Chapter 57
Seth
The Hollow Tap had never looked so alive.
The windows were thrown open, golden light spilling onto the street.
Tables stretched onto the sidewalk, strung with twinkle lights that glowed as the summer evening settled in.
The smell of fried food and wood polish mixed with the sweet tang of lemonade, and music drifted from the small band set up by the corner.
Laughter rolled down Main Street, carrying the familiar heartbeat of Wisteria Creek.
I had been to gatherings like this all my life, end-of-summer socials, fundraisers, harvest nights, but this one felt different.
Because tonight, I wasn’t standing at the edges, arms crossed, waiting for the hours to pass.
Tonight, Madison’s hand was in mine, and Olive skipped between us, her curls bouncing, her voice rising above the crowd as she declared we needed to try every dessert booth before dark.
Blair was the first to spot us. She waved wildly from a table near the door, Greyson beside her with an arm draped casually over the back of her chair. “There they are!” she called, loud enough for half the square to hear.
Madison laughed softly under her breath. “She’s never been subtle.”
I squeezed her hand. “Wouldn’t be Blair if she was.”
Maddox appeared next, sliding up from behind with a grin and two drinks balanced in one hand. “Well, well, the town’s golden trio. Took you long enough to make it official.” He bent low to Olive, whispering as if sharing a secret. “You know they’re in love, right?”
Olive rolled her eyes with the patience of a child who thought adults were painfully slow. “Obviously.”
Madison flushed, but I just laughed, pulling her closer. Maddox tipped his cup in mock salute and wandered off, already shouting a greeting at someone else.
Evie found us at the lemonade stand, her apron dusted with flour, a smear of jam near her elbow. She handed Olive a cookie bigger than her face and kissed Madison on the cheek. “You look happy,” she said, squeezing her arm. “Both of you do. It’s about time.”
Madison’s eyes shimmered, her smile soft as she looked at me. I kissed her temple without thinking, letting the world see what I no longer wanted to keep tucked away.
The evening stretched out around us, filled with music and chatter.
Olive danced in circles with a group of other kids, her giggles carrying like bells.
Blair pulled Madison into conversation with a group of neighbors, her face glowing with pride.
Greyson caught my eye across the square, his steady nod saying more than words could.
For years, I had kept myself on the outside, convinced that solitude was safer, that letting people in would only mean giving them the chance to leave.
But watching Madison laugh with my sister, watching Olive twirl in the grass with her Bunny tucked under one arm, I knew better.
This wasn’t a risk. This was everything.
As the band shifted into a slower song, I tugged Madison away from the crowd and onto the edge of the square. Fireflies blinked in the tall grass beyond, and the first stars pricked through the indigo sky. I slipped my arm around her waist, pulling her close.
“Dance with me,” I said quietly.
Her smile was small but radiant. “Here? Now?”
“Right here. Right now,” I confirmed, swaying us into the rhythm.
She rested her head against my chest, her hand over my heart. Olive spotted us from across the square and waved enthusiastically before going back to her game, as if our dancing was the most natural thing in the world.
Madison tilted her face up to mine, her eyes shining. “You look happy,” she whispered.
“I am,” I said simply. “Because of you. Because of her. Because of us.”
The words settled between us, steady and certain. I kissed her then, slow and sure, and the world seemed to fade around us, the lights, the laughter, the music. All that remained was the woman in my arms and the life we were building together.
She lifted her gaze, her dark eyes catching mine. “Seth?”
My chest tightened at the way she said my name. “Yeah?”
Her voice was quiet, almost trembling. “Olive looks at you like you’ve always been here. Like you’re not just part of her life now, but part of her story all along.”
The words hit hard, sharper than I expected. I swallowed, my throat tight.
“And me…” She paused, breathing out slowly. “You’ve become the place I come back to. The place I never thought I’d find again. You’re not just someone I'm falling in love with, Seth. You’re home. For both of us.”
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Those words, so simple, so certain, knocked the last of my walls down. Every excuse I’d ever clung to, that I was better off alone, that I wasn’t built for forever, just disintegrated under the weight of her honesty.
My lips brushed her temple, her cheek, then finally her mouth, a kiss that felt less like desire and more like a vow.
“You’re mine, Madison,” I whispered against her lips, my voice breaking in a way I didn’t care to hide. “You and Olive. Always. There’s no world where I’d ever let you go.”
She cried then, soft tears that dampened my shirt, but her arms tightened around me like she’d been waiting years to hear those words.
I pressed my face into her hair, breathing her in, and let the truth settle deep into my bones.
And with the sounds of Wisteria Creek rising around us, Blair’s laughter, Olive’s giggles, Maddox’s jokes, Evie’s voice carrying from the bakery stall, I knew without a doubt that our story had found its ending.
The storm was behind us. The future was ours.
And for the first time in my life, forever didn’t terrify me.
It felt like the only thing I wanted.