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Ziggy opens the door, and my heart trips in my chest. She wears a pale blue sundress speckled with tiny orange flowers, and her hair’s braided—copper, auburn, and fiery red woven down her shoulder. Smiling, she jogs down the steps. “You’re here!”
I rush toward her and hug her hard, breathing her in, trying to calm my racing heart.
I can do this. I can be brave. For her.
Pulling back, I cup her face and smile down at her. I want to kiss her so bad, I have to bite my cheek to stop myself. “Happy birthday.”
“Not yet,” she says brightly, trying to take my bag off my shoulder.
I clutch it. “I’ve got this.”
“Let me. You already insisted on driving yourself here, like a weirdo. I told you I’d pick you up.”
She did. And I was a chickenshit who needed every damn second between the moment I told her I’d come here and right now to find my courage, to talk to myself the way my therapist has taught me—affirmations, grounding reminders.
Progress not perfection.
I’m enough as I am.
My past does not define my present or my future.
I believe in myself, and she does, too.
That last one, that’s the hard one. Not because I doubt Ziggy’s belief in me—I don’t. I just have to believe in myself, to believe that’s enough. That I’m enough for her to believe in, exactly as I am.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, I smile down at her as we walk up to the house. “I didn’t want you to pick me up, when you’re supposed to be relaxing.”
“A drive can be relaxing,” she says.
I lift my eyebrows. “That so?”
“I mean…” She smiles sheepishly. “It isn’t necessarily for me—”
“That’s what I thought—”
“—unless it’s that fancy car of yours.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” I nod over my shoulder. “That was the best they had.”
Ziggy’s eyes light up as she registers the fancy sports car rental I splurged on, knowing it’s exactly the kind of ride she’d enjoy. “Oh, we’re definitely taking a drive in that.”
“Hell, yes, we are.”
Something suddenly strikes me as I glance past my rental, around the empty clearing. There are no other cars. “Where is everyone?”
“Not here, yet.” She shrugs. “Some of them should be, others weren’t planning on being here until tonight. Mom and Dad apparently slept in and got a late start. They left days ago, doing this whole romantic drive up the coast, stopping at wineries along the way and being cute.”
I smile. “They are pretty damn cute.”
“It’s almost unbearable,” she agrees. “Willa and Ryder live pretty close by, said they’d be here, but now apparently, their ancient Subaru is giving them trouble, so they’re getting that sorted out. Freya, Aiden, and the kids fly out tomorrow.” She peers up, going through the list.
“Oh, Ax and Rooney live just a ways over there.” She points down a narrow path close by the house that leads to a meadow, wildflowers swaying in the late morning breeze. “They’ll show up when they show up. Sometimes Rooney naps midday, so I’d expect them for dinner. Ren and Frankie have Frankie’s doctor appointment, then they’re flying up tonight. And…Viggo, Oliver, and Gavin are waiting for their flight to board as we speak, so they said.” She snorts. “Just picturing the three of them in a row together makes me smile. Ollie will have double reinforcements for his flight anxiety.”
Right as we make it to the top steps of the porch, her phone starts ringing in her pocket. Frowning, she pulls it out. “Sorry. I just want to be sure to answer in case—”
“Go ahead,” I tell her, setting down my bag, then walking across the porch, leaning on the railing as I look around. The trees burst with lush green leaves the same color as Ziggy’s eyes, many of them boasting soft, fluttering blossoms whose lush peach pink rivals her best blush.
I breathe in and smile. It smells like her here. Like clean water and open air and new beginnings.
