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She pulls back with a laugh and gently shifts Nora up to her shoulder when the baby starts to fuss in her sleep. It’s the most amazing thing in the world watching this woman take care of Nora and seeing her entire face light up as soon as she looks at her. It makes me a little sad I never got to see her like this with her own girls, but at least I get to experience it now, and again in another few months with Wren and Shepherd’s little one.
“I promise we’ll sneak out of here and go home as soon as dessert is served,” Laura reassures me with another kiss.
I spent exactly two weeks living in the cottage I rented… until Laura threw up her hands one night and said it was bullshit. I moved my stuff into hers the next day, too afraid she might change her mind, and now I use the other cottage as my office and work space. Having a home is something I never thought I needed until I came here, and now I can’t imagine how I never had one before. Gone are the days of living out of duffle bags and never staying in one place. I have a white picket fence, a man cave in the spare bedroom, and a bowl on the counter for my change and my keys. And it won’t be long now before I finally convince Laura that we absolutely have to get a dog.
My grumpy ass came to Summersweet Island for a wedding and a fling, thinking I enjoyed the peace and quiet of being alone, and determined to stay single forever. Now I have a wife, and a family, constant noise and interruptions, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
“Eeew, gross. Give me my little cousin before she pukes on you.”
We pull apart with a laugh and turn toward Owen, and I watch Laura hand him the baby.
“Come on, kid. I’ll tell you all about how disgusting the adults in your life are, with all the kissing they do,” Owen tells Nora as he walks away with her.
“He’s doing quite well with that baby. Much better than he did with the fake one.”
“I think he’s just happy he’s still the only boy grandchild after Wren and Shepherd found out they’re having a girl too.” Laura smiles at me.
“Food’s here, people!”
Everyone cheers when Ed walks under the awning of the Dip and Twist, with three employees from Dockside Eddy’s right behind him, all of them carrying trays of food. Laura quickly walks away from me to help Palmer and the boys set everything up on two picnic tables, and I smile when Laura threatens Ed’s life if he forgot the crab cakes.
“You’re lucky she’s happy with this little party, or I’d take out your other shin.”
I chuckle when Murphy steps up next to me, and both of us watch Laura smile and laugh at something Birdie says to her.
“You know damn well she didn’t want the fuss or attention of a big wedding so close to Birdie and Palmer’s, and with the celebration of Nora’s birth,” I remind the man.
It made me love her even more that she was always thinking about other people, even though our first big fight was over her not letting me give her the wedding of her dreams. It lasted exactly forty-five minutes, with two door slams and a pillow chucked at my head. And it was the kick-ass latch hook pillow I’d just finished at Shepherd’s house of a beautiful beach scene, dammit. But the fight ended with us getting naked in the middle of the living room, when she told me the only thing she needed for the wedding of her dreams was for me to be the groom.
“She just wanted something small and casual, with the people she cares about the most. Which makes me wonder how your grumpy ass got invited.”
Murphy grunts at me, but I see a smile tugging the corner of his mouth before he walks away to get food, letting me know he’s slowly warming up to me. The brand-new putter I finished and gave to him a few days ago might have helped with that as well.
After Murphy walked Laura down the makeshift aisle, with our ten family members, plus Karen, and Ed in attendance, we stood on our deck that looks out on the ocean and said “I do” as the sun went down. Now, we’re celebrating at a closed-for-the-night Dip and Twist with a bunch of our friends from the island that have joined us, a full spread of food, and ice cream for dessert, of course.
Standing at the back of the seating area of the stand, I watch Laura smile and hug each new person that walks up to join the celebration. Her casual white sundress with a short, flowy skirt shows off her long, gorgeous legs, and the plunging neckline shows off her sun-kissed skin, giving me an eyeful of her gorgeous tits. With her blonde hair hanging wavy and loose all around her shoulders, and a white flower tucked behind her ear, she’s the most beautiful bride I have ever seen, and I can’t believe she’s mine.
Laura flits all around the picnic tables, helping people get food and grab things they need, never saying no to anything she’s asked or taking a break for herself. I smile to myself, knowing I’ll have to eventually make her sit and eat something, and I can’t believe I was ever worried about settling her down. The only settling down she will ever do is the kind she does only with me. She still works at the stand as much as she can, and if you can’t find her here, you’ll find her traveling all over the island, helping anyone who asks. She has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known, and I’ll never understand why she gave it to me.
Knowing I have one last thing to take care of that I’ve been putting off for long enough, I take a deep breath. Smoothing my suddenly sweaty palms down the front of my dark jeans, I loosen my tie as I walk over to the purple picnic table, with my motorcycle boots thumping against the concrete.
Birdie and Wren are deep in conversation over their plates of food when I get there, both of them cutting off midsentence and looking up at me when I sit down across from them.
“In case I haven’t mentioned this yet, you look very handsome today.”
I’ve never blushed in my entire fucking life, but hearing these words from Birdie make me preen like a peacock, even while I have to shove the sleeves of my white dress shirt up to my elbows, because I’m suddenly sweating like a pig.
“Look, I wanted to talk to you girls before today, but I’m not really good at this shit, so bear with me.”
Birdie and Wren both look at me with curious expressions on their faces, and I clear my throat and quickly wipe the sweat from my brow.
“I don’t know the first fucking thing about being a dad,” I begin, having to clear my throat again when my goddamn voice cracks. “And I know you’re grown women, and you’ve done perfectly fine without one all these years, and you have the best damn mom in the whole world, and there’s nothing I could do for you that your men can’t. I just… I just want you both to know I’m here, okay? And I’m not going anywhere. So if you need help changing a flat tire, or you need me to kick someone’s ass, or you want to borrow a tool or something… whatever you need, you can always call me, yeah?”
The girls silently nod, both of their eyes filled with tears, making me feel like a dick that I’m upsetting them.
“Okay, good.” I nod back at them, glad that I got this over with and didn’t die.
“Can I have a pony?”
