“I’m sorry,” Wilkie mustered. “I would like to send a letter back to him if I could.”
“Of course,” Aiden said, putting the car in drive and getting back on the road. “When we get to Edenville we’ll make sure you have the chance to write him something.”
“Cosette,” Wilkie croaked, using her name for the first time since they’d arrived in the States, “you couldn’t make him come. Amal valued nothing more than a promise to our mother. A thousand men couldn’t have made him break that promise.”
“Thank you,” Cosette said, reaching her hand back to touch Wilkie’s face. “I don’t know what your future will be, but I am hoping today will be special.”
“It already is,” he said, holding the letter up to his lips and kissing it. “My brother is still alive.”
Chapter 32
It was better than she had pictured, and that was in part thanks to Betty. Cosette had dreamed up the idea, but it was all of them who helped make it a reality. The Wise Owl restaurant was just how she imagined it would be. Quaint and comfy but alive with bustling commotion. The familiar faces came into focus first. Michael and Jules, now with two carbon-copy children who looked just like them by their sides. Betty and Clay were there, both in aprons, running around looking especially busy.
“What’s going on?” Wilkie asked tentatively. “It smells like . . .” His words trailed off as he drew in a deep breath through his nose.
“Poulet Aux Noix?” Betty asked, her hands clasped together hopefully as she awaited his reaction. “I worked with some friends on the recipe, and I hope it tastes like home for you.”
“It smells right.” Wilkie beamed as he seemed to let all his other senses in on the fun. “What’s going on here?”
“It’s your birthday party,” Cosette explained, squeezing his shoulders affectionately. “We wanted to do something special for you.”
“All these people?” he asked, looking around the roomful of faces fixed on him.
“Some are from Edenville,” Betty explained. “They wanted to welcome you and make sure you knew there were plenty of people who care about you.”
“The others,” Cosette gestured to a few more of the unfamiliar faces, “are from Corinti. They’ve been here a little longer than you. They wanted to share this day with you.”
“They helped with all the cooking,” Clay explained. “We tried to get the most authentic ingredients we could. It might not be—”
Wilkie’s Adam’s apple rocked up and down as he swallowed hard and interrupted. “It’ll be perfect.”
“There’s a cake too. Everyone is here to celebrate with you.” Cosette’s chest was tight with anxiety as she tried not to sound too enthusiastic.
“Hello Wilkie,” Mara Baptisne said as she came to him from across the room. Her two children, a couple years older than Wilkie, trailed behind her, holding their plates of food and wearing teenage grimaces of disinterest. “I think I may have known your parents many years ago. Your Mum and I were a year or so apart in grade school when the missionaries used to be there to teach us.”
Wilkie didn’t offer up any words just pursed lips and a tiny nod that were both meant to dam his emotions.
“Mara and her family live about forty miles from here,” Cosette explained. “They would like to spend some time with all of us if you’d like that. It was important to Amal that you have people in your life who share your roots. You don’t have to become someone new, you’re just need to have new experiences.”
“That’s why Cosette did all this,” Aiden interjected, wrapping his arm around her. “She had this idea that your birthday should have all the things that make you feel good.”
“I feel good,” Wilkie said, hiccupping with emotion as the tears started to fall. “I feel very good.”
“There is one more surprise,” Cosette said, giving in to her own tears now. Aiden was able to do some pretty amazing things this week. That letter wasn’t the only thing he was able to get from Amal. We’ve got a video line set up with him for just a few minutes to talk with him later on tonight.”
“Really?” Wilkie gasped. “I’ll be able to see him on the video?”
“Yes,” Aiden replied, lighting with matched excitement. “I’ve got it all set up for after the party. He wants to wish you a happy birthday.”
“But first we eat,” Betty said, whisking Wilkie toward the seemingly endless table of food that had been laid out. “Help me out here. I won’t remember the names of it all.”
“Griots,” Wilkie started, pointing wildly to each dish. “Sos Ti-malice, Banan Pez. Is that Pen patat?” he asked, blinking his large dark eyes up at Betty.
“Yes, that one took a few tries but sweet potato pudding was something I knew I could get right, if I kept at it.”
The background music turned on quietly, and Cosette could tell Wilkie instantly recognized the tune. “How did you get all this? The music?” he asked, his head on a swivel moving among any of the faces that were familiar to him.
“Cosette,” Aiden said, but that wasn’t true. This had been a group effort. One she’d never have been able to do without them.
“No way,” she said, shaking her head. “It took everyone to make this happen. Mara helped with the recipes and the music. Betty and Clay cooked day and night. Aiden called in every favor he had for that phone call. Jules and Michael opened their home up to us to stay tonight. We have so many people to thank for this.”
“You should do this,” Wilkie said, using the sleeve of his brand new shirt to wipe his face clean.
“Do what?” Cosette asked, the room perfectly quiet now.
“When people get here, you should do this for them. Give them a party like this. A feels-like-home kind of party.”
“A feels-like-home party,” Betty repeated in her beautiful sing song voice as though her speaking it made it real. “That sounds like a wonderful thing to do.”
“I love cooking foods from other cultures,” Clay shrugged. “I learned a lot about plantains these last two weeks. I’d love to do more of this. We could do it right here at the restaurant.”
“It’s a great idea, Wilkie,” Cosette agreed.
“You could play the music they know, cook the food they love, and find people from where they are from to come. Just like this. It’s the best thing.” Wilkie took a plate in his hand and looked again at all the food. “Thank you,” he mouthed to Cosette as she stepped away and let him enjoy all that had been prepared for him.
“That’s an idea,” Aiden said, nudging her playfully with his shoulder as everyone else lined up for their food. “You could do this for a living. Think of all the lives you could touch.”
Cosette walked over to her shoulder bag and opened it. Digging out the notebook, she couldn’t help but laugh. Flipping through the pages, she found the right one and handed it over to Aiden.
“A business plan?” he asked, furrowing his brows together. “You were already planning on turning this into something?”
“You still believe there is no room in life for fate?” she asked, pointing to the name she’d circled on the paper just two nights earlier.
“Feel at Home Parties?” Aiden asked, his eyes going wide.
“I might like his name better,” she shrugged. “No matter what we think might be out there controlling the cosmos, you can’t ignore something like this. If most of my life has been spent wondering if I was where I was meant to be, I know I won’t be wasting any more time on that question.”
“You are exactly in the moment you were meant for,” he agreed, pulling her against him and holding her tightly. “And I’m so lucky to be in it with you.”
“It looks like he’s enjoying everything,” Cosette cooed as she took in every changing expression on Wilkie’s face. “Mara wants to know if we think Wilkie would like to live with her, once they spend more time together. I know there’s a process for that, things that would need to be done, but do you think that’s a good idea?”
“If everything checks out,” he said thoughtfully, “I think it would be nice for Wilkie to be around people who are familiar with everything that is important to him.”
“But I’ll be sorry to see him go,” Cosette sighed. “I feel like he was just getting used to the idea of being around us.”
“I do take a while to get used to,” Aiden laughed, “but you, you’re pretty easy to love.”
“Love?” she asked, staring up at him as she let out a breathy chuckle. “I’ll let you take that back. Slip of the tongue.”
He leaned in and kissed her passionately for a long moment. “That was a slip of the tongue,” he joked, using his thumb to wipe her gloss from his lips. “The love thing was completely intentional.”
“You’re suddenly in love?” she asked, already knowing in her heart she felt the same.
“No,” he said coolly. “I’ve been ready to call it love since I walked up to the dinner table on the cruise ship and saw you sitting there. I just knew if I didn’t wait long enough to tell you, I’d be dealing with a runner. You’ve got that skittish look about you.”
“Me?” she teased. “You’re the one with a go-bag packed in the corner always looking ready to hop the next flight.”
“You should pay more attention to your surroundings,” he said with a devilish grin. “That bag got a lot bigger. It now has your stuff in it too.”
“We could really do this,” she said, not knowing exactly what she was trying to pin down. They could share this joy through parties for people displaced from their homes. They could be a couple so deeply in love Cossette could practically see new colors and float on air.
“We will really do this,” Aiden corrected. “All of it.”
“I’m not afraid,” she assured him, staring right into his hypnotic eyes. “I’m not skittish. I’ve been running a race for a long time, and when the finish line comes into focus I always stop myself. I’m not hesitating anymore. I’m ready to be all of myself who’s in love with all of you.”
“Forget the finish line,” he said, brushing her fallen hair gently behind her ears. “We’re just getting started.”
The End
Books by Danielle Stewart
Piper Anderson Series:
Book 1: Chasing Justice
Book 2: Cutting Ties
Book 3: Changing Fate
Book 4: Finding Freedom
Book 5: Settling Scores
Book 6: Battling Destiny
Book 7: Chris & Sydney Collection – Choosing Christmas & Saving Love
Betty's Journal - Bonus Material (suggested to be read after Book 4 to avoid spoilers)
Edenville Series – A Piper Anderson Spin Off:
Book 1: Flowers in the Snow
Book 2: Kiss in the Wind
Book 3: Stars in a Bottle
Piper Anderson Legacy Mystery:
Book 1: Three Seconds To Rush
Book 2: Just for a Heartbeat
Book 3: Not Just an Echo
The Clover Series:
Hearts of Clover - Novella & Book 2: (Half My Heart & Change My Heart)
Book 3: All My Heart
Book 4: Facing Home
Midnight Magic Series:
Amelia
Rough Waters Series:
Book 1: The Goodbye Storm
Book 2: The Runaway Storm
Book 3: The Rising Storm
Running From Shadows: Novella
Books in the Barrington Billionaire World
By Ruth Cardello:
Always Mine
Stolen Kisses
Trade It All
Let It Burn
By Jeannette Winters:
One White Lie
Table For Two
You & Me Make Three
Virgin For The Fourth Time
By Danielle Stewart:
Fierce Love
Fierce Love - Sweet
Wild Eyes
Wild Eyes - Sweet
Crazy Nights
Loyal Hearts
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Not Just an Echo (Piper Anderson Legacy Mystery Book 3) Page 14