“Hal, you don’t have to-” Beck’s voice cracked.
“Oh, but I do, son.” Hal took a minute to compose himself before continuing. “The woman was right: the boy was an awful handful. Tested me at every turn, in ways I could never have imagined. But one thing was true: he was my boy. My son. Eventually, somehow, we made our peace, and that awful handful of a kid… well, he turned out to be the son I’d always prayed for, a son any man would be proud of. And I am proud of you, Beck.”
Hal turned directly to Beck.
“I always thought you were a smart boy. But falling in love with Mia… well, that just proves the point, doesn’t it? If it had been up to me to pick a bride for you, I couldn’t have done better. I’m hoping that you’ll both be as happy as you deserve to be. And maybe one day, you’ll ring my doorbell and bring me a little one to add to our family.”
He looked as if he had something else to say, but instead, he tilted his glass to toast the couple. When no more words came, Beck stood and embraced him. The two men clung to each other for a very long moment. A teary-eyed Vanessa stood and completed the toast.
“I think what Hal was trying to say was, may you have a long and happy life together.”
“Here, here!”
“Amen!”
Glasses clinked as they touched across the table and cameras flashed as pictures were taken to record the moment.
Andy spoke next, about how the three brothers used to play tricks on their little sister, until they discovered she was a better shot than any of them, which lightened the mood at the table. Mia’s matron of honor, Anne Marie McCall, the profiler from Mia’s old FBI unit, spoke of how Mia had grown up in the FBI and how much she was missed, but how happy all her former co-agents were that she’d found exactly what she’d needed in St. Dennis.
Vanessa had wanted to make a toast of her own, but after listening to Hal, she found she was incapable. Every thought she had stuck in her throat. How to put into words, in a room full of near strangers, what his acceptance of her had meant to a young woman who had felt so lost, so unsure of herself, so totally alone? How the welcome she’d been given by Beck and Hal both had given her direction and the sense of place, the sense of herself, that she’d needed?
Well, maybe tomorrow at the wedding I won’t feel so weepy, she told herself. Or maybe not. Either way, it’ll be all right. Beck and Mia know how much I love them, how I want so much for them to be happy. And that’s the important thing, right?
She cleared her throat and blotted under her eyes with her fingers. When she felt Grady’s eyes on her, she turned to him and said, “Sorry. I usually don’t cry in public.”
“Me, either,” he said, and they both laughed.
He leaned closer and whispered, “You may not have noticed, but there’s hardly a dry eye in the place. Like Andy said in his toast, Mia was the only girl in the family, and she’s had a rough couple of years lately. To see her this happy… well, let’s just say we’re all happy for her, and we’ll leave it at that.”
“Were you all overbearing big brothers when she was growing up?”
“We were merciless,” Grady admitted. “We all kept an eye on her. Made her life a living hell when she started getting interested in boys. Any guy who looked at her twice got worked over. You know how it is.”
“Actually, I don’t. But I wish I had. I might have made some better choices.” She regretted the words as soon as she’d spoken them. To change the subject, she told him, “Hal said he was thinking about taking the boat out again tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a beautiful day. You might want to go. I’m sure he’d be happy for the company.”
“Are you going?” He repositioned his leg under the table, and for a moment, it rested against her bare thigh, so that the soft fabric of his khakis brushed her leg. The old Vanessa-the one who’d been so needy for attention-would have taken that casual bumping of knees as an invitation. The new Vanessa-the one who’d learned a lot about herself since she moved to St. Dennis-kept her shoes on her feet and her feet to herself.
“I wish I could, but I need to work,” Vanessa explained. “I’ve been out of my shop so much already this week, and I’ll be out all day Saturday. I have someone really good filling in for me, but you know that no one takes care of your own business as well as you do.”
“True enough.” He moved slightly to the right while the waiter refilled his wineglass.
Vanessa put her hand over the top of hers to indicate she didn’t care for a refill. She smiled at the waiter and he moved on to the other side of the table.
The staff served an excellent meal, and soon the chatter inside the room was almost deafening. It was fun, though, Vanessa thought, to be part of a group like that, even if it was for just a little while. It was almost like being part of a big family. She studied the easy way the Shields cousins teased each other, the playful way they traded insults, the stories they told about each other, the shared history that bonded them and kept them close. She listened wistfully, wishing she’d had that growing up. Much of the time, Maggie wasn’t around when she got home from school or in from play. Most days, there was no one to tell that she’d fallen in the school yard and hurt her leg, that she’d been laughed at when she didn’t know how to properly pronounce a word, that she’d gotten the highest grade on her history test, or that the teacher had hung her artwork on the bulletin board outside their classroom. Her childhood was not one she cared to look back on very often. She’d been lonely and neglected, and many times, she’d been afraid. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment to squeeze away the images that haunted her.
“Are you all right?” Grady leaned over to ask.
“I’m fine.” Vanessa flashed a smile.
“You look like you’re a thousand miles away,” he said.
“Close enough,” she murmured.
The pretty cake she’d ordered from Sweet Somethings was served with coffee, and before long, it was clear that the evening was winding to a close.
“Are you coming back into the bar with us?” Grady asked. “Andy’s challenged me to a game of darts.”
“It’s tempting, but actually, I was just thinking that I should be getting home. I have an early day tomorrow.” She pushed her chair back and stood.
His hand was on her wrist as if to hold her there.
“You sure?”
She nodded. “I have a lot of catching up to do since I was out all day today.”
“Well, thanks for letting me join in the fun today. And thanks for saving me for the crab dip. You were right. It was the best.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for your help today. If you hadn’t come by, I’d still be in the kitchen, rolling out endless little hearts.” She was tempted to grab onto the hand that encircled her wrist and just hold on for a moment, but she resisted. “By the way, how did the samples measure up?”
“There’s not a crumb left. That should tell you something.”
“Good. Then I suppose they’ll do.”
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He let go of her wrist, then pushed back his seat and caught Andy’s eye. “What time is dinner tomorrow night?”
“Seven,” Andy replied as he held the chair for his wife. “Hey, Grady, do you have a minute? There’s something I want to run past you…”