Page 69 of Just One Summer with the Grumpy

“I’ve never ridden in a limo,” Chase admitted. “And this is a pleasant evening walk with the woman I love.” He watched Ty as he finished.

Ty’s face went even redder.

The girl gasped and hurried to me, lifting my hand. “What a pretty ring! Are you guys engaged?”

“We haven’t told anybody yet,” I said with a smile, “but yes.” I held my hand up so she could admire it. I shouldn’t have, but I took great pleasure in seeing Ty’s sputtering behind her.

“Simple yet elegant,” the girl cooed. “I’ve never seen anything like it, but it’s perfect.”

“Thank you.” I couldn’t help but grin along with her. The gold band tapered daintily toward the stone, which was a beautiful blue color, a special type found only in a specific mine off the coast of Costa Rica. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

“I would have expected it to be bigger,” Ty grumbled.

“That stone is worth more than an entire floor of condos in the city,” Chase said lightly, and his hand tightened on my elbow as he nudged us past them. “Nice to see you both.”

I felt both their eyes on my back as we walked around them and started for the park’s entrance. I leaned into Chase and he wrapped his arm around my waist while we walked.

“That was surprisingly fulfilling,” he said.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

When we were alone again, he pulled me around in front of him and kissed me deeply. “So, soon-to-be-Mrs. Everett, have you decided where you want the ceremony to take place? I know how much you love New York, but then Rosie couldn’t take part, and that just doesn’t seem right after she worked so hard to bring us together.”

“It doesn’t, but she wouldn’t enjoy riding an airplane to the island, either, so that’s probably a no-go.”

“I don’t think they allow horses on planes. It would have to be a ship.” His smile widened. “Hold on. You do want to get married on the island?”

I grinned. “Duh. But we have to be barefoot, or the deal’s off. Everyone. The entire wedding party. And half should be wearing swimsuits.”

“I wouldn’t complain about tying the knot with you wearing yours,” he said, breaking into a wicked grin.

“The guests, silly. My mom won’t rest until she’s covered me in six miles of cloth and a homemade wedding dress in the style of forty years ago.”

“I’m sure you’ll be beautiful. We’ll have the entire island take part.” He sobered, all business now. “There’s lots to be done. We need to set the date and start making the arrangements with the caterer, since that’s the part that tends to go awry—”

“If only you were marrying a wedding planner who could take care of these details,” I said pointedly. I’d taken back over my role upon returning to the island. With such a long client list these days, I’d also hired a few more assistants to help.

“Touché. I’ll let you worry about that. In the meantime, I have a few other details to take care of. The honeymoon, for example.”

“So mysterious.” I threw my arms around his neck again. “Many couples travel to islands for their honeymoons, but we already have one of those. You don’t want to stay on Isle de Pura Vida?”

“Not when I have something better.”

“Better? Not possible.”

He chuckled, low and deep. “Well,little lady,” he drawled. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

EPILOGUE

I tried.I really did. But helping out a friend in need with a quick travel video was one thing…and attending his wedding was entirely another.

I usually avoided weddings whenever possible. Talk about cheesy awkwardness. Melting, stinking, uncomfortable cheese bars galore. The couple are smiling, the guests are smiling, and all the decorations look the same from one ceremony to the next—white gauze everywhere and twinkly lights that remind me of a six-year-old’s bedroom.

Although I had to admit that they’d chosen the perfect place for the ceremony, with its gorgeous ocean backdrop. And the barefoot thing was new. I couldn’t complain about the free vacation either. My YouTube channel was doing better than ever, so I could have afforded the resort fee, but Chase insisted on footing the bill.

Now, looking around, I realized that he’d probably paid for all forty of the attendees sitting with me in the audience. I did the math and nearly whistled, long and slow. Yep, Chase had come a long way since our high school grad days of scrawniness and searching for life’s meaning in the adventurous rainforests of Costa Rica.

The violinist stopped playing, took a gulp from her water bottle, and began again. She’d been playing the same six songs over and over for nearly an hour now. The officiator—the governor of this little island—stood in his best suit, calm as anything, but the other guests looked as confused as I felt. Where were the bride and groom?

---