Page 88 of To Have and to Scold

“Beck, I love you.” Her eyes begin to pool, and she takes in a steadying breath. “I can’t wait to rescind the whole ‘always a wedding planner, never a bride’ thing.”

“I love you, Dallas. I never did like that saying about you never becoming a bride.” I chuckle, taking her in my arms, careful not to crush her bouquet of peach and cream roses, lavender micro poms, and white Sweet Williams.

See? I really am getting an education on wedding stuff.

“Let’s see the shoes,” I ask.

She gives a wicked grin and moves her flowy skirt aside to reveal her white, bedazzled flip-flops. “I may ditch them later and just go barefoot.”

We both laugh and I can’t stop myself from kissing her cheek, right next to those perfect lips. “I love your evolving stance on shoes.” I groan. “Later. I can’t stop thinking about later,” I whisper in her ear.

“Neither can I,” she whispers back, sending waves of goosebumps across my skin.

“You know I have a surprise for you, right?” I ask her.

She has to know. I cordoned off the honeymoon suite upstairs a few weeks ago with big signs that said she wasn’t allowed to enter. My crew and I have been finishing up the remodel so we can spend our first night as a married couple up there. Since it’s the start of wedding season for Dallas, and since Integrity Construction has been so busy working on the teen’s wing of the YMCA, we’re delaying our honeymoon a couple of months.

“The suite’s going to be perfect, Beck.”

“Hey! Did you peek?”

“No, I did not.” she says, moving her head back so she can fix me with a stare. “I toyed with the idea, but then I figured you probably installed security cameras and booby traps to make sure I didn’t.”

I chuckle low in my chest. “I totally should have done that.”

Someone nearby clears their throat. We startle apart to see that Mary has opened the door and her arms are now folded across her chest. “Will you two quit flirting and make your way down the aisle?” She softens and can’t hold back a smile. “Please?”

She’s really taken to moonlighting as Dallas’s assistant. Between the two of them, they just about have Kaia convinced to turn this one-time gig of planning our wedding in Willow Cove into a more permanent situation. With the way Martha Dobbs’s business has grown, there’s become a need for a second wedding planner.

“We’re coming!” Dallas says, her voice sing-songy. “Have the caterers arrived?” she asks Mary. And by caterers, she means the lunch ladies from the school. We hired them to make a spread that’s both elegant and delicious. “And are we sure Prince Harry isn’t anywhere to be found?”

“King and Georgie told me he hired a neighbor to make sure Prince Harry stays put,” I tell her.

“And Dallas? No offense, but you’re not the wedding planner today, so let us do our job, okay?” Mary’s no-nonsense grin stills as she places her hand over her earpiece. “Kaia says she seconds that,” she adds.

Laughter escapes Dallas’s lips. “Fine. I’ll try not to worry about all the things.”

I take her hand and place it on my arm. “This is about you and me. I love you. I’m so happy to marry you.”

She rewards me with a smile. “Me, too. I’ll love you forever.”

And then we step through the open door onto the beach and into the first moment of the rest of our lives.

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