Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“We can’t leave Palmer and Mason to handle all the rest of this.”
Brax sighed. “You’re right, of course.”
At that moment, Kris signaled for everyone’s attention.
“As fun as this has been, there are only three ferries left that will be leaving the island tonight. The schedule was posted on the invites for everyone. Now would be a good time to start saying goodbye.”
“She’s my new hero,” I said softly.
“You know,” Brax said as he looked around, “a number of people have already left.”
I nodded. “I said some goodbyes to people in the last hour or so. And everyone has come up to me to thank us for the invite.”
“I’ve had a lot of that too. And Sutton and Brody left about an hour ago. Sutton claimed exhaustion, but Brody had a feeling she was craving fried chicken from that place right off Main that opened not too long ago.”
“Kenny’s Fried Chicken?”
He pointed at me. “That’s the one.”
“Harlee, Braxton.”
The sound of my mother’s voice caused me to turn. She was standing alongside my father.
“It was such a beautiful wedding!” she said.
I hugged her and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Mom. It was fun keeping a secret like that from everyone.”
She laughed. “You could give Ms. Seaside a run for her money!”
Brax let out a bark of laughter. “Can you imagine Harlee as Ms. Seaside?”
My mother tittered. “Not at all. Not that you don’t have it in you, sweetheart, but I just don’t see it.”
I glanced over at my father, who simply grinned and gave me a half shrug. “We’re taking off, kids.” Engulfing me in an embrace, he whispered, “Well done, Mrs. B.”
I hugged him back tightly. “Thank you, Daddy.”
When we drew back, he gave me a quick nod and then reached for my mother’s hand. “Come on, darling. I don’t want to miss the ferry.”
After Kris’s announcement, the tent was soon empty of almost everyone but the people who were cleaning up. Kris, of course, was running around directing them.
Palmer was sitting in a chair, rubbing her foot with one hand. When she looked up at me, we both exchanged grins. “Not used to wearing heels like that,” she said.
“Me either. All I really want is for Brax to massage my feet.”
Sighing, Palmer looked around. “It was so beautiful, wasn’t it?”
“It really was.”
“Mason and I are going to go change, then take a walk on the beach.”
“That’ll be nice,” I said as I slipped my own heels off and wiggled my toes.
“Did you and Brax want to join us?”
I slid my gaze to the right to look at her. “As much as I loved sharing my wedding day with you, Palmer, I’m not sharing my wedding night with you as well.”
She laughed. “I meant to relax for a bit.”
“No, thank you. The only way I want to relax is with a foot massage and then having your brother—”
Shoving a hand in front of my face, she begged, “Don’t say it! For the love, Harlee, don’t say it!”
I pushed her hand away. “I was going to say, then having your brother sneak down for some food.”
“Oh.”
“Then I’ll have hot wedding sex with him all night.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can’t with you.”
“Kris told us to leave since she hired people to help out with all the clean-up. So I vote for leaving,” Brax said as he bent down to grab my heels—then pulled my sneakers out from behind his back.
“Oh my God! If I didn’t love you a lot before, I really, really, really love you now.”
Palmer raised a brow at Mason.
His cheeks turned pink. “I have failed you, my wife. I will, however, carry you to our room if you wish.”
Palmer stood and kicked off her other heel. “I can walk barefoot.”
Wrapping his arm around her waist, Mason looked back at us. “Enjoy, you guys.”
“We will!” Brax and I both said.
“And you too!” I called out, watching them walk out of the tent and toward the bed and breakfast.
I slipped on my sneakers and laced my fingers with Brax’s as we waved and called out our goodbyes and thanks once again to Kris.
As soon as we got up to our suite, I collapsed onto the bed. “I’m so exhausted!”
“So am I,” Brax said, sitting on the bed, then dropping back.
Turning my head to look at him, I found myself taken aback by how handsome he was. My husband. All those years, I’d secretly told myself I wasn’t in love with him, only to actually fall more in love with him than ever before.
Brax had his eyes closed, and I watched his chest rise and fall, his breathing seeming to slow down a bit. I rolled onto my side and propped my head on my hand.
“Do you want to shower and maybe sleep for a bit?” I asked.
He turned his head. “I want to make love to you. But I also really want to relax.”