Because while none of that—
—lovely—
—stuff mattered right now, there was one thing that mattered very much.
One person.
Ryder Bailey was wearing a suit. It was a green so dark it was almost black. That contrast with his golden skin and mossy eyes made me stop, welded in place from the heat that flashed through me.
Ryder Bailey was wearing a suit.
His hair had been styled too, brushed and held into place with enough product that the wind wasn’t tossing it around wildly like when we used to walk the beach in the mornings.
He’d put some time into that hair and into his beard, which I noted he’d trimmed.
Ryder Bailey was wearing a suit, and the look on his face was just as stunned as mine. Then it shifted, flashed with something deep and passionate, before simmering down to nervous energy. Energy that made him shift his feet and tighten his hand around something in his palm. Tighten his hand so hard, knuckles popped.
Ryder Bailey was wearing a suit, on the beach, with stars all around him. He held a small box in his hand. Bells were ringing somewhere inside of me, but my heartbeat was too loud in my ears, louder than the ocean.
“Delaney,” he breathed, like he’d been waiting to say the word so long, it was worn down, roughened, then polished to a fineness. He visibly swallowed.
Time went spongy. I knew I should respond, I knew I should do something, but I was drowning in the roar of my heartbeat. I was drifting away from my bones.
Ryder Bailey was wearing a suit.
“Delaney?” Myra’s hand landed on my shoulder, just her fingertips. It was enough. It was everything. The world snap-crackle-popped back into place.
“Yes.” I had no idea who I was answering.
The song Hatter and Shoe had been playing ended. The wind shifted a bit, but was still soft, still gentle. The sun was beginning to go down, and the light was as rich as amber, thick enough I could taste it, honey and sea salt.
People were gathering now, I could see their movements in my peripheral vision. I recognized them. Crow, Odin, Frigg, Athena, Zeus. Than and Talli were there, as were Ben and Jame, all of their clan around them. The vampires showed up, the entire family, including Old Rossi, in suits, tuxedos.
I’d never seen my town look so fine.
“You look beautiful,” Ryder said. He took three steps. I counted each one against the thudding of my heart, against my breath which was going short and fast.
“So do you,” I said, not even recognizing my voice. It was a happy voice, it was a soft voice. It wasn’t pinging between disbelief, hope, and fear like my thoughts.
Was this an apology? Just a gift, a romantic…whatever this was?
He had a small velvet box in his hand.
My sisters were here.
And they were wearing dresses, almost zinging with soft exuberance. Images, clues, filtered through my mind. Jean laying her head back on Hogan’s shoulder. Myra wrapping her arm around Bathin’s waist, a dreamy look in her eyes. As if they knew something romantic was about to happen.
Another clue: Bertie making me change into a dress. Would she go so far as to make everyone in the entire town dress in formal clothes just to force me into it?
Well, that answer was easy: Yes, of course she would.
So she must have known about this too. It was why she’d made me meet my sisters at the crowning. It’s why the big event was so late in the day, much later than Bertie liked to wrap things up in October.
My thoughts pinged back to it again and again. Was this a romantic apology? Or was it… a proposal?
“Delaney,” Ryder said again, smoother this time. The nervous energy was still there, radiating off of him like sunlight. Sweat pricked across his forehead, a drip tracking the edge of his temple, all the way down to the hard edge of his jaw.
“I’ve loved you for what feels like forever,” he said. “Since the first time I saw you punch Jeff Baron for stomping on the good box of crayons. I thought to myself, ‘She’s so cool.’ And brave. And thoughtful. Because after you punched him, you found the other crayons and made sure everyone had enough. Even then, you were making people feel safe.”
