Forrester called next.

“Grant.”

“Forrester.”

“What the hell’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jackson told me I need to pick up an entire refrigerated truck’s worth of chilled, fresh roses from the dock market.”

“An entire truck’s worth?”

“Yes.”

“That must have been expensive.”

“You don’t want to know.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“Well, there’s no problem. I just need to know where to take them.”

“So you got them?”

“Yes, I did.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Forrester.”

“So, where am I taking them?”

“You know the mountain top by the valley pass, where you can watch the sun set over the ocean?”

“The one off the Pacific highway?”

“Yes. Take the flowers there. There’s a little white chapel there, built of fresh-cut pine.”

“There’s no chapel up there.”

“There is now, Forrester. I know. I built it.”

“You built it? When?”

“When no one was looking.”

“It must have taken months.”

“I started the night of Jackson and Faith’s wedding.”

“What are you planning, Grant?”

“What does it look like I’m planning, Forrester? I’m planning a wedding.”

“You’ve got some balls, brother. You know how mad Lacey is at you right now?”

“I know it,” I said, with a sigh.

“All right. I’ll take them there. And what do you want me to do with them?”

“Will the truck keep them cool over night.”

“Yeah, it will keep them at the optimal temperature for up to four days.”

“Okay, so tomorrow afternoon, before sunset, I need you to go up there and get things ready. Make the place look nice.”

“Make it look nice?”

“Faith will help you. Get the flowers set up. Scatter them around. Get that priest from Jackson’s wedding, the Spanish guy.”

“Grant, this is crazy. What if Lacey loses her shit?”

“That’s her right. Now, go, and get the priest to bring the paperwork too. And tell the others to be there. The wedding will take place at sunset. They should dress nice.”

My heart was pounding. I had the dress. I had the flowers. Things were starting to come together. I still didn’t have the girl, though. What on earth was Lacey going to say when I dropped this bomb on her?

The way I saw it, it could go one of two ways, and it was a risk I had to take. Either, she’d freak out and tell me to go to hell. It wouldn’t be the first time Lacey and I didn’t see eye to eye on something.

I could take it if she got mad at me. I just couldn’t take it if I let her slip through my fingers again. I had to make her my wife. She was my destiny. She was my soulmate. I knew she was. If I didn’t make her my wife, my life would be incomplete forever, no matter what else I achieved.

The second way it could go, was that she’d say yes. She’d want me. She’d agree to marry me. And then she’d be amazed that everything she’d ever wanted for her perfect wedding was all there, waiting for her, ready to go. It was worth the risk. It was worth the chance that it might shock her. The perfect wedding, as a surprise? What girl wouldn’t want that?

My phone rang again.

“Grant, it’s Grady.”

“What is it, Grady?”

“The dove guy says he can deliver a thousand doves if you can pay for them.”

“A thousand doves?”

“You should see this place, Grant. It’s an entire flock of doves.”

“Do you think that many will be too much?”

“Honestly?”

“Yes, honestly.”

“Grant. Honestly, I think a thousand white doves, flying over the ocean into the sunset would be the most beautiful freaking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

I laughed. “Okay, order them. Call Forrester for the details of when and where they need to be.”

“Don’t you want to know the cost?”

“No, I don’t care. Just make sure the guy has a humane way of recapturing them all. Lacey would freak out if anything bad were to happen to those birds.”

I was amazed. It seemed like this thing was really coming together. I might actually pull it off, with the help of my family.

It was true, what I’d said earlier. I really did believe it. I know I’ve said bad things about weddings in the past, but the truth is, weddings are a miracle. They’re a complete admission, by one man and one woman, that they believe in the magic of love. They believe that something as amazing as a new family can be created just because they love each other.

I tried to go through a mental checklist of everything I still needed, which was difficult with the amount of stray thoughts flying through my head, when the phone rang again.

It was Faith’s number.

“Faith?”

“No, it’s Sam.”

“Sammy? What the hell? Shouldn’t you be at school, little man?”

“I was, but my mom pulled me out to take care of your shit.”

“Watch your language, Sam. What would your mother say if she heard you talking like that?”

“She’s not here. She’s getting the flowers with my dad.”

“I don’t want to get in trouble for teaching you to swear.”

“Okay, I’ll watch my language. Now, lets talk brass taxes.”

“Brass taxes?”

“Do you want vanilla, chocolate, cherry, or what?”

“For what?”

“For the filling, between layers on the cake?”

“Oh, man. I have no idea.”

“It’s for Lacey right?”

“Who told you that?”

“Grant. I’ve got a team of detectives working on it round the clock for me.”

I shook my head. Where’d Sam learn to be such a smart ass? Too much time with me and the brothers and his father.

“Yes, it’s for Lacey.”

“All right. I know her favorite everything.”

“Really?”

“I’ve had enough cake with her to know exactly what she’d want.”

“All right, Sam. I’m trusting you with this. You get them to make the ultimate cake. The most extravagant thing they can come up with. We need it for tomorrow.”

“I know, I know. Tomorrow, for sunset over the ocean, surrounded by flowers and doves.”

“Who told you all that?”

“Everyone knows everything, Grant. Except for Lacey of course. Just leave this to us. We’ve got your back.”

“Thanks, Sammy.”

“Any time, Uncle Grant. You’ve had my back enough times in the past. We’ve got yours on this.”

By the time I got home, no one was there. It was no wonder. They were all out arranging my dream wedding. I took the opportunity to collapse onto my bed. I slept like a log.