Finally, the door to the cabin below creaked open and her blonde head emerged. She climbed the stairs and Derek’s jaw dropped at the sight of her standing in the doorway to the pilothouse wearing a long white dress that sparkled in the sunlight. It dipped just low enough in the front to make his mouth go dry despite all the water he’d just drunk. Her hair flowed around her shoulders, and a wreath of yellow flowers sat on her head. The ring he’d bought her winked from her fourth finger.
“Wow.” Derek set his water bottle aside. “You look gorgeous.”
A shy smile slid across her lips. “Gorgeous enough to get married?”
They hadn’t even set a wedding date. Why was she showing him her wedding dress now? “What do you mean?”
She stepped forward and held out her hand. “I mean, do you want to get married? Today? Right now?”
“Seriously?” But the look on her face was anything but joking. “But don’t you want all of our friends and family with us? The church? The flowers? The whole shebang?”
“No, Derek.” She placed her hand against his chest. “I just want you. Besides, you never wanted a big wedding, and we’ll have a reception in the winter, after the harvest is over. But I don’t want to go another day without being Mrs. Derek Campbell.”
His insides vibrated. “Are you sure?”
“Never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“But don’t we need a few things to get married?”
“You mean like the wedding license I dragged you to City Hall for last week?”
One of the only times he’d seen her last week, and he’d wondered at the hurry. But she’d assured him they might as well get it taken care of since it was the only thing on the future wedding checklist she could handle doing right then and there. “You sure fooled me.”
She bounced on the balls of her feet, which were adorably bare despite the soft, fancy dress. “And we just so happen to have a pastor with us too. Imagine that.”
Derek shook his head. “You thought of everything.”
“So is that a yes?”
He whooped, taking her in his arms and twirling her around before setting her back down and kissing her senseless. “You better believe it.”
“Good, because our witnesses are here.”
At that moment, a small motorboat putted toward them, and Derek recognized the helmsman. “Evan? And is that Madison?”
“Yes.” Ashley hesitated. “I know Ben and Bella would have loved to be here, but they’re so busy getting ready for their own wedding next weekend. And Shannon is handling the reunion …”
Derek took her hand in his and kissed her fingertips. “Evan and Madison are perfect. I’m sure our families will understand, especially if we have a reception later.”
“You think so? That’s the only thing I’m not sure about.”
“Ash, they love you. And if this is what you want—what will make you happy—then they’ll be happy for you. For us.”
She smiled up at him, her grin dazzling in the sunlight. “It is what I want.”
“Good. Me too.” He tipped her chin and kissed her.
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to wait for a pronouncement or something?” Evan parked the boat off the back and he and Madison climbed aboard the motor yacht. The women hugged and Evan slapped Derek on the back. “Congrats, man.”
“I just found out.”
His friend grinned. “I know. Mad and I have been avoiding you all week so we didn’t spoil the surprise. You have no idea how hard it was.”
Derek punched Evan in the shoulder. “Just glad you’re here.”
Spencer stepped toward them, and with the sky and waves as their witnesses, he spoke the words Derek had only dreamed of hearing as Ashley’s groom. Before Derek knew it, he was reciting his vows, and then Ashley was slipping a simple white gold band on his left hand.
“It’s my great honor to pronounce you man and wife,” the pastor said. “Derek, go ahead and kiss your bride.”
Derek’s chest swelled. His bride. How far they’d come, and how far they’d go.
But as for the going, they’d do it together.
With all the care he could manage, Derek took his beloved’s face in his hands and melded her lips with his own. She tasted of sun and sea and the one thing he’d feared never to find.
A forever kind of love.
Connect With Lindsay
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Can’t get enough of Walker Beach? You can read Shannon’s story in the next book, All You Need Is Love. Turn the page for a sneak peek…
All You Need Is Love Sneak Peek
Normally, life in the slow lane suited Shannon Baker just fine.
But three to six months to become a foster mom—to become Noah’s mom?
That was an eternity.
The water lapped at her bare feet as she walked the wet shoreline, flip-flops dangling from her fingers. At eleven o’clock, the beach was already crowded with locals and tourists alike, but Shannon only had attention for the boy she hoped one day to adopt.
Several feet ahead, Noah Robinson tossed a football to Lucky and laughed as the golden retriever took off into the fringes of the California surf. Shannon closed her eyes for a moment, relishing the five-year-old’s giggles pealing across the same breeze that lifted Shannon’s hair off her shoulders.
Noah’s joy, the late-June sun on Shannon’s face, the crisp scent of coconut sunscreen and brine—it all soothed the parts of her soul left ruffled by the call she’d received from
