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“I know this must seem fast to you,” Sharon said softly, “but I hope you’ll be happy for us.” She reached out and took Daddy’s hand in hers. “My husband died of cancer eight years ago when I was fifty-three. We’d been married for almost thirty years. I though
t after Phillip’s death…well, I’d just lost the love of my life. What did I have to look forward to?”
Kitty nodded, still dazed, and took another big swig of her champagne.
“Eventually, I realized my life was pretty good. I got to see my two beautiful girls get married, got to witness the birth of my grandchildren, and I still had my career as a pharmacist. After a few years, the girls even talked me into trying that Internet dating thing, and I went out with some very nice gentlemen, but no one came close to shaking things up until that day your father walked into my drugstore and rocked my world. It was like…the sun had been hiding for a very long time and finally decided to come out again. I knew on our first date that I was in trouble. Because if this beautiful man didn’t return my feelings, I was going to get my heart broken. Luckily for me, I was wrong. You can find the love of your life a second time around.”
Oh my. Kitty could feel tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Sweetheart!” Dad looked alarmed. “Are you all right?”
“That’s…that’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever heard in my life!” Kitty said. Then Sharon burst into tears as well and the two of them hugged for a third time.
Steve and Dad grinned at one another the way guys do when they see women acting weepy.
“This calls for more champagne!” Dad said jovially, waving the waiter over to the table. He turned to Kitty. “So what do you say, sweetheart? Will you do me the honor of being my best man?”
“Of course!” Kitty’s head began to swim. Her father was getting married. To the lovely and totally age-appropriate Sharon, who had two daughters and an indeterminate number of grandchildren. The whole thing seemed so normal.
“So what are your plans?” Steve asked.
“We’re hoping to get married next weekend,” Sharon said.
“Next weekend?” Kitty squeaked. “As in, next weekend?”
“I know it doesn’t give us much time, but like Alan said, all we want is a quiet, intimate family wedding.”
Dad’s voice got husky with emotion. “We’ve waited all our lives to find one another and we don’t want to waste another second.”
Kitty blinked. The whole thing was so…romantic. “Where will the wedding take place?”
“That’s the best part!” Dad said. “We want to do it right here in Whispering Bay. That way Sharon’s family can make a beach vacation out of it. There’s nothing like the beautiful blue waters of the gulf, is there, Kitten?”
“Uh, no. Good idea, Dad,” she said weakly. Her father was getting married next weekend. Here. In Whispering Bay. And she was the best man! She was thrilled, of course. But she was still trying to figure out how the whole thing had happened.
“Kitty and I would be honored to host a dinner the night before the wedding,” Steve announced.
They would?
“Oh, that’s so nice, but not necessary,” Sharon said.
Steve took Kitty’s hand and laced it through his. “We insist, don’t we, hon?”
“Yes! Um, yes, we insist. Please, we’d love to host a dinner for you and the whole…family.” It occurred to her that not only would Sharon be her new stepmother, but she’d have stepsisters, as well. And stepnieces and nephews? Was that a thing? Her head started spinning again and she hadn’t even had that much to drink. Had she?
“Fantastic!” said Dad. Then he poured her some more champagne and the last thing Kitty remembered was Steve shaking his head and laughing as he helped her climb into bed later that night.
CHAPTER FIVE
Kitty opened one eye to see a bright, angry light streaming in through the blinds in her bedroom window. Her head spun and her mouth felt as if it were stuffed full of sand. “Why is the sun mad at me?” someone croaked. Oh God. She was that someone.
“Good morning, beautiful.” Steve placed a tray next to her on the bed. “Or should I say, good afternoon?”
She sat up and blinked. Afternoon? How long had she slept? The smell of something fattening and delicious hit her nostrils. Maybe life was worth living after all. “Is that bacon?”
“And coffee and eggs and toast. As well as a couple of Tylenol.” He grinned. “How are we feeling this morning?”
“We feel like crap.” He, on the other hand, looked completely unaffected by last night’s shenanigans. He wore a red, short-sleeved polo shirt and beige shorts with docksiders. Casual, yet neatly masculine at the same time. She downed the Tylenol then reached out for a strip of bacon. It was perfectly crisp, exactly the way she liked it. Still, she wasn’t letting him off the hook that easy. “Why did you let me drink so much last night?”
