Chapter 24
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“Thank you for coming today,” Noelle’s hands rested on Evan’s shoulders as they swayed to the music at her wedding reception.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He’d had to leave his crew who were fighting multiple blazes in San Diego County for the past week, but he’d promised to be here and he was. “The ceremony was beautiful. You look beautiful.”
“I look fat.” Noelle smiled, glancing down at her growing baby bump. “But, thank you.”
“So, how are things with you and Shayne?” Noelle asked directly.
The black hole of emptiness that had taken up residence in his chest expanded just hearing her name. “We haven’t really talked in a while.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said sincerely.
He was sorry to say that. It had been a month since their night together at Mountain Ridge. They’d parted as friends, at her insistence. They’d promised to keep in touch, but that was the extent of their commitment. He’d gone straight to Humboldt, and then from there directly to Southern California.
By the time he was in Los Angeles she was in Toronto working on the med student movie. Their schedules were both crazy and there had been a lot of phone tag and texts, but they’d only spoken once and that conversation was cut short when she was called to set.
He’d planned on seeing her when she’d visited Camilla, the girl she’d met at the community center, where she announced a program she’d be partnering with that helped kids with learning disabilities get the diagnosis and tutoring that they needed. He’d missed it though because the fire that they’d had fifty percent contained, jumped a ridge overnight and was threatening homes and livestock. She’d tried to fly in and see him on a rare day off he had between fires, but there’d been a storm in Toronto and all flights were grounded.
He hated to admit it, but she might’ve been right about it being impossible to have a real relationship. Still, that hadn’t stopped him from missing her every second of every minute of every hour of every day. He hadn’t given up hope that one day they’d find a way to be together. Until that day, he’d just have to put up with being harassed by his family for having a “Perma-Death-Stare.” He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t trying to be in a bad mood, it was just hard not to be when he felt like a limb was missing. Or an organ. His heart.
But today was not about him or his stolen heart. It was about Noelle and her happiness.
“Well,” Noelle sighed as she smiled up at him with a twinkle in her green eyes. “One thing I know for sure, life can surprise you. I always knew I’d be dancing with you at my wedding, I just didn’t think it would be to another man and I’d be six months pregnant.”
He chuckled as her uncle tapped on his shoulder to cut in. Evan leaned down and hugged her before making his way off the dance floor. He’d originally planned to stick around until they cut the cake, but he was exhausted from the past month. Not only had it been brutal on him emotionally, physically he was bone-tired. He had averaged eighteen-hour workdays, and there’d been several instances where he’d had to work thirty-six hours straight.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his mom at the bar. He would go tell her he was leaving and then try and get some sleep before his flight back to SoCal tomorrow morning.
“Hey, I’m gonna take off.”
He leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek, but she pulled back and her eyes widened.
“I thought you said that you were staying until they cut the cake.”
“That was the plan, but I’m tired.” He straightened back up.
Her eyes darted around the room before returning to his. “Oh, come on. Don’t be a party pooper. How often do you get to…” she waved her hand toward the room.
“Watch my ex marry someone else?” He said flatly to tease her. “Hopefully only once.”
She swatted his arm playfully. “I was going to say dance, have fun, spend time with your friends.”
He wasn’t sure why she was trying to get him to stick around. Usually in this situation she’d be pushing him out the door telling him to turn off his phone so his sleep didn’t get interrupted.
“Well,” she threaded her arm through Evan’s, “at least keep me company until your father gets back.”
“Where did he go?”
“I sent him on an errand.”
Evan knew his mother was up to something, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what it could be.
“You sent him on an errand?” He asked as he noticed Tate approaching them.
“Dr. York!” His mom ignored his question as her face lit up. She dropped her arm from Evan and greeted her hero with a hug.
“Please, call me Tate,” he said as he returned her embrace.
When she stepped away, she gushed, “The wedding was beautiful!”
“Thank you and thank you for coming. Both of you.” He turned to Evan and shook his hand with genuine sincerity. “Seriously, man, it meant so much to Noelle that you were here today. I really appreciate you being here.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it.”
After a little small talk, he moved on to other guests and his mom turned to Evan. “I told you, he’s amazing, right?”
“Yep. You told me.” He grinned at the irony of his mom’s affection for his ex’s new husband.
Now that he’d touched base with both the bride and groom, Evan really didn’t see any reason to hang out.
“I’m going to take off, Mom. Do you want me to grab Deanna or Eli to wait with you?”
“Um…” Her eyes darted around the room again.
“What’s going on, Mom?”
“Nothing.” She creased her forehead as she looked up at him like his question came completely out of the blue.
He was too tired to figure out what was going on. “All right, well then, I’ll call you tomorrow when I land.”
Something caught her attention over his shoulder and she pointed, “Oh look. Your father is back.”
“Great.” Evan still had no clue what was up, but if it made it easier for him to leave, then he was happy his dad was back, too.
“Okay, sweetie, well you should go get some rest!” She shoved his shoulders, literally pushing him out of the room. Except, she wasn’t pushing him in the direction of the parking lot.
“Mom, the parking lot is—”
“Hey!” Deanna rushed up to them. “Are you leaving?”
“Yes, he is.” His mom nodded her head emphatically and his eyes bounced between the two women that were obviously co-conspirators, he just wasn’t sure in what.
“Before you go, can you do me a favor?” Deanna’s eyes were wide and pleading.
“Sure,” Evan answered as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Um…” Deanna shifted her weight between her left and right feet. “I have a surprise for Noelle in the back and I don’t want any of the staff breaking it. Could you go grab it for me?”
He stared at her for a moment. Was that really what this was about? What surprise could his cousin have that the staff would break? Sometimes the path of least resistance was the way to go. “Sure.”
“Great!” She clapped. “It’s out back in the delivery area.”
“What is it?” He had no idea what to look for.
“You’ll know it when you see it,” she beamed and both his mother and cousin pushed him toward the service entrance.
He sighed as he made his way down the back corridor of the reception hall. He honestly had no idea what he was walking into, but the sooner he did it the sooner he could go home.
The hallway led to a steel door with a red exit sign hanging above it and he pushed it open. As soon as he stepped outside he blinked, unable to believe what his eyes were seeing.
Shayne Fox was leaning against an older model red sports car.
His heart slammed against his ribs and he was momentarily paralyzed from shock.
“Hi.” She waved, and the smile that he’d missed every second of every minute of every hour of every day pulled across her beautiful face.
The power of that smile cured his paralysis and he crossed the parking lot, stopping directly in front of her.
“What are you…?” He could barely breathe, much less talk.
“I’m Sixteen Candling you,” She enthused. “How’s my Jake Ryan?”
“Perfect,” he laughed, feeling lighter than he had, maybe ever. There were so many things he wanted to say, to ask. “How did you do this?”
“Well, I got the idea when Deanna mentioned that you were going to the wedding. I asked her to check with Noelle, to make sure it would be okay, since Deanna loved the idea.”
“You asked Noelle?”
“Of course, it’s her wedding.”
“I can’t believe Deanna kept this secret.” She was notoriously bad at secret keeping.
“She did tell your mom and dad but I’m so glad she did because the studio delivered the car yesterday and I was nervous to drive it from my hotel—”
“Wait is that the car from the movie? The 1983 Porsche 944?”
“Yep. Your dad offered to drive it for me.”
He shook his head in disbelief. This was like a dream. A dream he never wanted to wake up from.
“So, the reason I’m here, besides the grand romantic gesture, is because I was wrong. I mean, not completely. Our schedules are insane and we might go weeks without seeing each other and even days without talking, but…I want to try. If you still do. These past four weeks have been miserable. I mean, not completely. I met my brother—”
“You did?” She hadn’t mentioned that in any of her messages or texts.
“Yeah, I wanted to tell you in person or at least over the phone.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Benji’s amazing and so is his adoptive family. I spent a few days with him last month and now and we text every day. And, guess what?”
“What?”
Her eyes filled with tears as she went on, “He did remember me. Well, sort of.” She wiped under her eyes. “He remembered the song that I sang him. The only memory he has is a voice singing ‘You Are My Sunshine.’ He thought it was my mom but I was the one that sang that to him.” She smiled as tears fell down her face and she sniffed. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough for finding him. But, I’d like to try. I want to give us a try. I know it won’t be easy, but I love you, Evan Bishop. And if you still love me—”
He reached out and cupped her face, brushing the rest of her tears away with his thumbs as he lowered his forehead and rested it against hers. He paused for a moment before crushing his mouth to hers and claiming her in a kiss that would put any other to shame. He broke it for a moment to whisper, “I love you. I’ll always love you.”
It was a responsibility. A promise. A life sentence that made him the luckiest man in the world.