Page 93 of The Trouble with Flings

“I didn’t have a ring, because it wasn’t planned,” my father says. “We were walking along the pier, and it was a cold, windy, drizzling, gray day, but your mother smiled the whole time. I’ll never forget how beautiful she looked. Her cheeks and nose were pink from the cold, and her hair was wet and frizzy, whipping around her face, and she was shivering, but she was happy. With me of all people.”

My mother smiles, and he says, “There it is. That one.” He puts his other hand over his heart. “It gets me every time. If we weren’t already married, I’d drop to one knee right now and ask her.”

A collective “aw” rises from the girls.

“Now, that’s romantic,” Fitz says.

“I thought he was crazy at first,” my mother says. “We had no money, and Jacob wasn’t even finished with his apprenticeship yet—”

“But we had love,” my father interjects. “And when you have the right person by your side, anything is possible.”

“No truer words,” Jace says, looking at Dixie.

“I agree wholeheartedly,” Fitz says, and lifts our joined hands, pressing a kiss to the back of mine.

Everyone’s watching us with matching looks of delighted interest. Can’t they see the bees swarming inside me? The conflicting emotions whipping through me? How can I be falling for this incredible man and, at the same time, fighting it like the plague?

“Fitz, do you live on Silver Island, too?” my father asks.

“Yes, sir. I run my family’s resort, Silver House, with my father,” Fitz says proudly.

“You can drop the sir,” my father says. “Jacob is fine.”

“How wonderful to work with family,” my mother says.

“Most days it is,” Fitz says. “Like all families, we have our moments.”

“I hear ya on that,” Jared says, earning agreement around the table.

“How long have you and Jen been together?” Jayla asks, eyes lit with curiosity.

“Jay, we’re here for Mom and Dad’s anniversary,” I say. “Let’s focus on them.”

“Mom and Dad have had forty-six anniversaries. You being here with a guy is a first. I’d rather focus on that,” she says.

“She’s got a point,” Rush says. “I’m curious about how you two met.”

“We met on the island last summer,” Fitz says easily. “Then we reconnected completely by chance in December. I was at a conference in Costa Rica and happened to be walking through the lobby when I saw Jennifer at the front desk.”

“It was fate,” my mother says, clasping her hands together.

“Wait. You met last summer?” Jayla sets down her fork and looks pointedly across the table at me. “Jen, that’s almost a year ago, and we’re just now meeting him?”

“It’s not almost a year,” I say adamantly.

“It’s closer to a year than it is to not a year,” Jared points out.

I give him a deadpan stare. “We’ve been taking it slow.”

“Slow or not, that is quite a while,” my father says. “It’s a little surprising that we didn’t catch a whiff of this before now.”

“Because she’s private, Dad,” Mia says, with a look that dares anyone to push it. “Which is a perfectly reasonable way to be.”

“Thank you,” I say.

“I think you’re missing a very important point.” Fitz sets down his glass and says, “Jennifer’s a smart woman. She knows her worth. She was making sure I deserved her time and yours before subjecting you to meeting me.”

Jace cracks a smile and says, “She didn’t make it easy for you, did she?”