Page 127 of Summer Ever After
“Capri…” I hesitate. “Are you sure you’re okay with me and Jane?”
“Yes. I told you that yesterday on the phone.”
“I know, but I have to make sure you really mean it. Because Jane is going to ask you if you’re okay with us, and I don’t want her to have any reservations.”
“She’s not going to ask me. She knows I just want her to be happy. So if you really think you’re the guy that can make her happy and that you won’t break her heart, then you have my blessing.”
“I promise I won’t break her heart.” My lips lift. “I know I can make her happy.” We can make each other happy.
At first, I didn’t think we could make it work. I knew she was someone special. I knew I felt more for her than I’d ever felt for anyone else, but I didn’t know how to get around all the logistics, like the fact that I didn’t live in Sunset Harbor.
I’m a little slow, but I finally realized everything I need and everything that’s important to me is on that island.
Nothing else matters.
I’ll move wherever I need to, just to be with Jane.
There’s no place too far.
“That’s all I need to hear,” Capri says.
“Okay, let’s do this, then.”
“What are you going to say?”
“That I love her.” My brows drop. “I mean, something more eloquent than that, but my love for her and the fact that I’m planning to move to Sunset Harbor will be the main points.”
“Walker, I don’t want to pressure you, but this is Jane we’re talking about. Jane, who’s spent every moment since I met her dreaming about the perfectI love youmoment. Jane loves love more than anyone else I know. Jane lives for the big romantic gesture. Jane?—”
“I get it.” I rub a hand across my forehead, suddenly feeling nervous.
“Do you get it?”
“Yeah, I think so. Don’t mess this up. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“Exactly. Don’t blow this moment for her.”
“I’ll try not to.”
“Listen, we’ll go over your speech when you get here.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a second.”
The call ends just as the ferry bumps into the slip at themarina, and a new wave of nerves rattles through me. I felt pretty good about all this until Capri called. Now, I feel like I need to go buy five thousand roses and decorate Jane’s front lawn with them, wear a tuxedo, and hire a string quartet to play. I went from no plans at all to the final rose ceremony onThe Bachelor.
Passengers stand, closing in on the ferry exit. I gather my suitcase, golf bag, and the enormous check that sticks out like a zit in the middle of your forehead. I wouldn’t have brought it with me, but I went straight from the airport to here. So, the ridiculously huge check comes along with me for better or worse.
My heart pounds as I walk down the ramp, each step matching the bangs against my rib cage. The heavy wind blows past, threatening to carry the foam board into the water, but I awkwardly tuck it under my arm.
Capri waits at the end of the dock next to her golf cart, hair flying in the wind. The moment she sees me, her brows lower in confusion. “You brought the big check with you?”
“What else was I supposed to do with it?”
“I don’t know. Take it to a bank.”
“You can’t cash these things.” I put my suitcase and clubs under the weather tarp Capri has over her golf cart. “It’s just for show.”
“I think it’s weird you’re bringing a three-million-dollar check with you to tell the woman you love that you love her.”
