Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Nate set her down and then folded his arms around her so that she was enveloped in a huge hug. It was like he couldn’t get close enough to her. They kissed, they cried, they laughed, and they kissed some more. “Yeah, I got your letter, and yeah, I know you love me. I love you too, Tamara. I’m deliriously in love with you, Tamara. I’m never letting you go. Are you good with that?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m definitely good with that.”
They stood in the sun, not saying a word, just looking at and holding on to each other. The little dog was beside them, looking back and forth between them.
“Well, that was easy,” Tamara said, and she and Nate both realized she could have been talking about them or the dog. Either way, they started laughing, and that became a joke between them for years to come. Well, that was easy.
“I always knew he’d come back, Tamara. He’s a cute little guy, and he deserves a good home.”
“Now we just need to figure out what to call him,” Tamara said. She and Nate tried to think of possibilities, but most of them didn’t fit. The double F of Furface just kept coming back. “How about Fifi?” Tamara said.
Before Nate could offer an opinion, the dog looked up, and Tamara knew in an instant that the name was perfect. Fifi it was. And just like that, he curled up and went to sleep in a patch of sunlight, looking like he had been there forever.
Nate and Tamara gazed longingly at each other, knowing they still had things to do before they could leave for the day, but they also knew they would see each other this evening and every evening for a long time to come.
Chapter Sixteen
The morning of the wedding, Nate got up super early and was the first to arrive at Married in Malibu. He stood outside his car for a moment, breathing in the fresh morning air. He looked over at Tamara’s shop, which was still dark. “I’ve gotta be the luckiest guy in the world,”
he said as he began to think of all the last-minute things he needed to do this morning. He felt like Superman. He could, and he would, do it all.
As she’d closed up the night before, Tamara had made sure everything at the coffee shop was ready for the following morning. Once again, her helpers would be holding the fort for her, but this time they were thrilled at the prospect of being in charge. Now all she had to think about was getting ready for the big wedding at Married in Malibu.
When Liz told her that Zach himself had invited her to his wedding, one of her first thoughts was, What to wear? She could wear the same dress she had worn to the wedding in San Diego, but she wanted to wear something different today… for Nate.
As she began to look through her wardrobe, her phone rang.
“Hi, Mom,” she said. “How are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m good,” her mother said. “We haven’t spoken this week, and I want to get caught up.”
Tamara smiled. “Well, I’m going to a wedding today.”
“What? Another one? Weren’t you at a wedding just last weekend? That makes two in as many weeks. Are you going with the same young man from the last one?”
Trust her mother to cut to the chase.
“Yes, Nate will be there,” Tamara said. “But that’s because the wedding is across the street at Married in Malibu, which is where he works. It’s quite an important wedding.” She thought about all the late nights Nate had endured and how much trust everyone was putting in him to pull it off. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you whose wedding it is, but if you’re near your computer, you might want to turn it on.”
“My computer?” her mother said. “What’s going on, Tamara?”
“I can’t say another word,” Tamara said.
“Tamara, is there something I should know about?”
It was obvious that her mother didn’t want to let a potentially juicy piece of gossip go, but Tamara really couldn’t give her an answer. “I’m not allowed to talk about it, Mom. It’s meant to be a secret.”
“Oh, darn, I like a bit of inside news.”
“Well, I do have some other news for you, Mom,” Tamara said with a dreamy note to her voice.
“I don’t know what you are going to say, honey, but you sound different… You sound happy.”
“Mom, I know you haven’t met him yet, but Nate and I are serious, very serious.”
“Really? Sweetheart, this is amazing news. I’m so happy for you both,” her mother said. “Tell me all about him.”
For the next five minutes, Tamara gave her mom the highlights from the past week. And then her mom asked, “So, you mean you’ve known Nate for several months, but it’s only just recently that things have moved ahead?”