Just then Samantha’s veil caught in the wind and sailed down the beach. Boone’s son, B.J., chased after it.
“It kinda got wet,” he said apologetically when he handed it back to her. “I couldn’t get there fast enough.”
“It’ll dry,” Samantha said, unconcerned. “Has anybody checked on the minister?”
“I spoke to him less than five minutes ago,” Boone assured her. “He said the boat we sent for him was just offshore.” He glanced up. “And there he is, climbing over the dunes right now.”
Samantha beamed at Ethan. “No getting out of it now.”
“Wouldn’t dream of trying,” he said. “Though we might want to ask for the short version of the ceremony. Those are some serious storm clouds rolling this way. And the waves are about to overrun the beach. We’re going to get soaked.”
She laughed. “The short version works for me, though getting soaked isn’t such a big price to pay for getting married.”
“But getting stranded out here might be more than any of us bargained for,” Ethan said.
Even though the service was a bit rushed and threatened by an impending late-season hurricane, Samantha thought it was the most beautiful ceremony she’d been to, and she’d been to a lot recently.
At the end Ethan looked into her eyes and said, “When I left the hospital a few years ago, they told me I was almost good as new. I wanted to believe that. I made it my mission to work with kids who’d been injured to prove that life could be anything they wanted it to be.”
He held her gaze. “But it wasn’t until you came along that I really felt whole again. You complete me, Samantha, and I will spend a lifetime trying to give you everything you want or need.”
Through her tears, she whispered, “As long as I have you, Ethan, I’ll have everything I’ll ever need. I can’t wait to spend my life with you and see what adventures come our way.”
The minister glanced up at the sky, then asked, not even trying to hide the sense of urgency he was feeling, “Anything else?”
“Nope. I think that about covers it,” Ethan said, never taking his gaze from Samantha’s face.
“Then I now pronounce you husband and wife, and suggest we get back to the mainland and get out of town.”
“Not before this,” Ethan declared, sweeping Samantha into his arms and kissing her.
He took his sweet time about it, too, until fat, cool raindrops splashed on them and waves rolled over their feet. Even then, he clearly wasn’t ready to stop. Samantha smiled against his lips, glad that they were on the same page. Some things were more important than a storm on the horizon.
It was the applause and catcalls that interrupted them eventually.
“We need to hightail it out of here, people,” Boone said, urging them back over the dunes to the waiting boats some of the locals had provided for the short trip over to the island. Back on the mainland, packed cars were awaiting them. There was no way to know when they might be allowed back in Sand Castle Bay.
While the guests scampered across the beach, Samantha hung back for just a second, relishing the feel of the sand beneath her feet and the warm, steady touch of the man beside her. With the rest of her family nearby, she was well and truly home at last...and oh, so glad of it!
* * * * *
Look for Sherryl Wood’s next novel, TEMPTATION,
available in September, followed by
A SEASIDE CHRISTMAS, coming in October
from Harlequin MIRA to your favorite retail outlet.
Keep reading for an excerpt of Wind Chime Point by Sherryl Woods!
If you loved Sea Glass Island, don’t miss Wind Chime Point, the first title in the Ocean Breeze series.
For a town called Serenity, things are not exactly serene! Enjoy the warm and inspiring stories of friendship, families and heartfelt emotions in Sherryl Woods’s Sweet Magnolias series.
Stealing Home
A Slice of Heaven
Feels Like Family
Welcome to Serenity
Home in Carolina
Sweet Tea at Sunrise
Honeysuckle Summer
Midnight Promises
Catching Fireflies
Where Azaleas Bloom
Do you love to cook? Sherryl Woods shares delicious down-home Southern recipes and exclusive behind-the-scenes stories in The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook. Available now!
Looking for even more? Check out the Chesapeake Shores series, and dozens of other titles by Sherryl Woods, all available in ebook format.
“Woods is noted for appealing, character-driven stories that are often infused with the flavor and fragrance of the South.”—Library Journal
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Unemployed and pregnant! Those were two words Gabriella Castle had never envisioned applying to her, at least not in combination. Now, in a twist of fate she couldn’t possibly have anticipated, she was out of work and, just as shocking, expecting a baby. So much for years of fast-track career dedication and workaholic tendencies!
Sitting in the middle of her comfortably furnished living room in Raleigh, North Carolina, Gabi stared at a painting that had cost more than some people made in a year. Her sister Emily had talked her into it when she’d stayed overnight a few weeks ago. She’d seen it in some fancy auction catalog—Sotheby’s or someplace like it—and insisted it would be just the thing to pull all the colors in Gabi’s haphazardly decorated living room together.
“Besides that, it’s a great investment,” Emily had said enthusiastically. “In a few years, it will probably triple in value.”
Gabi wondered if she could simply get her money back now. She was probably going to need it.
In the meantime, she couldn’t help wondering if her sister could come up with a painting—or a magical formula—that would pull her life together.
Even though it had been three days since she’d walked into her boss’s office expecting to be commended on her latest public-relations
