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“No,” he admitted. “I asked Josie to help since I was trying to put together the proposal and she promised they were good. Josie never steers me wrong.”
“Josie’s recommendations are always perfect.” Alissa perked up. “I’m sure she’ll know some wedding vendors that we haven’t heard of.”
“She probably will. She’s well-connected.”
“I’ll ask when we get to the office tomorrow.” Alissa swirled her champagne in her glass, looking off into the distance.
“I’d love a family too.”
“Same,” Alissa said. “Do you still want at least two?”
They’d talked about having kids around the time they spoke about getting engaged in the near future.
“Yeah, two sounds perfect. And they’ll have their cousin Pearl in town.”
“That too.”
Dane was an only child and he hadn’t grown up near much family besides his grandparents. It was lonely at times, but it was all he knew—playing by himself, reading books, or finding other kids in the neighborhood who wanted to play basketball.
The idea of having more than one kid, especially one who had a built-in friend in their cousin, was exciting. The entire idea of having a family with Alissa made his heart expand. He’d always wanted children, but they had been abstract in his head. Now he was trying to imagine how their features would come together to create a whole new person.
“Seeing how sweet you and Pearl were when you played Uno seriously melted my heart.” Alissa reached for another chocolate. “I had the feeling you’d be a good parent but that really cemented it.”
Dane smiled. “Seeing how much Pearl adores you made me feel the same way.”
Alissa curled her legs up, snuggling up against Dane’s side. They sat in comfortable silence, daydreaming about the future.
“The paper and magazine will be a big part of our future too,” Alissa finally said. “We can grow it into the best family-owned publication on the east coast. Maybe hire more people.”
“Maybe.” Dane topped off their champagne flutes.
"Just ‘maybe’?” Alissa asked. “We’ll drive ourselves crazy if we try to juggle it all ourselves.”
“That’s true. It’s just scary to bring new people in when what we have now is working.” Dane paused. “Then again, hiring you led to all of this, so I should be much less reluctant.”
Alissa snorted. “Very true.”
“It was a very big stroke of luck.” Dane looked out onto the water as they passed another small island that was all sand dunes. “I still can’t believe that something like this happened to me. If I were back in New York City, I probably would have been the same miserable, overworked guy as I was when we met.”
“I don’t like the thought of that.” Alissa shuddered. “I almost can’t reconcile the past you and the current you, but in a good way.”
Dane agreed. Moving to Blueberry Bay and meeting Alissa had overturned every assumption he had about himself. He always saw himself as a serious workaholic, the kind of person who could never turn off or take a break.
While he still loved his work and tended toward pushing himself too hard, he now knew that taking a break was great for him. Loosening up didn’t hurt his work ethic at all and spending time with Alissa outside of the office gave him even more energy. If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t have made all the friends he’d made or find the meaning in what he did. She’d transformed everything for him.
“I don’t like the thought of that either,” Dane said. “Life’s so much better this way.”
“I agree.” Alissa kissed him on the cheek and snuggled against him again.
They watched the clouds drift across the sky, listening to the gentle splashing of water as the boat slid through the bay. Dane couldn’t help but smile. Sometimes the biggest gifts in life came when you least expected them.
* * *
Michael glanced at the door of Tidal Wave Coffee, expecting Caitlin to walk through the door. She was supposed to meet him here to give her the materials to purchase the ship. But it was just one of the shop’s many regular customers, who he greeted with a smile and a wave. One of his baristas did the same and took the customer’s order.
A few minutes later, Caitlin came in, nervous energy coming off her in waves. Still, Michael found her quite beautiful. Today, she had her shoulder-length brown hair back in a low ponytail, small gold hoops in her ears, and her cheeks had a lovely flush to them, the same pink of her lips. Her brown eyes, framed by long lashes, analyzed the room. She didn’t miss much.
His stomach flipped in his chest and he nearly dropped the folder with all the ship’s paperwork in it. Thankfully, he caught it just in time. Not that it curbed his embarrassment. He felt like a teenager again with too-long limbs and a cracking voice.
