Nicholas Sparks - The Last Song

“Would you like me to drive you home? It’s pretty chaotic out there right now. Your dad might have trouble getting to the house.”

Ronnie nodded. “Yes, please.” She straightened her dress as she stood, hoping she could make it home without throwing up. “Would you please tell Will that I said good-bye? And that I won’t be seeing him anymore?”

Tom nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I can do that.”

***

She didn’t throw up and didn’t cry, but she didn’t say anything in what had to be the longest car ride of her life. Nor did Tom, though that wasn’t exactly surprising.

The house was quiet when she got home; the lights were off, and both Jonah and her dad were sound asleep. From the hallway, she could hear her father breathing; it was deep and heavy, as though he’d had a long, hard day. But all she could think as she crawled into bed and began to cry was that no day could have been longer and harder than the one she’d just endured.

Her eyes were still puffy and sore as she felt someone shaking her awake. Squinting up, she saw Jonah sitting on the bed beside her.

“You’ve got to get up.”

The images from the night before and the things Susan had said came surging back, making her suddenly feel nauseated.

“I don’t want to get up.”

“You don’t have a choice. There’s someone here.”

“Will?”

“No,” he said. “Someone else.”

“Ask Dad if he can handle it,” she said, pulling the covers over her head.

“I would, except that he’s still sleeping. And besides, she asked for you.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know, but she’s waiting for you outside. And she’s hot.”

After throwing on a pair of jeans and a shirt, Ronnie stepped cautiously onto the porch. She hadn’t known what to expect, but this certainly wasn’t it.

“You look terrible,” Megan said without preamble.

She was dressed in shorts and a tank top, but Jonah was right: Up close, she was even prettier than she’d been at the wedding yesterday. She also radiated a self-confidence that made Ronnie instantly feel years younger.

“I’m really sorry about ruining your wedding…,” Ronnie began.

Megan held up a hand. “You didn’t ruin the wedding,” she said with a wry smile. “You made the reception… memorable…”

At Megan’s comment, Ronnie felt tears beginning to form.

“Don’t cry,” Megan said gently. “I don’t blame you. If it was anyone’s fault, it was Marcus’s.”

Ronnie blinked.

“Yeah, I know what happened. Will and I talked after my mom was finally finished with him. I think I’m pretty clear on everything. So like I said, I don’t blame you. Marcus is insane. He always has been.”

Ronnie swallowed. Though Megan was being ridiculously forgiving about the whole thing-or maybe because she was being so understanding-her feelings of mortification only intensified.

“Umm… if you’re not here to yell at me, then why did you come?” Ronnie asked.

“Partly because I talked to Will. But the main reason I came is because I want to know something. And I want you to tell me the truth.”

Ronnie felt her stomach roiling. “What do you want to know?”

“I want to know if you love my brother.”

Ronnie wasn’t sure she’d heard right, but Megan’s gaze was unwavering. Yet what did she have to lose? Their relationship was over. Distance would make sure of that, if Susan didn’t do it first.

Megan had asked for the truth, and in light of the kindness she’d shown, Ronnie knew she had no choice.

“Yes, I do.”

“It’s not a summer fling?”

Ronnie shook her head fiercely. “Will and I…” She trailed off, not trusting herself to speak, knowing that words were inadequate to describe it.

Studying her face, Megan slowly began to smile. “Okay,” she said. “I believe you.”

Ronnie frowned in consternation, and Megan laughed. “I’ve been around. I’ve seen that look before. Like this morning when I looked in the mirror. I feel the same way about Daniel, but I have to say it’s a little odd to see that look on you. When I was seventeen, I don’t think I even knew what love was. But when it’s right, it’s right, and you just know it.”

As Ronnie registered her words, she decided that Will hadn’t been fair when he’d described his sister. She wasn’t great, she was… way, way better than that. She was the kind of person Ronnie wanted to be in a few years, in practically every way. In a matter of minutes, Megan had become her hero.

“Thank you,” she murmured, unable to think of a better response.

“Don’t thank me. This isn’t about you. This is about my brother, and he’s still crazy about you,” she said with a knowing smile. “Anyway, my point is that since you’re in love with him, then you shouldn’t worry about what happened at the reception. All you did was give my mom a story she’s going to tell for the rest of her life. Believe me, she’ll get a lot of mileage out of it. In time, she’ll get over this. She always does.”

“I don’t know…”

“That’s because you don’t know her. Oh, she’s tough, don’t get me wrong. And protective. But once you get to know her, there’s no one better in the world. She’ll do anything for anyone she cares about.”

Her words echoed Will’s description, but so far, Ronnie hadn’t seen that side of Susan.

“You should talk to Will,” Megan said, lowering her sunglasses into place as she prepared to leave. “Don’t worry. I’m not suggesting you go to the house. And besides, he’s not there.”

“Where is he?”

She motioned over her shoulder, toward the pier in the distance. “He’s at the tournament. Their first game starts in forty minutes.”

The tournament. In the wild rush of all that had happened, she’d forgotten about it.

“I was just there, but when I left him, he was really out of it. He was so upset, I don’t think he slept at all. Especially after what you told my dad. You need to make things right.” Her voice was firm.

Megan was about to step off the porch when she turned to face Ronnie again. “And just so you know? Daniel and I postponed our honeymoon for a day so we could watch my little brother play in the tournament. It would be great if his head was in the game. He might have downplayed it, but doing well in the tournament is important to him.”

After showering and dressing, Ronnie raced down the beach. The area around the pier was thronged, much as it had been on her first night in town.

Temporary bleachers that sandwiched two courts had been set up on the far side of the pier, jammed with at least a thousand spectators. Even more were massed along the pier, which provided a bird’s-eye view of the game. The beach itself was so packed, she could barely make her way through the crowd. There was no way she’d be able to find Will in time, she fretted.

No wonder winning the tournament was so important.

She searched the crowd, catching sight of some of the other teams, which only made her feel more frantic. As far as she could tell, there wasn’t a special area reserved for the players, and she despaired of ever locating him with so many people around.

With only ten minutes until the game began, she was about to give up when she suddenly spotted him walking with Scott near some paramedics who were leaning against their truck. As Will pulled off his shirt, he vanished behind the truck.

She plunged through the crowd, calling out hurried apologies to the people she pushed. It took her less than a minute to reach the spot where she’d last seen him, but he was nowhere in sight. She moved forward again, and this time she thought she saw Scott-he was hard to make out in the ocean of blondes. Just as she let out a frustrated sigh, she saw Will standing by himself in the shade of the bleachers, taking a long drink from a bottle of Gatorade.

Megan had been right. She could tell by the slump of his shoulders that he was exhausted, and she couldn’t see evidence of any pre-game adrenaline.

She scooted around some bystanders, breaking into a jog as she got closer. For an instant, she thought she saw surprise in his face, but he quickly turned away and she knew his dad had given him her message.

She read the pain and confusion in his reaction. She would have talked it all through with him, but with the game only minutes away, she didn’t have time. As soon as she was close, she threw her arms around him and kissed him as passionately as she could. If he was surprised, he recovered quickly and began to kiss her back.

When they finally separated, he spoke. “About what happened yesterday…”

Ronnie shook her head, placing a gentle finger over his lips. “We’ll talk about that later, but just so you know, I didn’t mean what I said to your dad. I love you. And I need you to do something for me.”

When he cocked his head questioningly, she went on.

“Play today like you’ve never played before.”

Kicking at the sand at Bower’s Point, Marcus knew he should be enjoying the havoc he’d wreaked the previous evening. Everything had turned out exactly the way he’d planned it. The house had been decorated precisely as the endless newspaper articles had detailed, and loosening the tent pegs-not all the way, just enough to ensure they’d pull free when he slammed into the ropes-had been easy to do when everyone was eating dinner. He’d been thrilled to see Ronnie wander down to the dock, Will in tow; they hadn’t let him down. And good old reliable Will had played his part perfectly; if there was a guy more predictable in the entire world, Marcus would be shocked. Push button X and Will would do one thing; push button Y and Will would do another. If it hadn’t been so much fun, it would have been boring.

Marcus wasn’t like other people; he’d known that for a long time. Growing up, he never felt guilty about anything, and he liked that about himself. There was power in the ability to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to do it, but the pleasure was usually short-lived.