Mom hadn’t really wanted to do all the typical wedding things, claiming that she had done all that once before. But this was her wedding. We really thought she needed a first dance. And we had done some digging to find out what song that dance should be done to.
As the first few bars of the song played, I saw Mom put her hand over her heart as Jack reached for her other one. As the band was singing “Come a little bit closer,” he pulled her to him. It really was kind of sweet. And I had a feeling they were dreaming this night away.
As the singer reached the refrain, I saw Mom and Jack both mouth to each other,Because I’m still in love with you.
It wasn’t quite a harvest moon, like they had planned, but it was a moon tide. And that was close enough.
I smiled, thinking that Grammy would have loved this. She had wanted Mom and Jack together forever. And in some small way, she was here, on this island, where her ashes were scattered along with Grandpop’s. I had felt my fair share of consternation over the past few months about my contribution to her death. But tonight, surrounded by people I loved, I realized that she wasn’t gone. Not really. She lived on through all of us. And I finally felt at peace with my decision to give my grandmother the dignified end she deserved.
Mom started motioning people onto the dance floor. We were such opposites. I would have wanted all eyes on me for as long as possible.
“May I have this dance?” I heard a voice from behind me say.
It sent shivers up my spine.
I turned, and I was so tall in my heels that my eyes met Kyle’s directly. God, he was gorgeous. Leading-man material. The pitter-pat in my heart felt dangerous as Kyle led me to the dance floor. It was even more dangerous when he pulled me close and led me through those satin dance moves of his.
An hour later, we were still dancing when he leaned over and whispered, “I want to show you something.”
I raised my eyebrow. Sounded like a proposition to me. I was up for it.
We snuck out behind the band, and Kyle took my shoes off and put them in his back pockets, which I found irresistible for some reason. He held my hand as we walked into the depths of Starlite Island.
“Are there snakes out here?”
“Nah,” he lied.
“Will the horses stampede us?”
Kyle laughed. “I don’t think stampeding is something horses do to humans. It’s something they do in general.”
“That’s not an answer,” I pointed out, slapping at a mosquito.
I had never been back into the woods of Starlite Island, where Kyle was leading me. After a few more minutes of walking, Kyle stopped and said, “OK.”
I looked around. It just looked like trees to me.
He laughed. “You have to look up, Emmy.”
I did. And I gasped. There, right in front of me, was a tree house. Not just any tree house—an epic one. It had a roof and doors and windows and a rope ladder.
“What is this?”
“It’s my tree house,” Kyle said. “Well, I mean, itwasmy tree house, when I was a kid.”
“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”
He grinned. “Want to go up there?”
I nodded enthusiastically.
I went first, but Kyle was right behind me. He wasn’t going to let me fall. But with him so close and so warm, I had to admit to myself that as much as I had tried to deny it, I had fallen a little already.
It was sandy inside but not as bad as I would have thought. There were still three beanbag chairs on the floor and assorted shells and nature paraphernalia scattered around.
I walked out the door onto the balcony and leaned on the railing, looking out at the moon over the water. “This is absolutely spectacular,” I said. “The best piece of real estate in Peachtree Bluff.”
“You can play in it anytime,” Kyle said, winking at me.
