“Oh, shut up,” Holden said tightly. “You know exactly how I feel.”
“Like you’re so happy, your fucking head is going to explode?”
He nodded, sniffed. He looked at River the way I looked at Shiloh, the way Miller looked at Violet. Like he couldn’t believe something so good was his.
“He looks perfect here, right? Like he belongs.”
“Because he does.” And because I’d had a really good day, I pulled Holden in for a hug.
Holden sagged against me for a minute, then stiffened and shoved me away. “That’s enough out of you, Wentz. I’m already on the verge. I’m relying on you to be your usual unpleasant self or I’m going to lose it.”
I smacked my hand on his back. “How about this? If you ever fucking disappear again…”
He snorted. “You’re one to talk. But fear not. My disappearing days are over.” He flashed his left hand, the setting sun glinting off the silver band—a ring River had commissioned from Shiloh a few months ago. “River has made an honest man out of me.”
“I doubt that.”
Holden’s mischievous smile returned. “He loves to try.”
I rolled my eyes as he joined the group, taking charge of the food and barking orders at everyone.
River approached me, and we clasped hands. “Where’s the little guy?”
“Home with the grandmas,” I said. “Congrats, by the way. You guys set a date?”
“Not yet,” River said, rubbing the back of his neck. “After Holden’s book tour, I guess. Tomorrow, we leave for six weeks. I’d rather stay put,but if he doesn’t travel now and then, he’ll go stir-crazy. Compromise. That’s what it’s all about, right?”
I nodded, and we both looked at Holden, drinking from a bottle of sparkling water and saying something that had Violet clutching her belly with laughter.
“He looks good,” I said. I met River’s eye. “You did that.”
“Nah, he did that,” he said, referring to Holden’s time away, when he wrote his book and got himself dried out. “He worked his ass off. I’m really fucking proud of him.”
“He worked hard foryou. He’s happy because ofyou. Thank you for that.”
River smiled, glanced down. “Well, it goes both ways—that happiness. It runs deep.”
Holden sidled over. “The last thing I need is you two palling around together. Next thing I know, you’re BFFs.” He steered River away. “Ronan’s the most dangerous of us all. Knows all my secrets.”
I chuckled and rejoined Shiloh in the chair beside hers. The night’s hours flowed in laughter, music, and food. Holden had us all clutching our sides at some of his stories, and then Miller would play, his voice carrying across the night, seeping into our bones.
Shiloh leaned into me, her cheek on my shoulder.
Violet sat with Miller in the sand, tucked into his embrace.
River and Holden did the same—Holden wrapped in River’s arms. He wasn’t sleeping, but his eyes were closed, his expression purely content.
“I’m so glad they’re here together,” Shiloh whispered to me. “Now we feel complete.”
“I had the same thought,” I said, except something nagged at me. I watched Miller run his hands over Violet’s belly and knew what it was.
Shiloh felt my eyes on her. “What is it?”
“I want to take you home and put a baby in you.”
Her eyes widened, her face flushing. “I wish you’d say what you really mean,” she teased. “You’re serious? You want…another baby?”
“And this time, I’m going to be there with you every step of the way. From the moment you find out you’re pregnant to the day she’s born.”