The man was a romantic. Worse than me, it turned out. Hell, all Lamont needed for inspiration for his next romance novel was to watch Joel Rhodes for a week. In our months together, his touches never stopped; his constant assurances that I was better than he’d ever dreamed never ceased. But this, this might have topped them all.

I stared up at the sign above the little shop on the corner and squeezed Joel’s hand. “I knew you wouldn’t pick a name with Lavender in it, but…” I looked over at him, a little overwhelmed by the gesture.

He grinned. “Well, for a bit I considered Sandy’s Lavender Memorabilia, but then I thought maybe people would think I’d painted all the sports stuff purple. And that would for sure hurt the value. So just Sandy’s seemed best.” He walked toward the front door, pulling me with him. “There’s one more thing.”

I followed, Morris nearly tripping me in his excitement to follow Joel. Of course, we’d yet to find one thing that didn’t excite Morris; the dog even loved baths. Now that he was at the gangly teenage stage, though, he was always tripping me, or Joel, or himself. As we walked into the store, I let go of his leash so he could scamper around free. “Don’t chew up anything.”

Joel rolled his eyes in Morris’s direction. “I sprayed the lower shelves with that bitter apple spray, but knowing him, he’ll just think it’s an appetizer. But they’re mostly empty anyway.” He walked behind the counter and pointed at the wall. “What do you think?”

I followed his motion, let out a little gasp, and felt my eyes sting. The man had a damned habit of making me teary. It was almost embarrassing. I took a step closer and fell impossibly more in love with Joel as I looked at the card on the wall. Sandy Koufax, in all his tattered, big-eared glory, was now framed behind glass, multiple mats layered around him and surrounded by a frame better suited for a Rembrandt than a small rectangle of nearly ruined paper anyone else would throw away. I looked back at Joel and started to speak, but my voice caught, not that it mattered. As he constantly reminded me, he was always able to see what I was thinking written all over my face.

“I’m glad you like it.” Joel sighed happily and rejoined me on the outside of the counter. “You gave me back myself, Andrew. You’re only the second person in my entire life to do that, and the first one left me behind.”

I cupped his face, stroking the beard I loved so much. “I’ll never leave you behind, baby.”

He nodded, giving his lower lip a quick lick. He cleared his throat and looked around. “You really don’t think it’s silly to open the store next week? Even after all these months, I barely have a third of the inventory I need.”

“About that.” I glanced around, even though Sandy’s was clearly lacking merchandise, the space was already coming together, looking classic and clean, nothing like the cluttered mess of the store in Olema. “I asked Regina to give me Monday and Tuesday off, and Lamont is babysitting our piranha with fur. I thought we’d take a long weekend and drive to LA and maybe San Diego, visit some sports shops and flea markets down there. I think we’ve worn out all the ones in San Francisco the past few weekends.”

Joel beamed. “That would be perfect! I know of a little place in San Diego, in Old Town, that has a killer selection and doesn’t mark up the prices as much as we can here in Lavender Shores.” His smile altered to the one he got when he was scheming. “Actually, there’s one more thing we might pick up in San Diego that I’ve been looking at. Well, two more things, to be precise.”

“I can tell whatever you’re thinking is trouble. How worried should I be?”

“Hold on.” He walked away and retrieved his laptop. “You’re more likely to be excited about them if you see their picture.”

“Them?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I said hold on.” He kept the computer facing away from me as his fingers flew over the keyboard. Then he swiveled it around so I could see the screen. “What do you think?”

I barked out a laugh. A picture of two of the most ridiculously cute doxens I’d ever seen looked back at me. One was missing an ear; the other seemed to have a droopy tongue issue. But both of them seemed like they were about to jump up and down in pure joy over something. I glanced at Joel. “You want two more dogs? Two? You know that adds up to three, right?”

“Well, they’re small. To add up to how big Morris is going to be, we’d need to get seven at least, so I figure two is probably the minimum we should consider.” He tapped each of the computer-screened noses. “Plus, they’re stuck in a shelter. And I know what that’s like, being stuck somewhere.” He cast his version of puppy-dog eyes on me.

I laughed again as I shook my head. “Could you possibly use any more emotional manipulation if you tried?”

He stuck out his lower lip.

God, I loved him. “Fine, yes. Yes, to all the doxens you want.”

Later that night, as dinner was in the oven, Joel brought me my coat and scarf. “Are we going somewhere?”

“I thought we’d watch the sunset on your palisade. It’s still gorgeous, even if the lavender is gone.”

How did I get this lucky? “That sounds perfect. Let me get Morris’s leash. I know he’s doing better, but if he sees a bobcat or something, dinner will be burnt before we’d find him.”

“Actually, can he stay here?”

I started to argue, knowing that Morris would sit by the door and whine the entire time we were gone, but then a thought hit me. One that made my heart leap into my throat. I nodded.

Joel’s head tilted, and he let out a sigh. “Really? Do you have to figure out everything?”

“What?” I tried to mask my reaction.

“Nice try.” He rolled his eyes. He reached a hand into his pocket. “Well, since you already know, I—”

“Nope. Not here.” I gripped his hand before he could pull anything out of his pocket. “The palisade. Please.”

He grinned, some of his disappointment fading. He took out his hand, his empty hand, and grabbed mine. “Okay. Let’s go watch the sunset.”

We left the house, patting Morris and giving him our apologies before we shut the door, and then strolled to the cliffs, taking the more direct route from the cottage instead of through the trees.

The sunset was a deep purple and red, fading to yellow at the edges, the wind little more than a crisp breeze. As we walked, I glanced back at the house, the windows glowing softly in the gloom of gathering dusk.

Though I knew what was about to happen, I couldn’t get my pulse to slow, and I was already trembling. As we neared the edge of the cliff, my thoughts flew back over the years. The times I’d been right where we were and I’d dreamed, wished, and hoped. The times I sat there and cried with a broken heart. Then I flew into the future. Envisioning years by this place, building a home, a life, a family.

Then Lamont’s admonitions came to me once more. “Make sure, when your dreams finally start to come true, you notice. Don’t let it pass without noticing. Most people do.”

I pushed the past and future aside and focused on the gorgeous man in front me. On Joel as he came to a stop, just a few yards away from the edge, and knelt on one knee.

The entire universe narrowed to him. His green eyes bright with hope and glistening with the beginning of tears. I focused on the love that poured from him. How his long fingers trembled slightly when he pulled out the small black box. Even noticed the nearly silent creak as he opened it, revealing the silver ring inside.

He held the box up to me and then his brows furrowed. He pulled the ring free and shoved the box back in his pocket. Joel held the ring between us once more as he smiled up at me. His lips moved silently for a second, and then his tongue darted out in that nervous way he had. “I had a speech prepared.” He grinned again, though he seemed partly terrified. “But…” He shook his head, stood, and took my hands in his, the ring cold against my skin. He took a breath and then started again. “I love you, Andrew. I want to be yours for my entire life, and I need you to be mine. Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” I barely got the word out before I fell into him, losing myself to the kiss.

When my dreams came true, I noticed.