Nathan had chuckled in recollection. “After all, it was payback time, Lauren. If it hadn’t been for your devious little manipulations that first day I met you, Julia and I might never have gotten back together. So I might have dropped a few hints to Ben that night at dinner, just enough to get him thinking. Looks like my machinations had the desired outcome, though. So we’re even now – sis.”
Nathan’s good-natured jibe hadn’t stopped Lauren from smacking him on the side of his head, with Julia shaking her head in exasperation.
“I think it’s a good thing that Mom and Dad never had a son,” Julia had declared. “Because Lauren would have been merciless towards him, if the way she treats Nathan is any indication.”
“Nah.” Lauren had waved a hand in dismissal, just before giving Nathan an affectionate smooch on the cheek. “It’s just that he’s such an easy target, you know? But I think he’s a keeper, Jules.”
Julia had smiled at her twin knowingly. “Just like Ben is, hmm? I finally figured it out, you know. Like you told me I would the night before my wedding. I put all the clues together, and right before we flew out to New York, all the pieces finally clicked into place. And I knew he was the one.”
Lauren had rolled her eyes. “Jesus, it took you that long to figure it out? I think Mom and Dad should write to Cornell so they can get a refund for your tuition, because you’re nowhere near as smart as I thought you were, Jules.”
But the twins’ good-natured ribbing of the other came to an abrupt halt when Natalie reminded everyone they had just over a month to plan a wedding – a wedding that would fortunately be a simple affair with fewer than fifty people in attendance.
Ben’s head had been spinning by the time the weekend had ended, for between Lauren, Julia, and their parents, the entire wedding had been organized in the space of seventy two hours or so. Natalie had arranged for the catering, wedding cake, and decorations; Robert the music, drinks, and extra tables and chairs; Julia the invitations, flowers, and what Lauren had caustically referred to as “half a dozen little girly touches”. Robert’s brother Malcolm had offered to do the photography, while Chris would be video taping the ceremony for them.
Lauren, meanwhile, had taken Ben with her to a very unique little shop in Big Sur where they’d chosen their rings, and she had also made a call to the minister who would be marrying them.
“Actually, he’s really more of a shaman,” she’d informed Ben blithely, and had then disappeared into another room before explaining further. It had been left up to Natalie to reassure him that this particular shaman was well known locally, and would not be showing up to the wedding in full Native American ceremonial garb or something similar.
They’d had to return to New York far too soon, but not before they had spent three magical nights alone at the cabin. Ben had fought hard to keep his emotions under control the first time he’d crossed the threshold of the place where he had spent the happiest weeks of his life. His hand had gripped the door jamb while looking around the great room, nodding in satisfaction to note that nothing had changed in six years.
“Home,” he had stated simply.
Lauren had nodded in agreement. “Always.”
She had moved in with him upon their return to New York, and had been the one to suggest that they consider renting the place out to vacationers via a service like Airbnb once Ben took Karl’s job over in January.
“After all,” she’d pointed out, “we’ll really only need this place for a week or two at a time. Our real home will be back in California.”
“Actually,” he’d corrected her with a sweet, tender kiss, “home will be wherever you happen to be at the moment.”
“Aw,” she’d gushed. “Aren’t you sweet? Maybe you should consider writing poetry sometime. But,” she had added more soberly, “you’re absolutely right, Blue Eyes. Home is definitely where the heart is, and since you’ve owned my heart from the moment I met you – well, you get the picture.”
Lauren smiled to herself now as she recalled how that rather gooey conversation had ended – the same way in which most of their conversations seemed to end these days – in bed. They had both been rather intent on making up for lost time over these past few weeks and had – in her exact words – done a bang-up job of breaking in their brand new mattress by, well, banging – a lot.
“Lauren, your uncle’s calling for us. He wants to take a few shots out on the deck before we head down to the beach.”
Lauren smiled up at her best friend who had just walked back inside the cabin. “Thanks, Angie. Guess we’d better go find Uncle Mal.”
She linked arms with her two attendants as they walked out of the cabin, shaking her head in disbelief. “Who would have thought that less than four months after Julia got married that I’d be walking down the aisle next?” she asked incredulously. “Or that Angie would be back with her mystery man.”
Angela laughed. “Well, you did catch Julia’s bridal bouquet, after all. And before you even consider doing so, do not plan on me catching your bouquet. You do realize that this is the first wedding Nick has consented to attend since he was a kid, don’t you? He certainly doesn’t intend for the next one to be his. Ever.”
Julia patted Angela on the shoulder. “He’ll change his mind one of these days, honey.”
Angela shook her head. “I doubt it. You don’t know him very well as yet. To call Nick set in his ways is putting it mildly. And it doesn’t matter to me. Honestly. I don’t need a wedding ring or piece of paper to know that we belong together. Or to prove how much he loves me.”
“If you’re trying to make me cry on my wedding day, it’s not working,” retorted Lauren. “At least not on me. But I think Julia’s about to ruin her eye makeup, so quit the sentimental stuff, Angie. Now, come on. You may not care about getting married, but oddly enough, I do. And it’s going to be perfect.”
Julia smiled at her twin fondly. “Well, of course it is. You’d never allow it to be anything but.”
Angela bent and gave her much shorter friend a kiss on the cheek. “I told you when you came to visit me in August that you deserved to be happy more than anyone else I know. And now it’s finally your turn, Lauren.”
***
It was with a sense of semi-detached disbelief that Ben looked out at the group of forty or so people milling around the section of beach that had been set up just a short time ago for his wedding. The wedding that still seemed unreal to him, as did the fact that it was really Lauren he would be marrying in just a few more minutes.
Lauren in particular had insisted on keeping the wedding small, just immediate family and their very closest friends and co-workers. She had also been the one who’d prodded him to invite his parents, even though he hadn’t been in touch with either of them for almost a year. Not surprisingly, his mother had mumbled some excuse about not being able to get away, the same way she had for both his high school and college graduations.
But he’d been pleasantly surprised when his father – Patrick – had actually accepted the invitation and even brought one of Ben’s half-brothers along. Unbeknownst to Ben, twenty year old Callan had been attending San Jose State University for the past couple of years, and had made the drive down to Big Sur with their father. The two of them had been welcomed with open arms by Lauren and her family to last night’s rehearsal dinner held at the McKinnons’ beach house in Carmel.
It had been both awkward and strange for Ben to see his father after so much time, as well as the half-brother he hadn’t seen since Callan was in middle school. But Lauren, with her outgoing, irrepressible personality, had somehow made it all okay, chatting with Patrick and Callan as though she’d known them for years, and making them feel like part of the family. It had touched Ben deeply to see how much she cared, and the effort she made to bring him and his family closer together.