was right—her son was surrounded by the best lifeguards she could ever hope for. She didn’t have to worry about him.
The guys batted a ball around in the pool, and Edgar lay at the edge of the pool and barked until Jackson tossed a tennis ball and the dog went to chase it.
Hannah couldn’t imagine a more idyllic Saturday evening.
“How’s the wedding planning going, Becks?” Hannah asked.
“Good. Got the venue, the caterer, the cake and the invitations ordered. We decided on a deejay instead of a band, so that’s taken care of. Now I just have to find a dress.”
“Do you have a certain dress in mind?” Laurel asked.
Becks shrugged. “I don’t know. Not really. I want to find something I love, but I’ve had no luck so far. I’ve tried on several. None of them feel like the right one.”
“It can be hard to find a dress,” Carmen said. “It’s more like a feeling you have when you put a dress on that you know it’s your dress. The dress.”
Becks nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly the problem I’m having. Plus going by myself means I don’t have anyone to offer opinions.”
“Aww, I’d have gone with you, honey,” Laurel said. “All you had to do was ask.”
“I didn’t want to bother you.”
Laurel pinned Becks with a look. “We’re family. Family is never a bother.”
Becks leaned across the table to squeeze Laurel’s hand. “Thank you.”
“I’d go, too,” Carmen said. “I’m loaded with opinions.”
Hannah didn’t want to insinuate herself in a family thing, so she stayed quiet.
“What about you, Hannah?” Becks asked. “Would you be interested in coming along and offering up your thoughts?”
She internally squealed with delight. “Are you kidding? I’d love to.”
“Great.” Becks beamed a smile. “Let’s figure out a day and time that works for everyone.”
It turned out that tomorrow would be the perfect day that worked for everyone. Even though it was a Sunday, the bridal shops were open, and everyone had the day off, so they made plans to have brunch and then shop.
“I’m so excited,” Becks said. “Thank you all for agreeing to go with me. There are a few shops I haven’t been to yet, so I hope you don’t mind doing a circuit with me.”
“We’re excited, too, Becks,” Laurel said. “I’ll bet you decide on a dress tomorrow.”
“I can’t wait,” Hannah said. “I love dress shopping, even if it isn’t for me.”
Becks laughed. “Tomorrow is going to be so much fun.”
They decided to change and get into the pool to cool off. Hannah slid into the water and swam over to Oliver, who was obviously having a blast. Josh had given him some goggles, so he dived to the bottom of the pool searching for the items that Jackson, Rafe and Kal had tossed down there. When he surfaced, he grinned at her.
“Can we get a pool, Momma?”
“Maybe someday. When we have a house of our own.”
“I like swimming.”
“I can tell. Are you having fun?”
“Yeah. And I like this bubble over my cast. Carmen said it . . . uh . . . unflates or somethin’. Anyway, we can take it home and I can have it for the shower.”
“Deflates,” she corrected. “That was very nice of her.”
“Yeah. I’m gonna go play ball, okay?”
She smiled. “Sure.”
Hannah swam over to the side and rested her arms on the edge, enjoying the cool water while she watched some of the group play ball.
Kal swam over to her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, why?”
“Because we’re all playing and you’re over here like you’ve been excluded.” He grabbed her hand. “Come on. Play with us.”
She laughed. “Okay.”
They ended up stringing a net and playing a game of water volleyball. Oliver was situated on the shallow end of the pool with Laurel, Josh, Becks and Hannah, while Carmen, Jackson, Rafe and Kal had the deep end.
It was so much fun Hannah nearly choked down swallows of pool water laughing. The Donovans definitely played a cutthroat game of water volleyball. No one gave an inch, which Hannah liked. And they treated Oliver like a member of the family. Josh even lifted Oliver out of the water so he could spike a ball over the net.
Jackson shot his father a look. “That’s cheating.”
“Yeah, show me where in the rule book.”
They switched up teams midway, and she and Kal ended up on the same team at the deep end of the pool, which meant that Hannah had to tread water while playing. She noticed Kal stayed close to her, even wrapping his arm around