Lauren gave him a meek smile. “I know I was an obstinate brat to keep refusing you. But I was angry and hurt and you know I’ve got a problem with holding grudges.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Who, you? Never. But you’re forgetting to mention all the other things we have to celebrate.”

She cocked her head at him. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“Let’s see.” He began to tick them off on his fingers. “Karl and Tamsyn’s wedding. Her pregnancy. Oh, yeah. My new job. The new apartment we’re going to find together in New York since I’m essentially homeless right now. And there was one more thing. Ah, I remember now. We need to drink a toast to our engagement.”

Lauren blinked rapidly. “Huh? Come again?”

He grinned lasciviously. “Maybe after dinner, sweetheart. You’ve sort of sucked me dry for the time being – literally, after that really incredible BJ. And of course we’re getting engaged. Just like we’re getting married – as soon as possible. Like next month maybe.”

She stared at him in disbelief, her eyes wide. “Do you really mean it?” she whispered.

Ben slid his arms around her waist and swung her around in a circle several times before setting her on her feet. He cupped her face between his palms and gazed down at her with so much pure love in his eyes that her heart felt like it might burst with joy.

“Yes, I really mean it,” he told her passionately. “Now, listen carefully, sweetheart, and pay attention. I want to marry you on the beach at Big Sur. Nothing elaborate like your sister had, something simple and quick, but just as beautiful. Then I’m going to take you away someplace on a honeymoon where we can lie on a beach or climb a mountain or ride horses, maybe all three. After that I’m going to finish out the last couple of months on my contract before I join your crew as the new travel writer. And then you and I are finally going to see the world together.”

She nodded enthusiastically, tears of happiness glistening on her lashes. “And then?”

He gave her a sweet, soft kiss. “And then we live happily ever after.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Six Weeks Later – Big Sur

Julia stared down at the beach just below the cabin in wonder. “I still don’t know how you managed to pull all of this off in just over six weeks. Nathan and I had six months and it was still barely enough time.”

Lauren snickered. “That’s because your version and mine of the perfect wedding are very different, Jules. And the secret to getting it all done in only six weeks is knowing the right people. More importantly, the right people who happen to owe you favors.”

Julia laughed and slid an arm around her sister’s waist. “Well, it definitely looks like everyone returned their favors big time. It all looks gorgeous, Lauren. Especially you.”

Lauren smiled, turning around in a circle for her twin’s inspection. “You think so? That wasn’t the reaction you had when I first picked this dress out.”

Julia had, in fact, been horrified when Lauren had insisted on buying her wedding gown at a vintage clothing store in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district. And the minute Lauren had spied the tiered white cotton and eyelet dress she had known it was the one.

“But it’s a hippie dress!” Julia had protested. “Why couldn’t you have let Aunt Maddy find you something? It wouldn’t have been custom made like mine was, but it would have been a lot more elegant than this. And it’s – it’s used, Lauren. You have no idea who else has worn this thing.”

Lauren had laughed heartily at the look of disgust on her sister’s face. “You are such a priss,” she’d scolded, pressing a kiss to Julia’s cheek. “Look, I’ll have it dry cleaned first if that makes you feel better. And it’s not a hippie dress. The correct term for this style is boho.”

Julia’s dismay had only deepened when she’d learned the rest of Lauren’s plans – namely, to wear a wreath of flowers in her hair instead of a veil, and that she planned to walk up the aisle in bare feet.

“You, too, baby sister,” she’d announced cheerfully. “In fact, it’s going to be a barefoot wedding, since we’re getting married on the beach. But you can slip into some shoes when we head back up to the cabin for the reception.”

But the one thing Lauren hadn’t been able to talk her stylish sister into had been wearing a vintage dress of her own, unlike Angela, who’d calmly gone along with whatever Lauren suggested. Fortunately, Julia had found a new dress in a style that had satisfied both her and Lauren, though it still bothered Julia that her dress wasn’t even the same color as Angela’s, complaining that bridesmaids should at least try to look the same.

Julia grinned at her sister now, carefully rearranging one of Lauren’s thick, tawny curls. “I know what I said. At the time I only wanted you to have the same sort of fairy tale wedding that I did. What I didn’t realize at the time was that not every fairy tale is written exactly the same. And your version of the story is every bit as beautiful as mine was, even if I do have to go barefoot. At least it turned out to be a beautiful day.”

When Ben had first suggested getting married on the beach – the same stretch where he and Lauren had packed so many memories into just ten days – Lauren had been more than a little wary about the weather. Late October could be unpredictable here – foggy, drizzly, cold, windy. Fortunately, it was going to be a gorgeous autumn day – clear and sunny with just a light breeze – and the outdoor ceremony would go off without any weather related hitches.

Everything else also seemed to be under control, a major feat considering the haste in which it had all been thrown together. But neither Ben nor Lauren had been willing to wait even one week longer to get married, quelling the few protests that had arisen from family and friends by insisting they’d already wasted six long years.

Her parents had been the first to receive the news, of course. Ben had insisted she call them with the news within hours after they’d arrived back in New York, and Lauren had been downright shocked by their reactions.

Natalie had been more than a little choked up, not to mention startled, but had been quick to reassure her daughter how delighted she was at the news.

“It’s wonderful, darling,” Natalie had enthused. “Just think – both of my girls married within a few months of each other. And,” she’d added wickedly, “now it’s your sister’s turn to pitch a fit about her bridesmaid’s dress.”

But it was when her mother had added softly, “I knew he was special when I met him that day at Norma’s – special to you, in particular,” that Lauren had nearly choked up herself.

Robert’s reaction had been far more pragmatic – as usual. “Well, it’s about damned time that you came to your senses, my girl. And, yes, missy, I guessed how you felt about that man of yours close to a year ago. It was when I met him for the first time face to face and remembered where I’d seen him before. Or at least a black and white profile shot of him.”

Lauren had gasped in surprise. “You remembered those photos I took after all that time? And how did you know it was Ben in the shots?”

Robert had chuckled. “Wild guess. Father’s instinct. When you would get all up in arms about your Ben the Bastard, especially when he stopped you from going on that trip to Brazil, I knew that something was going on. Because you’d never had that sort of reaction to a man before, regardless of how angry he might have made you.”

“And neither of you ever mentioned that you’d met,” she had retorted crossly. “Why am I the last to know these things?”

“You’ve always been a nosy little miss,” Robert had replied calmly. “Always butting in to everyone else’s business, always insisting on knowing the latest gossip. And yet you kept so much of your own life to yourself – especially the fact that you’d met someone that summer and fallen in love. Or that the two of you met again years later and he happened to be your new boss. I decided that it was good for you to get a little taste of your own medicine once in awhile, so I very intentionally never told you that I’d met your Ben last year.”