Page 212 of The Exit Strategy

Bea stands behind me, Hudson, and Fen, wearing a brand-new cardigan that Junie gifted her in butter yellow. She notices me smiling at it and shrugs. “Lavender is for difficult days. She said I needed a verb-free color.”

That’s my Junie.

“Is verb-free the technical term?” Hudson teases.

“Don’t think I don’t see you, Hudson Tenney. My porch is waiting for you too.”

Hudson gulps and averts his gaze.

“Shh,” Bea says. “Here she comes.”

Here she comes, and the world fades to black and white around her.

Junie’s on her brother’s arm, walking up the drivewaystrung with lanterns, and I forget every structural principle I’ve ever learned because nothing about me is load-bearing anymore.

She draws my attention like a personal sunbeam.

Radiant.

Dazzling.

Mine.

Her dress is simple. Her smile is not.

Junie will always be complicated, witty, sassy beyond comprehension. But she’s also complicated in the sweet, quiet way that happens when you finally let love in.

She’s perfection in a Junie-sized package.

My gaze drifts down to the flowers she’s carrying. They’re tied with a moss-green ribbon the same exact shade as my favorite dress. It’s intentional, and she’s smug as hell about it.

She walks straight toward me without an ounce of hesitation. This is the version of her that will flash through my memories for a lifetime.

Nolan puts her hand in mine. “Junebug,” he whispers, and kisses her cheek before releasing her to me. His gaze finds mine over her head, full of love and happiness and all the joy we’ve been running from for too long.

Bea clears her throat, and he takes his position next to Katie because Junie decided that he would also be her bridesman—whatever the hell that is. I didn’t fight her on it, and neither did he.

“I’ve been informed I have one job today,” Bea says. “And it’s to keep this short so these two can kiss, then throw the biggest party The Haven’s ever seen.” She waits out the laughter, but that really was our only request. “Junie and Cole came to my porch haunted by ghosts they couldn’t control. Ghosts that kept them apart and broke their hearts.Sometimes we need to break before we can become whole, and sometimes our pieces only fit when our soul finds its other half. That’s what Junie and Cole did when they committed to fixing what was broken. Junie learned to release her past so she could have a future, and Cole learned to harness what he could control and let go of things not meant for him.”

She smiles at us, and Junie squeezes my hand.

Hudson nudges me in the back. “The tissues weren’t just for you,” he whispers.

I reach into my pocket and hand Junie a clean tissue.

“Today,” Bea continues, “I’m going to offer them a new verb, the best one I know, and they get to share it. Today’s verb iskeep. By coming together today, you’re promising to keep each other’s hearts safe. To keep your love alive. To keep choosing each other every day…especially when it’s hard.”

Junie’s fingers tighten around mine.

“Juniper. You first, dear.”

Katie steps forward to hand Junie a piece of paper she pulls from her cleavage.

Junie unfolds it, again and again, and the crowd loses it when she flashes a brightly colored spreadsheet their way.

I recognize it instantly.

“Before I agreed to move in with this man, I built a new matrix,” Junie says. “It’s sixteen pages, and he still can’t read the math of it.” She glances at me, wicked and watery at once. “So in the interest of transparency, I ran the numbers again last night. Probability of me running: Zero. Probability of you carrying things alone and getting caught by me immediately: High.”