“Slow down,Mom. The park doesn’t close until ten tonight. It’s not even seven.” She’s been hustling from one train to another to the Boardwalk and now to Luna Park. “What’s gotten into you? I thought you hated this place.”
“I don’t hate this place. I just thought it would be fun for us to come to Coney Island.” Her grip tightens on my wrist as she drags me forward.
The thing is, I know what she’s doing. I don’t know how she found the invitation to meet Warner, but she’s putting on quite the performance to get me here. She didn’t have to. I was already planning to show up. I’m just wondering how my entire family got involved. “Shouldn’t we wait for the others?” I glance back to see Lorenzo and Joe encouraging my dad to keep up like he’s running a marathon.
With a good thirty yards to go, I’m pulled to a sudden halt for her to start fussing over me. “You look so pretty, Delly bean.”
“Thanks.” She holds my hands out to get a good look at me and then embraces me like she’s never going to see me again. The outfit was laid out for me on my bed when I came home from work. The lipstick was pulled from my makeup, sunglasses retrieved from my dresser, and she insisted on straightening my hair before adding soft waves around my face and the ends. Asking questions didn’t get me any answers, so I went along with the plan and recreated my graduation look, complete with my shirt tied around my ribs, showing off my midriff.
I figured I was being sent out the door because she liked the way I looked the first time I wore it. Now, with the family in tow, and what I hope is Warner waiting for me, I get butterflies in my stomach.
My dad comes huffing, with my brothers patting him on the back. “You did it, Pops,” Lorenzo says. “Keep your eye on the prize. Not far left to go.”
Joe laughs and starts pulling him toward the entrance.
Lorenzo looks at me and says, “You’re growing up, Sis.”
I can’t help but laugh. With a shrug, I say, “Thanks.”
Clocking the time on her watch, my mom says, “We should go.”
“Come on.” We’ve come this far. I don’t want to miss him—more than I already do.
While Lorenzo jogs to catch up with the guys,my mom and I start walking again. Our pace is a bit slower, as if we both know where this ends. She glances at me and then takes hold of my hand. When I wrap my hand around hers, her eyes get glassy. She laughs as she wipes under her eyes with the back of her index finger. “I don’t know why I’m getting all choked up.”
I was tempering myself, but the excitement was getting the better of me. Her tears and that earlier hug are making me nervous. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and side hug her while walking. “It’s okay. Everything is going to be alright.” It’s such a cliché thing tosay, but despite the sudden nerves for not knowing what’s ahead, I believe what I said. It’s going to be alright.I am.
Looking ahead, I don’t see him, so I steal one last opportunity. “You sure I look alright?”
“Beautiful.”
We approach the entrance to the carnival, and the guys who have been hanging around waiting like we were the slow pokes. I don’t see Warner. I check over my shoulder and then into the distance in the other direction, getting more nervous by the second. I check my mom’s watch. “He said seven.”
A song begins playing, a familiar one from an old movie. I remember dreaming about the ending ofSixteen Candlesafter first seeing the movie with my mom one Sunday afternoon on TV when I was fourteen. Hearing it brings back that swoony feeling, but then I side-eye Lorenzo, who’s holding his phone in the air, blasting it.
He grins and steps to the side. Joe and my dad shift to the other side, revealing Warner standing behind them. I gasp, covering my mouth. As tears flood my eyes, I raise my chin, hoping to keep them from falling, but I know it’s a losing mission.
Warner pulls a small bouquet from behind his back and comes toward me. My mom is still wiping her eyes when she joins my family as they close in behind him. His shirtsleeves are rolled up, showing off that arm that’s made a fine recovery. The vest is fastened, but he left the top buttons of his collar open. I have a feeling I might get my wish to run my fingers through that sexy hair of his. Nothing beats that smile that moved right into those blue eyes. Those damn crinkles that make him even sexier are on full display. He hands me the flowers and then says, “Hi.”
With myemotions blooming in my chest, I won’t be able to hold them in for much longer. “Hi.”
“I’m glad you came.”
I glance at my family, who are busy talking among themselves, giving us the little privacy Coney Island will afford us. “Me too.” I nod toward the others. “You got some help from your friends.”
He chuckles, running the pad of his thumb over his bottom lip as he steals a glimpse of my family before turning back to me. “I didn’t really have a choice.”
I hold my nose to the flowers that are wild instead of picture-perfect roses. I like these better. Tilting my head, I look up at this tall drink of a man and say, “I was already planning on coming. You didn’t need backup. You were enough, Warner. You were always enough for me.”
Closing what little gap still exists between us, he caresses my cheek. “When a Bayetti is set on a plan, they go all in. Reminds me of someone else I know.”
I laugh. It’s light, but it feels as if a heavy cloud has lifted, leaving us nothing but blue skies ahead. “No lies detected.”
He leans down and brushes his lips against mine. “Let’s keep it that way.” Not leaving me any room to argue, which I wouldn’t have anyway, he kisses me.
My arms come around his neck as his arms reach around my body, landing on my lower back and holding me to him. When our lips part and I open my eyes, I shoot Lorenzo a look again. He says, “It’s like a real-life soundtrack.”
“I think we’re good.”
