Page 7 of A Future in the Bay

“We’ll only go with these if you also like them,” Caitlin said, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a quick kiss. “Pearl had some great suggestions.”

“Yes, I did,” Pearl said proudly, starting to lay the pictures out across the table.

Michael and Caitlin shared another grin, and then Michael leaned forward to look at the pictures.

“Oh, these look fantastic,” he said.

“You like the white candles?” Caitlin asked, keeping her arm linked through his. “We were thinking those would look more elegant than pink or blue ones, alongside everything else we picked out.”

“And they’re cheaper,” Pearl said importantly.

“Absolutely.” Michael’s eyes shone with excitement. “Do you think we could add seashells to the centerpieces?”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Caitlin and Pearl both exclaimed at the same time, and then all three of them started laughing.

“Glad you approve,” Michael teased.

They finished showing him the rest of the pictures, and he loved all their ideas.

“You’re both geniuses,” he said, kissing Pearl’s head. “This is going to be the most beautiful wedding there ever was.” He turned to Caitlin with shining eyes, and she had a feeling he was thinking what she was thinking—that to them, it really was going to be the most beautiful wedding because they got to marry each other.

She grinned at Michael, feeling a rush of happiness. It didn’t matter how much work she needed to do first—she was counting down the days until this man became her husband.

Mid-afternoon sunlight streamed across Alissa Taylor’s desk as she typed with adept fingers at her laptop. She was smiling quietly to herself as she worked, since the topic of the article she was writing was something that made her happy.

“What do you think of this?” she called to Josie Cliff,The Outlet’s secretary, and her husband, Dane Taylor. She read aloud from her draft, “One of Blueberry Bay’s most dedicated teachers, Olivia Dunlap, has proved just how much she cares about Little Clams Elementary School by arranging for renovations to be made to the school before the springtime Kids’ Fest celebration.”

“Sounds great to me,” Josie said, taking a sip of her coffee. A beautiful wedding ring sparkled on her hand, and she grinned affectionately at Alissa. She had seemed to glow with more happiness than usual ever since her marriage to Wesley.

“Good, but can you add something about her brother right away in the first sentence?” Dane called from inside his office. “That’s the best angle of the story.”

“You got it, boss!” she called back cheerfully, pushing her glasses up on her nose.

Taking a sip of her lavender latte—Dane had gone out and brought them all back beverages from Tidal Wave Coffee earlier—she narrowed her eyes at her computer in concentration. She set her coffee cup down and continued to type, editing her first sentence and then expanding the article.

She wrote about Olivia, finding it fun to write an article about one of her good friends. She described how Olivia was spearheading the renovations for the elementary school and going above and beyond to get it all done. She smiled as sheworked, reflecting that this was one of her favorite articles she’d ever composed. She was very fond of Olivia, and she liked the idea of renovations being made to the school—a school that her and Dane’s baby Oscar would go to when he was old enough. She glanced down at her pregnant belly for a moment, feeling a glow of anticipation.

After she’d been writing for a while, a notification popped up on her phone.

“Hey, sweetheart!” she called to Dane. “The crib is being delivered soon! I should go.” She finished her coffee quickly and stood up, beginning to pack up her laptop.

Dane poked his head out of his office. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go?”

“I won’t try to lift the box, I promise.” She laughed. “But one of us has so sign for it, and you’re busier than me today. Besides, I can finish up my articles at home. I’ll make sure to finish that ‘How to Babyproof Your Home’ article for the homeowner’s column.”

Recently in their magazine’s homeowner’s column, in which they highlighted useful tips for home repair, they’d been focusing on things having to do with babyproofing specifically. She’d enjoyed it immensely—and found it easy to do, since they were spending a great deal of time learning how to babyproof their own home.

“That’s okay, sweetheart, you don’t have to do it today,” he said, giving her the concerned look she’d grown so used to. Ever since she’d gotten pregnant, he’d been watching over her like a hawk. “You can do it tomorrow.”

She waved her hand through the air as if to wave his words away, smiling at him. “I’ll do it today—I’m enjoying writing it.”

“Well, okay, but promise me you’ll take it easy.”

She walked across the office with her laptop bag slung over her shoulder and gave him a kiss. “I will.”

She said goodbye to Dane and Josie and stepped outside into the spring afternoon. It was warmer that day than it had been the day before, and she took a deep breath of the air, enjoying the way it smelled of things beginning to grow.

She got into her car and drove back to their house in a few short minutes. She was just in time to catch the delivery man and sign for the package, which he offered to bring into the front entryway of the house for her.

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