Oddly, she’d also been seeing this scene for years—Will talking to her dad, Will as part of the family. She just hadn’t been able to reconcile her dream vision with the reality.

She had now. And it was wonderful.

“It’s not like we’re living together, Mom. He has his own apartment in Seattle.”

Marnie sniffed. “I still don’t understand why he sold his house. A perfectly good piece of real estate…”

Brynn only gave her mom half an ear. Will hadn’t bothered to try and buy back his house when he’d returned to Seattle. It seemed silly for both of them to have big houses right next door to each other when they were spending their nights in the same bed.

Will had, however, insisted on getting his own apartment so as not to rush her. But she suspected there was another reason…Despite all his live-on-the-wild-side lectures, Will Thatcher had a streak of old-fashioned in him, and didn’t want to shack up with a girl who wasn’t his wife.

But she was wearing him down.

“Brynny, do you have a Taser? Trish’s kids are awful,” Sophie said, appearing at her side, slightly out of breath.

“No, but you can bribe them with marshmallows,” Brynn said, gesturing at the s’mores table for later.

“Yeah, because that’s what they need. More sugar,” Sophie said, her own cheeks now full of said marshmallow.

“I think they’re cute,” Brynn said, looking over to where her cousin’s twin daughters ran frantic circles on the lawn.

“The chubby one bit me.”

“You’re an elementary schoolteacher, you’re supposed to love kids.”

Sophie stuffed another marshmallow in her mouth. “I like them between the hours of seven and three p.m. Not so much on weekends when I want my wine.”

Brynn gestured toward the large silver bucket where several bottles of white wine were nestled amid the ice, but Gray was already on it, pouring a hefty glass for his wife.

“Can I help you with anything, Brynn?” Gray said, neatly popping the cap off a beer bottle and walking it over to the trash can.

The tidy action made Brynn smile. It was exactly what she would have done, whereas Sophie and Will would have flopped the cap on the table to be picked up later. By somebody else.

She met her brother-in-law’s eyes and they seemed to smile back at her, as though to say opposites attract, and all that.

“How’s Jenna?” Brynn asked Gray, after moving the flower arrangement just a few inches to the left and deciding that it was good enough. And that was another thing Will had taught her in the past few months since she’d coaxed him back from Chicago. When it came to the little stuff, sometimes, good enough was just right.

“Jenna’s on an absolute tear,” Gray said.

“Yeah, she mentioned that the guy she’s moving in with is trying to break up with her.”

Sophie snorted. “‘Trying’ is the operative word there. Nobody’s going to break up with that girl unless she wants it.”

“Seriously,” Brynn muttered. “I hope that guy’s ready to part with his testicles.”

After she and Will became official, Jenna had sent a succinct e-mail that read “Finally.” The two women had become pen pals of sorts since then. The most recent e-mail had been a scathing note about how the love of her life was having an existential crisis and could no longer handle Jenna’s fabulousness.

Jenna had mentioned a plan, and Brynn had silently said a prayer for the sake of the poor guy. She knew exactly how plans could blow up in your face.

“Grill’s preheated,” Will said, coming up behind her and tugging on her ponytail. She was growing her hair back out to its original length, and the blonde was here to stay. But no longer was she painstakingly straightening it with a flat-iron every day.

It was a little bit looser nowadays.

Just like her.

“I’ll get the plates,” she said, turning to head toward the kitchen after sneaking a quick kiss.

He snagged her elbow before she could go back inside. “I want to say something first.”

Brynn sent him an alarmed look. “If you tell anyone that we have matching tattoos,” she hissed.

“Not that,” he said, kissing her temple. “That’s just for us.”

“Well, and my parents, seeing as you told them—”

Will ignored her. “Hey, can I get everyone’s attention for a few minutes?”

The chatter abruptly stopped, and friends and neighbors who’d been standing in various clusters around the backyard turned to face them.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “I’m not singing another duet with you; that was a one-time drunken thing…”

Will continued to ignore her as he addressed the group. “As you all know, my Brynny here has made some recent changes in the past couple months.”

“Cheers to that,” Sophie added.

“…she no longer has to consult a chart to decide what to wear each Monday, she’s no longer collecting brochures for her post-sixty Alaskan retirement cruise…”

“Only ’cause you made me,” Brynn hissed. “That cruise is supposed to be a spectacular treat for the elderly…”

Will put a hand over her face, playfully stifling her. “Anyway, point being, our little planner has taken great strides in embracing spontaneity.”

Brynn rolled her eyes, even as she flushed with pleasure at the pride in Will’s voice.

“But…” Will said, holding up a finger.

Brynn’s smile slipped.

“…our girl’s been hiding a dirty little secret under the mattress in the guest bedroom.”

Her face went hot as she grabbed his arm. “Wait, I can explain…”

“No need, honey, I think most of the women here will be able to relate…”

He moved toward one of the side tables, pulled a thick notebook out from under a bowl of chips, and held it up for everyone to see.

Sophie cried out in glee. “Oh, Brynny, it’s your wedding notebook.”

Marnie turned to her husband. “I have about six of those for each girl…of course, Sophie had to go and elope…”

Brynn’s dad and Gray each put a hand on Marnie’s shoulder and pressed. Hard.

“I thought we said no planning,” Will said with a teasing smile as he dangled the book in front of Brynn’s face. “But flipping through this, it looks like you’ve got quite a few things figured out.”

Only since I was six, she thought.

“Oh, that thing’s still around?” Brynn asked, her voice too high. “It must have escaped the shredder. Here, give it to me, and I’ll get rid—”

Will lifted the book higher and out of her reach before handing it to Sophie for safekeeping.

“I think maybe this is one of your planning notebooks that we’ll keep,” Will said, hooking a hand behind her neck and tilting her face up to him.

A few months ago, Brynn would have been mortified at such a blatant show of affection in front of so many people.

But now? Now she couldn’t care less who saw them together.

“I’ll get rid of it, really. It’s silly, and I don’t care about any of that—”

He stamped a hard kiss on her lips. “Yes, you do. And so do I. I may not have a wedding notebook, but I’ve been carrying something around with me since I was old enough to afford it.”

“So he was like twelve,” she heard Gray mutter.

All of the chattering around her turned to a dull hum as she watched Will drop to his knee.

“Will…” she said in a warning voice.

He shook his head. “We’re doing this the old-fashioned way. You’re not the only one who’s had a few dreams tucked away for future use. This is mine.”

Her eyes watered when he pulled out a perfect small, unmistakably sized jewelry box.

She opened it with shaking hands, her hand covering her wobbling lips at the perfect ring.

Her ring.

“See, Princess, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen your wedding notebook. That night after prom when I drove you home after your date ditched you…it was lying on your desk. You’d circled a picture of a ring, with a sticky note saying the one.”