Page 95 of The Sweetest Mistake

When Julia had asked her parents if she and Connor could use the lake house, they’d immediately said yes. But when she’d mentioned that they were bringing Ava too, her mom had asked if they would mind having company for a couple of days. How could Julia say no? Besides it being their house, she wanted her parents to spend more time getting to know Connor and Ava. Plus, with her parents there, she and Connor might be able to sneak in some alone time.

They were still adjusting to having Ava in their lives, but they were doing it together, and the thought of that was thrilling to her. Her life had become so full of love and happiness that she went around with a perma-smile.

Since that day in the park when she and Connor had exchanged I love yous, they’d talked about marriage in vague terms. A lot of their sentences started with “When we get married…” or “When we have more kids…” They hadn’t gotten engaged yet, but she felt sure they would someday. In the meantime, Finn and Harper had recently announced their engagement at a July Fourth barbecue at Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien’s house.

Nobody had been surprised, least of all Julia, who could tell the second she’d seen Harper that something was up. Harper was the worst secret keeper on the planet, and when Julia saw her hiding her left hand behind her back, she knew. She pulled Harper aside, and making sure that nobody could hear, she whispered, “Show me your hand.”

“Why?” Harper said, playing dumb.

“Just show me your left hand.”

That was all it took. Harper excitedly pulled out her left hand from behind her back and waved it in front of Julia, after which, they’d jumped up and down like teenagers.

“I’m so happy for you!” Julia exclaimed, and she might have said it a bit too loud because, before long, they were surrounded.

First, it had been Liam, who’d been walking by with a plate piled high with food. He’d stopped in his tracks and said, “What was that I just heard? Are you two finally engaged?”

Julia smiled, thinking that he could have been directing his question to either one of them. Everyone in the family knew how she and Connor felt about each other. But Liam zeroed in on Harper, who had snapped her left hand behind her back again.

“What’s going on?” McKayla said as she came up beside them.

“Harper and Finn are engaged,” Liam replied.

“Well, it’s about time,” McKayla said.

If Julia was sometimes loud, McKayla was even louder, and the next thing they knew, Finn, Connor, Barbara, and Daniel had gathered around them.

Finn looked at Harper quizzically, and she shrugged. “It’s Julia’s fault,” she said.

“What is?” Barbara asked.

“I thought we were going to do this after dinner,” Finn said, but his eyes were sparkling.

“Do what? What is everyone talking about?” Barbara said, growing more excitable by the moment.

“Calm down, honey. They’ll tell us when they’re ready,” Daniel said.

Taking a deep breath, Finn said, “Mom, Dad, Harper and I are—”

“Engaged!” Liam finished, which earned him a punch on each arm from both of his brothers.

“You idiot! You were supposed to let them tell,” Connor said.

“Sorry, but it’s not a big surprise. They’ve been together forever. I’m already taking bets on when you and Julia will be getting engaged.”

A few months ago, Liam’s comment would have caused Julia to shrink with embarrassment, but not anymore. She just smiled brightly at Connor, who smiled back.

“See? I’m guessing two or three months, tops,” Liam said, which earned him another punch from Connor.

“And you’ll probably wreck their announcement too,” Finn said.

After that, they all sat down to eat and to discuss Finn and Harper’s wedding plans.

“We don’t want anything too big,” Harper said. “We want it to be simple and preferably outdoors.”

“Wouldn’t it be so cool if you got married on Jekyll Island at the same time as Will and Megan?” Julia said. But looking at Finn’s expression, she realized her mistake.

“Uh, no,” he said. “I’m not real interested in sharing my wedding day with a man Harper used to date.”