Chapter 40 Jackson
Ipat Ryan on the back and give him a grateful look, sheer relief washing over me.
“We need to find your sister,” I tell him. “She told Tyler that she’s hopping on a flight tonight to head back home.”
Ryan’s eyes grow wide. “What? Seriously?”
“She’s been going through a lot,” Marcus replies. “Telling her how we feel will either send her running to the airport or convince her to stay.”
Ryan exhales slowly. “Damn it. I should’ve talked to her again. I took too much time to overthink things.”
We’re all at fault in one way or another, but we do have the chance to fix this if we get moving.
“We need to make sure she hasn’t left yet,” I tell them before leading them back to the courtyard. My eyes sweep over the crowd of people, scanning faces for the one I’m searching for. “Shit. I don’t see her.”
“Maybe she went inside for some air,” Tyler suggests. “I’ll go check.”
I nod before walking around the dance floor to look some more.
“Ryan!” the DJ calls out to him over the music. “It’s almost time for the first dance!”
Ryan freezes in place before looking around. “Where’s Sarah?”
“I don’t see her,” Marcus replies as he tries to peer over everyone. “Are they both missing?”
“Is that a good thing or bad thing?” I ask him.
“She’s either helping Cassidy get to the airport or trying to convince her to stay,” Ryan mutters as he rubs the back of his neck, his brow furrowing.
My chest tightens as I quicken my pace, checking every corner of the courtyard. Every table. Every chair. Every face.
She’s not here.
Tyler rejoins us, shaking his head. “She’s not inside.”
“Sarah is missing too,” Ryan tells him.
Tyler folds his arms behind his head. “What do we do? Maybe the DJ can make an announcement or something.”
“I don’t think drawing more attention to Cassidy is the best idea,” I point out.
Ryan turns around. “Wait. There’s Sarah.”
The rest of us turn to see Sarah emerging from another entrance to the courtyard. We head her way, slipping through people completely oblivious to the chaos we’re navigating.
“Where were you?” Ryan asks her.
“With Cassidy,” Sarah replies with a serious expression on her face.
“Where is she? We need to talk to her,” I ask her.
Sarah glances over at Ryan, who nods. She smiles at him and wraps her fingers around his bicep. “Go to the beach.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Monroe to the dance floor!” the DJ announces.
“We have to go,” Ryan tells us. “Don’t mess this up.”
I give him a small smile and a nod before leading the guys out of the courtyard and toward the beach.
Clear as day, I see a silhouette standing under the moonlight in a flowy dress, the waves crashing at her feet.
I share a quick look with the guys before continuing on, the tension surrounding us building with every step that we take. We approach her on her left side, but she doesn’t turn her head to look at us just yet.
She continues to gaze out at the water as it glows silver, a peaceful look adorning her face.
“Sarah found you,” she says.
“We found her. We were looking for you,” I tell her as we slow down our pace.
Cassidy takes a deep breath before finally turning to us, making us stop in our tracks. The sea breeze gently ruffles her hair, making her dress flow around her bare feet.
I think this is the most peaceful I’ve seen her look in a while. In a way, that kind of scares me.
Is she content with her decision to let us go?
“I overheard you talking to Ryan.”
My stomach drops, and I don’t know why. That’s probably a good thing, right?
“Did you hear everything?” Tyler asks, sounding as nervous as I feel.
“Just about,” Cassidy replies as her eyes sweep over us. “It gave me a lot to think about.”
“And you’ve decided?” Marcus asks her.
Cassidy tilts her chin up a little and nods, looking confident. “You told Ryan that you loved me. Not just because I’m carrying your child but because…you just love me for who I am.”
“We have for a while now,” I tell her.
The sides of her mouth curl up. “For so long, I thought I didn’t deserve love like that. Being with Derek certainly didn’t help my self-esteem either since he thinks I’m not even capable of taking care of myself.”
“Because he’s an idiot,” I mutter.
Marcus nudges me, but I don’t regret what I said. It’s the truth.
“He offered to date me to help me out,” Cassidy tells us. “He doesn’t think that I would be a good single mom.”
“He doesn’t seem like the type to be an involved dad,” Tyler comments.
“Like Jackson said, he’s an idiot,” Marcus scoffs, making me lift my eyebrows. So much for keeping the peace. “He’ll never say you’re good enough because he needs to be the best to satisfy his ego.”
Her expression warms up a little. “And that’s why I told him no. Because it’s clear to me that he doesn’t value me like others do. Like the three of you do.”
I reflect her smile, keeping myself from reaching out to her just yet. There’s still more to say. Still more to decide.
“I deserve to be happy. I deserve more than the family I grew up in,” Cassidy says. “And I can have that with the three of you. I can have the big, happy family I didn’t get to grow up in. The love that conquers all.”
“You can have everything, angel,” I tell her. “We’ll give it to you.”
Cassidy’s eyes gently sparkle. “I’m sorry I pushed you away. I let my fear get the best of me. I was so scared to be heartbroken and left alone.”
Marcus holds his hand out to her and coaxes her closer to us once she takes it. “You don’t have to be scared. Not when you’re with us.”
“We told your brother we’d protect you. We meant that,” Tyler promises her.
“Thank you for talking to him,” Cassidy says as she rests her free hand on Tyler’s arm. “And thank you for not giving up on me, even when I tried turning my back on you.”
“We’re always going to be here for you,” I tell her as her eyes meet mine. “No more running, okay?”
Cassidy smiles and nods before closing the distance between us and wrapping her arms around my torso. She rests her cheek against my chest as my arms wind around her shoulders.
“I love you,” I whisper to her, my heart nearly bursting out of my chest.
She’s finally in my arms.
I didn’t lose her.
“I love you,” she says as she lifts her eyes to mine. She leans up and presses a gentle kiss against my lips before I release her.
She gravitates over to Tyler. “I’m glad to see you here.”
“I’m never going anywhere,” he tells her as he pulls her into his arms. “I’m sorry I was distant. I love you. Know that.”
“I do. I love you too,” she says as she curls her fingers in his hair. She kisses him before wrapping her arms around Marcus’ neck. “I saw the way you were looking at me during the ceremony.”
“I couldn’t keep my eyes off you. You look amazing,” Marcus tells her as his hands roam up and down her back.
I smile to myself as she kisses him too, giving pieces of her love to each of us. She loves us as much as we love her, and that doesn’t surprise me because she’s the type of person to have so much love in her heart.
She has more than enough to give, and I plan to remain worthy of it. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make her happy.
“You’re not flying home tonight, right?” Marcus asks her once they break apart.
Cassidy shakes her head. “I already cancelled the flight after talking to Sarah.”
“What did she say to you?” I ask, unable to help my curiosity.
“She told me that I deserved to feel as happy as she does today,” Cassidy replies. “I finally believed it.”
She should’ve believed it from the start, but love was complicated for her even while growing up. Her parents claimed to love her but didn’t show it. Her boyfriends and Derek claimed to love her but also didn’t show it.
Only Ryan showed her what real love was until she met us.
I hope she never doubts what she deserves from here on out.
“The party is still going,” Tyler says with a wry smile. “We might as well wrap up the night right, yeah?”
Cassidy nods. “I want to celebrate them.”
“Are you going to talk to Ryan?” I ask her, knowing that she’s probably dying to do so now that things are fine between us and him.
“Maybe tomorrow when things have calmed down,” Cassidy replies before wrapping her fingers around Marcus’ bicep and taking my hand. “Right now, I just want to have some fun with you guys.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” I tell her before leaning down to press another kiss against her lips.
I’m never going to get enough of that.
Good thing I don’t have to.
Together, the four of us head back to the party, ready to start the rest of our lives as well.