Page 102 of Island Girl

“You look good,” she said. “Better than I expected.”

“I'm working on it.”

“I know. Heather told me. The VA, the therapy, all of it.” She took a breath. “I'm proud of you.”

“Don't be proud yet. I've got a long way to go.”

“I know. But you're going. That's what matters.”

They stood there, looking at each other, and Merritt could see the history between them. The love that had survived war anddistance and sixteen years of silence. The pain that had never quite healed. The hope that was just beginning to bloom.

“Can we talk?” Julie asked. “Somewhere quieter?”

Ray nodded. He looked at Heather, a question in his eyes.

“Go,” Heather said. “I'll be here when you get back.”

They walked to the deck together, the same deck where Ray and Heather had sat two nights before, where so many broken things had started to mend. Paula watched them go, tears streaming down her face.

Merritt came around the bar to stand beside her.

“You okay?”

“I'm better than okay. I've been waiting for this for sixteen years.” Paula wiped her eyes. “They both have.”

Heather joined them, and the three women stood together, watching the silhouettes on the deck. Ray and Julie, sitting side by side, their voices too low to hear but their body language speaking volumes. The careful distance between them slowly closing. Julie's hand reaching out to touch Ray's arm. Ray not pulling away.

“Do you think they'll get back together?” Merritt asked.

“I don't know,” Heather said. “Maybe not right away. There's a lot of healing that needs to happen first. But I think they still love each other. I think they never stopped.”

“Love isn't always enough,” Paula said quietly. “But it's a start.”

They watched for a while longer, then drifted back to their own corners of the bar. Merritt returned to her post, pouring drinks and running food, trying to give the family their privacy. Justin worked beside her, their movements synchronized, their silence comfortable.

“Big night,” he said during a quiet moment.

“The biggest.”

“You did a good thing, Merritt. Bringing them all together.”

“I didn't do anything. I just opened a door.”

“That's not nothing.” He leaned against the bar, looking at herwith those steady eyes. “You have a gift for that. Opening doors. Making people feel seen.”

“Is that what I do?”

“It's exactly what you do. It's what you did for Ray. It's what you do every time you play.” He paused. “It's what you did for me.”

Merritt felt her cheeks warm. “We're just friends, remember?”

“I remember.” But he was smiling, that crooked smile that made her heart do things she wasn't ready to name. “Doesn't mean I can't appreciate you.”

“Justin.”

“I'm just saying. You're a good person, Merritt Ryan. The world needs more people like you.”

Before she could respond, Ray and Julie came back inside. They looked different. Not fixed, not healed, but different. Like something that had been frozen for a long time was finally starting to thaw.