Always (Spiral of Bliss #5) - Nina Lane Page 0,127

from her and pull back the cuff of my jacket. I take off the string tied around my wrist and unfasten Liv’s wedding ring from the knot. She holds out her hand and gives me a smile like the sunrise.

“Marry me again,” I say.

“I’ll never stop marrying you.”

I take her hand and slip the ring onto her finger. A perfect fit.

Liv holds her hand up. I rest my left palm against hers, and we twine our fingers together until our wedding bands click. I pull her close again and settle my other hand on her hip, needing every part of her against me. Her body yields to mine, soft and perfect.

“‘You must allow me to tell you,’” I say, “‘how ardently I admire and love you.’”

“Really?” Liv looks at me in surprise. “You actually read Pride and Prejudice?”

“Finished it last week,” I say. “And I do, you know. Admire and love you. Ardently. Not to mention passionately, intensely, madly, obsessively, and blissfully.”

She smiles. “Likewise, professor. But did you like the book?”

“I did. It was funny and insightful, and I grudgingly admit I can see why Lizzy and Darcy’s romance is so popular. But Mr. and Mrs. Darcy’s marriage will never equal Mr. and Mrs. West’s in love, devotion, and rock-your-world hotness.”

“Aw.” Liv squeezes my hand. “Good one.”

“I’ve got a million more,” I assure her. “And a lifetime to impress you with them.”

Her smile widens. I look into her brown eyes and see everything I’ve been so desperate for in recent months—hope, happiness, and a radiant belief in our future together. The eternity that started the moment we first looked at each other.

“I love you like milk loves honey,” she says.

I brush my lips across her cheek. “I love you like Dean loves Liv.”

Chapter 43

Olivia

July 12

Smiling suns, beach umbrellas, and colorful flowers decorate the windows of the shops on Avalon Street. Sailboats and kayaks dot the lake, and the beaches are crowded with families splashing in the water and playing in the sand.

Downtown Mirror Lake is bustling with Saturday afternoon activity—children slurping up melting ice-cream cones, strolling couples carrying plastic cups of iced coffee, locals putting out sandwich boards and tidying up their shop fronts.

I walk down Emerald Street to the café, which is sporting a newly landscaped front garden blooming with petunias and marigolds. The staff is busy with the lunch rush, and I quickly tie on an apron to help at the front counter.

Allie pushes through the kitchen doors, carrying a tray filled with sandwiches. I put down a coffee carafe and hurry toward her.

“I’ll take it,” I say, reaching for the tray.

She gives me an amused look. “Liv, I’m fine.”

“I know, I know. Just humor me, okay?” I manage to wrest the tray from her and head into the dining room to deliver the food.

When I return to the kitchen, Allie is standing at a table organizing a Mad Hatter tea platter with cucumber sandwiches and chocolate éclairs.

“You sure you don’t want me and Brent to babysit tonight?” she asks me. “Seems you and Dean should at least have a romantic dinner alone on your tenth anniversary.”

“We’ll do that another night,” I reply. “Tonight we want to celebrate our anniversary with the kids. Kelsey and Archer offered to take them this weekend, so Dean and I are going to rent a cottage at the Wildwood Inn.”

“Okay, I approve of that.” Allie reaches for a stack of fluted paper cups on a shelf.

“I can finish this for you,” I say, taking the cups from her. “You should sit down.”

“You are so annoying.” She pokes me gently in the side. “Did I act like this when you were pregnant?”

“No, but you did tell me to consult an astrologer to ensure Nicholas’s name would fit well with his birth sign.”

“And did you?”

“Uh, sure. Well, if reading his horoscope in the newspaper counts.” I grin at her before reaching over to rub her round belly beneath her apron. “Speaking of names, have you come up with any yet?”

“Brent wanted Edmund if it’s a boy, after his Uncle Edmund.” Allie rolls her eyes. “I said no way. But we agreed on Sophie, if it’s a girl. That was my mother’s name.”

“Aw, that’s nice.”

“Sophie Olivia.”

My heart does a little flip. For a second, I can’t speak.

Allie smiles and reaches out with one arm to hug me.

“I wouldn’t name a girl after anyone else,” she says. “Only you and my mother.”

“Thank you.” I return her hug as my eyes well up with tears. “But I