Then he slides it on my middle finger.
“I love it on the middle finger,” Keatyn says, laughing. “It’s like a big fuck you to marriage.”
“Says the girl who is finally engaged, I see,” Tristan says. “Aiden and I worked for months on your perfect ring.”
“It is perfect,” she gushes. “He told you about our sunsets?”
“And the green flash.”
“Enough about engagements,” I interrupt. “We are here celebrating my rebirth. What do you think, Keatyn? Should I keep looking?” I hold my hand out in front of her.
“You tell us,” she sasses back. “You were always the girl who knew exactly what she wanted.”
Tears start to fill my eyes as I look sincerely into hers. “I lost that girl for a while, didn’t I?”
“Yeah. You’ve had a rough couple of years, but now you are back. Your business is prospering. You look fantastic.” She squeezes my hand back and says sincerely, “And you have good friends who love you.”
“You were the only client who didn’t leave me when I was going through everything. I never thanked you.”
“That’s because you didn’t need to thank me. We’re friends. It’s what friends do. So what do you think?”
I turn to Tristan, feeling stronger than I have in, well, a while. “I’ll take it.”
As we’re leaving, Keatyn wraps her arm in the crook of my elbow. “That felt good, didn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I say, holding up the ring so we can admire it some more. “I can’t believe it didn’t even need to be sized.”
“It was made for you.”
“You started to tell me about Ariela.”
“Oh, yeah. She’s an event planner and has a blog of her weddings. They’re beautiful.”
“And you’re thinking of having her do yours? Seriously, Keatyn, how are you going to pull off a wedding in three weeks? Is it going to be small?”
She bends her head down and looks over her sunglasses at me.
I laugh. “Sorry. Of course, you are not going to do anything small. Let me rephrase my question. How are you going to pull off a big wedding in three weeks?”
“We’re going to have it at our house at the vineyard. Probably do the reception in the new barn. That solves the location aspect. I’ve got to talk to Kym about a dress.”
“Did you get engaged because you’re pregnant?”
“No, he didn’t know. I did the pregnancy test the morning he proposed. Crazy timing. But I want to be married before the baby is born and I don’t want to look pregnant in the pictures.”
“Understandable.”
“Oh, and don’t yell at me, but I’m changing my name to Keatyn Arrington.”
“Well, of course, legally.”
“No, for movies too.”
“Keatyn, I know you love Aiden, but don’t give up your name. Not professionally. What if it doesn’t work out? I know right now it’s all rainbows and roses, but it might not always be that way. Trust me, I know.”
“Vanessa, did you think Bam was your true love?”
“I loved him. He was charming and . . .”
“That’s not what I asked. We can fall in love with different people throughout our lives but, sometimes, you find the one. That special one. The big deal. The dream.”
“The moon wish?” I say teasingly.
“Exactly.”
“It’s easy to say now that he wasn’t but my dad had reservations about him. His family wasn’t exactly loving toward me. Maybe I was just too young to see past the way he impressed me with his lifestyle. Maybe it was my fault too. Maybe I loved the lifestyle more than I did him.”
“Or maybe you had to go through it all to find the person you’re really supposed to be with. Maybe he’s not rich and famous and you needed the lesson?”
“I know you’re talking from experience on all that. I know that’s how you feel about the whole stalker thing. That he pushed you to learn important lessons about life, love, and family.”
“It certainly made me realize what’s important. It made me grow up. And that includes listening to Aiden even when I don’t agree with him.”
“You don’t agree on something?”
“Yes, he’s worried about Ariela being back in our life. Says we don’t know her and I shouldn’t be so quick to trust her. What if I ask her to plan my wedding and she tells everyone when it is? We figured we’d tell everyone, like the vendors, that it’s a fundraiser for Moon Wish . . .”
“If the press finds out, it will be a nightmare with helicopters flying overhead and all that.”
“Exactly what I don’t want.”
“Let’s put out a statement about your engagement. Then I’ll spread word that you’re thinking of a spring wedding in Paris.”
“That sounds good. And you’ll give me your opinion on Ariela after lunch?”
“Absolutely.”