Page 35 of The Surprise Wedding
For reasons no one could explain, Tamara’s coffee shop had been hopping all morning, and for the millionth time, she wondered how on earth she’d been able to run the place on her own for so long. The teens were old pros now, and they could whip up any sort of exotic coffee. The customers got a real kick out of them, and Tamara’s little business was gaining a great reputation.
Tamara took a late lunch, grabbing her phone and a salad, and went to relax on the back step. She thought about Nate and how he was doing. She wondered if he had found her little gift, but just because she hadn’t heard from him yet didn’t mean a thing. It was the day before the wedding, and he would be swamped. She trusted Nate and knew he would call or visit whenever he had two seconds.
She began going through her emails and was surprised to find an email forwarded by Nate from what was obviously his brother’s address. The subject line said Wedding Photos.
Sure enough, there was a link there to photographs from the wedding at the beach house. Most of them were of Tim and Florentine, obviously, but Tamara found several of her and Nate. Photos of them standing together, dancing together, caught midkiss, laughing, walking on the beach…
The part that made Tamara’s breath catch was just how much like a couple she and Nate looked. They looked so natural together in the photographs, so obviously right for each other.
Of course we look like a couple, Tamara told herself. We might have been trying to convince his family that we were a couple, but we are a couple, and these photos prove it.
Once the wedding meeting was over, Jenn invited Nate to swing by the kitchen and said she would make him something to eat.
Ten minutes later, he was sitting at the island, eating a sandwich. “Wow, Jenn, this is delicious,” he said. “I didn’t get time for breakfast this morning, and I’m starving.”
She shook a playful finger at him. “Nate, you have to start eating properly. Coffee and Twizzlers are not food groups.”
“Yeah, I know. Once this wedding is over, I’m actually going to stock up my fridge.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. I’m giving you a pass because I know you’ve been so busy. While you finish lunch, I’m going to finish frosting the wedding cake.”
“Sounds good, Jenn, and thanks again. When I’m done here, I’ll head up to my office, go through the last couple of bits, check in with Daniel, and then actually head home while it’s still light out.”
“That’s more like it,” she said, pulling out the mixer to make more royal icing. “See you tomorrow.”
Nate headed up to his office, feeling pretty darn good. The online feed for the wedding tomorrow was locked down, and Zach Jarrs himself had done the final check. Liz was happy, Yuriko was happy, and finally he could breathe easy.
As soon as he walked into his office, he noticed a coffee carafe sitting on his desk, and beside it was a small box. He’d recognize that carafe anywhere—it was one of a few that Tamara kept on hand at her coffee shop. The box contained some creamers and sugars and stir sticks and a couple of doughnuts. He smiled. She must have brought this over earlier today. Awww. Then he noticed an envelope… addressed to him. His heart began to race. It was a letter from Tamara.
The second he opened the envelope, a few things spilled onto his desk—some beach sand, tiny little seashells, a paper napkin, a balloon, and a letter written in Tamara’s large and loopy handwriting.
* * *
Dear Nate,
* * *
I’ve missed you so much this week, and I can’t stop thinking about you. I don’t want to stop thinking about you. I want to think about you for the rest of my life. You are the first person I think of when I wake up, and your handsome face is the last thing I think about at night. Our weekend in San Diego was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
I love you, Nate. In fact, I think I loved you the moment we met, but I was too scared to admit it. But I’m not scared anymore.
I know your week has been crazy, but I’m still here, across the street, waiting to make you a coffee, waiting to kiss you, waiting to spend my life with you, and waiting, again, to tell you every day that I love you.
* * *
Yours,
Tamara
* * *
Tears were streaming down Nate’s face, but they were happy tears. In fact, he was laughing through those tears. How did he get so lucky to meet that girl across the street? He didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. The main thing was that it had happened. He had never received a love letter before, and he was shaking with emotion. He smiled tenderly as he imagined Tamara putting those beautiful words together just for him. He had to take his glasses off and clean his lenses so he could read the letter a few more times.
He sat and looked at all the little things that had accompanied the letter, those sweet keepsakes they had collected on the beach and at the wedding in San Diego. They were so special because they had chosen them together and because they were memories of their time together. Tamara couldn’t have given him anything more meaningful.
He had fretted about finding the perfect way to tell Tamara that he loved her and thought that he had blown it. But now Tamara had said “I love you” in the most perfect way imaginable. And in doing so, she had made him feel so special and so loved.
He carefully folded Tamara’s letter and put it in his satchel. There was only one place he needed to be right now.
