Page 247 of The Right Sign

I agree and usher her into the car. José drives us to Darrel and Sunny Hastings’ giant, Victorian-style house.

You should come in,Talia writes on her phone.

I shake my head, reluctant to head inside when most of the people there haven’t spoken to me or invited me over for two weeks now.

But Dare’s niece inherited his stubbornness, and she doesn’t stop until I’m out of the car.

I expect Talia to take me into the farmhouse but, instead, she leads me around the side. My eyes bug when I see a massive catwalk in the middle of the Hastings’ backyard.

Lights are flashing from steel-pipe rigs and there are giant bass speakers situated all around. I laugh when the music starts thumping so hard, the bass speakers rattle the trees in the distance.

What is going on?

I look down at Talia, but Dare’s niece just slips in her earbuds and grins mischievously. She points to the stage, redirecting my attention to someone sauntering onto the catwalk.

It’s Kenya holding a sign over her giant belly that reads ‘the first night I saw you, you were wearing a red jumpsuit’.

I cover my mouth, battling dual emotions of bewilderment and laughter when I see Kenya wearing a jumpsuit fitted for her small frame butexactlylike the one I wore at Clarissa’s wedding.

Kenya struts backstage and Belle walks out next, in a similar jumpsuit like her mommy.

She’s holding a sign too and her sign says: ‘first I saw your light, then I saw your beauty’.

The farmhouse ladies pour out one after another. Sunny’s wearing the pretty-in-pink outfit I wore to my first meeting with Dare on the mountain. Her placard reads ‘I wanted you to be mine in any way I could have you’.

Sunny’s boys are noticeably absent from her side—I doubt anyone could convince them to wear pretty-in-pinkanything, but it doesn’t matter. There are enough models to go around.

Even Dawn emerges in the outfit I was wearing for the TV interview. Her placard reads ‘the moment we kissed, I knew it was you and me forever’.

By the time Clarissa ends the show in the Tru Essentials gown I was wearing during the fashion show, I’m in tears and can barely read her sign.

‘I’ve tasted the agony of losing you once and I will never put us in that position again’.

I sniff, waiting for Dare to come out since the bass has stopped thumping and no other models have emerged.

Instead, Michael and Bailey—Sunny’s kids, along with Rowan—Adam and Nova’s son, and Joel—Clarissa and Cody’s eighteen-year-old adopted son, show up and escort me around the back of the stage.

Each boy helps me to mount a stair until I’m standing at the rear of the platform.

My sister appears and hands me a bouquet. She smiles at me and whispers something that feels a lot like ‘I love you’. I’m too choked up to sign it back.

Deej gives me a little shove and I step out onto the stage.

The bright lights welcome me, a familiar home.

I notice everyone on the sidelines watching me, cheering for me. Bolstered by their energy, I model in my jeans and T-shirt, doing the best catwalk of my life.

Until it’s cut short when someone jumps from the audience onto the stage.

I freeze when my eyes meet Dare’s.

He’s wearing a fitted tux, no tweed in sight. His hair is brushed back from his face and he looks like a heartbreaker. Except he’s not. He’s a heart-fixer. A heart-nurturer. A heart-carer.

“Is this why you were on the phone last night?” I sign.

His eyebrows climb and he signs, “You saw that?”

I nod.

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