Micky nodded at her before turning his attention to his partner. “Lena, what do you think?”
Lena remained by the wall with her hands stuck into the pockets of her jeans. “I think she needs an album.”
“I’m thinking acoustic with just her guitar or piano,” Micky said.
“Agreed,” Lena said. “Raw and unfiltered.”
“That could be the title,” Sophie said.
“It’s been done, sweetie,” Micky said. “But we’ll think of something even better.”
Maggie and Jackson walked near the shore as the sun set before them in a blaze of orange. She hadn’t yet told him her news, afraid of what he might think, afraid it would jeopardize their tenuous bond that time had so long impeded.
“You’re quiet,” he said.
“Am I?” Why would the words not come? They want me. I’m going to make an album. I might have to tour.
“I know where you went today,” he said.
She gulped. “You do?”
“Micky told me last night that he wanted you to meet Lena—to sing for her.” He squeezed her hand. “Tell me. Did it go well?”
She could feel him holding his breath as he waited for her answer. What was the right one? All those years ago, she had chosen her dreams instead of him. Would he be able to handle it this time?
“It went well. They want to sign me,” she said.
“I’m a little offended.”
“Why?” she asked.
“That you hesitated to tell me,” he said.
She stopped and looked up at him. The orange light sparkled in his blue eyes. “There might be touring.”
“I might not deserve it after what I did all those years ago, but you have to trust me. I’m not a boy any longer. I want what you want. I want it more for you than you even want it for yourself. Your dreams are my dreams.”
“Months in the studio recording—publicity stuff. It’s all part of the package.”
“Will you always come back to me? Will you save the last dance for me?” he asked.
“Yes. Of course, I will.”
“I’ll be here when you get back. Every time. No matter how far you go.”
“What about your dreams?” she asked. “This town, the house. Babies.”
He was quiet for a moment. A wave crashed to shore, soaking their bare feet. “I know what it’s like to live without you. I don’t ever want to do so again. If that means I sacrifice so that you can have what you want, then I will. I’ll choose you every time. You say the word, and I’ll pack up and go tomorrow.”
“Knowing that you would means a lot,” she said. “But you don’t have to. It’s possible to compromise. Look at Brody and Kara. His job takes him away, but they make it work.”
“It’s true,” he said. “And they have the added pressure of her needing to stay hidden from the world.”
“We have a village here,” she said. “Your dad and Janet. The Dogs. Honor and Kara. They’ll be there for us if we need them to help with kids.”
“I agree.”
“You’re sure?” she asked.
“I am. We can make this work. We’re us. Jackson and Maggie.”
“Us,” she said. “My favorite word.”
He stood and held out his hand. “Now, come along. I have a surprise for you.”
Maggie followed Jackson into Zane’s apartment. It was nearing the dinner hour, so Zane was already downstairs getting ready for a busy night. Jackson asked her to follow him into her bedroom.
“You’re acting very mysterious,” she said.
“Wait here, by the bed. Close your eyes.”
She did as he asked. Had he gotten her flowers to celebrate? No, he was opening the closet. She recognized the squeak of the door’s hinge.
“You can open your eyes now,” he said.
Jackson held a silver sparkling dress in his hands. A fitted bodice and spaghetti straps with an A-line skirt reminded her of a fairy princess in a ballet.
“What is this?” she asked.
“I had the girls pick it for you.” He placed the dress on the bed as gently as he always touched her. It lay there, lovely and shiny. The material sparkled like a million stars. The sweetheart neckline would flatter her small chest. “Do you like it?” he asked.
“It’s beautiful, but what’s it for?” she asked.
He stood before her and wrapped his hands around her waist. “Maggie Keene, will you go to the prom with me?”
She stared up at him, speechless. What was he saying?
“All these years, I’ve regretted how you didn’t get to attend your prom or wear the beautiful dress you’d picked out.” Tears dampened his face, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Every woman should get to feel like a princess at least a few times in her life. I thought you’d died not even getting to feel that way one time. I hated it, myself, but mostly that you and my mom didn’t get that day and those photographs for our hallway. I didn’t get to pin a corsage on you like I’d planned since we were ten years old.”
“It’s fine. It didn’t matter.”
“It mattered to me. So, I got together with our friends and we planned a prom for you. Zane’s shut the bar down for the night and we decorated it just like our prom.”
“A Night of a Thousand Stars?” she whispered.
“Yes. Only Violet, Kara, and Honor made what we did look like chump change. Wait until you see the bar.”
“I’m overwhelmed.” She cried the ugly cry now.
He swooped her into his arms. “Don’t cry, Bird. This is a happy day. A day we’ll remember all our lives.”
“I can’t think of what to say.”
“Say yes to the dress,” he said.
She laughed through her tears. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I know. Ridiculously in love with you. Now listen, I’m going to leave you here with Honor, Kara, and Violet. They’re waiting in the kitchen with wine and snacks and a full crew of folks to get you girls ready for the big night. Brody hired a whole team of hair and makeup people. I’ll be back to pick you up at seven sharp. Okay?”
She nodded and sniffed. “Okay.”
As promised, Jackson arrived right at seven. The girls were still there, all of them in their gowns toasting one another with glasses of champagne when he knocked on the door. Kara wore a light blue mermaid style dress with sequins and an illusion neckline that clung to her hourglass figure. Honor’s dress was a silky red halter with an open back that plunged to her tailbone and a skirt with a slit that showed off one shapely leg. Violet had chosen a soft pink taffeta that swirled around her middle like frosting on the most beautiful cupcake in the world.
But the dress they’d chosen for her was the best of all. She was a princess.
Jackson stopped in the doorway and stared at her. He carried a corsage made of white ranunculus. “A princess. You’re a princess.”
He didn’t look so bad himself in a dark blue suit and silver tie. “You’re the perfect prince to take me to the ball,” she said.
“I’ve been waiting twelve years for this,” he said, as he leaned over to pin the corsage on her dress.
She was vaguely aware of their friends snapping photographs on their phones.
He offered his arm and they waved goodbye to the ladies. “See you all later,” he said. “We have someplace to go first.”
“Good luck,” Honor called.
Luck? What did they need luck for? She didn’t have time to think about it as Jackson scooped her into his arms and instructed her to close her eyes.
“I mean it,” he said. “You’re not allowed to see the back patio.”
She laughed and squeezed them shut until he said she could open them. They were in front of the bar now. Jackson’s truck was parked in the “loading only” zone.
“Where are we going?”
“We have a little business to take care of before the prom.” He opened the door to the passenger side and set her inside. “Gather your skirt, so the door doesn’t crush it.”
She gathered the layers of the silky material into her hands as he shut the door. Sitting this high in a truck with a formal gown on made her chuckle. She looked up at Zane’s apartment. Kara, Violet, and Honor waved at her from the window.
Maggie waved back and grinned at them. She had friends here that had her back and wanted the best for her. And a new sister. And Zane.
A recording contract. Her heart soared at the thought of the months ahead.
And Jackson. Mostly Jackson. Always Jackson.
This was a life. A big, fat, live-out-loud life.
They didn’t talk as they drove down the main street of town to the beach. When they arrived, he parked his truck in the beach parking lot. “Wait, so I can help you down,” he said.
He crossed in front of the truck fidgeting with his tie. For a split second, she was back to the morning of Lily’s memorial. He’d worn a suit that morning and he’d fiddled with his tie as they walked up the steps of the church. The raw vulnerability of that gesture had caused her to stumble in her high heels. He’d reached out to hold her steady but instead they’d both fallen to their knees right there on the church steps. “I don’t know if I can do it, Bird,” he’d whispered. “I can’t go in and say goodbye.”
“I’m right here beside you.” She had stood and helped him to his feet, surprised at her own strength.
She blinked away the memory. Tonight was joyous, not sad. They’d had enough sadness for a lifetime already. She shivered, knowing it was inevitable there would be more. To love means to suffer. Loss came eventually. At the end, would it be only memories?
Jackson opened her door and held out his hand. “Princess, may I escort you over to our bench?”
“Yes, please. These heels are wobbly.” If one stumbles, the other will lead the way.
No breezes tonight. Good. Her hair would stay in place. The stylist had gone to great trouble to gather it into a complicated mass on top of her head. Teardrop diamond earrings that Honor had insisted she wear tickled her neck as they walked carefully over the uneven cement of the parking lot to the bench that looked out over the Pacific. Their bench.
Jackson had been here earlier because a blanket covered the seat. Only he would’ve thought about the slivers of wood snagging her dress.
She sat, making sure to gather her skirt so that it wouldn’t soil in the sand and grass. “It’s so beautiful,” she said.
“Yes, you are.” Jackson smiled down at her before joining her on the bench.
The sun was a finger’s width from sinking below the horizon. Rays of orange light cast a spell over the entire coastline and glinted in the water like a thousand topaz stones. Was it real? Can a scene be this beautiful and still be real?
Jackson took both her hands into his lap. “We have a lot of memories on this bench. All the time we sat here and shared our secrets and dreams. Some are sad memories, but most are good. I want this one to be the happiest of all—the one to overshadow all the others.” He reached into the pocket of his trousers and pulled a small velvet pouch from his pocket. What was he doing? Here? Now? Was it too soon? No. It was perfect. He is perfect.
Still, knowing what was coming, her heart beat with the wings of a startled sparrow. Remember every moment.
“When I was a kid, I told my mom I was going to marry you—I told her I’d ask you right in this very spot. You know, she never once laughed at me. She took it completely seriously, like it was the most normal thing in the world for a ten-year-old boy to say.”
A petite sob rose from her chest but came out as a giggle instead. “You always were a romantic.”
“Yes. But how could I help it when the most beautiful girl in the world loved me? I wanted nothing but to please you, to make you smile, to keep you safe. Every minute I spent with you made me a better person. After we lost you, I used to come here and sit and think about you. What I would’ve given to have the chance to sit here with you once more—believe me, I bargained with God many times. The day I saw you standing here, I thought I was losing my mind. All these years, I thought I saw you a thousand times. Even though I knew it wasn’t you—couldn’t be you—each time my heart leapt with hope only to be crushed with reality. Until that day, finally, it was you. Bird, I won’t ever forget what it was like without you. Not ever. Not one day will pass that I won’t fall on my knees and thank God for bringing you back to me.” He kissed the palm of her left hand and held it against his mouth for a moment. “It’s always been you. Before we were born, even, our souls were attached to each other. It might seem fast to some, but I’ve waited a lifetime already to ask you this.”
This is the story we’ll tell our children someday.
Jackson slid a ring from the pouch. She gasped. This ring. She knew this ring and the hand that had worn it. Lily’s ring.
“My mother wanted you to have it,” he said. “Only you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“She asked my dad to save it for you—for when we got engaged.” He lifted her left hand and held it against his chest. She could feel his elevated heartbeat. “He didn’t think I’d ever have the chance to give it to you—to ask you, will you be my wife? But we were wrong. By a miracle, you came back to me. Bird, will you be my wife? Will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes,” she whispered.
He slipped the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. “I thought we might have to get it sized, but it’s the perfect fit.”
The diamonds sparkled even in the dim light. “It’s too nice,” she said.
“Nothing is too nice for you. My mom wanted you to have it so a part of her would be with us on our wedding day and for all the days of our marriage.”
“With or without the ring, she’s with me. With us.” She tilted her face to him. “Kiss me?”
“You never have to ask,” he said. He traced her bottom lip with his thumb. “You’re more breathtaking tonight than I’ve ever seen you, and that’s saying something.” He leaned close and kissed her with the same tender touch of the muted rays of light.
When their first kiss as an engaged couple was finished, he drew a piece of folded paper from the pouch. “There’s something else. There’s a letter for you from my mom. She wrote it just before she passed away. I was supposed to read it to you on our wedding day, but there’s no way I can do that.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from the pouch.
She shook her head and clasped her hands together on her lap. “I can’t. You have to read it to me.”
His voice sounded gruff and shaky, but he didn’t pause until it was finished.
Dear Maggie, if you’re reading this then it must be your big day. I wish I could be there, but it wasn’t to be. My seat will be from heaven. I imagine it will be with your mother and we’ll hold hands and cry tears of joy. We’ll be without pain then, Maggie, so do not cry for us. Just love my son and make a life with him that will make us proud.
I wanted you to have my rings not only because you love my son, but because you were the daughter I never had. I wanted more children, but it wasn’t in God’s plan. I have often thought how lucky we were to have each other after your mother died. You needed me and I needed you.
I can still see you and Jackson walking home together after the first day of school. You were holding hands and your clothes were all muddy and Jackson’s face was red. I knew someone must have pushed you in the mud. Jackson’s red face told me he probably beat the daylights out of whomever had done the pushing. But you were both laughing at something the other one said or did. In that moment, I knew, like a mother does, that there was something special about the two of you. No matter what, you would have each other. And, even during hard times, you would find something to laugh about. This, my dear girl, is as good as it gets.
I wish for you, my sweet Maggie, more joy than hardship, but I know that whatever comes your way, you will have my brave, kind boy by your side. Be happy. Keep singing.
I love you. Lily.
They were both in tears by the
time he finished.
“She said to keep singing,” Maggie said. “Not dancing.”
“I hadn’t thought of that, but yes.”
“Isn’t that odd?”
“There’s not much about our story that isn’t odd, Bird,” he said.
They laughed. He took a tissue from his pocket and dabbed under her eyes. “Honor will be mad. I’ve caused your makeup to smear,” he said.
“She gave me an emergency kit to take with me in my purse,” Maggie said. “Like she knew what was coming my way.”
He grinned. “Yes. Everyone knows. They’re all waiting to celebrate with us.”
“I wish your mom could be here,” Maggie said. “And my mom too.”
“Me too.”
“The trouble is time,” she said.
“Time?”
“The way it slips away. Nothing can hold it. There’s no return to the beautiful moments. They’re gone before we even realize what they were,” she said.
“Except in here.” He tapped the side of his head. “And, when it’s a beautiful moment between us, we can recall it together in such a way that it lives forever. We have the rest of our lives to make more memories and to visit them. Think of it. All that waits for us.”
“Whatever comes, I’ll always save the last dance for you. No matter what.”
“And I’ll always be there.”
She rested her head against his shoulder as the sun slipped below the horizon. Overhead, seagulls screeched as if to call one another home. Waves crashed to shore and backed out again in the dance of time. Time would not stand still. Not even for lovers.
But they had this moment. This memory. Time could not take that from them.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jackson
* * *
THE BAR PATIO had been transformed into a fairytale. White lights twinkled from the rafters and railings. Candles in various sizes threw shadows with their soft flames. Tables had been arranged around a makeshift dance floor and covered with white cloths. More candles in mason jars and masses of ranunculus in bright colors decorated the tables. A theatre light had been set up with a screen that made stars on the ceiling.
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