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Julia Owens gazed around her in delight, and beside her, her fiancé, Cooper, squeezed her hand.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he whispered to her. “Even better than the pictures online.”

Julia and Cooper were taking a tour of a new indoor wedding venue, Turtle Dove Hall. It was a gorgeous place that blended elegance with a more rustic style. Dark wooden beams on the ceiling supported glittering chandeliers, and an antique-looking staircase was draped with white gauze fabric and glowing with twinkling lights.

“I agree,” she whispered back. “I’m absolutely in love with this place.”

Butterflies of excitement fluttered in her stomach. She could perfectly imagine having her wedding reception with Cooper in that beautiful space. She had been looking forward to their wedding every day since their engagement began, but the thought of getting to host their reception there made her even more eager for the day to arrive.

They heard a shout of delight and turned to see Cooper’s little daughter, Macey, dancing around in the center of the dance floor. She had been running around the room while theyexplored, which had made Cooper a little nervous since in his mind, she had just learned how to walk. Cooper had always been very protective of his little girl, and it had taken some time for him to accept that he could trust Julia to take care of Macey in her own way. At first, he’d wanted to be in charge of what snacks she ate and what her routine was, but as he’d seen more and more how much Julia loved his daughter, he’d come to accept that she was more than equipped to help parent his daughter.

“Do you like it, Macey?” Julia called to the little girl.

Macey’s face lit up with a chubby smile. “Dance with me!”

Laughing, Cooper and Julia hurried across the room toward Macey. Cooper picked her up and spun her around in a circle as she giggled with delight.

“Stars!” Macey said, pointing to the twinkling lights that sparkled on the staircase and on the ceiling.

Julia smiled at the little girl, feeling overwhelmed with love for her. She couldn’t wait to be Macey’s stepmother—she was just as excited about that as she was about becoming Cooper’s wife. She couldn’t believe that when she’d first started dating Cooper, she’d felt trepidatious about the fact that he had a child, and she’d been worried she wouldn’t know how to take care of Macey. It had been a learning experience for her, without a doubt, but it had been one of the most wonderful journeys of her life.

She watched the way Cooper set Macey down on the floor carefully and kissed her forehead. Macey giggled and took her daddy’s hand in hers.

He’s so sweet,Julia thought, feeling her heart ache with love for her fiancé.I’m so incredibly lucky we found each other.

Julia had met Cooper when she’d returned to Rosewood Beach from New York for her father’s funeral. Stress and grief had made her a little short-tempered, but Cooper had behaved like a perfect gentleman despite how terse she’d been. He’dcaught her in the rain when she was in danger of tumbling into the mud, something which Julia’s niece, Samantha, never failed to point out as extremely romantic.

“What do you think so far?” A smiling woman wearing a pink blazer and dark slacks stepped inside the room.

“Lindsay, it’s absolutely incredible. You must be so proud.”

Lindsay smiled. “It’s been a lot of work putting this place together, but it’s also been so much fun.”

“I still can’t believe you’re the owner and also the event manager,” Julia said, shaking her head. “That sounds like so much work.”

Lindsay shrugged. “I mean, I love organizing things. That’s why I got into the event managing business in the first place. As long as you have the right people working with you, running an establishment like this is like a dream rather than a nightmare.”

Julia thought immediately of The Lighthouse Grill, which she helped manage along with her mother. She knew exactly what Lindsay meant. Despite how hectic the pub could be at times, the team of people they had working there made things run smoothly most of the time—and they made working a joy even when things didn’t run smoothly.

“I understand that.” Julia smiled. “And it’s clear that both you and your team are doing an excellent job with this place. It looks absolutely wonderful.”

“I’m so glad you like it.” Lindsay smiled. “What do you think? Have you reached a decision about whether or not you want to reserve Turtle Dove Hall for your wedding?”

Julia turned to Cooper with a smile. Her heart felt full, since Turtle Dove Hall was just the sort of place she had always dreamed of having a wedding reception in. It was elegant and quaint at the same time, and she could easily imagine all of her loved ones dancing and celebrating there with her and Cooper on the evening of their big day.

“Everything seems to be in order,” Cooper said cheerfully. “I love it, and Macey clearly loves it too. What do you think, Julia? Do you want to go for it?”

“Yes.” Julia didn’t wait for even a second before responding. “I think it’s perfect.”

“Great.” Cooper grinned. “I think we’re all settled then.”

“Perfect!” Lindsay began tapping on the screen of her tablet. “We’ll just start finalizing details here.”

“Yay!” Macey cried, clearly aware that something exciting was going on.

Julia laughed and took hands with the little girl, dancing around in a circle with her. “Yay!”

I can’t wait for our wedding,Julia thought.I think now that we have this beautiful venue, everything is really going to be perfect.