“’Kay,” Davey said. He yawned hugely and lifted his arms to her, and as she pulled him to her chest, felt the sweet weight of him against her, as she heard the collective “awwwww,” she started to cry in earnest. She looked helplessly up at Paul, and he stroked her hair and smiled. “Told you he’d be on board,” he said quietly.
“Mom.” Hannah hurried across the open space to where they were sitting. She knelt in front of Amber. “You’re messing up your mascara. Here.” Carefully, tenderly, she blotted Amber’s face with a tissue.
Amber transferred Davey back to Paul and put her hands on Hannah’s shoulders. “You’re good with this?”
Hannah nodded, her own eyes shiny. “You deserve to be happy. You’ve focused on me all these years. It’s time for you to get love, not just give it.”
Amber hugged her daughter tight. “Thank you for being your wonderful self,” she choked out. Looking over Hannah’s shoulder, Amber saw Erica smiling widely.
Hannah reached out an arm to Davey and Paul, and then they were all hugging in an awkward circle, laughing, as their friends clapped and cheered.
There were congratulations to be shared, and hugs. Bisky and Mary opened bottles of champagne and sparkling grape juice, and everyone toasted them.
Amber was surrounded by her friends and she loved it, laughed and cried and celebrated, hammed it up. But she kept looking over at Paul. He was definitely a part of the community, shaking hands and laughing and talking, but his eyes didn’t stray far from her ever. Mostly, he just stood watching her and smiling. Hannah was holding Davey on her lap, and Amber heard the words big sister and little brother, and that made her tear up again. It was something she’d never been able to give Hannah, a sibling, and she was thrilled that Hannah was embracing it so joyously.
Finally, the party started breaking up. Some needed to get the kids home to bed, and others were headed to midnight mass. Bisky and Mary and Kirk cleaned up, but waved away the offer of help from Amber and Paul. “You two relax,” Kirk said. “That’s an exhausting experience.”
“You should know,” Mary said dryly. “How many times have you proposed to a woman?”
“Hey, now, that’s classified information.”
They moved away, clearing dishes and trash, amicably bickering.
Paul pulled Amber into his arms. And as she looked up at his handsome face, as she traced his strong jaw with one finger, gratitude and joy filled her heart.
EPILOGUE
SPRING CAME EARLY that year. Or maybe it was just that every day felt like spring to Amber. At any rate, Paul and Davey had been happy to go out for a walk on this balmy day. Davey was excited to go anywhere so long as he could ride his new bike, a gift from his grandparents. It was sturdy and bright blue, covered with stickers and mud just like the bikes his friends had.
It was a much more appropriate gift than the little car, which they’d ended up donating to a kids’ charity after Davey had tired of it. Ferguson and Georgiana made a point now of checking in with Paul, and sometimes even with Amber, before they bestowed a gift.
By mutual consent, the three of them headed down toward the docks. It was beautiful there, and Davey had a friend among the fishing families that he played with often. And Paul always stole a kiss at the little bench where they’d shared their first kiss, so it was romantic for them.
Everything was romantic for them, it seemed. Right now, they were holding hands, watching as Davey pedaled his little bike madly a stone’s throw ahead of them.
“Not too far,” Paul called.
“I know,” Davey called back. He slowed down ever so slightly, then sped up again.
Amber squeezed Paul’s hand. “He’s fine. Let him have a little freedom.”
Paul wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. “I should be glad for the privacy. Sometimes it seems like we don’t get enough chance to be together.”
“Be grateful for what we have. I am.” Amber slid an arm around his waist and squeezed. It was true: she was grateful, every day, for the gift of Paul and Davey.
The beauty was that now, she felt like she deserved the happiness. That her mistakes of the past were just that, mistakes, not character flaws.
That she could have a new chance and a new life.
She breathed in the air of the shore, slightly pungent with salt and fish, overlaid with spring flowers. Those were out in abundance, the apple trees vying with pear and cherry for the beauty prize.
On the water, a lone boat chugged in toward shore. “Hey, that’s Bisky,” Paul said.
Amber waved big, arms windshield wiping over her head until Bisky waved back. “Wonder why she’s coming in early?”
“Mary said she’s been different lately. Doing a lot of reading. Quieter.”
“I hope she’s okay.” Amber resolved to invite Bisky to dinner within the week.
“You’ve been doing a lot of reading, too,” Paul observed as they passed Bisky’s dock and headed toward the end of the peninsula. “I saw that you had a memoir of a woman who’d traveled to Nepal. Are you jealous?”
He sounded concerned, and she disentangled herself from him to give him a playful punch in the arm. “Stop it, you. I’m reading that because she went a lot of the places we went. And where Hannah’s going to go this summer.”
“You’re sure? You know, we can travel again this summer. Ferguson and Georgiana want to take Davey to their summer cabin for a week.”
Amber shrugged. “Maybe. Let’s see how they do having him for a weekend.” It had been a real leap of faith for both her and Paul to allow Davey to go for an overnight
