Page 166 of Everything After

Coral forced a polite smile, let go of her belly with one hand and shook Alyna’s. “Coral, Rick, this is my wife, Alyna.”

Rick almost choked on his spit. “So I heard. Not that I was eavesdropping, these two were hardly discreet with your news.”

“Yeah,” Cody said. He grinned like he could hardly believe it himself.

“Isn’t it clever how blind people can behave like they see everything? The way you reached out and shook my wife’s hand…” Rick teased, as if Cody wasn’t a catch and Alyna was obviously blind to have married him.

“My husband is gorgeous,” Alyna replied, defending what Rick had said with a hand on Cody’s chest.

“I know, I’d do him. I’m only joking. Congratulations, sweetheart. You too, Cody. I never thought I’d see the day?—”

“Okay, everyone. Let’s get this party started. I think I’ll ask the caterer to bring in Charlie’s cake,” Lily abruptly said.

I laughed at the relief on Cody’s face at Lily’s timely interruption, because I guessed she and Cody knew what Rick’snext topic might have been, namely how Cody had a long-time thing for Lily.

Now that Cody didn’t look at my wife like she could be his next meal, something told me, given time, we might even turn out to be friends.

EPILOGUE

LILY

Shortly after Cody, Alyna and Delilah arrived, and we’d sung “Happy Birthday” to Charlie then Coral, Lennie and Rick had to leave for the hospital. Coral admitted to me that her contractions had been coming regular since 11:00 a.m., an hour before they’d set off from the mainland to come to the party.

Kudos to her because she’d hidden her labor well, until shortly before the three of them left for the hospital at just past 2:30 p.m.

Of course, Rick blamed Cody for them showing up at all. Coral was a fan of Cody as a solo artist and had been desperate for personal news about him since he’d left my band. It was incredible how he had managed to keep his marriage in the dark.

Cody and Alyna had been at the party for a couple of hours, mostly talking to Digs, Shawn and their partners, before he’d left his wife with them to seek me out.

“Charlie’s an amazing little boy… he’s so bright, and he knows words already?” Cody questioned. It appeared incredulous to him that Charlie could say drink, cookie, mommy, dada, truck, Vivi and teddy—Vivi being Vicky, the one person whose name was too tricky at that time.

I didn’t think those words made him a genius, after all he had three adults at his beck and call all day to learn from, five if you included my parents.

“You’re a dark horse,” I suggested, smiling up at Cody’s happy face. I took a second to take him in. He looked great… better than great, and from the adoring looks he sent Alyna’s way he was most definitely in love. My heart swelled with excitement, relief and love that Cody had found his happily ever after.

He chuckled as he looked at his wife, then his gaze came back to mine. “She’s amazing,” he mumbled, looking slightly embarrassed by his admission.

“She’s lovely,” I agreed. “No one could be happier for you, than me. So… tell me this love story,” I insisted, moving quickly from that admission.

He shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets, the way he always did whenever he was either embarrassed or found a situation awkward.

“Not much to tell really. After I left the band and got my shit in order, I took a trip to California with my surfboard. I stopped at a deserted beach when I saw the waves in the ocean were firing. Spent a few hours there… I mean you should have seen me, riding through the most awesome barrels, I would have graced any men’s cologne ad.”

“You turned down Hugo Boss that one time they offered,” I reminded him.

He laughed and his eyes sparkled with humor and light at the memory. I mirrored his smile. “You know, it was during that simple connection with the elements that I realized it was the first time I’d felt free of everything that had been burdening me.” I wondered if he’d meant free of me, but I’d never have asked him that.

“So, you surfed,” I stated. Encouraging him to keep talking.

“I did, until my leash plug broke off my board. I couldn’t just leave it like that, so I found a small surf shop, in the hopes it could be mended. You know how I feel about my board.”

“Vaguely,” I said, trying to recall if he’d ever surfed in my company. I felt a stab of guilt when I couldn’t.

“Anyway, there I was all disheveled and shaggy haired, fresh from the water when I wandered into Alyna’s store with my wounded board in hand.” He shrugged and stopped talking.

“Come on, you’re not leaving me hanging like this,” I grumbled.

He laughed. “The moment our eyes connected, something happened in here,” he admitted with his hand over his chest. “Of course, I’ve never been one to shy away from what moves me, so I asked her out.”