“What are you thinking about?” she asked as they ambled along the quiet country road with morning birds chirping.
“About Saturday.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “I can’t wait to make you my bride.”
“And you’ll be my groom.”
“Yes,” he said in low tones. “Won’t that be fun.”
“Brent.” She swatted his arm at his innuendo.
“There’s nobody out here but us,” he said. “Besides that, I didn’t say anything too lewd.”
This caused her to laugh, and he enjoyed the sound of it. Pretty much everything felt great about being around Jackie.
Her eyebrows knitted together, and she seemed to be worrying about something.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked her.
“The wedding dress comes today,” she said. “I was just wondering about how it’s going to fit.”
“Absolutely perfectly, I’m sure,” he said. “Will I get a sneak peek at it?”
“No, Mr. Groom, you will not,” she teased lightly. “Haven’t you heard? It’s bad luck to see the bride in her gown before the wedding day.”
Brent affectionately squeezed her hand. “I’m so happy we’re getting married. You’re going to make the very best wife.”
“And you’re going to make an excellent husband.” Her eyes sparkled when she gazed up at him. “It’s exciting, in a way,” she said. “Thinking of the future and the possibilities it holds.”
“It is exciting. I know we haven’t discussed this in detail, and we probably should have…” He hesitated a moment, growing uncomfortable, but if he didn’t bring it up now, he needed to sometime. “But when you hinted that that you didn’t want children—”
“I what?” She frowned and then said, “Oh, yeah. That. Maybe we should discuss this later?”
“Later?”
“Like on Friday? It’s a pretty heavy topic.”
“That’s the day before the wedding. Things will be so busy then. Don’t you think it would be best to discuss this while we have a quiet moment alone together?”
“What made you decide to bring this up now?”
“I noticed Sofia hasn’t been drinking any alcohol since she’s been here,” he said, reflecting on his observation. “And William’s been in an awfully happy mood. It made me start to wonder if maybe there’s something they’re not telling us. Like maybe there’s a new little Albright on the way.”
“That would be amazing for them.”
“It would, yeah.” The warm glimmer in her eyes only made him surer of his position. “When you and I talked about kids before, I honestly didn’t have a strong opinion.”
“And now?”
“Uh. How can I say this?” He ran a hand through his hair, feeling awkward about asking for this. He wanted to respect Jackie’s wishes, but since his thinking had changed so dramatically, he was hoping that maybe hers had, too. “Something’s changed. There’s this new vibe between us. I don’t know how or when it happened, but it has something to do with us being here.
“Maybe it’s being in Blue Hill,” he went on, “and the place where I spent so many happy childhood summers. Maybe it’s being around my parents, who have their own fairy-tale marriage, and seeing the love between Sofia and William, too. Even my Grandmother Margaret and Grandpa Chad share a certain connection. It may not be evident on the outside, but—way down deep—I suspect they love each other very much and always have.”
“I think you’re right about your grandparents,” she answered. “Your parents and Sofia and William, too. They’re all so different, and still such great matches.”
Brent stopped walking, so she did, too.
“Just like us.” His voice grew husky when he took her in his arms. “I know you must feel it. This overwhelming attraction between us. And it’s more than attraction. It’s deeper than that. You and I got along great before. We had similar interests and goals. We were perfect together on paper, and yet…” He hugged her tighter. “There was something missing inside.” He gazed down into her big dark eyes and nearly lost his bearings. Then her smile brought him home. “The something we seem to share now.”
“You’re the sweetest guy.” Her voice trembled when she said it. “An absolute dream.”
“If you still don’t want kids, I’ll learn to live with that, because the most important thing in my life is having you in it. But if you think you ever might reconsider…”
A tear leaked from her eye, and he stroked it back with his thumb.
“Hey. What’s wrong?”
After a beat, she drew in a shaky breath, then said, “I can’t imagine anything more magical than making babies with you.”
“For real?” He felt like a man who’d just won the lottery, and this stunned him a little because he’d never known how badly he wanted kids until now. But not just anybody’s kids. Jackie’s kids. His and hers together. Brent had not one shadow of a doubt. The woman he held in his arms was going to make a phenomenal mom.
“Then, sweetheart,” he said, cradling her face in his hands. “We’ll make it happen.”
She tilted up her chin and said something that confused him. “If only we could make this real.”
“It is real, darling,” he said, bringing his arms around her. Then he held her up against him, deciding to show her just how real it was.
His lips brushed over hers, slowly at first—until she whimpered. Then he deepened the pressure of his kiss until she ran her fingers through his hair, begging for more. They stood there lost in each other as tiny droplets speckled their cheeks and clothing. Finally, thunder rumbled above them, and the skies opened up in a torrential downpour.
“Oh no,” she cried, but she was laughing. “It’s raining. So hard.” The sky had morphed from powder blue to an angry gray haze beneath rumbling thunderclouds.
He took her hand. “We’d better make a break for it.”
Then they raced back toward the house as the rain came down in droves, splashing up against the gravel drive and splattering their clothing, but neither one cared.
…
“Suck it in. Suck it in,” Meredith urged, and Hope drew in another deep breath, the sides of the beautiful bridal gown pinching at her waist as Meredith cinched the ties of the lace-up back tighter.