Nora dashed away a tear as she pressed a kiss to Danny’s cheek and they all walked up to the officiant.
It was a simple ceremony with heartfelt vows.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd by the end of it.
As they said I do, the countdown clock ticked down to midnight. Fireworks, in a shower of gold and red, exploded above the clearing. The New Year unfolded right before our eyes.
The crowd gasped as a fleet of drones lifted into the sky, spelling out Sully and Nora and the new year, before they did animpressive spin and soar as the clustered together once more to create rings and a glittering diamond before winking out.
A few more fireworks wowed the crowd, but I wasn’t sure Sully or Nora saw any of it. They were too busy kissing and smiling.
The pang that hit me surprised me.
Longing?
I wasn’t sure.
When I looked away from the couple, my gaze tripped over Ripley.
I wasn’t sure it was longing when it came to him, but I understood lust.
The question was, would I act on it?
Chapter 8
Ripley
The wallof well-wishers and couples doing the New Year’s kiss thing closed around me.
I was a head taller than most, but I still lost sight of Mercy in the absolute mayhem. Everyone wanted to congratulate the happy couple. My mother was bawling her eyes out and hugging everyone who would allow it.
I caught Jessie giving one of the firefighters the let’s-find-a-nearby-corner-and-make-out glance. The firefighter in question actually dated my brother a time or two. Lily maybe? Then again Cash had dated every single female in the tri-state area until Parker had tamed him during his come-to-Jesus community service for stealing a duck statue from the park.
Only in Indigo Valley.
Jessie gave me a glance and I just waved her away to find her fire princess.
All hope of the wedding processional had been dashed the moment the clock struck midnight anyway. People were more excited for the revelry and the booze tent than to stand on tradition.
In the center of it all was my brother and the love of his life getting their flowers—quite literally. There had been a basket ofroses for people to take, but instead Nora had an armful of them and the overwhelm was apparent on her face. But for once it was the good kind.
That all these people came out for my brother and Nora. Even my eyes stung a little at the outpouring of love. My brother deserved it. He did everything in his power to make sure he supported this town. It was really nice to see everyone giving it back to them.
All in all, it was a damn good wedding.
I pushed through the crowd, getting a slap on the back from my brothers and hugs from people I’d known since I was a kid. This was the kind of chaos I expected from a wedding, but I only wanted one thing.
To find Mercy.
A flash of red caught my attention and then there she was.
The breeze lifted and a curl danced around her face. She tucked it away as our gazes locked. She nibbled her lower lip, the flash of white against red making my belly tighten. God, she was stunning.
Gone was the rounded face that I remembered of when we were kids. Instead, her husky blue eyes glowed out of a smokey fringe of lashes. Her heart-shaped face was all woman now. She was only a handful of years younger than me, but the look she was giving me had nothing to do with the sweet summer memories I had of her hanging around the fringes of my friend group.
I pushed at the bodies in my way, threading my way around them, barely hearing the congratulations. I hoped that my smiles and murmurs were enough, but right then I didn’t give a damn.
When I finally got to her, her wide red mouth was turned up in a sly smile. “How about we give that backseat of yours another try?”
