He delivers an exasperated look and stands, hand extended. “I believe this next song is ours.”
“If you’re suggesting our song be the Macarena, I will take off my high heel and cheerfully beat you with it.”
“Patience, Ace.” He leads me out to the wood dance floor in the middle of the lawn.
The current song ends, and the DJ says, “This goes out to a Miss Paisley Royce from Word Daddy.” The DJ shakes his head like he can’t believe what he just said.
I whirl on Klein. “I knew you liked that!”
The music begins, and I recognize it instantly.
She’s In Love With A Boy.
Fisting the front of the shirt, I laugh and sway. “I can’t believe you remembered.”
He holds my face in his palms and glides the tip of his nose over mine. “If you say it, I remember it.”
Klein spins me around. Neither of us know what we’re doing, but we’re a happy little mess. I belt out every word of the song.
It’s hard to believe that through all the turmoil of the day, there is still joy. Through the high highs and low lows of the week, and everything in between, two people managed to come together.
To fall.
The song ends. Klein dips me back, kissing me senseless. When he lifts me upright, my face is pink and happy.
Sienna, sitting alone at a nearby table, catches my eye. A shadow casts itself over my happiness. I wish my sisterhad gotten her perfect day. I wish Shane had been her soulmate.
Sienna sends me a wink, downs her glass of champagne, and marches out into the night.
Klein and I dance until our feet hurt. We dance with my mom and Ben. We dance with my grandma, and I force Spencer out onto the floor for a two-step lesson led by the DJ. The female half of the ‘I do’ crew has stuck around. The men are missing, likely aiding Shane in whatever he’s doing to get over having his wedding canceled the day of.
Klein carries my shoes on our way to the golf cart. He drives me and my grandma back to her house. She goes upstairs to her bedroom, and Klein and I make our way to ours.
We undress, and Klein waits for me in the bathroom as I unwind my hair and wash my face.
“Crazy day,” he remarks as we slide under the covers.
“The craziest,” I agree.
We come together quietly, each knowing what the other wants. What the other needs. When it’s over, we lie in bed with the window open and listen to the waves crash to the shore.
Klein runs his fingertips down the length of my arm. “I’m going to miss that sound,” he says, forlorn.
I press my back to his chest, snuggling in deeper. “We can come back. The island isn’t going anywhere.”
CHAPTER 44
Paisley
I’ve yetto have a final full day on Bald Head Island that wasn’t both happy and sad. It’s an interesting dichotomy, to experience these opposing feelings simultaneously.
Klein wakes up before me. He brings me coffee. I stretch out in bed, the caffeine slowly bringing me to life, and join Klein for a walk on the beach. It was his idea, though I would’ve suggested it, too.
Tar Heel gulls laugh over the water, diving for their breakfast. An osprey joins the fun, leading feet first into the water and coming away with a wriggling fish.
Klein gazes out over the ever brightening surface of the water. “I’ve lived in the desert my entire life, and coming here this week has made me realize that I am?—”
“Thirsty?” I ask, unable to stop myself from making the joke.
