Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

Caitlin stood in front of her desk at home, carefully arranging cut-out pictures. She'd been brainstorming beach wedding ideas ever since she and Olivia had talked about that being the theme for Caitlin and Michael's wedding. She had been carefully cutting pictures from magazines and printing out ones that she'd found online and particularly liked. She smiled for a moment as she looked down at a photograph she'd cut from a magazine of a couple saying their wedding vows in front of the ocean.

It's beautiful, she thought with a sigh. I hope Michael likes this idea of a beach wedding as much as I do.

She felt a slight flutter of nervousness as she finished arranging the pictures across her desk. She wanted to show them to Michael at the same time that she brought up the idea of a beach wedding, and she hoped very much that he would like the ideas she'd saved.

"There," she murmured, looking down at her work. "That all looks absolutely lovely. Now I just have to show it to him."

Taking a deep breath, she left her office and hurried to the kitchen, where Michael was fixing a leaky pipe under the kitchen sink.

"Hey, sweetheart," he called as she approached, even though his head was inside the cupboard and he couldn't see her. She realized that he could hear her footsteps and she smiled. "Are you here to keep me company?"

She laughed. "Sure. And when you're done, there's something I'd like to show you."

He poked his head out from under the sink for a moment, grinning at her. "Sounds great. I'm almost finished here—just another minute or two."

They continued to talk affectionately while he finished up fixing the leaky pipe. She felt grateful that he was so handy and could fix things like that.

A couple of minutes later, Michael wiggled out from underneath the sink. "There," he said with a tone of satisfaction as he started to wash his hands. "That should do it."

"Thank you." She leaned against the kitchen counter. "I appreciate your help."

"Of course." He lifted her chin with two fingers and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "That's what I'm here for. Now, what was it you wanted me to look at?"

"Will you come into my office with me? I've got some stuff laid out on my desk I want to show you."

"Oh?" His eyebrows lifted with interest, and she wondered if he could guess what she was about to show him. "Sure."

He quickly dried his hands off on a towel and began to follow her down the hallway.

When they reached her office, she turned the light on, revealing the magazine clippings and printouts that she'd spread across her desk. Eagerly, Michael strode forward to look at them.

"Olivia and I were talking, and she had the idea of a beach-themed wedding," Caitlin said, almost shyly. She felt butterflies in her stomach, wondering if Michael was going to like the idea or not. "I love the idea, and I wanted to run it by you. Here are some beach wedding ideas that I saved. Do you like it? Is this the kind of thing you were hoping for for our wedding?"

Michael was staring at all the pictures with his eyebrows raised. She bit her lip, nervous that she hadn't saved enough pictures to convince him of how lovely it could be. But as he continued to look at the photographs, she noticed a gleam of excitement in his eyes. The longer he looked, the more that look of excitement turned into a look of joy, and then he grinned at her, his emotions shown clearly on his face.

"It's perfect," he said, pulling her toward him in a hug. "I absolutely love it."

"You do?" she said, grinning herself and feeling her heart lift up in excitement. "Are you sure?"

He laughed. "I'm being totally honest this time, cross my heart. I really, really love this idea. I think a beach wedding will be absolutely amazing. And we've got so many beautiful beaches here in Blueberry Bay."

"That's what I was thinking too! I'm so happy you like this idea, sweetheart."

She bit her lip, her mind racing with more thoughts and ideas about the wedding, and a second later, Pearl came scampering into Caitlin's office.

"What are you guys doing?" the little girl asked with interest. "Will it be time for dinner soon?"

"We can all start making dinner in just a little bit," Caitlin assured her, "but right now Michael and I are talking about ideas for our wedding. Do you want to come look at the pictures I saved?"

"Oh yeah," Pearl said eagerly, running over to her mother's desk and looking down at the pictures that had been spread out across it. "Oh, a beach wedding? That would be so pretty!"

"Do you like it?" Caitlin asked, happy that her daughter also approved of the idea.

"I do! You guys are going to have a really good time," Pearl said, nodding her head in certainty.

Michael laughed. "Well, you're going to be there too, Pearl. You're also going to have a really good time."

"As a matter of fact," Caitlin said, leaning down to speak to her daughter, "you can be in the wedding. What would you say to being our flower girl, Pearl?"

The little girl's eyes widened and her mouth popped open into an ‘O.' "Really? Aren't I too big to be a flower girl?"

Michael shook his head. "That's for all of us to decide, and I think you'd be a perfect flower girl." He grinned at her, and she grinned back at him. Caitlin's heart warmed when she saw their camaraderie.

"Then I would love to be!" Pearl bounced up and down, all excited.

"Perfect," Caitlin said, holding her arms out for a hug. Pearl vaulted into her arms, and Caitlin held her daughter tightly. "A beach wedding, and Pearl as our flower girl. I can't think of a better wedding than that."

"I can't either," Michael said, quirking a smile. He wrapped his arms around both of them, and for a moment, the little family shared a hug. Caitlin's heart felt full of happiness, and she couldn't wait to keep planning their wedding.

"Come on," she said, when they finally stepped out of their hug. "Let's all go make some dinner together. What do you say to alfredo with meatballs?"

"Sounds great to me," Michael said.

"Let's add some cheese to the sauce," Pearl said. "And make it like a fancy macaroni and cheese with meatballs."

"Sure." Caitlin laughed. "We'll experiment and come up with a new kind of cheesy sauce together."

The three of them went into the kitchen together, and Michael kissed Caitlin's cheek as they walked.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he whispered.

She leaned into him a little, relishing the strength and support of his shoulder against hers. "Of course. I couldn't be happier with what we decided."

Johanna glanced down at the package that was lying on the seat next to her as she drove. She bit her lip as her eyes returned to the road in front of her. She felt giddy with excitement, since she was on her way to Everett's house for another date.

She made the final turn onto his street and smiled when she saw his little house. She'd been seeing him so often that his place was almost starting to feel like a second home to her. It was odd, she reflected with a chuckle, that she would feel at home in a place that was so different from her own immaculately clean, well-organized home, but she did. Whenever she spent time with Everett, whether it was on his boat or at his place or at her place, she felt a sense of calm that was like being at home. She hadn't known anything like it in a very long time.

She glanced down at the package again as she drove down Everett's street. She'd wrapped it in a dark green, shiny wrapping paper that she thought suited him, and decorated it with a silver ribbon. Despite how carefully she'd wrapped the package, she was still on the fence about whether or not she was going to give it to him.

She pulled into Everett's driveway and parked, her nerves making her stomach flutter. She stared down at the package for a few more moments, and then she worked up the courage to grab it.

She hopped out of her car, holding the bulky gift as if it were made of glass. She carefully tucked it under her arm and then hurried over to Everett's front door, smiling as she heard Oliver barking from inside.

Before she even had a chance to knock, Everett opened the door with a big grin on his face.

"Hello there," he said, resting his hand on the doorknob. "Nice of you to drop by."

"Nice of you to let me," she countered, grinning at him.

Oliver snuffled adoringly around Johanna's feet, wagging his tail ecstatically. She bent over and petted him, smiling as she scratched him behind the ears.

"You look beautiful," Everett said, clearing his throat.

She looked up and blushed slightly. "You look very handsome yourself."

She meant it. He looked handsome and rugged—the more she got to know him, the more she'd started to become attracted to his ruggedness. She liked that he was big and burly and rough around the edges—it made the parts of him that were soft and sweet so much more endearing. She liked the way he dressed in workman's clothes, and the stubble on his face.

"I do, huh?" He grinned, but she detected a trace of color at the tips of his ears.

"You do," she said, stepping closer to him until they were only a foot apart. "You look like a hearty fisherman."

"Mm. The hearty fisherman would like to kiss the beautiful lady."

"He may."

Grinning, Everett leaned his face toward hers and kissed her sweetly. "Why, thank you."

"Thank you," she said primly, and he chuckled.

"Come on into the living room," he said, taking her hand. If he'd noticed the package she was carrying under her arm, he hadn't said anything about it.

"Okay," she said, following him. As she walked, her nerves returned with a vengeance.

Oh, I just can't give it to him, she thought. I'll feel so silly.

She crossed her arms, trying to hide the package, but it made crinkling sounds and Everett turned around in confusion.

"What—" He paused, noticing the package peeking out from underneath her left arm. "What's that?"

"Nothing," she said hastily. "It's nothing."

An amused smile spread across his face. "Nothing, huh?" He stepped around behind her, where he could get a better view of the present. "A very carefully wrapped present is nothing?"

She sighed, realizing that she couldn't deny that she'd brought a present for him now that he'd seen it. "Oh, all right. It's a present. I brought it for you."

"You did?" he asked, looking touched. His eyes took on a tender glow. "Johanna, that's so thoughtful of you."

"Don't get too excited," she warned him. "It's—well, it's not a big deal."

He grinned. "I think you giving me a present is a big deal, no matter what the present is. It makes me very happy."

She smiled, but she still felt butterflies of nervousness twirling around in her stomach. She handed him the package, squirming a little. He took it and sat down on the couch, looking as eager as a little boy on Christmas morning. She sat down beside him, clasping her hands together.

I feel so nervous , she thought. And embarrassed. But perhaps he'll like it.

He carefully pulled off the ribbon, tore open the wrapping paper, and pulled out what was inside. His jaw dropped when he saw what it was.

"Johanna," he stammered, staring at the sweater in his hands. "Did you make this?"

"I did," she said, wincing. "Don't look at it too closely."

He laughed—his big booming laugh—and she couldn't help smiling. "This is extraordinary! When you said you couldn't knit very well, I thought you meant you were still struggling with the basics."

"Well, Marsha is an absolute saint as far as teaching goes," she said, blushing. "She's really helped me along. But as I said, don't look at this sweater too closely." She laughed. The butterflies in her stomach had turned into a warm glow of happiness. She was thrilled by how much he liked it.

"It's wonderful," he said, holding the sweater up to the light. "It'll fit me perfectly, and it's such a nice color."

"I thought dark blue would suit you," she said warmly. "I thought it would go nicely with your red hat."

The two of them exchanged a smile, and he wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. "I'm so touched," he told her, and since his face was pressed against the side of her head, she could feel him smile. "It was so sweet of you to make this for me."

"I wanted to," she said, biting back a smile as she pulled away from their hug. She felt that it would be too much to come right out and say it to him, but she found herself thinking about him almost all the time, and knitting the sweater had seemed like a great way of channeling that into something productive.

He grinned widely at her, and her heart fluttered. She realized with a jolt that she was falling for this man.

Well, she thought, looking into his eyes and feeling as though her world was turning upside down, I guess I'll just have to see where that takes me.