Willow stood next to Chloe at the end of the aisle. Her daughter’s little fingers clasped the white wicker basket filled with yellow daisy petals.
Every chair was filled with friends and family and dozens more stood at the fringes. Knowing she had bucked tradition, Zoe planned on a few dozen. She hadn’t offered a sit-down-dinner. No live band or dancing. A simple ceremony, a sacrament of commitment ’til death do them part.
Those few dozen folding chairs alone had bumped Zoe over her two thousand-dollar budget limit.
Death. Willow wondered if she’d feel sadness this day, but there was none. Jacob would forever be in her heart. Her love for him would not be matched or replaced. Liam stood on the other side of Chloe and waited for their turn to march down the aisle behind Raine and Matt. Without breaking her wedding procession smile, she reached behind Chloe and linked the ends of her fingers with him. It was hard to pose for the best photographer on the island instead of ogle at him in his beige slacks and short-sleeved, buttoned-down shirt and tie. Zoe had put some kind of product in his hair and his Florida August tan sent flutters through her heart.
His long fingers covered hers and squeezed. This new love would also never be matched or replaced. Completely different, yet just as wonderful.
The morning was warm and the Gulf breeze steady. She wanted to turn around and gawk at her stunning baby sister, but instead she maintained her poise and enjoyed the single guitar and the familiar faces.
Most bent their heads together in paired whispers. Some craned their heads around to admire the lineup.
Dane’s parents went first. They strolled arm-in-arm over the sand. Coming from Alaska, Willow wondered what would be going through their minds at that moment.
Her mother and father were next. She in her billowy yellow dress and he as the most handsome grandpa on the planet.
It was the second time she had seen Raine in a dress, and since she was so much shorter than Zoe and Willow, the photographer made her wear heels. Dark, spiraling curls rested on her shoulders, random pieces tied high with baby’s breath. The wide, lace-covered shoulder straps rested on her tan shoulders, making her look like an island goddess, yet neither of them could compare to Zoe.
Matt stepped next to Raine and held out his arm. She took it gracefully, and Willow gave her kudos for that. She didn’t do too badly in her heels over the sand, and Willow gave her major kudos for it.
Whispering from the corner of her mouth, Willow said to Chloe, “Are you going to be okay?”
Chloe nodded several times, short and fast.
“You can walk with us, if you need to.”
“Mom,” Chloe whispered like an annoyed teenager.
Releasing their fingers, she and Liam left Chloe with Zoe. She slid her hand up Liam’s arm and snaked it around his forearm. Walking like this with him stung the backs of her eyes and made everything right in the world. The unresolved murder of her brother. The fate of the Luciana Bezan treasure. Finding the rest of it. Walking with him down the aisle of a wedding ceremony was as natural as the rising sun.
Dane stood rocking on the balls of his feet. She’d never seen him dressed up. With slicked back hair, he stood with his hands folded in front of him. His smile was as big as Alaska.
She and Liam passed Dane’s parents, with front row seats next to Zoe’s mother and father. Each smiled while dabbing tissues to their cheeks.
Liam squeezed her fingers before letting go. She took her place next to Raine and turned. A chorus of “Awws” reacted to Willow’s baby girl as she smiled and sprinkled flower petals like a pro.
Looking out over the crowd, she spotted the Sun Trips employees, possibly every single one of the eighty-eight Turtle Watch volunteers as well as what her mother referred to as her Stitch and Bitch sewing club.
Photographer or not, Willow took a moment to close her eyes tight. These people had been invited to share in fellowship and celebration at Luciana’s. What if they all showed up? It did nothing to worry about it, so she opened her eyes and smiled over the crowd.
Zoe stood at the end. Her tea-length lace skirt brushed her ankles. The matching top was sleeveless and simple and Zoe. She stepped forward with the adorable flat white sandals she’d found in her closet. Ringlets of blonde curls danced around her face.
She stepped to the pastor and Dane took a step to her. Laughter covered the crowd as the pastor made a joke that it wasn’t his turn yet.
The man in black offered some words of welcome before asking who gave this woman to be married to this man.
Their father answered and kissed her on the cheek before taking a seat as the guitarist sang, asking if loving is the answer, then who’s the giving for.
Willow glanced over to who her giving was for. Liam was staring at her. His expression caused that familiar heat to start at her neck and threaten to cover her face. He winked and made her heart fall out of her chest.
Glancing from person to person in this group of people she dearly loved, she pulled Chloe closer and realized something. The turtle and the beach they came to nest their young may be her sanctuary, but not her peace. The peace was in her people, flaws and all.
And, although a killer may be standing somewhere among them, they may falter, but they would not fall.
“Dane and Zoe,” the pastor began, “the promise you enter into today…”