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SARAH SMILED TO HERSELF as she shut the car door, walking down the sidewalk toward her office. She breezed inside, her hobo bag sliding down her arm, bracelets jangling. She’d been in such a good mood, she’d thrown on a ton of jewelry without thinking. She couldn’t exactly work through exercises with her patients sporting an arm full of jewelry though.
“How was your weekend, girl?” Dawn asked, flashing Sarah a knowing smile as she walked in.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Sarah said as she set down her green smoothie and slid the bracelets off her arm. “It was incredible. We surprised everyone Saturday night by telling them we were engaged. The guys thought it was just a welcome home get-together since Patrick’s team just got back from a mission. They were pretty much blown away when we told them we were getting married.”
“I bet. How’d your brother react?” Dawn asked.
Sarah laughed. “He was happy for us. I don’t think he was all that surprised—I mean, I’m over at Ryan’s most of the week anyway. I practically live there, so I’m sure he saw it coming.”
“So when are you officially moving here?”
Sarah shrugged. “Not sure. There are a million details to work out. This weekend we were so excited, we planned the beach bonfire for Saturday night and then just relaxed at home all day yesterday.”
“That sounds pretty perfect to me.”
“For sure,” Sarah agreed. “Coming into work and back to the real world today was brutal. I don’t think we’re going to have a long engagement either. Ryan and I talked yesterday, and we’re both excited and ready to move forward with the next part of our lives. Which means I need to start planning big time.”
“The wedding or moving?”
“Yes.”
Dawn laughed. “Then let’s do it! I’ll help with planning the wedding.”
“Really?”
“Of course, girl! I’m going to live vicariously through you for the time being.”
“Morgan wants to help plan also,” Sarah said, taking another sip of her smoothie. “Maybe after work one day we can go dress shopping? I want something beachy and ethereal, you know, with kind of a bohemian vibe? There’s a few shops nearby I want to check out, and of course there are bridal stores back in Norfolk.”
“Yes!” Dawn squealed. “Let’s go dress shopping. If I can’t plan my own wedding yet since I’m totally single, I’m one hundred percent here for planning yours. Want to grab drinks tonight and take a peek at some?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?” Sarah asked with a laugh. She glanced at her phone. “I’ll text Morgan. We’ll swing by one of the shops and see if we can just take a look at some. I heard some places want you to make an appointment or whatever, but we can pop in just to look.”
“Sounds like a plan!”
***
AFTER WORK, SARAH PULLED into a row of shops in the business section of Virginia Beach. Although restaurants and bars dotted the long stretch of boardwalk, the center of the city had office buildings and shopping centers. She shuddered slightly as she caught sight of the bank down the block. There’d been a robbery there not too long ago, and Jessica, the girlfriend of a guy on the Delta team, had been one of the people held hostage inside. Of course Jacob and some of the other guys had come to her rescue, but good grief.
That was not something she wanted to even think about.
Climbing out of her Mini Cooper, she waved as she spotted Morgan down the street. “Hi hun! Did you go home and change?” Morgan asked, eyeing the swingy sundress that Sarah had traded her scrubs for.
“Yep. Ryan’s working late on base, so I quick ran home since I figured we might be out a while. I couldn’t get pictures of shopping for dresses in my scrubs,” she said, running her fingers through her long hair. Her hobo purse slid down her arm, and she gripped it lightly in one hand, practically skipping over to Morgan.
“Well don’t show the pictures to him,” Morgan teased. “Just text them to your mom or something.”
“Well duh,” Sarah joked. “Ryan can see the dress on our wedding day. And I told Rebecca I’d send her pictures, too, but she has to promise not to show Patrick.”
“You really think he’d chat about wedding dresses with Ryan? Doubtful.”
“Hey, just covering my bases.”
“Cute sandals,” Morgan said, eyeing the strappy pair Sarah had put on.
“Ryan loves them,” Sarah confessed. “He acts all macho and stuff, but I swear he loves when I wear dresses and feminine sandals and jewelry.”
“He’s a man,” Morgan said dryly. “Of course he does.”
Sarah shrugged. “I just had assumed a man like him would be more into the outdoorsy type. Obviously I was wrong.”
Morgan giggled. “Amongst other things. You two fought for a year before getting together. Now you’re inseparable.”
“Touché.”
“So tell me more about the party,” Morgan said as they walked over to the dress boutique. “The bonfire was a hit?”
“It was fab—perfect weather, awesome food, and everyone from both of Ryan’s teams made it. You should’ve come!”
“It was for all of Ryan’s military guys,” Morgan protested. “Maybe if some of them were single or something, but a whole bunch of couples and me? No thanks. We’ll celebrate your engagement with some friends another time.”
“Sounds like a plan! Oh, and Dawn’s meeting us here, too. She texted that she’d be here in a few minutes.”
“Your coworker, right?” she asked as Sarah nodded. “Sure, sounds good.”
The sound of a car door shutting had them both looking up, and Sarah was surprised to see the Hispanic man she’d seen outside of her office here. “Well hello Ms. Nurse—I mean physical therapist,” he joked as he walked over. “What are you doing here?”
“You two know each other?” Morgan asked, frowning.
He stopped a few feet away, his gaze sliding between the two of them. “Not officially,” he said with a slight accent. “But we’ve talked before. I’m Juan.”
“Sarah,” she said immediately, holding out her hand. He reached out and gripped it, a little bit too tightly, but then he was letting go and shaking Morgan’s hand. “And this is my best friend Morgan. I thought you were in town for a few weeks or something?”
“That’s right,” he said. “I’ve got an appointment down there,” he said, cocking his head toward a massage place at the end of the strip of shops. “I need to relax while I’m on vacation, right?”
“Absolutely,” she agreed.
“And you’re...engaged?” he asked, glancing down at the ring on her finger and up at the dress boutique. “Ah, congratulations! What a lucky man he must be.”
Morgan shifted from one foot to the other. “So how do you guys know each other?”
“Oh, he was outside my office last week, and we chatted a few minutes,” Sarah said. “I meet lots of people that way since my office is so close to the beach.”
“Right,” Morgan said. “Well, we better head inside and get started. Bye!” She grabbed Sarah’s arm and tugged her into the store.
“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked, looking at her in confusion once they were inside.
“I got a creepy vibe from him,” Morgan said.
“Oh, he’s harmless,” Sarah said. “He hangs out around the beach in the morning, so I’ve seen him on my way into work. He’s just sitting there having his coffee.”
“Then what’s he doing over here now?”
“Getting a massage apparently. Who cares? We’re here to try on dresses, not talk about some random guy from the beach.”
“I don’t know. He had a creepy look in his eyes when he was watching you,” Morgan said. “He seemed a little too eager to see you here.”
“Oh, you worry too much,” Sarah said, smiling as one of the sales associates walked over. “I talk to people by the boardwalk all the time when I’m coming and going from the office. He’s harmless.”
“Hello ladies, I’m Lily,” a redheaded woman said as she walked over. “Could I get you each a glass of champagne? And which one of you is the lucky bride?”
“That’s me,” Sarah said. “Another friend is meeting us here, too. And yes, we’d absolutely love some champagne.”
