Vivian stretched her neck as the crowd of guests stepped out onto the veranda in their shiny jewels, floaty gowns, and sharp tuxedos. She could practically hear the tinkling of champagne glasses as white-gloved servants handed them out from silver trays. She spotted her parents then—her mother laughing at something her father whispered in her ear. There were few things Brent Mason enjoyed more than making his wife laugh.
Then slowly, her father turned, his handsome face tilted up, as if he was looking right at her. And she could’ve sworn he winked.
For a second she gasped. Until she remembered the room was dark and they were high above him—he couldn’t possibly know she was there.
She saw her Uncle Stanton—tall and golden—walk up to her parents, with his arm around her beautiful Aunt Sofia. Beside her mother, she spotted Robert’s parents. Vivian thought Aunt Chelsea must be cold, because Uncle Jake had her tucked against his broad chest, his big arms around her, shielding her from the wind.
Sounding slightly bored, Robert asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up? I’m going to be a Navy Seal—they have the coolest assignments.”
Vivian sat back on her heels. “I’m going to be a writer, like my Aunt Vicky.”
Robert’s nose scrunched. School was easy for him, he could read something once and remember it word for word. But that didn’t mean he liked reading.
“What would you write about?”
Vivian gazed down at the three couples below, who were such a huge, wonderful part of her life. “I’m going to write about three superheroes. Everyone thinks they’re just normal people, but they have hidden identities.”
Robert nodded his head. “Secret identities are cool. What will they be?”
Vivian’s voice went soft as she imagined. “One will be a cowboy, one a knight, and the other, a prince.”
“Will they kill people?”
Vivian’s head whipped around to him. “No. They’ll save people. Every day. And they’ll have beautiful superhero wives who save them.”
Robert squinted. “I don’t know, Viv. Sounds kind of dumb.”
She just smiled. “My stories will be amazing. Everyone who reads them will laugh and cry and know how it feels to fall in love. And they’ll end the way all the very best stories end.”
Robert leaned toward her, his attention caught. “How will they end?”
“ ‘And they all lived happily ever after.’ ”