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“Wasn’t cheesy,” I said. “It was everything.”
“You really are the purest soul,” he murmured with a soft kiss.
“And Kenji?” I teased. I already knew Kenji was the leader of the Rowe Prince fan club. He’d started prioritizing all Daisy Chain tasks above Bash’s other stuff and came to me for decisions now before involving Bash.
“Kenji’s not allowed to speak your name aloud,” he said, losing his smirk. “He’s on P-Rowe-bation after having the audacity to tell me that he spent my Fake Sterling Chase Escape Fund money on Taylor Swift tickets for the two of you.”
I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. “You don’t like Taylor Swift. Besides, there wasn’t enough money in the fund for three tickets, and you know how much of a penny-pincher I am.”
Bash’s eyes widened. “Were the tickets that expensive? Jesus. Are they made out of diamonds?”
I nodded excitedly. “Front-row ones are. With backstage VIP passes and custom merch packs.”
“Give him several billion,” he mumbled, pinching my side and shoving me away from him, “and he thinks he’s the freaking queen.”
We hopped in the van and started the three-minute trek through town. I showed him my elementary school, the post office, the Depot Museum, the pizza place, and the church. When I pulled around to the cemetery, we got out and walked together through the wide-open space. The air was August-hot and heavy with humidity. When we finally arrived near the shade of a large tree, I let the peaceful surroundings ground me.
“There,” I said softly, pointing to her large granite headstone. The town had come together to raise money for it, and it always made my parents proud with the memory of how many people had been affected by Daisy’s death.
Bash knelt down and ran his hand across the shiny surface. “Elizabeth Daisy Prince,” he read. “Beloved daughter, sister, and friend. And a heckuva ballplayer.”
He let out a soft laugh and looked up at me. I shrugged. “What can I say? She was known for it. It’s one of the things that helps me sleep at night. She died doing something she loved.”
Bash closed his eyes for a few moments while the hot air moved past us in a gentle breeze. My sister wasn’t there in that cemetery, but it was nice having a place to come to like this to remember and honor her.
When he opened his eyes, he still faced the stone. “You’d be so fucking proud of him, Daisy. His hard work and dedication is going to change the world. His idea is going to save lives. And… and I’m going to love him until the day he leaves this earth. I promise. If he’ll let me…” His voice broke. The emotion was enough to bring me to my knees. “If he’ll let me, I’ll spend my life trying to make him happy.”
I grabbed him and held him tightly, nearly knocking him into the freshly cut grass. His arms tightened around me. “I love you so much. I wish she was here so I could meet her. I hate that a part of you is missing.”
I shook my head and pressed a kiss into the warm skin of his neck. “It’s not. She’s with me. She’s been with me all along. And now I have you. I’m so fucking lucky. So thankful.”
We stayed like that for several more moments before I decided it was time to go. Daisy wasn’t here. And I could remember and honor her just as well on the beach in Southampton or at my favorite Indian place on West Fifty-Sixth Street.
“Time to meet Apple Butter,” I said, wiping my face with shaking fingers. “Prepare thyself for an epic confrontation with evil.”
Bash stood and laughed, grabbing my hand and squeezing. “I shall faithfully defend you from all the evil butters, apple or otherwise. I promise on my life.”
We hopped back in the van and made a beeline to the ice cream shop for our second sugar snack of the afternoon. Once we were back in the van, I drove out past Luna Farm.
And saw a riot of daisies in full bloom all along the roadside for at least a mile. “What’s this?” I murmured, slowing down and taking it all in. “There were never flowers here before.”
Halfway down the long stream of flowers was a small wooden sign. I pulled over to get out and read it.
In glorious celebration of the memory of Daisy Prince and the life of Rowe Prince. ~ The Brotherhood
I looked back at Bash, who was ambling over more slowly, holding his phone up like he was taking a video. “The Brotherhood?Yourbrotherhood? That’s the only broth—”
Bash nodded. “They’re your brothers now, too. If you want. They wanted to make sure you knew that while they’ll never take Daisy’s place, they’d be honored to be your family now if you’ll have them.”
A tinny voice sounded from his phone. “Turn us around, dammit. We want to tell him ourselves.”
I recognized the voice as Silas’s. When Bash turned the phone around, five little windows appeared, each full of one of Bash’s close friends.
“We love you, Rowe,” they said in a jumble of voices. “Welcome to the family!”
I laughed through the tears that inevitably came roaring back at the incredibly kind and loving gesture. “Who says I want you assholes?” I asked with a watery sniff.
“Bash,” Landry said. “Give the man a hankie. He’s leaking all over.”
Bash handed me the phone so he could pull something out of his pocket.
It was a green silk hankie. Connected to a yellow silk hankie. Connected to a red silk hankie…
And just like that, I knew I’d finally found my people. And especially, my very own prince.
* * *
