Page 92 of Finding Forever

She leaned back enough to look at him. “Do you still remember how?”

Dave laughed. “You’ll find out on May twenty-third.”

Beth’s expression softened, and she slipped her arms around him.

Dave held her a little closer. Yesterday had marked the end of something they’d worked toward for months. The arts center was finished, the doors were open, and Beth no longer needed him there every day.

But with Kayla’s wedding invitation sitting on his kitchen table and Beth in his arms, that didn’t feel like an ending.

It felt like they were finally finding out where this could lead.

Chapter 43

Nearly two weeks later, Beth’s dining table had disappeared beneath enough fudge to feed half of Sapphire Bay.

She stood at one end, counting the large squares arranged in neat rows across five baking sheets. Sweet Treats had delivered four flavors that afternoon—chocolate, salted caramel, maple walnut, and huckleberry—and Beth had spent the better part of an hour resisting the temptation to sample them before her friends arrived.

Maria had shown considerably less restraint. “Someone needs to make sure the fudge tastes as delicious as it usually does,” she said as she reached for another piece of maple fudge.

“You said that about the last one,” Laurel pointed out, carefully tying a sage-green ribbon around a cream favor box.

Maria paused with the fudge halfway to her mouth. “That was the salted caramel. It was an entirely different product.”

Beth laughed and moved the tray beyond Maria’s reach. “If you keep testing them, Kayla will have three tables without favors.”

“I’m willing to make sacrifices for your daughter.”

Beth’s eyebrows rose. “That isn’t a sacrifice.”

“It could be. I haven’t had dinner yet.”

Julie came through from the kitchen carrying four mugs of coffee on a tray. “Which is why Beth put cheese and crackers on the counter.”

Maria turned toward her. “There are crackers?”

“There were when I arrived.”

Maria immediately abandoned the fudge and headed into the kitchen.

Beth shook her head and returned to the job in front of her. Kayla had chosen small cream-colored boxes with a clear window in each lid. Two large pieces of fudge went inside, separated by waxed paper, and a narrow sage-green ribbon was tied around the outside. The final touch was a tiny card printed with Kayla and Tyler’s names and the date.

May twenty-third.

Beth picked up another card and ran her thumb across the numbers. After months of appointments, lists, phone calls, dress fittings, flowers, and discussions about everything from napkin colors to cake stands, her daughter was getting married in eleven days.

The thought still had the power to catch Beth unaware.

“You’re doing it again,” Julie said gently.

Beth glanced across the table. “Doing what?”

Julie placed the coffees between the boxes before sitting opposite her. “Looking at that card as though you can stop the wedding by staring at the date.”

“I don’t want to stop it.” Beth attached the card to the next box. “It just seems impossible that it’s almost here.”

Laurel reached for another length of ribbon. “Kayla’s probably thinking the same thing.”

“She’s remarkably calm.” Beth folded waxed paper around two pieces of fudge. “I spoke to her this morning. She was more concerned about whether Tyler will remember to pick up his suit than anything else.”