“You sure you want to dance with me?” Kyle said, raising his eyebrows. Lauren nodded, stepping close. She guided his hand to her waist, loving the feel of his big hands on her, and wrapped their fingers together. She stepped forward, her crimson bridesmaid’s dress flaring over his legs but he stayed still, just as the first few bars of “At Last” floated through the ballroom. “What are you up to, Lauren?”
“I love this song.” Lauren shrugged. “I have a few things I’d like to say to you. Will you listen?”
Kyle nodded, though he didn’t move.
“Since college, I’ve never had a boyfriend. I’ve never wanted one.”
Kyle sighed, “You’ve made that clear.”
“Please, Kyle, just let me get this out,” she said. They glared at each other until he nodded once. “I let you talk me into being friends. And then friends with benefits and I got used to you just being there. To talking to you and seeing you and laughing with you and—”
“I got used to all those things, too,” Kyle said. “But—“
“I miss you.”
“I miss you, too, Lauren.” Kyle swayed with her to the music, pulling her tighter against him. Lauren wasn’t sure he’d realized he’d done it, practically cradling her in his arms on the floor. She pressed against him, happy to be warm and safe in his arms. She breathed deeply, inhaling the comforting scent of Kyle. She smiled and he continued, “So much. But I can’t pretend that I don’t want more.”
“I can’t, either.”
Kyle stopped dead, staring at her. “What are you saying?”
“I don’t want a boyfriend. I don’t want to get married. I don’t want a husband,” Lauren said. “But I do want you.”
“Just sleeping together isn’t enough for me.” Kyle shook his head.
“I love you,” Lauren blurted. Kyle stared at her, his green eyes enormous in his face. “That’s what I’m trying to say. By the time I fell, it was already too late. I’ve never wanted any of those things except with you. I want you in my life, next to me, and eventually maybe marriage and babies and all those things. Just with you, though.”
Kyle laughed, shaking his head. “That’s usually how that whole deal works. You know, just the one person.”
Lauren smiled up at him, standing on her tiptoes to drop a brief kiss on his mouth. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. They held each other, swaying together, until the last bars of the song faded. “I know this place that makes great waffles. You might need your energy later.”
He smiled down at her. Slow and sweet, he captured her mouth in a deep, heated kiss. “It’s a date.”
“At last.” Lauren wrapped her arms around her neck, knowing she was right where she belonged.
Epilogue
Three months later…
Lauren carried her finished painting carefully down the stairs to the living room. Though it was awkward to maneuver a four-foot by six-foot painting down the stairs by herself, she wanted to hang it before Kyle arrived with his stuff. After Erin moved to Savannah with Matthew, Kyle moved a tiny bit of his stuff in at a time. Today, he’d bring the last of it over and they’d officially live together.
At last.
She pulled down the autumn scene and hammered the hooks into the wall, humming to herself. As she positioned the canvas against the wall, a canine head knocked into her knees from behind and she stumbled. In seconds, Kyle stood at her side, helping her right the enormous painting.
“Is this the big secret project?” Kyle said, smiling.
“I wanted to have it hung up before you got home,” Lauren groused. She and Kyle secured the painting together and stepped back.
A slow, sweet smile spread over his face like sunshine. “It’s us.”
She nodded. “Do you like it?”
“It’s so gorgeous, Lauren,” Kyle said. “You’re amazing.”
The painting showcased a couple, walking along the beach, silhouetted against the sunset streaking the sky, turning the sand to gold and rose. In front of the couple, a yellow dog raced along, his ears flying behind him. The dog looked joyful and uninhibited, caught in mid-bark at the seagulls wheeling overhead, so vivid that their cries were nearly audible. A sailboat with a bright cerulean spinnaker billowing in front, sailed across a cut-glass sea. The couple in the foreground walked hand in hand, their jeans rolled up, content just to be together. The woman’s red hair streamed like a banner behind them.
“I love the painting, Lauren. It’s perfect.”
She turned into his arms, smiling up at him. “You okay with giving up your bachelor pad?”
“I’m right where I want to be,” Kyle said. He pulled his camera out of his bag and waved her in front of the painting, showing him, Casey, and Lauren together, in their happy ending.
“I love you, beautiful,” Kyle said, shooting away to capture the expression on her face. He put the camera on the coffee table before sweeping her into his arms for a deep kiss. “I’m glad I get to come home to you now.”
“Forever.” Lauren nodded. “At last.”
Author’s Note
You won’t find Apple Harbor if you consult a map of Massachusetts Bay. It’s a fictionalized amalgamation of some little towns along the upper edge of Massachusetts Bay, on Cape Ann just north of Boston. I imagined it nestling somewhere along the coast between Gloucester (made most recently famous in The Perfect Storm) and Marblehead. The lobster trap tree that Lauren mentions painting a buoy for is a real decoration in Gloucester at the holidays.
The Blueberry Hill diner does not exist at all, except in my imagination. I imagine Maybelline and her main squeeze, Ralph, to still be serving up burgers and milkshakes, along with some wise relationship advice, there forever.
Boston Common and Boston Public Garden are beautiful spots in the city of Boston. The last time we visited Boston, my son was just three and quite taken with the Make Way for Ducklings statue. He is the little boy who insisted the duck’s name was Gracie and tried to feed it pretzels that Lauren mentions in the Christmas Day scene. Though it was too cold for Lauren and Kyle to enjoy the swan boats, the frog pond does become an ice rink each winter. However, it’s closed on Christmas so they couldn’t go skating that day. Next time!
The polar bear plunge is a real event on New Year’s Day in Boston and around the world. The polar bears jump into the frigid surf for a quick dip.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the second book in the Always a Bridesmaid series as much as I enjoyed writing it. Matthew and Erin’s love story is chronicled in Forever a Bridesmaid, the first book of the Always a Bridesmaid series. Next up, Dylan gets his second chance at true love in Never a Bridesmaid.
If you enjoyed Once a Bridesmaid, please leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon. Reviews are critical to helping a book succeed, especially for a new series. Please let other readers know what they can expect from Kyle and Lauren’s love story.
While you are waiting for more bridesmaids, check out my other novels, including The Lost Art of Second Chances and the Cupid’s Coffeeshop series, launching in January 2016.
Please come visit me at www.Courtney-Hunt.com and sign up for my email newsletter. No spam! Just new releases and other big news.
I’m also usually found on twitter at @courtneyhunt71, and would love to chat!
Acknowledgements
This book is largely about best friends, so I dedicated it to mine. I met Lynn on my first day of high school, just after I got my first and only detention for being late to class when I got lost in the maze of hallways. I took my seat, the only remaining vacant one, directly in front of my future best friend, and promptly introduced myself. We’ve been friends for over thirty years now, through school, careers, weddings, marriage, and babies. Here’s to another wonderful thirty years together! Thank you for being the best friend anyone could ever ask for.
Thank you to my amazing story and developmental editor, Bev Katz Rosenbaum, who is always right. Also many thanks to the Killion Group fo
r copy-editing, formatting, and my gorgeous cover.
I’m also very grateful to my alpha-readers, Heather and Glenn, who helped me shape the story and develop the characters. I don’t know what I’d do without you!
Also, thank you to United Airlines for delaying my flight home from Boston for the three hours it took me to re-write the ending. Never been so glad to hang out at Logan Airport.
I wrote most of this book in ten-minute increments while my son was out of school for the summer, in between trips to the pool, making crafts, and building Legos. As a birthday gift, my parents provided a day of free sitting when I marathoned the final third of the book, so thanks very much to them. And also to my husband, who is always a dreamboat.
Thanks very much to my darling son, Connor, for playing by himself while Mommy wrote. I love you, little man.
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