Erin rushed up and handed him a stack of small poster boards. “You got this, lover boy.”
…
Kagan stared out the back passenger window of the taxi and watched the scenery go by in a blur. Every minute that ticked by took a piece of her with it. A tear slid down her cheek. She let it roll until it reached the corner of her mouth and then she wiped it away with the back of her hand.
She’d told herself over and over again that this wasn’t good-bye forever. She’d need to come back to get all her things, ship back what she wanted to keep, sell what she didn’t. See Shane one more time and… she didn’t know what.
But the thought of never looking into his blue-gray eyes again cut through her with razor-sharp teeth. An acidic taste clogged the back of her throat. She wanted to fight for him. God, how she wanted to fight for him. But when she’d tried one more time to get her father to back off, he’d refused to listen to anything more she had to say.
Shane had shaken her world and made her believe in herself again. He’d made her feel whole and loved in a way she never had—like the person she was underneath was enough. That stripped of everything but the clothes on her back, she was important.
Another tear fell.
“Hey,” Charlotte whispered from beside her as her hand curved around Kagan’s shoulder.
Kagan tilted her head to the side so her wet cheek touched her best friend’s knuckles. “I’m okay,” she whispered back, knowing Charlotte would let the lie go. For now.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kagan glanced at her father in the front seat. They’d spoken few words to each other since he’d given his ultimatum, but this morning for a split second she thought she saw remorse when she’d caught him staring at her from her bedroom doorway as she’d closed her suitcase.
The cab seemed to slow, a couple riding a tandem bike passed by. Kagan rolled down her window, the air in the taxi suffocating all of a sudden. The faint sound of music and bells caught her attention and that’s when she remembered the Fall Fling. Her shoulders sagged further. She’d forgotten all about the annual celebration.
Kettle corn. She smelled kettle corn. Apple pie. She smelled that,too—could almost taste it. The car turned onto White Sails Road. Why was the cabbie going this way to the airport? To torture her, no doubt.
She closed her eyes, let her head fall back against the vinyl seat, and Shane appeared like he always did. She saw his roguish smile and playful eyes. His mussed hair and broad chest. The leather band she’d made for him on his wrist, and strong, muscled forearms. She loved and hated that she couldn’t get him out of her head.
“What’s going on?” her dad said in a gruff tone at the same time the cab came to a stop.
Kagan opened her eyes and peered around the driver’s seat to get a look out the windshield. “Oh my God.”
Shane stood in the middle of the street, looking so handsome and sexy in tan linen shorts and a white linen button down that her heart tripped and missed at least two beats. She sucked in a breath and read the large black words on the sign in his hands. I Knew I Loved You.
A split second later Sela and Luke, Erin, Meg and Henry, Teague, the other waitresses from the Crown & Anchor, Meredith, Troy and other firemen, dozens of other familiar faces, and young girls wearing angel wings on their backs surrounded Shane.
“What the hell?” her father said. “Honk the horn and get them out of the way,” he snarled. “We have a plane to catch.”
She darted a glance at Charlotte. The grin that greeted her said more than any tip-off. Charlotte raised her perfect eyebrows and opened her car door. “You coming?”
Kagan gulped and nodded. The cabbie put the car in park and turned off the engine. She got out. Behind her, people scurried to put cones across the road so no other cars could get through. In front of her, Shane beckoned with a killer bone-melting smile as their eyes met.
Rounding the hood of the cab, Kagan was vaguely aware of her father slamming the door and cursing while Charlotte tried to calm him down.
Music blared out of speakers—from the trees?—and Shane started to sing. She loved when he whispered in her ear. Loved when he talked dirty. Now she loved when he sang. His voice was magical as he belted out words that matched the phrases on his poster boards.
With each lyric, he tossed aside the board and continued to the next verse. His feet moved in time to the music, a few slow steps side-to-side, front to back. The crowd surrounding him did the same choreographed dance. Hands in the air, feet tripping the sunlight fantastic, bodies swaying.
Shane sang about the future, his best friend, and then everyone joined in the chorus to serenade her. She recognized the song that fell from everyone’s lips, but her focus was solely on Shane. On the love written across his face—not the cards.