Page 70 of Distant Shores (Stapled Magnolias #2)

Mocktails and water were available at every corner of the room, ensuring no one got dehydrated, and I took a break a few songs later to hydrate.

I sighed in relief when I detected no alcohol in the purple drink, eyeing Miss Lenny as she danced tirelessly in the center of the dance floor.

I probably should’ve had someone make sure she hadn’t spiked these before now.

A couple brushed by me, a soft hand grazing my arm as they went. My heart skipped, then squeezed as Pops and Delly walked onto the floor. Delly looked over her shoulder at me, still radiant in her deep red gown, smiling so big I couldn’t help but smile back.

Pops, dressed in his Sunday best, kissed her hand before they started swaying to the beat, his cane lifting off the ground as he hugged her.

Even though Cole was discreetly snapping shots of them, I wished I could take my own photo. It was a gorgeous sight, especially when Jillie and her wife, Rachel , started dancing beside them, Rachel’s bump cradled by chiffon.

I took a step back, intending to do another circuit of the room, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

The song faded out, and I inhaled deeply as I felt him.

Felt them.

A shiver raced across me as that iconic piano glissando tore through the speakers, and Dad came to a stop beside me, Adair right behind him. They shared a brief, meaningful look I couldn’t begin to interpret before Adair’s hazel eyes met mine.

His lips parted, his cheeks flushing as his gaze danced over me from my hair to my heels. “Beautiful,” he mouthed the second our gazes touched again.

I took a moment to drink in his simple dark suit and tidy hair, then read his nametag, smiling at his familiar handwriting. But then my gaze flicked to Dad’s chest, and my heart stuttered. Those tears, the ones that were determinedly on standby today, threatened me again.

Ireland’s dad

“It’s our song, Dancing Queen,” Dad murmured.

I glanced at Adair one more time, rolling my lips together before looking into Dad’s eyes, bracing for what I might find there.

But they were just…. our eyes. Blue and clear, his full of extra mischief.

He offered me his arm. “Let’s show them what we’ve got.”

Panic seized me at losing this moment, and my hand flew to his arm, holding on tight.

We faced each other when we claimed our spot, and I could feel Adair nearby, bearing witness, but I was too scared to look away and confirm it .

There was no rhyme or reason as Dad and I danced. No structure, form, or shape.

And every moment was a gift.

Dad smiled freely, his movements slower than they would’ve been a year ago, but he laughed whenever I did, which made me want to do it more.

Before the song ended, he pulled me close, one hand around my waist and one holding our hands out beside us as we swayed.

“Did you… did you ever read that note?” he asked.

I frowned, looking up into his eyes, but the memory came quickly.

“ For a sad song and a rainy day, Dancing Queen.”

“The one from the day we met Wilbur?” I asked, searching his face.

He hummed, mouth pulling down as our swaying slowed. “I think… yes. Yeah. When we met Willie and his boy.”

I glanced past Dad’s shoulder to Adair. He looked up as soon as he felt it and raised his eyebrows in a “You good?”

I raised my chin slightly, giving him my answer with a soft small “Yes. I am now.”

“Good kid,” he said, gesturing with his head toward Adair. “Repeats himself something awful, though. Might be disturbed in the head.”

I frowned and almost asked him what he meant, but then the song ended, and as couples disbanded around us, Dad stilled. I didn’t think anything of it until he started fidgeting with the sleeves of his linen button up, and I gently covered his hand with mine. “Want something to drink?”

He jerked his hand from under mine and cursed at his shirt, tugging it more aggressively. Before I’d even looked for him, Adair was there, his limp barely perceptible. “Come on, Mr. Beck. I’ve got you a mocktail ready.”

Adair glanced at me, concern in his eyes, but I just shook my head, as disoriented by it as Dad had been.

Dad went with Adair easily, and when Adair looked over his shoulder at me before they were lost to the crowd, I mouthed a thank you to him.

And then Adair Jacks winked at me.

Fucking winked , and I about fucking swooned .

I pressed the backs of my hands against my suddenly hot cheeks and stepped off the dance floor to make room for the next round of dancers, thinking about that note Dad mentioned again.

I’d dropped it into one of the drawers before doing laundry and hadn’t ever felt up to taking it out, despite the many rainy days and sad songs I’d listened to since.

“You okay, dear?” Ari asked, putting her arm around me.

“Yeah,” I said softly. “I’m okay.”

It would keep.

“And you?” I asked, leaning my head against her shoulder.

I felt her body rise with a deep breath, and I understood.

She didn’t want to lie to me.

So, we stood together like that for an entire song, just taking time to be.

“Probably about time for the final dance,” I said eventually.

Ari gave me a squeeze before pulling away and discreetly swiped under her eyes. “Let’s finish this thing, then.” Head held high, she headed toward the podium, and I followed, rounding up Delly along the way.

Delly took one for the team and stepped up to the lectern, and Cole wolf-whistled from somewhere in the crowd.

She ignored him as she took charge, her voice strong and clear as she called out names, one by one, to enter the dance floor, followed by the person who bid the highest on their dance card, earning them the final dance of the night.

A warm hand pressed into my lower back, fingers stroking softly as she called, “And finally, Ireland Sewell, partnered with Adair Jacks.”

Adair kissed my cheek. “Come on, Indigo Girl.”

When he offered me his hand, I took it.

And then I was in his arms.

Just like in my dreams. Waking and otherwise.

My entire being warmed, and I shut my eyes as I grasped the feeling with both hands, sending my deepest wishes to the universe.

Please, let me remember this.

Let me keep this.

The song started, and I leaned into him as we swayed, breathing in the rightness of it.

Come away with me, in the night

I gasped when Adair’s hand found mine as he positioned us in a perfect closed position, our arms bent beside us and our hands clasped, my left hand easily going to the spot above his shoulder and his right one to my upper back, as if we’d done this a million times before.

When he slid his left foot forward in time to the music, my right foot automatically went backward, making room.

My gaze never left his, nor his mine, as we glided into a waltz.

It was as easy as breathing.

Adair’s steps were steady and smooth as he led me around the dance floor, and everything fell away as we moved together. He raised our joined hands, and a huge smile bloomed on my face, straining my muscles as he slowly spun me before gathering me to him.

And then Adair Jacks dipped me.

My hair fanned out as I let my neck fall back into the movement, a delighted laugh I’d never heard my body make spilling from my lips. When he guided me back up, I finally got the question past my lips.

“ How ?”

He wrapped his arms around me and abandoned the steps.

“Grams loved to dance,” he whispered, “And I might’ve asked Delly for a refresher.”

A piece of his styled hair fell over his brow when he looked down at me, and his breaths stuttered as I pushed it back into place, then stroked my fingertips down the side of his face.

“I love you, Ireland.”

I stared at his mouth as the world tilted and slowed.

“I was going to wait to say it, but….” He grasped my face and tilted my head back as he repeated the words. “ I love you. ”

My heart. I wasn’t sure if it was screaming or soaring. Not even from hearing those words from him, the best man I knew, but hearing them at all.

The song ended, and I vaguely registered Director Links’s voice coming through the speakers, instructing everyone to head for the cafeteria.

The dancing was over, but Adair kept me close as neither of us moved.

As he looked at me, his hazel eyes were so full of adoration, of understanding , and I sucked in a shuddering breath as questions piled up inside me, one after the other.

He probably read each one better than I did.

Before he could doubt me, or I could doubt myself, I rose onto the tips of my toes and kissed him. Center stage, and in front of the people who were friends, co-workers, and family, I kissed Adair Jacks with everything I felt for him.

With love.

Because I did love him. Desperately. Horribly.

Probably since the moment he’d given me that hug that’d held me together when nothing else was.

I loved him so much that saying it, confronting it without at least some answers, terrified me to the point of blind panic.

His voice was breathless when we broke apart.

“I’ll go get the guys.” He stroked his hands down my arm, then back up again, settling that fear enough for me to open my eyes.

“There she is,” he whispered. “I’ll text you to let you know if they’re staying here or going back to the apartment, and then I’ll find you. You’ll get your phone?”

I nodded.

Hope filled his eyes before he kissed me one more time.