Chapter 38 Everly
EVERLY
Grey, Bran, and I spend a good portion of the night cleaning up the ballroom. Doing something mindless like cleaning seems like a good choice to help ease Bran back into his memories as he and Grey pick up and leave off conversation.
It’s nearly sunup when we leave. We all sleep until noon before putting in a call to Bran’s last known commanding officer.
We arrange to bring him to Walter Reed, where he’ll have medical and psych evaluations along with care before he’s cleared to return to civilian life, if he wants to. As I pack up my things in the hotel, my diary peeks out of my bag. “I could really go for some cookie dough right now.”
“How about cookie dough ice cream?” Grey asks.
I tilt my head. “That could work.”
Before I zip my bag, I leaf through the recent entries, never expecting that when I drew the Viking on my flight to Concordia—who I wanted to ride in and save me from Manimal—would be the one to rescue me from Todd.
I turn the page to the doodle I’d made of him before his makeover and couldn’t have dreamed that I’d fall in love with my husband.
I send up a prayer of thanks to God who guided me through the tumult, uncertainty, and sadness of the last months and led me to Grey.
My husband pops his head out of the bathroom on a billow of steam. “Your phone is beeping.”
“For the record, I blocked Todd’s number.” Looking back, something kept me from doing that and I’m thankful, otherwise, I might not have been able to connect with Princess, who led Bran back to us.
She’s already shipped out, in her own little version of La La Land, where she’s at the center of it all. I can’t fathom why she wouldn’t want to spend every waking moment with Sonny, even the sticky ones, but I’m not going to complain because I get to be his Mamma.
“Buttercup?” Grey says, holding my phone. “I think you’ll want to get this.”
I brace myself for Cateline to give me an earful about Blancbourg’s reputation.
Then again, I already gave my notice and she partook in the food fight.
Wolf even said something about it reminding him of their engagement party.
I didn’t ask for details, but the timeline would be worth noting if she has anything to say about my manners.
Instead, Ice King’s name scrolls across my phone screen with an incoming call. I answer.
Skipping pleasantries, he says, “I put my best people on suppressing the events of last night. It’s better that we keep this relatively quiet.”
It takes me a moment to move past him wanting to save face because, once again, I did something to embarrass him, when I realize it was my father who punched Todd in the face.
“I have my lawyers on it. But I want to discuss your little episode.”
I’m practically shaking. After all, my father is the king of intimidation. “Throwing doughnuts at people?”
“No, getting married and not telling me.”
“Considering you didn’t try to reach me after I didn’t show up at my wedding, I figured you didn’t care about my married life.”
“Of course, I cared. Who do you think I am, the Ice King?”
“Well...”
Silence spreads between us and then we both laugh.
“I suppose I have some work to do, huh?” he says.
“If by work you mean thawing out and having a relationship with me and your grandson, then yeah.”
“You have a—?” My father sputters.
I explain about Sonny.
“I wish you’d told me about Todd.”
“I could count on two hands the number of words we’d exchange in any given week. You weren’t much of a talker.”
In the background, Grey grunts.
“Dad, I was stuck. You’d pressured me to be with Todd and I wanted to please you. But then I found him with Princess well before the wedding day.”
“Is that really her name?”
“Unfortunately, yes. But I didn’t know what to do, so I cried in the broom closet during the wedding march.”
Telling my father this is a risk. Personal or emotional matters were never something I discussed with him. The Ice King moniker is fitting for many reasons.
“Everly, don’t be stupid. Unless you were actually glued to the ground, you were not stuck. You were not literally stuck. No, you were afraid to make a choice because you feared it would be the wrong one.” He cuts right to the heart of the matter.
I could always trust my father to be clear and to the point.
“Were you alive? Were you breathing? Were you mobile, as in did you have the use of your limbs?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “Yes, you did. You could have walked up to me and told me instead of running away.”
“Dad, there were plenty of times when I did that and you hardly acknowledged me.”
“You were a kid and I was a single Dad—”
“Sounds to me like you were stuck,” I say.
He grunts. “I suppose you’re right. But in the future, anytime you feel stuck, ask yourself, What would I do?”
“You’d laugh fear in the face.”
“No, Everly. I wouldn’t. I got to where I am because every time I’ve been afraid, I bring it along with me.
Fear wants to stop me, but no, it has to come along for the ride.
Fear has the audacity to show up in my life?
” My father laughs darkly. “Then fear is going to be with me when we deal with the consequences—good or bad. When the outcome is good, well, then fear learns to trust that I know what I’m doing.
When the consequences are not so favorable, fear runs the other way, afraid of me, and the wrath of the Ice King. ”
I can’t help myself and laugh. “You know that’s what people call you?”
“Oh, yes, and much worse. But they do that because they’re afraid of strength and leadership, of a man who is unafraid of success or failure.” It’s true, Dreven Lefevre is a force to be reckoned with...and I guess, at least in part, I got my ability to carry on from him.
My eyes grow damp. “What about me?”
“Everly Edith Lefevre-Adams, you are my daughter. You are strong.”
“I’m not. You pushed me and pressured me and left me.” The line is quiet for so long that I think he’s hung up. “Hello?”
“I’m here. The apology is coming.” He draws a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Everly. I’m sorry for not being a better father. The truth is, there was one thing I feared. I was scared of you. Of messing you up and having you turn out like me. So it seemed easier to distance myself.”
“I wouldn’t say you messed me up, but you hurt me, that’s for sure.” My father’s words are good to hear, warming me through, but confessing to the Ice King the way I felt also made me feel empowered and strong. The woman he inadvertently raised me to be.
We say goodbye for now and arrange to get together soon.
Grey crosses the room and wraps me in a hug. “I take it that went okay?”
“More than okay,” I say, able to take my first deep breath since the ball.
We spend the rest of the week helping Bran sort through matters with the military, completing paperwork, and helping him record his memories as they return.
With each passing day, he regains more of them, however, he can’t go back as far as what caused him to lose them to begin with.
That’s still murky and probably something best dealt with by a professional.
But soon, we head back to the Upper Peninsula, where our favorite little man is happy to see us.
We spend the summer with Sonny, in the garden, and swimming in the lake.
We even invite my father up for a visit.
It’s not far from his headquarters, though there’s no telling which of his many houses he’s using as a home base these days.
Because of his jet-setting ways, it comes as a shock when he makes sand castles with Sonny, picks blueberries, not caring when the juice stains his fingers, and reads him bedtime stories—in English.
Life is good.
The night before my dad leaves, Ingrid comes out to the island. We all pitch in and make a big barbecue dinner.
“Is your brother joining us?” my dad asks Grey.
He answers with a grunt.
I’m not sure what that means, but the other day, the three of them—my husband, father, and Bran—argued over Sonny’s future and whether he’d be a football player, hockey star turned metal tsar, or a military pilot.
Meanwhile, Ingrid and I debate whether everyone would be more comfortable inside or on the back deck. “Never thought we’d have such a big group up here again. It’s a lovely evening. I think I’ll enjoy dining alfresco.”
“Are you sure? The bugs might come out around dusk.”
She waves her hand. “I’ll light some citronella candles.”
I don’t argue because I’m lapping up these summer evenings on the lake, but I don’t want my dad to complain about mosquitoes. Then again, since coming up here, he’s been surprisingly relaxed.
“The sunset from here is spectacular. We’ll just have to pace ourselves because it won’t be for another hour or so,” Ingrid adds.
Ingrid takes steaks off the grill, and I bring out the cold salads and dinner rolls.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for Bran?” I ask. “Wait? Where is Grey?”
“What’s that?” Dad points to the sky as the golden hour paints the glassy lake with a warm glow.
Overhead, an airplane loops and swoops, emitting a puff of fluffy white clouds. From them, letters take shape.
Ingrid gets to her feet and I follow her to the deck rail. My father’s hand finds its way to my shoulder as we watch the airplane doing skywriting.
I see letters, but I can’t read the words.
“Oh, this is so romantic,” Ingrid says.
“Indeed,” Dad adds.
I gave him a side-eye. When did he ever think anything was romantic?
Ingrid beams. “And to think, it’s Pierce’s plane.”
“But what does that say?” I ask. To me, it looks like a bunch of random letters.
Ingrid says, “Gifte seg med meg igjen.” I don’t understand for a long moment.
Then sounds take shape in my mind when she repeats the words, followed by my name.
Sonny points at the sky, calling, “Onk, Onk, Onk!”
“Do you mean oink?” I ask, nuzzling him.
“Onk Bran. He’s my new best friend. He’s getting a puppy. We’re naming him Pupaya.”
“Papaya?” Ingrid asks.
“No, pup, like puppy,” Sonny says.
I laugh and then go quiet. “Wait. Sonny, how do you say ‘Marry me again?’” Word search answers shift into place. My breath catches in my throat. “I think—” My pulse races.
Ingrid and my dad exchange a smile as realization drops, but I can’t quite believe it.
“Are Grey and Bran up there?”
“Yep, in their father’s plane.”
“And that says Gifte seg med meg igjen? Please marry me again?”
The early evening sounds filtering from the nearby woods go quiet. The gentle lapping of the waves is silent. The world is still. All my overthinking, over caring, and over-stressing dissolves. In its place is certainty.
Everything is frozen except me. My thoughts match my heart as I shoot out of my chair and rush toward the water’s edge where the seaplane lands.
Grey picks me up and spins me around.
He takes my hand and with his other hand, he points to the sky. “That’s for you. Will you marry me, again, Everly?” He produces an engagement ring with a medium-sized diamond—not too flashy, but just the right amount of sparkle.
“Yes, yes, I will.” There is no hesitation. No doubt. No fear.
“Remember that first day at Blancbourg when I said there were three things that you needed to know about me? The third thing is that I love you, Everly.”
“I love you too,” I say.
“We did things a little out of order, but I want to spoil you. For starters, we have a few additional guests arriving—Heidi, some of your friends from college, and a few others. We’ll eat dinner, have chocolate cake from Concordia and cookie dough ice cream for dessert, and then we’ll dance, celebrate, and do the things people do when they get married, even though we already are.
“Don’t forget the dress,” Ingrid says. “The PS ladies and I picked it out. They’ll be along too.”
“Is this our wedding reception?” I ask, breathy with shock.
“Since we’re technically already married, yes.” Grey beams.
“And then there’s the honeymoon,” Dad says.
I turn back to Grey, my eyes wide, my heart full of love and wonder. They must have all worked together to make everything happen.
Grey says, “As for our honeymoon, we’re going island hopping.”
“As long as we don’t make a pit stop to see Princess Papaya, I’m good.”
“Nope. We’re going to chase sunsets because I want to have many, many more with you,” Grey says, wrapping his arms around me from behind and kissing me. “I picked the setting sun because I know you like to sleep in.” He winks.
“I’d get up to watch the sunrise with you anytime.” I lift onto my toes, twist, and kiss him on the lips.
“I’ll take you up on that, Buttercup,” he says.
“Greyson, you’re the best decision I've ever made.”
Sonny scrambles toward us and we have a family hug as the sun sets.
Grey whispers, “This is the beginning of my happily Everly after.”