Memories in Sea Glass: Driftwood Key Beach Reads #2

24. Liberty

After dinner, Liberty leaned back and patted her belly, trying to convince herself not to have more dessert.

It was supposed to be a potluck, so everyone had brought a dish or two. But Mary and Glory had been here all day, cooking to beat the band. There was probably enough food here to last until next Fourth of July.

“Feeling okay?” Chase asked quietly.

“I feel amazing,” she told him honestly. “You?”

“Amazing,” he echoed softly.

There was something special in the way he looked at her tonight, like he was afraid she would vanish if he took his eyes off her. Every moment of today had been like this. The whole time since he had come for her had been a gentle reminder of how much she loved him.

And she had only been able to doubt his unconditional love for her until the moment he was beside her again. Then his big, warm presence seeped into her pores, filling her with certainty that everything was going to be okay.

But it was hard not to wonder if she had done irreparable damage to their relationship by running away from him.

Please, she prayed silently. Please let him understand how much I love him. I don’t think I can live without him again, even for a single day.

“It’s time,” Mary sang out. “Let’s go.”

Everyone got up from the tables and began carrying dishes into the kitchen together.

“No one is to wash anything yet,” Mary announced. “Just carry it all in for now, and then we’ll head to the beach.”

With so many hands on deck, the clean-up was quick. Liberty smiled at Chase when she saw that he was carrying two or three big bowls at once.

“Show off,” she teased quietly.

He winked at her and flexed a bicep, making her laugh. Once everything was inside, they all headed through the backyard and between the mangroves to the beach.

“This is like something out of a fairytale,” Chase told her, holding back a branch to open the path a little for her.

“It is,” she agreed. “And wait until you see the beach.”

Stars twinkled in the night sky above the mangroves. Up ahead, something crackled, and then Anthem and a few of the others who had already reached the beach began exclaiming over the fireworks.

But Liberty and Chase walked slowly through the darkness of the tangle of branches.

“I understand why you wanted to stay,” Chase said quietly after a moment.

“This place is magical,” Liberty agreed. “And it’s not just the beach—it’s the people.”

“They just welcome you right in,” Chase agreed. “I already feel like family here.”

“You are family,” Liberty told him.

She knew it was true as soon as the words were out. Being with the McKinnons was healing. And though the big rambling house and the lighthearted joking and the delicious food were all wonderful, it was the sense of being a part of something that had been changing everything in Liberty’s heart.

Until now, she’d had no idea where Chase’s mind was as far as wanting to adopt. She knew he was willing, but that wasn’t the same thing.

Seeing him tonight with Becca’s grandkids had unlocked something in Liberty’s chest, and she knew with every fiber of her being that biology had nothing to do with family bonds—not for her, and not for Chase.

She wasn’t just willing, she wanted to adopt a child now, wanted it more than anything. And she wanted to do it with Chase.

He took her hand and she relished the feeling of his fingers squeezing hers gently.

“This night was so special for me, Liberty,” he told her as they walked. “Seeing you with your whole family gathered—seeing how much they love you.”

She smiled, unable to speak.

“And I love you, Liberty,” he went on. “More than life itself.”

“I love you too,” she told him softly. It had never been truer than tonight.

Suddenly they were stepping out of the mangroves and onto the beach. For an instant, Liberty drank in the sight of the stars and moon glittering in the ocean.

Then the sky lit up with fireworks. Red, white, and blue flashed through the air, blossoming up and then twinkling down joyfully.

“This,” Liberty murmured. “This is perfect.”

“Not quite,” Chase said.

She turned to look and saw that he was kneeling at her feet.

“Liberty,” he said, his voice deep with emotion. “I love you, and I don’t care what struggles we might have ahead of us. I want to face them with you by my side. I want us to build a family together, no matter what that means to you—even if that family is just the two of us. Will you marry me, Liberty? Again?”

She could hear the others gasping in surprise, but she only had eyes for her beautiful husband. He looked up at her as if she held the answer to all the great questions of the universe in her eyes.

The next thing she knew, she was on her knees in the warm sand in front of him, weeping with happiness.

“Yes,” she told him as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Of course.”

“Thank God,” he breathed. “Thank you, Liberty.”

“So, we’re renewing our vows?” she asked.

“On the beach again, if you want,” he said. “As soon as possible, hopefully. Or in a church in half a year, or in the desert, or on a spaceship—anywhere you want. So long as we’re promising each other forever, because I can’t have anything less with you.”

She laughed and held him close, feeling at home in his arms again at last.

“I got you something,” he said quietly after a moment. “We’re still wearing our rings, but I wanted you to have something else, just to remember today.”

He took her hand and slid a slender silver bangle onto her wrist.

It glinted in the moonlight and she saw that it wasn’t just silver. Three circles of beautiful sea glass were set in the frame, glowing as if they were filled with magic.

“Sea glass,” she murmured. “You remembered.”

“I remember everything,” he told her, pulling back to take her face in his hands. “Everything.”

Though she had always been a private person, Liberty didn’t mind the cheers when he leaned in to kiss her at last, making the butterflies in her chest explode like the fireworks overhead.

After all, they were all family here.