His grin grew even wider. “I love you. But I wasn’t going to trap you here in Laguna Beach when you wanted to be pursuing your dreams somewhere else.”
She closed her mouth and bit her lower lip. Maybe he’d jumped the gun. He didn’t care. She was listening and he’d explain himself over and over until she took him back… or told him to pound sand.
She finally released her lip. “I figured something out since we broke up.”
“What?”
“My dreams were never about feeling trapped in Laguna Beach. They were about feeling like I hadn’t had a chance at the life I’d always wanted. I thought I had stayed because of my father and my sister, but I was wrong. My father is doing so much better. He’s got a girlfriend.” Her voice was laced with shock and surprise as she said that. “My sister has a job. They’re both doing great. They don’t need me the way they used to anymore. I thought I was ready to leave. But I stared at that resignation letter every day for weeks and never turned it over to Austin. Do you know why it was still in my desk?”
“Why?”
“Because I couldn’t bring myself to hand it in. Because the life I always dreamed of wasn’t in some faraway place. It wasn’t a place at all, but a feeling. A feeling that I was where I was supposed to be. I’d never felt that before. Until you.”
His heart stuttered and then thumped a rapid beat. A smile broke across his face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. My adventure is with you. You’re my dream life. I just hadn’t found you yet. Now that I have, I have everything I ever wanted.”
Jake grabbed her and pulled her to him, not wanting to wait a minute longer to have her in his arms. She snaked hers around his waist and melted into his body. He lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers. Once. And then again. She met him willingly, her arms tightening around him as she pressed her lips firmly to his. She tasted of sunshine and fresh air and a promise of the future.
He broke the kiss and pressed his head to hers. He drew in a deep breath of the fragrance of Erin he’d come to love—strawberries and flowers and sweetness all wrapped up in a single package. He’d missed her scent, among many other things, during his time of stupidity, as he’d come to call it.
They both turned back to the ocean, pressed their cheeks against each other’s, and stared at the horizon. The warmth of the deep yellow sun swept over them as it sank down into the deep blue ocean as they were wrapped in each other’s arms.
Epilogue
“NO PEEKING.”
Erin giggled behind her hands. She spread her fingers, trying to see what Jake was doing, but his back was turned to her and he wasn’t giving her a clue.
Frankly, she didn’t care where they were going for their honeymoon. She just cared that they were married.
Her life had been a whirlwind since the day Jake found her on the beach and told her he loved her. It took a lot of talking but they finally got everything out in the open. Everything. Her dreams of travel, his hopes for a family. And once they laid it all on the table, it was easy for both
of them to see that what was most important was that they were together.
Three months later, Jake took her into the national park where they had their first date. They hiked up to the same plateau where they had fallen asleep. When they reached the top, Erin saw that Jake had already spread out a blanket and had a picnic laid out for them.
Once she was settled on the blanket, he dug around in the picnic basket, but he didn’t pull out any food. Instead, he took her hands in his and asked her to marry him.
Of course, she said yes.
A whirlwind six weeks later… and here they were. Married. Jake’s family had come to town and Erin had immediately fallen in love with them all. His sister Nicolle was fun and energetic and the love between the two of them was evident. His family, and hers, his business partner Ryan, and Austin and Abby, had joined them in the gazebo in Heisler Park where they declared their vows. Neither of them wanted a big, fancy wedding. What they wanted was to be married.
And now they were.
But Jake hadn’t told her where they were going on their honeymoon. He’d only told her what to pack and for how long but had been secretive about the other details.
But he couldn’t hold out any longer. Their bags were on the porch and in ten minutes, they’d be leaving for the airport. It was now or never.
“Okay, you can look now.”
When Erin opened her eyes, Jake was in front of her, an envelope extended in front of him. His eyes sparkled and a huge grin spread on his face like a kid at Christmas. She didn’t care where they went. All she wanted was to spend some time alone with Jake. But the fact that he was so happy had her excited to find out.
“Go ahead, open it up.”
She took the envelope, lifted the flap, and slid a pile of papers out. She unfolded them and inside she found… airline tickets.
To Paris.