Page 46 of A Wedding in the Bay

“Of course.” He lifted her chin with two fingers and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “That’s what I’m here for. Now, what was it you wanted me to look at?”

“Will you come into my office with me? I’ve got some stuff laid out on my desk I want to show you.”

“Oh?” His eyebrows lifted with interest, and she wondered if he could guess what she was about to show him. “Sure.”

He quickly dried his hands off on a towel and began to follow her down the hallway.

When they reached her office, she turned the light on, revealing the magazine clippings and printouts that she’d spread across her desk. Eagerly, Michael strode forward to look at them.

“Olivia and I were talking, and she had the idea of a beach-themed wedding,” Caitlin said, almost shyly. She felt butterflies in her stomach, wondering if Michael was going to like the idea or not. “I love the idea, and I wanted to run it by you. Here are some beach wedding ideas that I saved. Do you like it? Is this the kind of thing you were hoping for for our wedding?”

Michael was staring at all the pictures with his eyebrows raised. She bit her lip, nervous that she hadn’t saved enough pictures to convince him of how lovely it could be. But as he continued to look at the photographs, she noticed a gleam of excitement in his eyes. The longer he looked, the more that look of excitement turned into a look of joy, and then he grinned at her, his emotions shown clearly on his face.

“It’s perfect,” he said, pulling her toward him in a hug. “I absolutely love it.”

“You do?” she said, grinning herself and feeling her heart lift up in excitement. “Are you sure?”

He laughed. “I’m being totally honest this time, cross my heart. I really, really love this idea. I think a beach wedding will be absolutely amazing. And we’ve got so many beautiful beaches here in Blueberry Bay.”

“That’s what I was thinking too! I’m so happy you like this idea, sweetheart.”

She bit her lip, her mind racing with more thoughts and ideas about the wedding, and a second later, Pearl came scampering into Caitlin’s office.

“What are you guys doing?” the little girl asked with interest. “Will it be time for dinner soon?”

“We can all start making dinner in just a little bit,” Caitlin assured her, “but right now Michael and I are talking about ideas for our wedding. Do you want to come look at the pictures I saved?”

“Oh yeah,” Pearl said eagerly, running over to her mother’s desk and looking down at the pictures that had been spread out across it. “Oh, a beach wedding? That would be so pretty!”

“Do you like it?” Caitlin asked, happy that her daughter also approved of the idea.

“I do! You guys are going to have a really good time,” Pearl said, nodding her head in certainty.

Michael laughed. “Well, you’re going to be there too, Pearl. You’re also going to have a really good time.”

“As a matter of fact,” Caitlin said, leaning down to speak to her daughter, “you can be in the wedding. What would you say to being our flower girl, Pearl?”

The little girl’s eyes widened and her mouth popped open into an ‘O.’ “Really? Aren’t I too big to be a flower girl?”

Michael shook his head. “That’s for all of us to decide, and I think you’d be a perfect flower girl.” He grinned at her, and she grinned back at him. Caitlin’s heart warmed when she saw their camaraderie.

“Then I would love to be!” Pearl bounced up and down, all excited.

“Perfect,” Caitlin said, holding her arms out for a hug. Pearl vaulted into her arms, and Caitlin held her daughter tightly. “A beach wedding, and Pearl as our flower girl. I can’t think of a better wedding than that.”

“I can’t either,” Michael said, quirking a smile. He wrapped his arms around both of them, and for a moment, the little family shared a hug. Caitlin’s heart felt full of happiness, and she couldn’t wait to keep planning their wedding.

“Come on,” she said, when they finally stepped out of their hug. “Let’s all go make some dinner together. What do you say to alfredo with meatballs?”

“Sounds great to me,” Michael said.

“Let’s add some cheese to the sauce,” Pearl said. “And make it like a fancy macaroni and cheese with meatballs.”

“Sure.” Caitlin laughed. “We’ll experiment and come up with a new kind of cheesy sauce together.”

The three of them went into the kitchen together, and Michael kissed Caitlin’s cheek as they walked.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he whispered.

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