Page 84 of Wild Heart

“I was thinking,” Davey said slowly. “I don’t want to go back to college, not ever.”

Mason’s brows lifted. “Then stay?”

“I will. I want to make sure the sanctuary thrives. For Mom. For Livvy. For you and Natalie. It feels like... this is where I’m meant to be. I know Mom hoped maybe I’d find another college, try again, but my destiny is here, not in a lecture hall.”

Mason’s throat tightened. He hadn’t expected that. But maybe he should have.

He placed a hand on Davey’s shoulder. “You sure?”

Davey nodded, his voice soft. “I want to keep what she built alive. I think she’d want that, too.”

Mason smiled, slow and quiet, and reached forward to pull his son into a hug. It wasn’t awkward this time. It was full-bodied, honest. A father and a son, holding each other in the aftermath of loss, and the bloom of something lasting.

“I’m proud of you,” Mason murmured.

Davey swallowed. “I know. And I’m proud of you too.”

They stood there for a moment longer, the sound of the trees swaying outside, the faint murmur of guests arriving.

Then Davey stepped back, smoothing his jacket. “You ready?”

Mason looked out the window toward the clearing, where Natalie was just stepping out of the lodge in a flowing, pale cream dress. Her hair had been pinned back with delicate twists of wildflowers, and in her arms, Livvy gurgled in a soft cotton romper, a daisy tucked behind one tiny ear. The baby waved her fists like she already knew what the day was. Mason drew in a breath. He turned to Davey and smiled.

“Ready.”

Mason stepped outside the cabin as the guests began to take their seats. The clearing beyond was bathed in light. Wild birds called to one another overhead. The air was rich with the scent of fresh pine, budding earth, and lilac from the bush that had miraculously bloomed early beside the path. He waited beneath the archway, hands loose at his sides, heart pounding a steady, reverent beat. He didn’t feel nervous anymore. Just... full. Of love. Of memory. Of the quiet promise that they had all survived the darkest night and come into morning.

And then, just at the edge of the clearing, Davey appeared. Natalie stood beside him, radiant in her simple cream dress, Livvy cradled gently in her arms, wrapped in a blanket stitched from pieces of Olivia’s favorite flannel shirts. A wreath of wildflowers crowned her head, and sunlight poured across her shoulders like a blessing.

Davey looked down at her, and for a moment, emotion caught in his throat.

He cleared it gently, then leaned close and said, “You ready, Mom Two?”

Natalie turned to him slowly, her eyes wide with surprise, then warmth. Her lips trembled just enough for a single tear to slide down her cheek.

She reached up, brushing her hand along his jaw. “That might be the greatest honor of my life.”

He smiled, swallowing hard. “Come on then.”

The music began, strings low and reverent. And together, they walked.

Natalie’s feet moved in rhythm with Davey’s steps, her arm threaded through his. Livvy blinked sleepily at the soft hum of melody, one fist curled beneath her chin. The guests rose in quiet, watching as the three of them made their way down the narrow aisle between the benches, past the larch tree planted in Olivia’s honor, past the faces of the people who had carried them through every fracture and fire.

Mason stood at the front, his heart expanding with every step she took. And when Natalie lifted her gaze to meet his, everything else faded. There was no pain left in her eyes.

Only love in their hearts. And the wild.

The End