The Fountain of Infinite Wishes (Dare River Book 5) (41 page)

“But these are all the wishes I have for us,” he said, dumping the first bag into the fountain without a qualm. “And Gail thinks what I’m doing is the most romantic thing she’s ever heard.”

Her heart rapped against her chest, and she felt tears burn her eyes. “Damn you.”

His mouth twisted, and she knew he was fighting emotion too. “Don’t say that. Shelby, I love you.” He waited a beat and swallowed thickly. “Seems I need more wishes. Good thing I brought more coins.”

Hefting up the other bag, he dumped in all the coins, shaking the bag for good measure to dislodge the last few.

“These wishes are for our life and our happiness,” he said, sitting on the edge of the water.
 

The afternoon sun caught the aqua in his eyes as he gazed intently at her. Her heart was taking flight, the heavy weight of pain being transformed by the love he was offering her.

“Shelby, I have so many wishes for us. You’ve made me believe in them again. You make me believe every wish I have can come true.”

Suddenly she couldn’t see through the tears in her eyes, and she couldn’t choke out a reasonable reply. She dropped her valise and dug into her purse for her wallet. She marched over to the fountain and opened her coin purse. She shook all the coins she had into the fountain. When there were none left, she wiped her tears and looked at him.

“I don’t have as many coins as you do, but the ones I just threw in there represent all the wishes I have for us too. Dammit, I love you!”

He pulled her to him, and she went into his arms so hard and fast they toppled into the fountain.

“Hey!” she cried out, feeling the water soak her suit all the way up to hip level.

“Sorry about that,” he murmured, kissing her cheek. “I think I took the worst of it, what with you being on my lap and all.”

She flicked water at him. “You’re an idiot,” she said and took his face in her hands. “But I love you. Even when you piss me off.”

He touched her cheek, his eyes serious. “But do you forgive me?”

She gave her best pout. “So long as you promise to never,
ever
keep anything from me again.”

He wiggled in the water like he was trying to get more comfortable. “Sorry. There’s a pile of coins under my ass. Yes, Shelby, I promise to never, ever,
ever
keep anything from you ever again. Is that enough ‘evers’ for you?”

“Yes,” she said, fitting herself on his lap better, trying to maintain some sense of decency even though she was sitting in Gail’s fountain like it was an everyday thing. “You’d be wise to expect that I’ll come up with a punishment you won’t be able to endure if you do it again.”

“I couldn’t endure losing you,” Vander said, tracing her cheek with a wet fingertip. “That’s the worst punishment you could ever dish out.”

“I guess that’s not happening now since I have such a forgiving nature,” she said, linking her hands around his neck. “You’re an idiot, but a romantic one, it seems. I can’t believe you dumped two whole bags into this fountain—and then somehow managed to dump us in with them. You usually have such good balance.”

He looked away, biting his lip. Off in the distance, she heard Gail’s unmistakable cackle.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “I figured you wouldn’t run off and ruin your leather seats if I got you wet. I had more things I wanted to say to you, and sometimes you…well…blow hot and cold.”

Maybe later she’d give him a hard time about his allusion to her changeability—but only because she loved to banter with him. He saw her as she was and loved her, and it didn’t get much better than that.
 

“So it was a strategy. You’re devious,” she purred. She knew how his mind worked too.

“And you like it,” he said, leaning his head down until his mouth was inches away.

She pressed her lips to his, completing the journey.

They kissed in the fountain, their wishes for each other all around them.

Epilogue

The downtown alley where Vander’s daddy had been murdered made the hairs on the back of Sadie’s neck stand on end. The brick walls were cracked from floor to ceiling, and two overflowing dumpsters were wafting a horrible stench.

She reached for Mama’s hand and felt a reassuring squeeze.

“What are y’all doing here?” Shelby asked in a shocked voice.

Her sister was standing beside Vander, who seemed to be curled into himself somehow, not standing as straight as normal. In his hands was a silver flask with the initials JM on it. He looked over at them.

“We thought you might like some more support today,” Sadie said, glad the idea had come to her in prayer time. Thankfully, everyone else had agreed to attend. “To honor Vander’s daddy. Being that it’s the twenty-fifth anniversary and all.”

J.P. put his arm around Tammy and nodded to Vander. Jake did the same, his hand to Susannah’s back. Dale delivered a heartfelt smile from his position beside Mama. Clayton gave him a chin nod, and Amelia Ann made an attempt at a smile.

“Family supports each other,” Mama said, and that had Shelby wiping away tears.

Mama truly meant it, and Sadie felt tears well in her eyes too. When she and her siblings had told Mama they’d decided to move Me-Mother into an assisted living facility, she’d told them she was proud of them. She might not be on speaking terms with Lenore, but she’d assured all of them she was okay with them having a relationship with their grandmother. The relief they’d felt was tremendous.

“Thank you for saying that, Louisa,” Vander said in a hoarse voice. “This…it’s always a difficult day, but somehow being here with Shelby…and now all of you…it isn’t so hard.”

“I’m here too,” Charlie said, putting her hand on her hip as she came forward. “Hopefully you won’t fire me. Sadie assured me of my job security.”

“But I didn’t say that…” Sadie said before she saw the woman’s smile.

Vander rolled his eyes. “I think you’re safe, Charlie.”

When Charlie had told her Vander had never let her come to the alley with him on the anniversary, Sadie had almost changed her mind. But she’d pressed on, knowing it was the right thing to do. He’d been there for them during the worst of times. They could do the same for him. He was Shelby’s man now and that meant he was family.

The smell of garbage touched Sadie’s nose, and she put her hand under it, hoping to offset it a bit.

“I usually…” Vander coughed to clear his throat. “I say a few words and then take a drink of my dad’s favorite bourbon. His grandfather gave him this flask when he graduated from the police academy.”

“Go on,” Shelby encouraged. “Just say whatever you would normally say if we weren’t here.”

He barked out a painful laugh. “In the early years, that might have shocked the ladies present.”
 

Another tortured sigh filled the silent alley as Vander gathered himself.

“This is…a little weird for me,” Vander said. “I’m not used to having people here. Charlie knows why I come here. My mom would never understand. In fact, she would think I was crazy if she knew. Some of you might think it’s a little crazy too, and that’s okay.”

“Don’t apologize,” Jake said. “You honor those you’ve lost in the way you need to.”

Vander nodded in his direction. “Thank you. I’ve come here every year since my freshman year at Vanderbilt because I wanted to remember who my dad was and what had happened to him. This alley…” He coughed again. “This stinking alley… My dad didn’t deserve to be murdered here in cold blood. He didn’t deserve to have his killer escape justice. I…I’ve been trying to help the people of Nashville like my dad did. It’s why I became a private investigator.”

Shelby wrapped her arm around him when he paused and hung his head.
 

“I’ve been trying to make peace with what happened to my dad, to make peace with how he was taken from me when I was just a kid.”

Sadie felt tears roll down her eyes, and she noted she wasn’t the only one crying.

“It wasn’t fair,” Vander continued. “And it wasn’t right. There was no justice in it. But I can help people make things right. I can help people find justice.”

Sadie saw Clayton glance at Amelia Ann. Her honorary sister was obsessed with helping people find justice too.

“You helped us make things right,” Shelby said, laying her head against his arm. “You helped us find out the truth about our daddy, and it healed our family.”

Sadie thought the healing had started, but she wasn’t sure it was done yet. She still wondered how Daddy was bearing the knowledge his secret was out. Sure, he didn’t know Mama had ended up telling them, or that Vander had told J.P.
 

From Sadie’s perspective, how could Daddy
not
want to know what had happened? The suspense would have killed her.

“I do my part for the people in this city,” Vander continued. “Like my dad did. And I do it knowing I could end up here.”

“Don’t say that,” Shelby said urgently, turning him toward her. “Don’t you ever say that!”

He traced her cheek with the hand not holding the flask. “I used to be okay with that. I thought I wouldn’t mind if I ended up the same way. But after meeting you, I don’t feel that way anymore. Shelby, I told you my first wish was to grow old with you, and I mean that.”

She laid her head on his chest. “You’re fixing to make me come undone.”

“We can’t have that, can we?” He smoothed her hair and took a moment. “Dad, I don’t know if you can hear me, but…I have a good business and good people I work with. And I’ve found a woman I love more than anything in life. She’s made me wish for things I’d stopped wishing for a long time ago. Love and family and a sense of belonging. Dad…I know what I’m going to do with the rest of my life now.”

Sadie felt more tears stream down her face.

“Dad, I have a great life now. I’m happy. I hope you like hearing that…if you can hear me.”

“He can hear you, Vander,” Mama said softly, giving Sadie chill bumps. “And he’s proud of the man you’ve become. How could he not be?”

Vander swiped at his nose as Shelby brushed tears off her cheeks.
 

“Thank you for saying that, Louisa.” He lifted his flask. “Here’s to you, Dad. For being so big in my memory and for continuing to inspire me today. I…miss you. And I love you.”

Sadie couldn’t dash at her tears fast enough as Vander took a sip from the flask and then handed it to Shelby. Her sister drank deeply and coughed before handing it to J.P.

“You don’t have to drink unless you want to,” Vander told the group.

“I’d be honored to,” Tammy said, giving him a watery smile.

She took a quick sip and handed it to Jake, who continued to pass it along—even Mama took a drink—until it ended with Sadie. There wasn’t much left, and she made sure to barely touch her lips to the flask, not liking the taste of bourbon one bit. The fire burned her mouth.

“Vander, if it’s okay,” Mama said beside her, “I’d like to invite everyone to observe a moment of silence for your daddy and you and his family.”

He nodded, and they all bowed their heads. Sadie knew Mama normally would have prayed out loud, but she was honoring Vander, who wasn’t a church-going man.
 

Sadie gave Shelby a smile when their eyes met. Her sister was especially teary, and Sadie couldn’t blame her. Usually she and Vander were teasing each other. Today, in this awful place, they looked like they had the kind of love the wedding vows talked about, the “in good times and in bad” type.
 

It was the sort of love Sadie knew lasted forever. She prayed to God every night for the right man to love her like that. Maybe she needed to go over to Gail’s fountain like Shelby and Vander had and throw in a coin or two. It kinda sucked to be the only one of her siblings who had yet to meet the love of her life.

Suddenly someone’s phone beeped.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Tammy dug her phone out of her purse. “I told Daddy and Mama to only text me if someone happened with Rory and Annabelle.”

“Too bad Rye and Tory couldn’t make it, what with her feeling so poorly.” Mama said. “I can’t believe her doctor is letting her go more than a week late. Must be one of those new natural kinds of medical folk.”

Sadie knew everything was fine from what Tory had said. “Mama, her doctor says most first babies are late and doesn’t believe in intervening unless necessary.”

Even if it was driving Rye crazy. Sadie had never seen him so strung out.

“She’s in labor!” Tammy cried out. “Tory’s in labor.”

“She is?” Amelia Ann asked. “Oh, wonderful! I’m going to have another niece or nephew.”

“Well, my goodness,” Mama said. “What a blessing. And on such an important day.”

Vander gave a half-smile. “Before Shelby, I didn’t believe it when people talked about synchronicities like that. I do now. I like the idea of a new baby coming into the family on the day of my dad’s death.”

Shelby rubbed his arm. “Might be nice to have some joy on this day after all of the hurt.”

He put his hand over her arm. “It might indeed.”

Sadie thought about the new baby and all of the people waiting so eagerly for it to arrive. But then her mind gave her the image of another baby, one she wasn’t sure had ever been wanted. Her half-sister. She couldn’t stop thinking about her. Knowing Skylar Watkins’ name had made it easy to conduct a Facebook search—one she hadn’t told anyone about yet. She was still praying on it.