Page 26 of Wishes at Water's Edge
“Oh, sweetheart?—”
“Or—” Tears filled her eyes. “What if we can’t find anywhere at all and we have to postpone our wedding?”
Cooper hurried across the kitchen and put his arms around her. “Julia, don’t think like that. You’re overwhelmed, and you’re tired, and things look bleak right now.” He touched his nose to hers. “But don’t worry about it like that. There’s no need to be jumping to worst-case scenarios here. I’ll tell you one thingfor sure.” He smiled at her as he looked her right in the eyes. “I’m going to marry you no matter what. We’re going to have our wedding, we’re going to have a venue, and it’s going to be beautiful. You know that even if we did end up in the town hall’s basement, it would be beautiful. We’d decorate it, and it would look wonderful to us because we’re going to be so extremely happy on our wedding day no matter what. Right?”
Tears were still brimming in Julia’s eyes, but now they were happy tears. “What did I do to deserve you?” she whispered with a smile. “Thank you. You’re right. No matter what happens, our wedding day is going to be beautiful.”
“That’s the spirit,” he told her warmly. “Now I’m going to finish making these sandwiches before they burn. We’ll have a nice hot meal, and then I’ll help you with some of the wedding planning. What should we tackle? Seating charts for the reception?” He looked almost excited about the idea as he returned to the stove and started to flip the sandwiches over.
She groaned. “Yes, that’s a good idea. And I’ll order those place setting cards now.”
“Hey, cheer up! We’re going to put a huge dent in that to-do list tonight. And we’re going to watch some old black and white movies while we work on the seating charts.”
She smiled adoringly at him. “Okay. Thank you. I’m so excited I get to marry you.”
He grinned at her from across the kitchen. “I’m so excited I get to marry you too. Don’t worry about a thing. We’ve got this.”
She nodded, feeling immensely grateful and reassured. She might not have any control over things like burst pipes and lost venues, but that didn’t mean that their wedding wasn’t going to be wonderful. It would be the day that she got to marry the incredible man standing in front of her, and nothing could ruin that.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dean stood in the middle of his kitchen, running his fingers through his hair. He felt sure that he must be forgetting something, but he had no idea what it might be.
“Don’t do that!” Hazel laughed. “You just combed your hair.”
Dean sighed. His hair usually looked a bit messy despite his best efforts, although his twin was right that he’d just combed it down. He and Hazel were in the middle of preparing a romantic dinner for Noelle. She was due to arrive to Dean’s house soon, and he was determined that everything about their date would be perfect.
“Okay.” Hazel opened the refrigerator. “What’s her favorite salad dressing? I just grabbed all the basics—olive oil and vinegar, French dressing, Caesar, and blue cheese. I know you already have ranch.”
Dean grinned as Hazel gestured to the three bottles of ranch dressing that were in the door of his refrigerator. Only one had been opened, but he liked to always have backup. “I think her favorite is French dressing. And that will go really well with the strawberry and walnut salad you made.”
“Perfect.” She smiled and took the French dressing out of the refrigerator. “You should check on those sweet potato fries.”
Dean had been determined to make all of Noelle’s favorite foods for the date, and Hazel had volunteered to help him. She’d gotten Noelle’s favorite strawberry and walnut salad recipe from her grandmother, and she’d helped Dean make homemade breaded cod fillets along with sweet potato fries, which were still baking in the oven. They already had dishes of fresh tartar sauce and the Owens family’s secret sauce on the table.
“They look perfect,” Dean said, peering into the oven. “Should I take them out?”
Hazel laughed. “I think you can answer that question for yourself. Don’t be so jittery, Dean! Everything is going to go great.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Hazel, I want to propose tonight. I need better than great. I need perfect.”
She chuckled. “Okay, then everything is going to be perfect. Chin up! Smile at me.”
Dean made a face that was a cross between a grimace and a goofy smile.
“I’ll take it.” Hazel lifted a brow at him. “There’s no reason to be stressed here. Just look at that table we set together. Can you even believe how nice it looks?”
Dean shook his head. “No, I can’t. My table has never looked this nice. You’re a wizard, Hazel.”
Hazel bowed, and Dean laughed and looked at the table appreciatively again. It was covered in a beautiful lacey white tablecloth and had been set with pink glass dishes that Hazel had inherited from their grandmother. There were wine glasses as well as crystal water glasses, and beautiful pink floral napkins that Hazel had sewn a few years ago at a local craft day. Candles were set in beautiful glass candlesticks in the center of the table, waiting to be lit, and a bowl of roses had been placed in the very center of the arrangement.
Dean still felt nervous, despite how incredible their preparations looked. He worried that Noelle’s favorite foods had changed since they’d last had a conversation about them, or that even though she usually loved breaded cod and sweet potato fries, she wouldn’t consider them appropriate food for a romantic dinner, and he should have gone with pasta or steak or something more traditional.
Will she really think all of this is nice and romantic?he wondered nervously.Or will it just look like I’m trying too hard but not actually succeeding at being romantic?
“Well, then,” Hazel said slowly as she set the salad dressing bottle down onto the table next to the salad. “I think we’re all set then. Right? We’ve got food, and the table is all set, and the flowers are arranged—oh! You should play romantic music. Noelle likes jazz, right? All those classic jazz love songs?”
“Good idea.” Dean fumbled for his phone. “I’ll run upstairs to get my speaker.”
