When I ease into her, it’s not just physical. Everything I feel for this woman comes rushing in all at once. It hits me so hard, warmth gathers in my eyes from somewhere deep inside, and I can’t hold it back.
A single tear slips free, falling against her skin.
She looks up at me with those blue eyes, the same eyes I fell in love with that summer. She reaches up, her fingers brushing along my cheek, tenderly.
“I love you so much, Collins…my husband.”
The words settle into me, growing roots.
I bend down, pressing my lips to hers, holding her there as I move with slow, deliberate care. Like I’m memorizing her, like I’m afraid to ever forget this moment.
“You’re my whole damn world, Johnnie,” I murmur against her mouth. “I’ll love you until forever. My soul will always remember yours.”
Through every lifetime.
Through heaven and earth.
It’s us.
Together.
Always.
The soft, steady chords of “Collide”by Howie Day drift through the speakers, wrapping around us, slipping into the night air like something sacred. The sound settles over the dance floor, over the water, over us.
I hold her close; too close, maybe. Like, if I loosen my grip even an inch, she might slip away. I force myself to lean back just enough to look at her, to really see her even though every part of me wants to keep her tucked safely against my chest forever.
But I don’t have to hold on that tight.
Because she’s mine.
And I’m hers.
Always.
Behind her, the lake has gone dark, the last light of day long gone. Now it reflects only the moon and the stars, shimmering like the sky itself fell into the water. Heat lamps flicker softly, and strands of glowing lights stretch above us. Just like they did the night I asked her to marry me.
I glance over her shoulder. Campbell and Bea sway together, completely lost in each other, their smiles smitten. Crandall and Lou move the same way, the world reduced down to just the two of them.
And then there’s Billy.
His tux is halfway undone, shirt untucked, hair a complete mess as he tears across the edge of the dance floor, Bolt chasing after him.
A laugh almost breaks free from my chest, but it catches somewhere inside, caught up in everything I’m feeling at once.
I don’t know what I did to deserve this life.
But damn…I’m so fucking grateful it’s mine.
“She would have loved this, you know.”
My gaze drifts past her, landing on the trailer behind us. I don’t have to say anything more. She understands, she always does.
“She would’ve been sidling up to the DJ,” she says softly, a smile tugging at her lips. “Requesting Willie Nelson, drinking a Budweiser, dancing with a cigarette in the air.”
A quiet laugh escapes us both, but it’s laced with something more, something tender and aching.
Grief doesn’t disappear. It just learns how to coexist with the happiness.