Don't Let Go(99)

“Nice to see you again, Noah Ryan,” she said, a knowing smile warming her face.
Noah hugged her, making her widen her eyes at me like a school girl. “Nice to be back.”
“How did you get here?” I asked, touching her arm. “Mrs. Sullivan drive?”
“We got a ride,” she said with a wink. “Now, you two go do what you were headed to do,” she said. “I’ve got fried crap to indulge on.”
I laughed, and eyed that funnel cake, making a note to revisit that. It had been many years since I’d indulged in that. Lord, how I’d fallen. We twisted and turned through the rides until we emerged on the other side, looking at the park.
“I think we have a date with a bench,” he said.
Warm tears touched the backs of my eyes, but they were happy ones. And that in itself was a miracle for this day. Happiness instead of hollow, empty regret. Having a face and a personality to put with the memory of what we created.
It being Seth’s birthday, instead of the day we lost everything.
“I think you’re right,” I said, linking an arm in his and hugging him to me as we walked the winding path.
It was odd and somewhat surreal to walk it with him instead of alone. But that was nothing compared to the view that awaited me when we rounded the last bend.
Standing in front of our bench was Seth.

? ? ?

I blinked in the low light glowing from the solar lamps and my whole body buzzed with energy.
“Oh, my God!” I exclaimed, letting go of Noah and running to him.
Seth laughed as I tackled him, hugging him tight. “Surprise,” he said.
I let go and backed up, holding his beautiful face in my gloved hands. “Oh, holy crap, you aren’t kidding,” I said. “Happy birthday, baby.”
I knew I was crying and didn’t care. He’d seen me weepy more than not, and one day I might not cry every time I saw him, but I wasn’t there yet.
“I figured this birthday warranted something a little different,” he said, smiling down at me with Noah’s young face. “And when Noah told me about this place and how it all went down—well, I remembered the painting in your living room. Thought it was fitting.”
My chin trembled and I nodded. There were no words. I turned to gaze at Noah as he strolled up, hands in his pockets, always the casual yet spring-loaded pose.
“Happy birthday, bud,” Noah said, pulling Seth to him in that backslapping man-hug thing that guys do. “Good to see you again.”
“You knew about this,” I said.
He widened his eyes at me. “I’ll never tell.”
I shoved at him and turned back to Seth. “Have you had a good day?” I asked. “Did you get cake? There’s about fifty pounds of it back there,” I said, pointing behind us.
He smiled guiltily. “Actually, I did. Earlier,” he said. “I met Becca and her friend and hung out with them for a bit. She made me have cake. Two pieces.”
My jaw dropped. “Seriously?” That explained the random smiley faces. That girl.
“I made her promise not to tell you,” he said.
I loved it. He hung out with his sister. Oh, holy hell, I loved it so much I was going to cry again.
“And Linny?”
“Yeah, her too,” he said.
I wiped at my face and reached for them both. “I love y’all,” I said, overcome, hugging them tightly to me. Then I turned to face Noah, trying to convey with my eyes everything I was too emotional to say. He dropped a sweet kiss on my lips, telling me he got it all.
“This is new,” Seth said.
“Took your advice,” Noah said with a small grin.
“Glad to hear it,” Seth said, chuckling.
“Enough with the man code,” I said, linking arms with both of them and walking to the bench. Our bench. “What advice?”
“None,” Noah said. “You don’t need to know everything.”
Used to think I did, but I had to say, I was learning.
“Suffice it to say,” Seth said as we sat. “That all appears to have worked out.” He glanced sideways at me. “Kinda cool that y’all are back together,” he said. “Like it’s all come full circle.”
Noah was quiet and I looked at his profile as he gazed off at where the river glistened black and sparkling.
“What are you thinking?” I asked softly, nudging him.
“Full circle,” he echoed. “The music back there,” he said. “Sitting here on this particular day, the three of us.” His voice grew husky and I knew what he was going to say. “The last time we were all here together was the day he was born.” Noah looked at both of us. “Now, here we are. Together again.” He blew out a breath and shook his head, facing forward again. “I never thought I’d see this day.”
I wiped the tears that were streaming down my face too quickly to freeze there, and I noticed Seth discreetly rub his eyes as well.
“Seth, I’ve come out here every year,” I said. “And this is the best birthday of yours I’ve ever had.” He laughed and I laid my head against his shoulder. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“Wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” he said.
As I looked out at the river, my two guys on either side of me, I realized my chance had finally come.
“That painting in my living room,” I said, lifting my head to look at him. “It’s yours.”
“What?”
“I did it for you, a couple of weeks after you were born,” I said. “In my mind, it was a gift to you. Something to save the moment. Something my mother couldn’t steal.”