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Savannah linked arms with Hez as they exited their car with Simon in tow and approached the white tent set up in the park by the pier in Pelican Harbor. This wasn’t the engagement party Jess had planned, but Savannah couldn’t face trying to mimic the party her sister was going to throw her at Jesse’s Restaurant. They had left Marley and Cody napping back at Hez’s condo. Jamaican reggae music floated from the DJ station on the beach side of the tent, and the scent of seafood wafted their way. Different was good, especially tonight.

Most of their guests had already arrived, and expectant, smiling faces turned their way. Nora stepped out first to greet them. “The caterer is here, and everything is ready.”

Savannah hugged her. “Thank you so much for putting all this together. Is Graham with you?”

The police had cleared Nora’s boyfriend as soon as they confirmed that Jess was the artifact courier in New York, and he’d insisted there were no hard feelings. He even volunteered that he would have done exactly the same thing in Savannah’s shoes.

Nora gestured toward the tent where Graham stood by the DJ. “He’s making some song requests.”

She smiled at Simon. “You look very handsome, Simon. Are you going to be in the wedding party?”

He shrugged. “I’ll do most anything for Aunt Savannah and Uncle Hez.”

Nora grinned and gave Savannah a surreptitious wink. Hez hadn’t asked Simon to be his best man while the poor kid was reeling with grief for his mother, but hopefully that storm would start to subside soon. “I like to hear that.”

She pointed out an arbor laced with daisies, baby’s breath, and miniature lights. “I told everyone once you got here, they could form a receiving line there, so let’s get you in place. I’ll have the DJ make the announcement.”

“I don’t have to go, do I?”

Simon asked.

Savannah shook her head. “Nope. Will is at the table closest to the music, and he saved you a seat.”

“Awesome.”

Simon took off toward the tent.

“Good call.”

Hez took Savannah’s hand. “I was afraid it would be boring for him.”

Nora walked just ahead of them and glanced back with a smile. “Not with what I have planned. I had cornhole, a giant Jenga game, and beach volleyball set up on the other side of the tent. I asked Will to invite some football friends too, and Will promised to take Simon under his wing. It will be a night he won’t forget.”

“You are amazing,”

Savannah said. “Are Hez’s parents here yet?”

She was eager to see them, and she knew Hez was too. They lived in Oregon, and they were supposed to arrive in Mobile at four.

“They’re on their way here in a rental car,”

Nora said.

Savannah stepped into the center of the arch with Hez, and people began to line up before the DJ had a chance to make an announcement. Jimmy was first in line. His bear hug about broke her back, but she didn’t mind a bit.

Jimmy had tears in his eyes as he hugged Hez. “Didn’t think I’d ever see this day, my friend. If you have any trouble with him, you come straight to me, you hear?”

he told Savannah in a choked voice.

Tears sprang to her eyes too. “I’m sure you’ll keep him in line. Thank you for pouring into his life, Jimmy.”

“It was my pleasure.”

He moved out of the way.

Person after person filed through with congratulations and hugs.

Hez’s cousin Blake and his aunt Jenna were there with Blake’s girlfriend, Paradise, and his younger siblings.

The Justice Chamber crew had come with their dates, and Jane Dixon and her family added their warm wishes.

Savannah could barely keep her hands off Jane’s sweet little girl, Dolly.

Their pastor was there as well as Hope and even Savannah’s counselor, Melissa Morris.

A few reporters roamed the tent’s perimeter, snapping pictures and talking to guests.

Savannah had been a bit of a celebrity ever since Hornbrook’s arrest. Hez should have been the real star.

She stiffened at the last person in line. Her father. She’d told Nora not to send him an invitation. “Hello, Dad.”

“Savannah.”

He embraced her, and his overpowering cologne made her stomach clench. “I know I have no right to be here after the way I behaved, but I couldn’t stay away. I hope you can forgive me for it all.”

He glanced out into the twilight where Simon and Will played Jenga. “I want to be part of Simon’s life. And yours if you’ll have me. All that’s happened has been a wake-up call for me. Jess is gone, but her son is still here. I want to be part of his life.”

Her initial warm feelings at his manner took a sharp turn. Was it always about what he wanted? But did she have the right to refuse his olive branch when Simon longed for more family? No, she didn’t. “Thanks, Dad. I’m sure you will love Simon when you get to know him.”

“I already do.”

He smiled and squeezed her shoulder with his fingers before he shook Hez’s hand, then wandered off toward Simon.

Savannah watched him amble up to her nephew and saw the moment when Simon’s face lit up. Had she just made a terrible mistake? The man had been nothing but pain in Jess’s life. She’d be watchful and see how things went.

She spotted Hez’s parents and squeezed his arm. “Your parents are here!”

They both left the line and went to greet his mom and dad. Hez’s father was an older version of his son, and he was still handsome and distinguished at nearly seventy. His mother was beautiful with Hez’s blue eyes and a blonde cut that accentuated her delicate bone structure. They chatted a moment before going off to grab food and meet Simon.

Savannah started to follow them, but Hez snagged her hand and drew her out of the tent and into the shadows. “I have you to myself at last.”

He pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on top of her head.

The scent of his sage soap enveloped her as well, and she relaxed into the feeling that she was right where she belonged. She could feel his heart beating, and the strength of his arms around her was the haven she’d been craving since they got out of the car. She didn’t need congratulations from other people when she had Hez right here. Being with him was all that mattered.

He kissed her, and she sank into the overwhelming love he poured into that kiss. When he pulled away, she reached for him again but he smiled. “I have something for you too, but I didn’t want anyone else to see it.”

He reached under the bench behind him and held out a wooden box. “All the best memories of my life are with you.”

She took the box and settled on the bench before she removed the lid.

He switched on his phone’s flashlight and sat beside her as she lifted out the first picture.

It was the two of them on their first date at a football game.

They’d been impossibly young and foolish.

But happy, so happy.

She felt that same joy bubble in her chest as she stared at her former self.

If she’d known then what she knew now, she’d still marry him.

She laid it aside and continued to lift out pictures and mementos—

various tickets and pictures, the invitation to their first engagement party, photos at their tiny first apartment, the ultrasound of Ella in the womb, a copy of Ella’s birth announcement, Hez holding tiny Ella in the delivery room, so many pictures of the life they’d built together.

By the time she was finished, tears streamed down her face. “I love it,”

she whispered. “We have so many more memories to make. This is just the beginning.”

“But I don’t want to forget the others either. They build on each other. Thank you for giving us another chance.”

She leaned into his kiss again and imprinted this moment into her heart forever.