Pepper’s melody had just begun.
Lou Ellen stepped up on the stage, striding to the microphone and giving it two brisk taps. “Good evening, Everland. I think you’ll agree with me when I say this has been our best Pillage yet, am I right?”
Whoops and cheers erupted around them.
“The oysters are going to be coming all night, so eat, drink, be merry, and on behalf of all of us at the Quilt Guild, go make bids. There are gift cards from a range of local businesses from What-a-Treat Candy Boutique, to the General’s General Store, to Smuggler’s Cove and Chez Louis, plus many more! There’s also the always-popular Florida condo and, saving the best for last, Mr. Scallywag. This year we have a fine man—not that I’m biased—a little older than our usual vintage, but aged like a fine wine. Dad, come on up and let the ladies see what they’ll be bidding on.”
More cheers, especially from Miss Ida May and Maryann Munro, who threw elbows as they good-naturedly jostled to reach the Mr. Scallywag bidding table first.
“Get out of the way, cougar! He’s five years younger than you.”
“Who you calling cougar, you horny old saber-tooth!”
Doc stepped up the stairs, and despite the perfection of everything else, a shadow passed over Rhett’s heart.
Pepper must have felt it because she rose on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. “His loss,” she whispered.
He was glad Doc was willing to go on a date, even if it was for charity. He knew Mama would never have wanted him to grow old, alone and bitter. Mama loved to rescue lost souls, and she’d hope a good woman would come along and save his dad from living alone except for Marie Claire.
Speaking of the Maltese, she didn’t look right. His gaze dropped down to the small white dog peeing on the bottom step of the gazebo. Strange. He frowned.A case of nerves?
