for a lifetime. I’ll take it and pray those two weeks never end.”
I didn’t want them to end either, but I’d made my decision. The right one. And I wasn’t backing down now. I was my father’s daughter, stubborn to a fault. Once we established a direction, we saw it through and followed it to the bitter end. What a sad thought. My dad had made his choices, not realizing how they’d affect me. Now we were all living with those choices.
I met Kaden’s clear blue eyes and managed a lopsided, sad smile. I reached up a hand and ran my index finger across his bearded jaw, savoring the strength and roughness beneath my fingers, knowing that underneath lay a man of emotional depth with a generous soul.
He was mine. I was his. Nothing would ever change what we were to each other. Not time. Not distance. Nothing.
He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. I clung to him, burying my face in his shoulder.
And I cried.
I cried for the injustice of it all. I cried for the person I once was and would never be again. I cried for the loss of my career that I’d worked for so diligently. Most of all, I cried for a love found, lost, and found again, soon to be out of reach. Gone but never forgotten.
I didn’t know if I’d ever recover, but I’d find a way to move on. I had to for both of us.
Kaden let me cry until my tears dried up and my sobs were feeble rasps against the fabric of his shirt. He put a hand gently under my chin and raised it to gaze into my eyes.
“Don’t cry anymore. Let’s live in the moment. Let’s rejoice in what we have.”
“I’ll try.” I sniffled and forced a weak smile.
“There’s always sex to cheer you up.”
I giggled because my Kaden loved his sex, and so did I. He was right. Sex would cheer me up.
“Why don’t you give me some of your good cheer then?”
He surveyed our surroundings. Sunny afternoon. A few guests milling about on the beach. We liked to be daring, but perhaps this wasn’t the place or time.
“My room?”
“Yeah, your room.” He rose to his feet and offered me his hand. I gladly took it, and together, hand in hand, we crossed the expanse of lawn and entered my room, our little sanctuary from all the strife.
And for a few blessed hours, we forgot about everything but us.
Afterward, Kaden and I strolled to Easton and Caro’s cottage, hand in hand. I caught the knowing looks of the guys and a few raised eyebrows. To their credit, they didn’t make any crude remarks in front of me. I suspected they’d save them for later, when it was just Kaden and them. Caro and Geneva glanced up from the table and grinned, genuinely happy to see us together. I grinned back, playing the part of a hopelessly enamored girlfriend with complete and total absorption. Only I wasn’t playing a part. I was all in, heart and soul, body and mind. For two weeks.
I wandered over to the table to join my newfound friends with their wedding planning. Kaden retreated to the deck with his teammates. Stuff like that gave him the hives, and his cohorts felt the same way.
Stacks of paper were spread out on the table. Images of cakes, decorations, party favors. All sorts of stuff. I knew from helping Mandy that some of the items were set in stone while others could still be changed. They were stuck with the orange-and-pink color scheme, as it was too late to replace all the custom decorations, tablecloths, etc. We’d have to work with it as best we could. Caro was the exact opposite of the former bride who’d planned this wedding. She took everything in stride and with good humor, not taking the wedding ceremony and reception as seriously as her predecessor. After all, she told us, it was the people who counted, not the things. It was the celebration of love, not the orange tablecloths. It was the meaning behind the vows, not who delivered the ceremony.
Caro scrambled to find someone able to perform the ceremony in June on such short notice, but Mandy had come to the rescue and suggested a local psychic who was also a justice of the peace. I’d met Eva and warned Caro, who didn’t seem to mind her ceremony might be a little off the beaten path. As