by Lucy Kevin
“If it means I’m married to you, I want the whole world to know. Although,” she added with a small smile, “a sundress isn’t exactly what I’d planned to be wearing on my wedding day.”
“You look perfect,” Jason said, and the loving look in his eyes told her he truly meant it.
Kate had made a beautiful bouquet with roses from the garden and a few lilies from Amber’s wedding, while Margaret stood off to one side holding a basket of flower petals she was planning to use as confetti. Meanwhile, Jenn and Tamara had been handing out cupcakes, pastries, and coffee to anyone who wanted them.
Even with months to plan the perfect white wedding, Liz knew she wouldn’t have felt happier than she did in this moment, holding Jason’s hand on the beach in front of a collection of friends and total strangers. He might not have been dressed at all for a wedding, either, but he still looked absolutely perfect to her.
“You look pretty good yourself,” she told him.
“Only pretty good?” he teased.
“Actually,” she whispered, “you look like forever.”
Rose cleared her throat, and the crowd fell silent, a perfect hush broken only by the lapping of the waves and the calls of the seabirds. “Normally,” Rose began, “I would start by talking about the friends who are gathered around the couple and about how wonderful it is to have the people they care about here with them on their wedding day. But today, even though we’re doing things a little differently, the parts that matter are still here: two people who love each other very much. Not only are Liz and Jason in the presence of friends and family, but they also want to show their love to the rest of the world.”
In the corporate world, there had been little time in which to build relationships. Yet, in the course of just a few weeks, Liz truly had become friends with everyone at Married in Malibu. They were the closest thing she had to family in California, while Jason had Amber and Robert with him via video link. Yet the presence of the crowd was also important today, because she wanted to shout her love for Jason to the entire world.
“I have only known Liz for a short time,” Rose continued, “but I already know what a wonderful person she is, and I’ve seen how much of herself she’ll put into the weddings she works on. Jason came to Married in Malibu for his niece’s wedding, but in the process he found his own. We’re all very happy that they managed to find each other again after all these years. And now I think we should hear from the two people who matter most. Liz?”
Liz hadn’t written anything down, hadn’t worked on her speech until it was perfect, yet she now realized that she’d been preparing for this moment for ten years.
“Jason, I loved you from the first moment we met. I never stopped loving you—not for one single second—and I never will. I want to share the rest of my life with you, and that means even more now that I have a full life to share. I love you, and I can’t wait to be your wife.”
“Jason?” Rose prompted in a slightly choked-up voice.
Jason took a deep breath, and it was a little strange to see someone who worked so effortlessly with words struggle to find ones that would encompass everything he felt. In the end, the words that spilled out of him were simple…and oh-so-beautiful.
“I love you, Liz. I’ve loved you for so long that I can’t ever remember not loving you. You’ve been in my heart every day for ten years, even when you weren’t with me physically. When I found you two weeks ago, I knew that I needed to do everything I could to bring us back together. I knew this was a second chance for both of us—not to wipe away our lives, but to make them complete at last. I can’t say that I could never imagine living without you, not when we both have the memories of what that was like. But the simple truth is that my life is so much better with you, and I don’t ever want to be apart from you again.”
Earlier, Liz hadn’t been able to cope with the intensity of what Jason felt for her, but now she realized that it perfectly matched everything she felt, too. She was more complete when she was with Jason. Better. Happier. And deeply in love.
“You have both declared your love for each other in front of everybody here,” Rose said. “Now, do either of you happen to have a ring?”
“Just one second,” Jason said, then ran into his house. Barely a minute later, he came sprinting back, stopping in front of Liz. He opened the box, and the slowly sinking sun caught the diamonds and sapphires on the ring. He pulled it out of the box, and as he set the ring on her finger, it felt so right.
“Liz, do you take Jason to be your husband?”
“I do,” Liz said, feeling so lucky that she had been given the chance to finally say those words after all this time.
“And, Jason, do you take Liz to be your wife?”
Jason looked into Liz’s eyes, and it felt like they were the only ones on the beach as he said, “I do.”
“Liz, Jason, I now have the pleasure of pronouncing you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Liz didn’t care about all the camera flashes that went off or that there was a crowd watching. All she cared about was that she and Jason had promised their lives—and hearts—to each other.
And in that moment when their lips met, she knew that whatever the future held, if she ever ran again, it would be straight into his arms.
Epilogue
Two beautiful weddings in two days.
While Jason and Liz kissed to seal their vows, Jenn happily handed out the last of the pastries. She’d been worried about taking this job, fearing that it would be impossible not to be cynical about happily ever afters when her own had derailed so horribly. Yet, it felt so good to help give Liz and Jason this moment of blissful connection—even in the wake of the wreckage of Jenn’s own marriage and divorce.
After Liz and Jason headed into his house, the crowd and the reporters finally started to disperse. Jenn was cleaning up the beach when a boy and girl ran up to her. They were both fair-haired and blue-eyed, the girl a little taller and older. He had remnants of frosting on his fingers, while hers were licked clean.
“Thank you for the cupcakes,” the little girl said with a big smile.
“Thank you!” the little boy echoed. He finally noticed the frosting on his fingers and started to lick them. “They were great!”
“Kayla! Adam!” Daniel was heading over to them, his camera around his neck.
Now that he was approaching the children, Jenn could see the resemblance—the same sandy-haired good looks, the same smile.
“We were just saying thank you for the cupcakes,” Kayla said.
“Mmm,” Adam added. “They’re the best cupcakes ever.”
“Of course they were,” Daniel agreed. “Jenn made them. Now who wants to be in a picture?”
“I do! I do!” they both called out at once, making Daniel laugh as he lifted his camera.
Jenn had known he had children, but this was the first time she had met them. As he got ready to take the picture, she realized that if she didn’t move, she’d be right in the middle of the shot with the kids on either side of her.
But when she started to step aside, Daniel said, “Stay right where you are.”
“You don’t want me in the middle of your photograph.”
“Of course I do. You helped make this a great day, and you gave the kids cupcakes.”
“The best cupcakes ever!” Adam enthused.
“They had really pretty frosting, too,” Kayla added.
Jenn was glad someone had noticed. Everyone else’s attention had been so focused on Liz and Jason that they had devoured the cupcakes without even looking at them.
“Those are great shots,” Daniel said as he took several pictures of the three of them. “Jenn, I’m sure you’ve already figured this out, but Kayla and Adam are my kids.”
“I’m nine,” Kayla said, obviously proud of the fact. “And Adam’s seven. Do you work with my dad?”
Jenn nodded. “I bake cakes for weddings.”
The two children looked pretty
impressed by that fact, especially Kayla. “Could you maybe come over some time and show me how to put on frosting like that?”
“I’d love to,” Jenn said.
“Cool,” Adam said, and with that, the kids were off and running around the beach with Daniel in laughing pursuit.
It was easy to agree to help bake cupcakes when Daniel had such great kids. Jenn loved children, and these two were very sweet. Saying yes had nothing to do with the butterflies that flew around her stomach every time she looked at Daniel. No, she couldn’t afford another relationship now, not so soon after her last one had failed so spectacularly.
She wasn’t ready to risk her heart again. Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
* * * * *
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Don’t miss Jenn & Daniel’s love story – THE SUMMER WEDDING (Married in Malibu, Book 2) – out now!
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Please enjoy an excerpt from THE SUMMER WEDDING, the second fun, sweet and emotional romance in Lucy Kevin’s Married in Malibu series!
Jenn Fairhurst wants the Married in Malibu wedding cakes to be legendary. Her job baking sweet treats at the boutique Southern California wedding venue means everything to her. Even if she’s not sure that she’ll ever be able to love—or trust—a man again after going through a terrible divorce.
Daniel Brooker is an award-winning photojournalist who gave up his globetrotting career to become a wedding photographer after his wife passed away, leaving him as the sole parent to his son and daughter. After such a tragic loss, he never thought he’d be able to love again. Until he met Jenn.
Soon, Daniel is falling head over heels for Jenn and wants to show her what true love really is. But just when it looks like she might finally be ready to give love another try, her past comes back to haunt her. Will she be able to risk her heart again?
Daniel’s heart swelled as he watched his kids hugging Jenn. He longed to put his arms around her too, but he didn’t want to make any missteps with her. She’d not only saved the day by helping them make the cupcakes, but she had also been comfortable with his kids. She hadn’t tried to do everything for them, but had trusted them to learn as they went.
The kids were reluctant to head to bed, obviously wanting to spend more time around Jenn, but after Daniel read them two short bedtime stories, they finally went to sleep. By the time he came back downstairs, he found Jenn setting out the last of the finished cupcakes on a baking tray.
“I’m all done,” she said. “And those are for you and the kids.”
Three extra cupcakes were sitting on the counter, two chocolate cupcakes for Adam and Daniel and a vanilla cupcake for Kayla.
“We could never have done this without you.” He wanted to make sure she knew how much her time here today meant to all of them. “I’d still be floundering around, trying to work out how to mix the batter without it getting lumpy.”
“Before tonight, I would have thought you were exaggerating, but now that I’ve seen you in action with the flour, I know you’re being completely serious,” Jenn teased. “Honestly, though, it’s nice to know there’s at least one thing that you can’t do effortlessly.”
She’d already packed up her things, so even though he wanted her to stay longer so that they could sit and talk some more, when she yawned, he made himself say, “Let me help you take your things back out to the car.”
He reached for one of the bags just as she did. When their hands brushed, he not only wanted to revel in that sparking contact, he wanted to throw all caution to the wind and pull Jenn close enough to find out if her lips tasted as sweet as the ingredients for her cupcakes.
But though her eyes were bright and her cheeks flushed, he knew it was too soon when she shifted slightly back instead of forward. He wasn’t going to back all the way off—how could he when his feelings for her were growing by leaps and bounds? At the same time, however, he needed to make sure he didn’t overwhelm her.
After they’d stashed everything in her trunk, she said, “I really had a good time today. Thank you for letting me be a part of your family for a few hours.”
There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted her to know. But in the end, all he would allow himself to do was lean forward, give her a kiss on the cheek, and say, “You’re a lifesaver, and the kids adore you.” She was blushing again by the time he said, “I’ll see you at work tomorrow. Drive safe.”
She said, “Good night, Daniel,” then got into her car and drove away, her hand resting lightly over the cheek he’d kissed.
Almost as if that kiss meant as much to her as it did to him.
…Excerpt from THE SUMMER WEDDING by Lucy Kevin © 2017…
Buy THE SUMMER WEDDING
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Please enjoy an excerpt from THE WEDDING GIFT, Book 1 in Lucy Kevin’s New York Times bestselling Four Weddings and a Fiasco series!
After Julie Delgado’s restaurant closes, she temporarily takes over the catering position at the Rose Chalet, a full-service San Francisco wedding venue. She plans to dazzle the bride and groom so the Chalet’s owner will keep her around, but fate has other plans for her when the bride’s brother shows up for the first food tasting.
Andrew Kyle is not only the Cuisine Channel’s Edgy Eats host and chef, but his recent review of Julie’s restaurant was the final nail in its coffin. Once he meets Julie at the Rose Chalet, he’s certain she’s playing it safe. And he wants nothing more than to be the one to break her guarded passions loose.
But despite the undeniable sparks between Julie and Andrew–and the fact that he seems to believe in her when no one else does–can she afford to be taking risks with her cooking, with her career…or with her heart?
It wasn’t easy trying to finish off the main courses and desserts, knowing all the while that Andrew Kyle was probably out there telling the Rose Chalet’s owner exactly how awful Julie’s food was. And Rose would listen, of course, because what else would she be able to do in the face of a triple whammy: celebrity chef, the groom’s brother, and great dimples?
Enough about the dimples, Julie ordered herself. Just remember what he did.
It was pretty hard to forget. One review from the city’s most prominent TV chef, and her business had come crashing down around her ears. The faint trickle of new customers Julie had hoped would widen into a stream dried up completely. Her entire dream went south in a matter of weeks, all thanks to the man who was currently sampling Julie’s seafood platter.
Well, she couldn’t let him ruin this dream too. Which meant Julie couldn’t do anything horrible to his food, even if a small part of her wanted the revenge.
The truth was, the best revenge would be to show him just how wrong he had been. All she had to do was present him with the best plates of food in her life, and then force him to eat his words.
Easy.
Though if it was that easy, why was her hand shaking while she finished the duck? She needed to focus, take her time, and—
“Is everything okay?”
Julie jumped at the sound of Andrew’s voice, almost slicing a finger open in the process.
What was he doing in her kitchen? Had he finally realized who she was? Had he come to gloat?
Or, maybe, to apologize for what he’d done?
Knowing anything she really wanted to say to him would get her instantly fired by Rose, Julie settled for, “I’m not sure you should be in here.”
“No, it’s fine—”
“Julie,” she reminded him, like he hadn’t just been told her name a few minutes ago. “Julie Delgado.”
Was there a flicker of recognition in his eyes? Did he even vaguely remember her name?
Then again, why would he? He was a famous chef. She was a nobody who couldn’t keep her own kitchen open and was now cooking for scraps at a wedding venue.
“I asked Rose before I came in to s
ee the kitchen where the food for the wedding might be prepared.”
“Might be?”
“My brother and his fiancé deserve the best. I promised I’d cast my chef’s eye over it as my wedding gift to them. Which is why I’d appreciate it if you could bring the desserts out with the main courses and stay with us as we go through everything.” He flashed that brilliant smile of his. “After all, I’m sure the two of us will have a lot to talk about.”
For a moment, Julie wondered if he meant the review, but those darn dimples of his were turning her brain just enough to mush so that all she could manage was, “Will we?”
“Sure,” Andrew replied, with another smile.
Oh my God, after all he’d done, was he actually flirting with her?
Julie just barely resisted the urge to hit him with the nearest thing on hand, but only because it happened to be a saucepan full of steadily reducing plum sauce. Of all the arrogant…
Again, Julie forced herself to take a deep breath and reminded herself that since she obviously wasn’t important enough for the big star to remember, why wouldn’t he try out the charm that had everybody else fooled?
“I’d be happy to bring out everything at once,” Julie said, if only because it seemed like the quickest way to get him out of her kitchen. “Just give me a minute or two.”
* * *
Watching Andrew Kyle eat was an experience. He didn’t talk between bites, as though that would in some way spoil his concentration. Instead he assembled the food carefully on his fork, closing his eyes and letting his nose take in the scent of it for a moment before he finally pushed it into that sensuous mouth.
Julie found herself briefly entranced by the way he clearly wanted to involve as many of his senses as possible, by the fact that he seemed to treat food as something truly important.
Of course, that didn’t make up for the way he kept Julie and Rose waiting while he tasted everything. In fact, the only time he spoke at all was about halfway through, when he glanced up and raised an eyebrow.
“Is everything to your satisfaction?”
Andrew put his fork down carefully. “It’s all well cooked,” he said. “The scallops are nicely done and the fish goes well with them. The salad is crisp and fresh. The plum sauce with the duck is just right, and I like the richness of the gateaux. The food is well prepared,” he said, “but, unfortunately, it’s too bland.”
