A warm smile touched her lips. “JB,” she said tenderly, “I couldn’t be any happier that I am at this very moment. Ellie is the love of your life, the same way your daddy was mine. And despite all the trials and tribulations you’ve endured, it was all worth it ’cause, in the end, you got what you wanted. My only advice is to hang on for dear life, son, and enjoy the ride, and never take a single day for granted because none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.”
Jack put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on top of the head. “Well said, Mama.”
“I have something for you.” Helen reached into her purse and took out an old wristwatch that looked as if it had recently been shined. “This belonged to your daddy.” She handed it to him. “He left it with me for safekeeping just before he went to war. I think he’d want you to have it.”
“Mama, are you sure?”
“Positive.” She helped him put it on. “A perfect fit.”
Jack held it up in the dying light, marveling at the way it sparkled. “Thank you, Mama.”
“You’re welcome. Oh, and one more thing.” This time Helen handed Jack a small cross, which had belonged to Lewis.
“Mama, I can’t.” Tears filled Jack’s eyes.
She placed it in the palm of his hand. “Now,” she whispered, “they can both be with you today.”
Jack placed the cross in his pocket and dried his eyes. “Thank you, Mama. This means the world to me.”
When the boats appeared on the horizon, Jack retreated to the forest and took his position beside the preacher. While he waited for Ellie, he looked around the clearing and saw the tree that bore their initials and the rock they’d jumped from to reach the lagoon. Then, as his gaze settled in the direction of the beach, his cheeks rose in a smile as he remembered the first time they’d made love. The island—a place of firsts—was special for many reasons. It was where much of their story had already taken place and where this new chapter was ready to be written.
Softly, a violin began playing, and everyone stood. A minute later, with night closing in, Ellie appeared, and as Jack’s gaze settled on her, time stood still. All at once, he remembered the thousands of wishes he’d made on shooting stars. It had been this moment, right here, right now, that he’d so longed for. Only now it wasn’t a dream. It was real. She was real—the woman that had convinced him love at first sight was possible.
When Ellie joined Jack beneath the arbor and everyone had been seated, the preacher began the ceremony. “We are gathered here today in the presence of God at the invitation of Jack Edward Bennett and Elizabeth Grace Spencer to share in the joy of their wedding.”
Jack and Ellie traded glances, smiling at each other the way they had when they were teenagers.
“Jack, will you have this woman to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her so long as you both shall live?”
“I will,” said Jack, peering deep into Ellie’s eyes.
The preacher asked Ellie the same question.
“Of course I will,” she said, looking up at Jack.
When the exchanged of rings had taken place, the preacher announced, “By the power vested in me by the state of Tennessee, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Jack,” he said, “you may kiss your bride.”
Softly, tenderly, Jack kissed Ellie, much the same as he had at that very spot thirteen years earlier. And as they parted, he whispered into her ear something that had been on his mind since the day she returned to Sims Chapel the summer before. “Mockingbirds.”
EPILOGUE
MAY 2020
The ride across the water is quiet, familiar. Above me, whispers of dying fog, like ghostly tendrils, glitter in the morning sunlight. In a wide arc, I circumvent the sandbar and turn north, setting my sights on Mama Holler. The warmth of the sunlight against my face eases my nerves, and for a moment, I forget about the task at hand.
Passing the island where I’d taken Ellie the day we met, the last seventy years—our wedding, the birth of our daughter, birthdays, anniversaries, winters in Indiana, summers in Tennessee—flash before my eyes. Mama was right—it came and went in the blink of an eye.
“How many times do you suppose we’ve navigated these channels and coves?”
I turn my attention to the bow and find her sitting in her usual spot. “Ellie?”
“What do you think, hundreds? Thousands?”
I nod in response, not believing my eyes.
“And how many fish do you think we’ve caught?”
“I-I don’t know. Why do you ask?”
