Page 97 of Set In Stone

“Yes, I still want you. I want forever with you,” Iwhispered.

Alexander grasped my shoulders, his sapphire eyes blazing fiercely with love and possessiveness, before tugging me into his embrace. I clung to him, absorbing the moment for a long while. When he pulled away, he leveled his gaze to mine. His expression wasserious.

“Pick a date,” hesaid.

“Adate?”

“Yes, for our wedding. I want this set in stone today. Rightnow.”

God, he’s always sodemanding.

I contemplated toying with him over it and tossed him a cheekygrin.

“Oh, well…I don’t know,” I saidslowly.

“So help me, Krystina,” he began in warning. I laughed and swatted at his arm. It felt so good to be here with him. In this moment. It was where I belonged and where I planned to stay for a very longtime.

“You make it too easy,” I kidded. “But, if you insist on picking a date today, I was thinking about sometime in the summer. I kind of fancy a certain boat docked at MontaukMarina.”

“You want to get married onThe Lucy?” he asked, almost soundingincredulous.

“Only if you want to. It was just an idea,” I shrugged and looked down at my lap, trying to sound indifferent. The fact of the matter was, I had been thinking about getting married on his boat for a while now and couldn’t get the images of a sunset wedding out of my head. But, if Alexander had a different idea, I’d be open to it. I didn’t want to fight anymore, especially about the most important day of ourlives.

Alexander reached up and took my chin in between his fingers. Lifting my face to meet his gaze, I found his blue eyes alight withhappiness.

“Miss Cole, I can’t wait to call you Mrs. Stone and I think getting married onThe Lucyis an absolutely perfectidea.”

Epilogue

krystina

The summer had been exceptionallywarm and humid, even by New York standards. However, today was comfortable with temperatures in the mid-seventies. A gentle breeze danced off the waves of Lake Montauk, causing water to lap against the docks and boats at the marina. I closed my eyes and listened to the soothing sound coming in through the porthole ofThe Lucy. It was rhythmic and relaxing, and worked wonders to soothe my tremulousnerves.

After a few minutes, I opened them and stepped up to the full-length mirror in the master suite of the boat. Running my hands down the sides of my wedding dress, I took in the exquisite satin. My stomach was a ball of nerves, but not so much that I couldn’t appreciate how incredible the gown felt on me. Inspired by Inbal Dror, my dress designer created a backless satin bridal gown with hints of lace. Of course, her creation didn’t go without input from my mother, Justine, and Allyson. They suggested that embellishments be added to the plunging V-shaped backline. It was now scattered with clear sequin beading set on lace, giving the gown that hint of simple elegance I was lookingfor.

I fingered the pearl spaghetti straps as I took in my reflection. The straps dipped into a sweetheart neckline, accentuating the curve of my breasts without revealing too much. Not wanting to bother with my unruly mass of curls, a stylist came on board that morning to do my hair. She styled it half up and half down, leaving most of it to cascade down my back with just a few curls left free to frame my face. My veil wasn’t overly long, the pearl edges stopping just below the tips of myhair.

“Oh, love! You look stunning!” my mother gushed as she entered the suite. I smiled at her through my reflection as she stepped up behindme.

“You don’t think my makeup is too much?” Iasked.

“Absolutely not. It’s delicate and natural. It’s justperfect!”

We stood together in the full-length mirror, a million unspoken words passing between us, before I turned to faceher.

“Thank you,Mom.”

“Forwhat?”

“For helping me plan all of this. I never thought you would do it, but when you jumped right in, it meant the world to me. I know you’ve had your reservations about me and Alex, but –,” I stopped, my eyes welling up with tears. I was suddenly feeling overly emotional, all of my childhood memories coming to the forefront of mymind.

“Now, now. Don’t do that. You’ll mess up your makeup,” shechided.

“No, really. I know the sacrifices you made for me years ago after my father took off. And then, when I was ten years old and you got together with Frank…” I trailed off, unsure of how to explain what I thought about her marriage to mystepfather.

“Krystina, I know what you think about my marriage. You think I didn’t marry Frank for love. In some respect, you are correct. Frank offered a means to an end at a time when I could barely afford to put food on our table. But, I knew he was a good man and I cared deeply for him. Eventually, I did fall in love with him. He was very persuasive,” she added with a light laugh. “Perhaps I didn’t fall for him in the conventional way, but it didhappen.”

“Does Frank know? I mean, that you didn’t love him in thebeginning?”

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