“You are mine, Crystal Teller. Olive juice.”
“Olive juice.”
Is it cheesy? Yes.
Is it perfect? No.
Is it us? Absolutely.
“Kiss!” Austin shouts at the right moment.
And we kiss. All three of us.
Rosemary once told me, ‘“Never fear the loss your heart can’t seem to bear, for when you have the gain, your soul will explode with happiness. The loss will always be there, but the gain will help even out the soul.”
I didn’t understand it at the time, but now, I do because my gain is so great that I might burst with joy.
“By the State of California and the dot-com that gave me the right to do so,” Naomi says in an authoritative voice, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Everyone claps, and we walk up to the veranda to finally enjoy our now cold dinner.
We pass around the bottle of Jack, break out some of the exclusive reserves, and toast to friends, to family, and to one hell of a wedding.
Looking around the table, I can’t believe my luck. Crystal and Austin are on each side of me while Naomi, Jeremy, and Scarlet sit across from us, and Ed is at the head of the table.
This is my family.
“We need a first dance.” Naomi picks up her phone, looking for music to play.
My brilliant mind at work, I hold up a finger. “We already have a song.”
Crystal looks at me, as if to say, We do?
I stand up and hold out my hand for my bride.
I take my phone out of my pocket and select the song we were destined to have our first dance to.
As the steady beat of rhythmic animal music starts to play, Crystal’s face falls, and she starts to back away. I pull her back anyway.
“No, Nate. Not this song.”
“Yes, Crystal. It’s time you owned it.”
“There she goes with the bom, bom, bom.”
I pull her into me and move our hips to the side.
“Her hips, they sway with the bom, bom, bom.”
“I kinda hate you right now.”
I spin her around, like we’re dancing to a ballad.
“It’s guerrilla warfare with her bom, bom, bom!”
“No. It’s official. I do hate you.”
I dip her and kiss her on her nose.
“Nope,” I say, pulling her back up to standing position, “you love me.”
“She’s so damn primal with her bom, bom, bom.”
Her eyes look deep into mine, and just like that, all the love she has for me, for our family, for our life pours right out of her. “Oh, what the hell?”
Crystal raises her arms and lets out her dancing style that I saw on top of a bar once in Downtown Napa.
“Get nasty! I get loose! I get crazy! She’s so loose! It’s Master Craze, and the girl’s in a daze. I just can’t help myself.”
And neither can we. By the end of the song, we’re all up, and we’re all dancing.
Except for Ed.
But I’ll be damned if that’s not a smile on his face.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I raise my glass and say cheers to the amazing people who have made Wild Abandon a reality.
To Lauren Runow, my book bestie and Napa + CrossFit guru—You have been my saving grace when it comes to finding balance in the world of self-publishing and are always there when I need a laugh. Your books are dirty, and your heart is pure. Don’t ever change!
To Autumn Hull of Wordsmith Publicity—Thank you for saving me…again! This book was prologue hell and you held my hand through the fire. Thank you!
To Jovana Shirley of Unforeseen Editing, for her incredible copyediting and formatting—You make my words flow and look beautiful on the page.
To Sarah Hansen of Okay Creations, for working her magic on the book cover.
To Debra Pressley of Book Enthusiast Promotions, for handling my promotional posts, so I actually have time to write!
To Naomi Hop of Naomi’s Reading Palace, for picking up my books when no one else would and for your beta work on Wild Abandon. Nate was right. Naomi is a fucking genius!
To Maryse Black of Maryse’s Book Blog, for taking a chance on this new author—Your readers are amazing, and I am happy to call myself a loyal follower!
To Jennifer Ristic of Collector of Book Boyfriends—Your Swedish dinner parties will never be the same if you don’t stop pushing my books. No, I take that back. Promote away, girl!
To Wilmari Carrasquillo-Delgado of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book Boyfriends, for your honesty and spot-on input.
To Bookworm Babe Brandee Price, for your input, and Angie Doyle McKeon of Angie and Jessica’s Dreamy Reads, for the blurb jolts!
To my Epilogue queens, Giovanna Bovenzi Cruz and Laurie Breitsprecher, and my Prologue princess, Stefanie Pace—You are true champions of the indie author and the best readers and friends an author could ask for.
To my street team, JCol’s Army of Roses, who have done a kick-ass job of spreading the word about my books—You’re the best group, and I’m so excited to share this experience with you.
To the outstanding blogs and Facebook groups, who have been a great source for me as an author and reader.
To Nicole Lancellotti, Jen Windstein, Michelle Worden, Tara McCormick, Nicole Parsons, Liza Moore, Jill Meister, and Nanci Weaver, for being awesome.
To my sister, Nicole, who inspired Crystal’s online relationships.
To my family, who has been an amazing cheer squad—You’re the best!
To my mom and stepdad, who do more for this thirty-four-year-old woman than most people do for their sixteen-year-olds—Without you, I wouldn’t have the time to write, and I promise, if I ever make millions, I’ll buy you a place in Florida. (Don’t start picking out paint colors anytime soon.) Seriously, I love you both way too much.
To my husband, Bryan—Thank you for taking me to all the amazing cities featured in my books. Thank you for giving me a love worthy of writing about. And thank you for being so silly that I laugh daily.
Finally, to the tiny people, Jake and Everly—You won’t be tiny for long so. Until then, I will hold you and kiss you as much as I want!
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A heart-wrenching breakup, an accident…and a loss.
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Wild Abandon Page 29