Chapter 36 ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING
ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING
The Pink House was gloriously chaotic. The kitchen counters and dining-room table groaned with decorative platters and gold-rimmed dishes topped with everything from home-made ravioli to vibrant Vietnamese salads.
The wine collection had spilled out of the fridge and onto the floor by the dozens, looking like a fancy ten-pin bowling setup.
The Bluetooth was behaving, and rather than playing crackling whisperwinds or AM talk radio, the speaker system boomed with upbeat jazz tunes.
The final Summerween dinner was Rosie’s only concession to music that wasn’t from the eighties.
If she hated it, she hid it well, because she was spinning around the room in a gorgeous full-skirted dress from For Old Times’ Sake.
We’d all gone shopping after our trip to Lorraine’s earlier today, and we had an impressive collection of dresses and heels to show for the effort.
The party was split between indoors and out – the latter being where most of us had decided to spend the evening. After all, it was our last night with the beach as our backdrop and Rosie’s gorgeous garden all around us.
As I poured myself a glass of wine, Rosie swept up beside me, slightly out of breath from all the spinning.
‘I just wanted to let you know that Finn’s doing fine,’ she whispered, holding out a glass so that I could top her up. ‘He just wants you to be happy. For all of us to be happy.’
I smiled. ‘He has a good heart.’
‘He does.’ She paused as I topped up the glass of wine for her. ‘Thank you for your help with Charlie’s guitar, by the way. We both appreciate it. It’s such a special piece, and it deserves to live on.’
Her voice hitched on the last words.
‘It does,’ I said, trying to keep the same hitch out of my own voice. ‘I’m really proud of Finn for finding something he’s passionate about. Something that really has meaning to him.’
And I meant it, too. I wanted the world for Finn. I just wanted that world to be one where we were what we’d always been: great friends.
‘One more thing,’ said Rosie, having settled the tears that had threatened. ‘I’ve decided not to sell the house.’
I squealed so loudly that magic erupted from my fingertips, sending sparkles flying throughout the kitchen and living area. The beach towels flapped in their basket, and Bertha the orchid wobbled in her pot.
‘It’s not just mine, after all,’ Rosie said breathlessly as I wrapped her up in a hug. ‘The Pink House belongs to all of us. And now that it seems the magic has settled, perhaps we can all settle, too.’
‘Yes!’ I screeched, inviting a look of alarm from Mom, who was hurrying by for some napkins. (As far as Mom was concerned, you could never have enough napkins.) ‘Talk about making the right decisions.’
‘It must be the whisperwinds in the air,’ said Rosie with a grin. ‘And speaking of the air, why don’t you head outside and enjoy yourself.’
I squeezed her arm and went outside, where the party was in full swing.
Finn perched on one of the deep outdoor couches with Charlie’s guitar and started to play along with the traces of swing music that filtered out through the house, plucking soft chords from the instrument using the musical magic he’d honed over the summer.
Nothing made me gladder than seeing that he’d found something he loved – giving his music a whole-hearted effort in a way that would make Charlie proud.
Well, almost nothing.
‘May I?’ Noah held out a hand, inviting me to dance. His dark eyes sparkled beneath his long hair, and I wanted to pinch myself to confirm that he was really mine. That after all these years, our fates had truly, properly brought us together.
I glanced over at Finn, who smiled back. I could see he had accepted that Noah and I were together. That we had his blessing.
Taking Noah’s hand in my right, I settled my other hand on his back.
He drew me in close, and I could feel the warmth of his breath on my hair as I tucked my head under his chin.
Our magic shimmered together as we slow danced to the warm tones of the guitar, the fairy lights overhead and the soft carpet of Rosie’s lawn beneath us.
‘Mind if we join you?’ Dad pulled Mom into a spin, and the two of them shuffled along beside us, Mom gasping as Dad dipped her or did a little jig in place.
‘I really hope she doesn’t murder him and throw his body out to sea,’ I whispered.
Noah grinned. ‘I think it might be justified murder. But she wouldn’t. They’re cute together. Even if they’re the least likely couple in the world.’
‘Mom told me that Dad spent years trying to ask her out on a date,’ I murmured.
‘Really? But your dad’s a catch. Although don’t tell him I said that.’
‘She wanted to be a career woman.’
‘But she is a career woman.’
I smiled. ‘Exactly. She realized that choosing love doesn’t mean not choosing the other things that matter.’
‘Too damn right,’ said Lara. ‘Because some of us want the whole damn world.’
‘Is that all?’ said Jack, pretending to be alarmed. ‘Well, I guess I can handle that.’
‘You’d better, if you’re going to be by my side for the foreseeable future,’ said Lara, her grin as wide as I’d ever seen it.
And off they danced, like the world was theirs and theirs alone.
Lara, perhaps, had met her match. She’d confided in me that Jack was the first time she’d seen someone as boyfriend material, and that she’d added his last name to his listing in her phone contacts as proof.
She’d even asked Tiff for tips about making a long-distance relationship work.
I smiled to myself, wondering idly what might have happened had Lara been the one to pick up Josephine’s ring.
But Lara never would have. She didn’t need it the way I had.
I thought about Josephine and hoped that she could see that, even if she hadn’t been able to, she had helped me make the right choice. And Tiff. And Mom.
I wrapped my fingers around the two halves of the ring I carried in my pocket, willing her to feel my gratitude.
Then I slipped into the comfort of the moment, enjoying the warmth and familiarity of Noah’s body against mine.
Around us, the dance floor grew packed with happy couples: Pandora and Ulissa, Lara and Jack.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Tiff on a video call with Damien, moving quietly on the spot.
Rosie grabbed Lorraine, and Soraya – who’d been fielding compliments about her award-winning rain-frog pumpkin carving all night – linked arms with Keiko.
The last, quiet notes of the ballad rang out in the air. We all swayed, mesmerized.
Then Finn snapped his fingers and the Bluetooth speaker gave a hearty crackle, blasting Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Gypsy’ at full volume. Whoops arose among the crowd, and the dancers abandoned any sense of shame and propriety.
‘That’s my sign to clear out,’ said Noah, alarmed.
‘I dunno,’ I said, a huge grin stretching my face. ‘I have those videos from when you were twelve and were super into “Moves Like Jagger”.’
He cringed. ‘Okay, we’re going to have to have a rule that, if we’re together, you can’t use my awkward teenage years against me. Because I would never in a million years bring up the hair crimper. Or that really big painted-on eyebrow phase.’
Oh goddess, I’d tried to put that behind me. Although eyebrows that thick cast a long shadow.
‘We’ll go through the photos together and delete accordingly,’ he added, chuckling at my expression.
‘Deal,’ I said. ‘In fact, shall we go inside now and get a head start on that?’
‘We can certainly get a head start on something,’ he said, sweeping my hair back from my face.
Laughing, we ran inside, but as we did, something small and shiny caught my eye by the threshold.
I stooped to pick it up, then smiled.
It was the final missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle – the one with the face of the couple. And it was exactly as I’d hoped it would be.
‘Wow,’ I said. ‘Leon’s bookshop really does deliver.’