Their road to happiness had not been easy, but if Graham had his say, their future would be.
EPILOGUE
The bonfire crackled, and small embers flew to the sand, leaving black soot marks scattered around the area. People sat on the driftwood logs, some stood, and others wrapped themselves in blankets to keep the mid-September night chill away. Others sat in the sand, and a few people had chairs. The group had started small but grew in numbers as the night went on. Every time someone new joined, there were squeals and statements such as “I haven’t seen you in years.”
Rennie stood near the fire, trying to keep warm. Every time she tried to sit down or find Graham, an old classmate came up to her. They hugged, talked about what they’d been doing for the last five years or so—however long it had been since their last high school reunion—and pestered her with questions about her upcoming wedding. A few of her old classmates gushed about how handsome Graham was; a couple had asked if he had a brother, and Rennie had pointed toward Grady, but when these women asked if she would introduce them, she blew them off. Rennie was protective of her soon-to-be brother-in-law, and the last thing she wanted and felt he needed was a relationship. They were complicated and messy, and Grady was working his tail off to keep his life on track. To date, he hadn’t slipped up, even though he talked about it, especially when the anniversary of Austin’s death rolled around. At her and Brooklyn’s insistence, Bowie, Jason, George, and Graham took Grady camping for a weekend. Just the guys. No cell phones. No wives, girlfriends, or Johanna making sure her boys were well fed. It was good for the guys to get away and even better for Grady to be surrounded by his friends.
Strong arms wrapped around her from behind, and she was comforted instantly by the smell of Old Spice. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on his arms, holding him as best she could. Rennie had all but forgotten about the woman she had been talking to until she heard her clear her throat.
“Oh, sorry,” she said as she opened her eyes. Rennie wasn’t embarrassed. She was in love. After years of not having the man of her dreams, now that she finally had him, she couldn’t get enough of him. “Jen, this is my fiancé, Graham.”
“Nice to meet you.” Graham stuck his hand out to shake Rennie’s friend’s.
“Wait, I know you,” she said after Graham let go. “You’re the bartender at the place not far from here, right? My friends and I stop in all the time when we’re sailing.”
“We actually own the bar,” Rennie corrected, even though she didn’t need to. When the conflict between Donna and Rennie became public knowledge at Rhoads PC, Lex Davey had given Rennie an excellent severance package, which she’d used to buy out Graham’s parents’ stake in the Whale Spout. Graham tapped Rennie on her waist, a sign from him that she needed to tone her jealousy down a little bit. She couldn’t help it. Once she moved to Cape Harbor, she saw firsthand how many women flirted with Graham. She was thankful he was oblivious to it all, but it still got on her nerves.
“We appreciate you and your friends stopping by. When you’re in next time, say hi.” Graham kissed Rennie on the cheek. “I love you, firecracker.” He laughed and stepped away.
Rennie continued to talk to Jen for a few more minutes before she excused herself to find Brooklyn. “Hey,” she said as she sat down on one of the logs. “I can’t believe you invited everyone from high school to your wedding.”
Brooklyn huffed. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Tell me again how this happened?”
Brooklyn covered her face with her hands and groaned. “Stupid social media. I created an event for the weekend. I figured it would be easier if all the information was in one place. Except I didn’t make it private, and I sent invites to all, along with the ones I sent our friends. I had no idea what I had done until people started RSVP’ing.”
Rennie bumped shoulders with her best friend. “You know what this means, right?”
“That only Brystol can do my social media from here on out?”
She laughed. “Well, yes, I would agree with this, but also you’ll get a ton of presents tomorrow at your reception. So many freaking presents.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And yet, I’m your best friend, and you love me no matter what. Seriously, that’s why I tell Graham we need to have a huge wedding and invite every single person we know.”
“Have you set a date?”
“We’ve talked about next year, but we also talked about going to Vegas during the winter to elope.”
Brooklyn gripped Rennie’s forearm. “You can’t do that. Not without Bowie and me.”