Chapter 71
VINNY
When we’re all ready for graduation, our caps and gowns folded nicely in the back of Sage’s SUV so we can slip them on before the ceremony starts, we head out to whatever surprise Sage has planned.
She’s extremely thoughtful, carefully planning every gift she gives or gesture she makes, so when she pulls onto the side of the road next to Blackmore Cemetery, butterflies attack my chest and stomach.
“What are we doing here, baby?” Kai asks, leaning forward on the center console to look at Sage as she puts the car into park.
“C’mon,” she says, her face spreading into a smile.
We all get out of the car, and Beckham grabs Sage’s hand as they walk in front of me and Kai.
Stepping into the graveyard, I take a deep breath in, savoring the smell of the freshly cut grass.
Summer’s upon us, and the birds are singing in the trees above the headstones, the sun beaming through the leaves and branches.
“So,” Sage says, stepping carefully through the headstones as she leads us farther into the cemetery. “For a while, after things went back to normal… After I came back from the dead …” She says that part with a roll flickering in her eyes, a small snort following the words.
“I felt like we never really had the chance to say goodbye to everyone who was lost this year…” She pauses, pressing her lips together and looking directly at me. “Vin, you lost your dad, and we never even said a word for him. It feels wrong.”
“Princess.” I reach for her delicate hand. “He was a prick. Why would we?”
Sage’s eyes glisten with tears, so I reach for her and put a thumb under her eye.
She waves me off. “I don’t know if it’s the hormones or what, but I feel like we need to do this to close the book and end this chapter. We need this so we can move on and celebrate the new life coming.” She puts a hand to her round belly, and I smile.
Kai grabs her hand. “Show us what you want to show us, Sage.”
She turns back around, and Beckham slides his arm through hers when she keeps walking through the cemetery.
After a minute, we’re nearing an area of the cemetery that looks brand new, the grass green and the trees fresh. We can’t see the road anymore, instead only headstones are behind us, and in front of us is a newly constructed crypt, the word BLACKMORE carved above the door.
“You built a crypt?” I ask, feeling confused yet awed.
She turns about ten feet from the white stone structure and faces the three of us. “This is where we found each other, this is where we made our daughter, and I’m not ready to let go of the moments we shared here.”
“Daughter?!” Kaiden yells before it even clicks in my head, but there’s no anger in his tone.
Until now, Sage has kept the sex of our baby a secret, insisting she’d tell us when the time was right.
“It’s a girl?!” Beckham asks, taking a step toward her.
Sage’s face splits into a smile that rivals the most beautiful sunsets and the most breathtaking sights in the world, because there’s pure joy in her expression, her entire body radiating warmth and maternal love.
“Princess?” I ask, my lips curved. “It’s a girl?”
“It’s a girl. We’re having a girl.”
Kaiden, Beckham, and I all move as one, getting as close to Sage as possible without smothering her, the unfiltered happiness bringing moisture to all our eyes.
We’re a symphony of I love yous and praise as we get our individual moments with Sage, then she clears her throat, putting a finger to the tear sneaking out of the corner of her eye.
“Now we need to say goodbye to everyone who’s left this year, okay?” Sage says, and a boulder settles in my gut.
“How?” I ask, and she gives me a smile that’s a mixture of sadness and pride.
“C’mon.” She holds a hand out for me, and I thread my fingers through hers before she leads me around the edge of the crypt.
On the other side of the stone structure, there are a few headstones standing out of the fresh earth. I feel a little nauseous as she leads me to the first one, then she kneels, pulling me down with her.
VINCENT PATRICK DONAHUE, SR.
FATHER AND HUSBAND
My stomach burns, even as Becks’s hands thread into my hair, and his warm body presses against my back. I look at Sage, unable to find any words to say, and I clear my throat a few times.
She reads on my face that I can’t get the thoughts together, and she reaches for my hand.
“He was mean, and he was angry, and he was heartbroken, but he was your dad, and maybe we need to mourn what could’ve been if he got his shit together.
If he didn’t go down the path he did when your mom died.
Maybe instead of mourning his death, we say goodbye to the pain he brought when he was here. ”
Nodding, I feel a tear slide down my face, and I wipe it away with the back of my hand. “Yeah, princess. That’s perfect.”
She’s crying now, brushing the tears from under her eyes with her fingertips. “I want so badly to go back in time and rescue the tiny little Vinny who was in so much pain.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” I grab her jaw, making her look into my eyes. “It’s okay. I had these two protecting me.”
Smiling, I nod backwards to Kai and Beckham, and Sage smiles as she sniffles.
“I think we need to say goodbye to that pain too… The pain that came when he died.” Sage looks up at Becks. “The pain you feel every day for taking his life.”
Beckham’s chin falls onto my shoulder, and he sniffles. “Yeah.”
She looks at Kaiden then. “And the pain you feel for not doing it sooner.”
I hear Kai before I see him, then he’s crouching down in front of me and putting a hand on my shoulder silently, his dark eyes swirling with anger and sadness and grief.
“We can all say goodbye to this chapter,” Sage says, being our strength. “No more pain, or guilt, or anger for him, okay?”
I look at Sage, this girl who has every reason to be broken, who’s still standing and thriving, healing three broken men who dragged her into the darkness with them, and giving them the salvation they never thought they deserved.
Memorizing the way my girl looks right now, I smile softly and reach forward to stroke a thumb over her wet cheek. “I love you, princess.”
She smiles at me, her decadent eyes filled with life that gives me hope. “I love you too.”
I kiss her softly, then I move away and brush my fingers over my father’s name carved into the headstone. Whispering, I feel a lump form in my throat again. “Bye, Dad.”
Beckham puts his arms around me, kisses my neck, and breathes deeply. “I’m sorry.”
Nodding, I turn to look at him. “I forgive you, Becks. It was never a question. I love you.”
He kisses my neck once more. “I love you, V.”
Kaiden stands up first, holding his hands out for Sage to grab onto so she can stand up too, then he brushes her hair over her ear. “Who’s next?”
She smiles, clearing her throat as she takes the two steps to the left and puts a hand on the next headstone. “Juliet.”
JULIET MCINTOSH-BLACKMORE
FRIEND AND DAUGHTER
Becks, Kai, and I stand behind her silently, letting her think over what she wants to say for a minute before she finally turns to look at us.
“Juliet was my cousin, and she just wanted to feel good enough for her dad,” she says solemnly, and then she shakes her head. “It wasn’t fair she was forced to be this person.”
“Someone who stalked you and wanted to kill you?” Kai says gruffly, and I want to smack him.
“Yes,” Sage says, frowning. “She was the product of her environment, the result of everything her dad left her to learn by herself here in Blackmore.”
Silence washes over us and sweat starts to bead on my lower back as the sun hits me. After a minute, Sage sighs. “I forgive you, Juliet. Rest easy.”
Sage moves to the next headstone, and as I read over it, I move closer to her—we all do, like we need to protect her from the emotions that are about to hit.
JOYCE GRACE SPENCER
LOVING GRANDMOTHER
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save her,” Kaiden says, and my heart sinks.
Sage looks at him, then she crosses the few feet that separates them, puts her hand on his face and smiles.
“My fucking king, it wasn’t your job to save her.
You weren’t saddled with that responsibility, so stop blaming yourself for what happened to her.
You don’t have to save everyone all the time, Kaiden Thorne.
Let the rest of us take some of the burden from you sometimes. ”
He shakes his head, wrapping his hands around her face as well. “I will always fucking protect you. I will always save you and our family.”
“I know.” Sage smiles up at him. “My mean, angry boy who loves so hard that it shakes the world, but let us save you back, okay?”
He kisses her, his hands tightening on her jaw, like he can’t help it. Becks slides an arm around my center, and we watch as our best friend and brother finally gets everything he wants—his heart so full that he can’t stop himself from feeling it anymore.