How Sweet It Is

by Dylan Newton

  Kate laughed. “That’s sweet, but someone once reminded me that there’s more to life than winning some award. Besides, with Everstone involved, I’m not sure I want to be associated with it.”

  Drake wrapped his arms about her waist, holding her from behind so they could both stare at the prisms of light coming through the tiny glass window replica.

  “Do you recognize it?”

  “Of course I do,” Kate said, her voice soft as she recalled the day in the cemetery.

  “When we stood there, under that old, dusty, stained-glass window, and you described how you’d have your imaginary groom give it to his bride, I saw it then, Kate.”

  “Saw what?” Kate asked, twisting in his arms to see his face.

  “I pictured the scene—me giving the necklace to you. And telling you how much you meant to me and explaining why I’d chosen to have your necklace idea from that morning brought into reality.” Drake’s finger came up to play with a wisp of hair next to her face, winding it around as he spoke. “It’s because when you stood under that window, sharing your vision of that fictional bride and groom moment, I realized I’d started to fall in love with you.”

  Kate gulped. “And…now? How do you feel now?”

  Drake leaned forward, placing a reverent kiss on her forehead.

  “Now, I’m in so deep, I’d do anything to get you to stick around. Our story began with a crazy, fortunate collision in my front yard. Then, after a series of happily chaotic, sometimes awkward scenes later, we have our hero and heroine potentially together.” Drake hesitated, his gaze uncertain behind his glasses. “I love you, Kate Sweet. And I want to see what our next chapter brings.”

  Kate released the breath she’d been holding. She stood on her tiptoes, planting a kiss on his lips.

  “I love you too, Drake Matthews,” Kate said, mimicking his formality. “And I can already tell you that answer.”

  Drake’s eyes held a hopeful light. “You can?”

  “There can be only one logical plan.” Kate curled her fingers into the hair at the back of his neck, tugging him back to her lips. “I am the Queen of Happily Ever Afters, after all.”

  Epilogue

  Kate glanced at the New York Times Imani handed to her, snorting in amusement at the headline: “Famous Hollywood Producer Indicted.”

  Gazing into the mirror in the makeshift dressing room, Kate applied one last coat of waterproof mascara to her lashes. The mirror only showed about a foot’s worth of her reflection, so it was impossible to gauge the overall effect of her look, but she trusted her best friend’s hair and dressing skills.

  “It’s hard to believe I used to covet recognition from Evan Everstone,” Kate said, shaking her head to be sure her vintage hairclip with white netting, a borrowed piece from Drake’s grandmother, was securely fastened. Then she touched her stained-glass pendant around her neck for the same reassurance, having worn it every single day since last Halloween. “You know, as they say, all things happen for a reason. Lucky for me it all fell apart, and I wasn’t eligible for an EVPLEX.”

  “No doubt.” Imani snorted, putting a hand out to the tiny room’s walls to steady herself as the boat rocked to the left. “Honestly, though, I’d have never thought Everstone and Drake’s ex, Rachel, would be so bold as to embezzle two million from the award committee. Pretty wild stuff.”

  “Speaking of wild,” Kate said, gesturing to the part she’d ripped from the center of the Times earlier. “Did you see that Memory’s Lane is already breaking pre-order records, even though the release is still three months out?”

  Imani grinned. “Well, with me as your fiancé’s publicity guru, and you handling the launch event at Arlington Cemetery, how could it not be?”

  “It’s not a book launch, it’s a wreath ceremony to honor our fallen,” Kate corrected, smoothing her dress and spinning to her friend, exhaling in an attempt to quell the jitters. “Well, this is as good as it gets. How do I look?”

  “Like a woman about to discover how sweet it is to marry the man of her dreams.”

  A knock came at the metal door.

  “Katherine, may I come in?” her mother’s voice sounded from outside the white, riveted door.

  When Imani let her mom in, Kate was surprised to see the normally stony Dr. Kasey Sweet tear up.

  “Oh, you are stunning in that dress! I’m so honored you chose it for your something old. Even if it does get soaking wet out there, it’s been my dream to have one of you girls wear my dress. You sure you still want to go with this, honey? I mean, with your…career, it might be expected you’d opt for something more…traditional.”

  Imani squeezed out of the way so that Kate’s mom could give Kate a one-armed hug.

  “Drake and I are both in agreement. This is exactly what we wanted, a day to enjoy family and each other in the most awe-inspiring place we know. I wouldn’t change a thing,” Kate reassured her mother with a smile, kissing her cheek in silent thanks for her finally realizing there would be only one Sweet daughter joining the family business. But Kate had agreed to plan every major Sweet Surgery event, in perpetuity. “Now go out and make sure Kiersten’s got Dad and he’s not off puking somewhere. He’s got to walk me down the railing, after all.”

  Her mom bustled around, spraying more hair spray on Kate’s already shellacked updo, and then finally allowed herself to be ushered out.

  “Okay, are you ready to start your new life as Mrs. Sweet-Matthews?” Imani asked, her cherry-red tinted lips perfectly matching the maid of honor’s dress she’d chosen for herself.

  Kate inhaled, and then exhaled, slowly, nodding. “I think I’m ready.”

  “One last thing.” Imani took her black tote from against the wall and dug to the bottom, pulling out two blue plastic packages, handing her the one with white and pink writing on the back. “Okay, your dress is something old, your shoes are your something new, your hair clip is your something borrowed, so we’re only missing one thing to ensure your marital bliss!”

  “What in the world?” Kate asked, unrolling the blue plastic, finally holding it up. It was a rain slicker with beautiful, scrolled letters that said Starting Our Happily Ever After on the back.

  “Drake’s got one too, so you match. I thought the Queen of Happily Ever Afters deserved an ‘Aww!’ moment,” Imani said, her eyes filling along with Kate’s as she hugged her best friend. “Now stop blubbering, or you’re going to ruin my makeup! I gotta look good—I’m hitting up Drake’s brother Zander later. See if that big hunk of a man can dance as well as he sweet-talks.”

  Kate’s eyebrows rose. “All right! Go get you a Matthews man. I promise he’s worth the trouble.”

  Kate followed her best friend out of the tiny captain’s quarters onto the slick wooden deck of the Maid of the Mist VII where her sister stood, clutching her father’s arm as the boat rocked back and forth in the waves.

  “I’m so happy for you,” Kiersten said, handing Kate the simple arrangement of red roses and sniffing and dabbing at her eyeliner to check it wasn’t running. “Here are your flowers. You’ve gotta keep Dad moving or he’s going to barf. Let’s get you hitched!”

  Her dad, who’d been leaning against the nearby wall, straightened and beamed, in spite of the slightly greenish cast to his face.

  “You are a vision.” Her dad kissed her cheek and then adjusted her white vintage veil so that it covered her face. “The groom is waiting for you, and if I’m not mistaken, he hasn’t been made in the crowd yet. You’re two beautiful young people getting married in the Honeymoon Capital of the World—just the way you’d planned it. I’m so happy for you, sweetheart.”

  Kate squeezed his hand. “Thanks, Dad. Now let’s pray I don’t do anything embarrassing, like fall overboard.”

  The boat was approaching Rainbow Falls, and true to its name, the sun gleamed down through the clouds of mist, creating rainbows in three different places.

  Although the crowd around them hadn’t figured out who was aboard, the
y guessed why. Even with the raincoat, it was hard to miss her white dress and veil, and people clapped and cheered as Kate carefully stepped in her flat white ballet slippers toward the bow of the boat, where a man in a look-alike blue slicker over a tuxedo stood, his hands clasped in front of him. It reminded her of the time he stood like that with his silver Tin Man’s suit on, and despite the nervous flip of her stomach, she laughed.

  Drake, who’d been chatting with his brothers, spotted her then, walking between a rapidly parting crowd of mist-soaked tourists, and that serious frown he had when she knew he was really concentrating evaporated. A huge, joyous smile lit up his face, making Kate’s heart skip in her chest.

  This guy.

  The one with the dark hair, the glowing golden eyes behind mist-spotted glasses. He was the reason she’d decided to become a bride today—to give him the ceremony he wanted, and the happily ever after they both deserved.

  Kate joined Drake by the rail’s edge, the roaring waters of the falls providing a dramatic white-and-rainbow backdrop as their tiny group of family and friends gathered around them in a tight-knit half-circle.

  The ordained minister they’d hired began the simple, quick ceremony, straining to be heard over the din. Drake and Kate laughed as they shouted their vows to each other, feet splayed on the slippery, mist-soaked deck as they carefully shoved rings on each other’s fingers.

  “By the powers vested in me by the state of New York, and in the presence of God, your family, and friends, it is my greatest joy and privilege to declare you husband and wife!” The minister stuffed the paper into his poncho, gripped the railing next to him, and finished, shouting, “You may now kiss the bride!”

  The boat sloshed over a wave, and Kate clung to Drake, her lips pressed to his in a wet, laughter-filled kiss. It seemed like everyone on board cheered, but Kate could hardly hear anything over the rushing water and the giddy beat of her own heart.

  “Congratulations, Mrs. Sweet-Matthews!” Drake yelled in her ear, his arms around her waist, holding her safe and still in his embrace.

  Kate pressed her mouth next to Drake’s ear. “Now that we’re married, tell me, world-famous romance author. What’s next for our love story?”

  Drake pulled Kate’s blue rain slicker hood over her head, tucking a loose curl around her ear before he answered.

  “The best part about our romance is that it’s not plotted out. I never know what the next chapter will bring with you.” Drake kissed the tip of her wet nose. “But if it’s anything like the rest of our story, I have a feeling we’ll be together until ‘The End.’”

  Kate lifted herself onto her tiptoes, knocking off his hood and her own as she brought him in for a kiss, and the mist rained down, casting rainbows all around.

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  Acknowledgments

  I wrote the first draft of this book in Florida and edited it in a Victorian parlor in Wellsville, New York—my hometown and the inspiration for the novel’s setting. Yet without the hard work, research, and encouragement by so many, this book would not exist.

  First, a loud cheer for agent extraordinaire Cori Deyoe at 3 Seas Literary, who has been in my corner, championing my writing, for years. You rock! I am also blessed to work with the talented Leah Hultenschmidt at Hachette’s Forever books. The fact that Leah thought a horror writer hero was as perfect as I did is as amazing as her ability to make manuscripts sparkle. My thanks also to Sabrina Flemming, Estelle Hallick, Stacey Reid, Becky Maines, and the rest of the Forever team, and a shout-out to artist Sandra Chiu for her gorgeous cover illustration.

  I’d like to thank the following Marines for their service to our country and for sharing with me their Corps knowledge, experience, and grit for this story, and the series: Sergeant Jonathan da Cruz, Sergeant Michael MacHose, Corporal Jamey Clovis, and Infantryman Josh Langston White. They were invaluable resources, and any mistakes are entirely mine.

  Much love for my beta readers, Rhonda Kauffman and Annette Miller. You ladies are pure gold! Thank you to the book cheerleaders in Newton’s Neighborhood Facebook group, as well as Eric Head, John O’Brien, Thomas and Thomasine Kennedy, Faith Powers, Lakisha Garcia, Sherri Feltz, Caro Carson, Robin Cumbie, Jodi Bailey, Vicki Turner, Lauri Drake, Molly Call, and others who helped influence this book. I am so blessed to call you my friends.

  A puffy-hearted thanks to Devon and Ava for their plot point help. You two are my favorites. And to Mike, who inspires me daily—I love you and your Mike-ness so much!

  About the Author

  Dylan Newton was born and raised in a small town where the library was her favorite hangout. After more than a decade working in corporate America, Dylan quit to pursue her passion: writing books. When she isn’t writing, Dylan is pursuing her own happily ever after with her high school sweetheart as they split time between Florida and Upstate New York with their two much cooler daughters and a tone-deaf cockatiel.

  Check her out at:

  DylanNewton.com

  Facebook.com/DylanNewtonAuthor

  Instagram @AuthorDylanNewton