Perfectly Charming (A Morning Glory Novel Book 2) (26 page)

“I love you.”

“I won’t get tired of hearing that,” he said as he grabbed his cell phone.

Epilogue

A month later Jess stood on the beach with Rosemary and Eden. They’d spent the pretty autumn day drinking piña coladas while lounging in beach chairs and reading magazines. That night they’d gone out for seafood and listened to Rosemary’s account of her Vegas honeymoon with Sal. Jess never would have picked that location for her old-fashioned friend, but the pictures on Rosemary’s phone showed a heart-shaped hot tub, Sal with a flamingo dancer, and Rosemary with, of course, an Elvis impersonator. They’d ridden roller coasters, played craps, and spent a lot of time in the Bellagio honeymoon suite.

“It’s so beautiful here,” Rosemary breathed, swiping a bare foot across the crystal sands. The sun lingered over their right shoulders, and children splashed in the rolling waves. Summer had gone, but the days were warm enough to swim, the night cool enough to make a walk pleasant. Jess started walking in the surf pushing onto the sand. Rosemary and Eden followed.

“I could live here,” Eden said, kicking a wave.

“Not me,” Rosemary said, smiling at her friend. “I like my small-town life, and so does Sal. He’s now part of the Rotary Club.”

“He’ll be president by next year,” Jess said with a smile. Coming up the beach, she saw Morgan with her new man. The brunette gave a wave. Jess waved back. Morgan had come around once Jess moved in with Ryan. They’d even had margaritas last week while Ryan and Logan repaired the railing on Morgan’s condo.

“Probably,” Rosemary said with a smile.

Jess had spent the last month moving all of her belongings to Pensacola. She and Ryan weren’t engaged but instead had chosen to move in together. Her parents weren’t exactly thrilled about her living with a man, but they understood both her and Ryan’s need to take things slower. She and Ryan were happy with how things were going, and they were planning on hosting Ryan’s parents for Thanksgiving, something Ryan still marveled at. “Ryan will be teaching at Pensacola University next semester.”

“You didn’t tell us that,” Eden said with a smile.

“The job offer was made official today. He’ll be going back into academia, but he’s still running the charter boat service on the days he doesn’t teach classes. He’s excited about working with students, and he’ll be collaborating with another professor on a research grant.”

“Bet that made his parents happy,” Rosemary said.

“They’re pleased, but you know, I think they’ve finally accepted he’s not interested in being a Nobel Prize winner. But he
is
rediscovering the nerd side of himself. Even dug out his
Dr. Who
and sci-fi movies from underneath
Rudy
and
Fast and Furious
.”

“I love a sexy nerd,” Eden said with teasing in her voice. “Does he know any single professors at the college waiting to sweep the manager of Penny Pinchers off her orthotics?”

They all laughed and kept walking toward the sinking sun, happy to be together for a few days.

“You’ll have your turn,” Rosemary said, looking over at Eden.

“I know,” Eden said, sobering. “I haven’t told you guys, but Sunny got some bad news about Alan. You know he’s doing a tour in Afghanistan. The helicopter he was in went down.”

“Oh no,” Jess said, stopping and looking at Eden. “Is he okay?”

“They haven’t found any survivors yet. They’re still searching.”

“That’s horrible, Eden,” Rosemary said, taking her hand. “How’s Sunny?”

“She’s hanging in there. She’s three months along, and since she lost the last pregnancy around this time, I’m worried about the stress from all this. She’s already on bed rest. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to bring a cloud along. Getting together will be harder now that both of you are settled down. And, honestly, I feel so selfish. Alan and Sunny were supposed to move back to Morning Glory once he finished his tour. I had hoped to finally go to college, and now I don’t know what will happen.”

“You’re not being selfish,” Jess said, wrapping an arm around her friend. Eden always seemed to get the short end of the stick.

They walked for a few minutes, none of them saying anything. Letting the unfairness of life peck at them. “Oh, hey,” Jess said after a few minutes of walking. “I almost forgot.”

Reaching into her cardigan pocket, she pulled out the paisley bag.

“The charm bracelet,” Rosemary said with a smile.

“Since I’m now in love, with a new job, and living on the beach, I figure I did what Lacy wanted. I let go and got lost. I found Ryan and a part of myself I never knew existed. No, a part of myself I wouldn’t allow to see sunlight.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve always been snarky and sarcastic and practical, but beneath my scrubs I have a heart that’s—”

“A little romantic?” Rosemary finished for her.

“Yeah, a little,” Jess admitted, untying the strings that secured the ditty bag. She tipped the bracelet into her hand and extracted the small plastic bag that held a charm shaped like a flip-flop.

“Oh, that’s cute,” Eden said, taking the plastic bag and holding up the charm.

“Since I’m living on the beach, I figured it worked. Plus, I liked the little jewels in the thong part. A little sparkle in my life’s not a bad thing.”

Rosemary pretended shock with a gasp. “Next thing you know, you’ll be wearing sequins and using glitter eye shadow.”

“Ha-ha,” Jess said with a smile, carefully taking the charm away from Eden and sliding it from the bag. Holding the bracelet, she clipped it on. “There.”

She held the bracelet up and wiggled it. “Mission accomplished, Lacy.”

Twenty yards or so out, a dolphin rolled over the gentle waves.

“Oh my gosh. Did y’all see that?” Rosemary said, chasing the sucking surf a few feet and peering out at the spot where the dolphin had emerged. “Do you think . . .”

She looked back at them.

Jess smiled and shrugged. “I’m living with the Brain. Anything is possible.”

Eden laughed. “I don’t think Lacy would come back as a dolphin. She hated getting her hair wet, remember?”

“That’s true,” Rosemary said, rejoining them. “But still, that was cool.”

Jess slid the bracelet back into the bag and held it out to Eden. “Your turn.”

Eden waved off the bag. “I’m not ready yet. Okay? Besides, if I take it now, my dream will turn out to be Gary on a motorcycle and me with five snotty rug rats living in a trailer beside my mama.”

Jess wanted Eden to take the bag, but she understood. Eden was too scared to believe anything good would happen to her. But Jess knew it would because she now believed in the woo-woo Lacy had promised. Maybe there were guardian angels who wore blue wigs and drove orange pickup trucks. Jess tucked the bag back into her pocket and linked her arm through Eden’s and then Rosemary’s. “Come on, Eden. You’ve got a fairy tale in front of you.”

“I don’t want a fairy tale. I just want to quit working at Penny Pinchers. Prince Charming can wait.”

“But sometimes he doesn’t,” Jess said, thinking about her own Prince Charming lying naked on the beach stargazing. Sometimes a gal trips over her Prince Charming . . . and finds he was exactly what she wanted, warts and all.

And as she and the girls returned to Del Luna, she caught sight of Ryan standing on the beach, looking out at the surf. It struck her that on her first night in Pensacola when she’d taken the moonlight walk on the beach, he’d been there. Waiting for her.

As he was now.

Ryan turned and smiled as they approached and held out his hand to Jess. He wore a plaid shirt and a lanyard from Pensacola University that said
Department of Biological Science
. “Who wants some tequila?”

Yeah, life was good with her frat boy nerd.

She lifted onto her toes and gave him a kiss. “I’ll pass on the tequila, but wine would be excellent.”

“Whatever you want,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and following Rosemary and Eden up the steps to the walkway.

“Guess he’ll always be your puppy,” Rosemary joked.

“No, he’s not my puppy. He’s my prince.” Jess looked at Ryan and then whispered, “I love you.”

His answer was a kiss.

Yeah, just like a prince.

Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank Kim Law and Terri Osburn for their encouragement, advice, and friendship. Not only are both fantastic writers, but they excel in being cheerleaders, butt kickers, and overall decent human beings.

About the Author

Photo © 2009 Kara Lee

RITA-nominated author Liz Talley writes sassy contemporary romances set in the South, where the tea is sweet, the summers are hot, and the men are hotter. Her first book,
Vegas Two-Step
, debuted in June 2010, and Liz has published nineteen romances since. She lives in northern Louisiana with her childhood sweetheart, two handsome children, three dogs, and a mean cat. Liz loves doing laundry, paying bills, and creating masterful dinners for her family. She also lies in her bio to make herself look like the perfect wife. What she
really
likes are pretty shoes, lemon-drop martinis, and fishing off the pier at her lake house. You can visit Liz at
www.liztalleybooks.com
to learn more about her and her upcoming books.