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“Ethan wanted to take our honeymoon here.” I press my lips together and stare at my hands.
He doesn’t say anything.
“The memories remain in my heart, but—” I want to tell Magnus that I love him now, but the words catch between my lips.
He softens, lacing his arm across my shoulders and snugging me close.
“It was a long time ago. I wasn’t a widow because we weren’t married. Fiancée-widow isn’t exactly a thing. There’s no name for it that I know of. It was like I was lost, stuck in this unnamed grief—losing him and the life we could’ve had with a family.”
He nods slowly, thoughtfully. “I lost Sean to PTSD. Not sure if you know that. I worried about him being too close to the edge. He was still on deployment but couldn’t handle some of the things that happened. I thought he was stronger.” Magnus glances at me. “There isn’t a name for that either.”
“No, but it doesn’t only take strength. Not on your own, at least not all the time. When things get difficult, we’re meant to lean on each other, family, and friends. God.”
“I’ve lost so many guys—bullets, bombs, accidents. Every time, it could’ve been me.” He shakes his head slowly.
“Is that why you got out?”
“No. I dedicated myself to my blushing bride for twenty years. Til death do we part. I was married to the military. Thought that was my future. Then there was a helo accident.” He scratches his temple. “I had a TBI.”
I gasp and fight wrapping my entire body around this man—not because I think it can protect him in some way, but because I’m so thankful he survived when so many haven’t.
He tells me about the accident, his recovery, and the one thing he lost permanently—the ability to fly. Of course, he’s thankful that he didn’t lose something else when the helo went down: a limb, his memory, but I understand that for a guy like him, not being able to get in the cockpit is a major blow.
Magnus doesn’t say anything for a long moment and just when I think he’s about to break his silence, a work van pulls up with Key-lectric emblazoned on the side.
I linger while he shows the electrician to the junction box because I don’t quite feel like we were done with our conversation.
When he returns, I’m about to tell him that we’re lucky, blessed now, to have each other, when my phone rings.
“It’s Romy. Should I answer?”
“Maybe she finally had the presence of mind to thank you for almost single-handedly making her wedding day happen.”
“She had the wedding planner.”
“Who we all know repeatedly dropped the ball.”
If even Magnus, the best man, knew that it, must’ve been pretty obvious.
“Hello?” I answer.
In one long string of sentences, she tells me that she and Ross are swinging by Coco Key on their honeymoon tour of the Caribbean and how they can’t wait to meet my someone special.
How does she know? Surely, the Coconut Wireless doesn’t reach Atlanta. I’m shellshocked when I get off the phone. I tell Magnus, echoing Romy’s uninterrupted flow of words, but mine are slightly more panicked.
“Are they on a sailboat?”
“No, her parents chartered a yacht for them.”
“And just when you thought you’d washed your hands of her.”
“But what about us?”
“What about us?” he asks.
My gaze slides from side to side as if I’m looking for an escape route, because what if I’ve been wrong about everything? “Well, that we’re together, right?”
Magnus takes both my hands and draws them toward his chest, closing the space between us. “What do you think?”
