by JoAnn Ross
“It’s a new world. We can put some selected singles on a website. I already have live performances on YouTube.”
“I know.” She sighed. “I’ve watched. Along with thousands of other people.”
“Who bought the album while I was in New Orleans working in grand-mère’s café. The only singing I’ve done in public over the past two years has been in a few local clubs. That performance on YouTube was at the House of Blues. We could make some extra bucks doing what we’d enjoy anyway. Pay for some trips, put some away for our kids’ college—”
“Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself, Bastien Broussard?”
“You talked about wanting children. Did you change your mind? Because it’s okay if you have.”
“No. I just believe we should wait until the restaurant is up and running and we’ve adjusted to living a normal life together.”
“We’ve plenty of time,” he agreed. “That’s totally your call. I was at the airport, waiting for my flight, when CNN ran an article about women in their fifties having children.”
She slapped his arm. “I don’t want to wait that long. I’ve watched Kylee and Mai with Clara and as darling as that baby is, she defines high-maintenance. Also, while I realize there’s nothing wrong with having a baby without a formal marriage, Papa’s a little old-fashioned.”
“That’s like saying the Pope is Catholic,” Bastien said with a touch of laughter in his eyes. “I was getting to that. I should have waited to mention the college part. The reason I came here was to propose. I had it all planned out. But then I found you bustling around with cake for the wedding, and the next thing I knew I was off looking for a uke. Then we were singing, and the reception didn’t seem the right place.”
“It would have taken away from the brides’ day,” she agreed.
“Then I wanted to show you my restaurant first, so you’d know what you were getting into, and then there was the sex—which was mind-blowing, don’t get me wrong. But that got me sidetracked again with the conversation about maybe singing together again, and kids, and the plan fell apart. But the most important thing of all is that I wanted to propose, Desiree Marchand, heart of my heart.”
“That was on your latest album.” He’d sung it in both English and French, “couer de mon couer.”
“So what do you say?”
“How about just asking me straight-out?” she suggested.
He dropped to one knee, took her hand in his and placed it over his beating heart. “Desiree Marchand, will you be my wife and let me love and cherish you all the days of my life?”
“Yes,” she said. “I can’t think of anything that would make me happier than becoming your wife and loving and cherishing you all the days of my life.”
“Thank God.” He blew out a breath.
Bastien stood up, drawing her into his arms as they sealed their pledge with a kiss.
Then, as Desiree laughed, her now-freed heart felt so light that she could feel it floating up and out the French doors, over the moonlit harbor.
* * *
ISBN-13: 9781488096532
Summer on Mirror Lake
Copyright © 2019 by JoAnn Ross
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual work as follows:
Once Upon a Wedding
Copyright © 2019 by JoAnn Ross
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com