Page 133 of The Fiancé Hoax

At the reception, I sat down to rest between dances. I laughed as Lauren and Katie danced with every bachelor in the room.

Cooper’s younger brother had flown in from Philadelphia, and Lauren had quickly discovered he was single. Between him and a few of Cooper’s single friends, there were plenty of dance partners for the single women.

Even my father was dancing. After the father-daughter dance, he danced a couple of songs with Vera, a sweet older lady from Cooper’s office. I’d never seen him smile so much.

Dad had come a long way in the past few weeks. He finally seemed to realize Cooper and I were perfect together. Also, I suspected the knowledge that he’d be a granddad soon had slowly melted his heart.

Whatever it was, he was now totally supportive of Cooper and me.

Katie smiled and waved at me as she slow-danced with Rhys, Cooper’s brother. I waved back, once again grateful to have found her. Katie was Moonstone's biggest fan and supporter. I never would have been able to survive the demands of my growing customer base without her.

After two weeks, I’d promoted her to store manager. With her help, I hired two skilled seamstresses and two more employees who handled customer service and sales.

In the span of a few short months, Moonstone Boutique had gone from near bankruptcy to a thriving business with six employees. Best of all, it continued to grow.

Word of mouth had spread like wildfire. I had a backlog of orders for custom-made girls’ clothes for months. Katie and I were already talking about moving to a new, bigger location so we could keep up with demand.

There were so many more changes I wanted to make. Boys’ clothes. New designs and fabrics. The sky was the limit, and I loved Moonstone more than ever.

And I no longer had to work around the clock, which gave me plenty of time to spend with Cooper and the girls.

“There you are.” Cooper walked up behind me and kissed my cheek.

I smiled as he sat beside me. “Hey, handsome.”

He put his arm around me. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine. Just needed to rest.” I nodded at Katie dancing with Rhys. “Which one of my friends do you think your brother likes more?”

Cooper laughed. “I’m not sure. I think he’s on cloud nine, though, from all the attention.” He reached for my hand and intertwined our fingers. “It’s been a good day.”

“The best day. Everything was beautiful.”

He kissed me again. “I’m so happy you’re my wife.”

I started to answer him, but the sound of quick footsteps made us look up. Eva and Lily charged toward us, and Cooper caught them both in his arms.

The girls giggled as he tickled them. “Having fun, girls?” I asked. “I saw you dancing just now.”

“We’re having a blast,” Eva said.

Lily nodded. “Uncle Rhys gave me a piggy-back ride.”

“That’s awesome,” I said. “Oh, you have some cake on your face, sweetie.” I reached for a napkin to wipe off Lily’s chin. “There, all clean.”

Lily gave me a hug, then looked up at me. “Thanks, Mommy.”

I blinked at her.

Mommy?

My heart, which was already full, was close to bursting wide open. I glanced at Cooper, who smiled at me. I wiped away the tears that pooled in my eyes.

“You’re welcome, Lily,” I croaked.

“Are you sad?” she asked.

“No,” I said, pulling her in close. “I’m happy. Very, very happy. I love you all so much.”

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