Sweet Sunshine (29 page)

Eliza came waltzing down the hall, and something sparkly caught my attention.

“What the hell is that?” I barked, pointing at my daughter’s face.

“What?” she asked innocently.

“
That
!” I moved closer and squinted. “Are you wearing
makeup
? Oh hell no!”

“Relax,” Chloe rolled her eyes at me. “It’s just a little lip gloss.”

“She’s nine years old!”

“I turned ten last week!” Eliza argued, propping her hands on her hips as she glared.

“Whatever, you’re still too young for makeup. Go wipe it off,” I demanded, only to have Chloe grab my arm and pull me toward the kitchen.

“Eliza, will you go wait in the car? We’ll be out in just a sec.”

My daughter all but skipped out of the house as I snapped, “But she hasn’t wiped it off!”

Chloe’s eyes got fierce as she jabbed her finger into my chest. “And she’s not going to. It’s lip gloss, Derrick, it’s not like she’s ready for a drag show or something. A little lip gloss isn’t a big deal.”

I threw my hands in the air in frustration. “Why the hell does she even need it?”

“Because. Ethan’s going to be there today with Harlow, Noah, and the baby, and you already know she’s got an insane crush on him. She wants to look pretty. She asked me to teach her how to put on makeup and I managed to haggle her down to just the gloss.
You’re welcome
.”

“You know,” my eye narrowed into dangerous slits, “this is all
his
fault. My baby girl never worried about shit like makeup until
him
.”

“Oh, for the love of God,” Chloe groaned to the ceiling, not that there was anyone up there that would help her with an irrational, overprotective father. “You love Ethan!”

“Lov
ed
. Past tense. The moment I saw Eliza making googly eyes at him that went right down the drain.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Don’t care.” I crossed my arms over my chest and there was a slight possibility my bottom lip actually poked out.

She sighed heavily. “Look, Ethan’s a great kid. He knows it’s just a harmless crush and he doesn’t do anything to egg her on. You need to relax, okay? Let’s just go to the carnival, eat our weight in funnel cake, ride some rides, and come home.” She came closer, placing her hands on my chest and standing on her tiptoes, speaking in a low, seductive voice, “If you behave all day today, I’ll let you do that thing with the handcuffs tonight.”

Yes, I was man enough to admit that I had to stop and weigh the pros and cons. “Really?”

“I promise.”

And she had me. “Fine,” I sighed. My woman played me like a sucker. Damned thing was, I didn’t care. I loved it. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“So lucky.” She kissed me with a smile on her lips. “And I love you too.”

Chloe

I WAS FINALLY
doing it.

I was finally on the Ferris wheel with the man of my dreams. The love of my life.

I smiled to myself as I looked out at the sun glistening off the lake before me as I sat, snuggled close to Derrick. The Ferris wheel made a slow, lazy loop around, and each time, the view from the top took my breath away.

“It’s so beautiful,” I breathed as the ride came to a stop with our bucket at the top to let more people on.

“Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he answered, and when I turned to look at him, his gaze was directly on me. He leaned in and kissed me, and I got lost in how amazing it felt. Not just the kiss, but my life in general. I had my dream job, I lived in my dream town, and now I had my dream family. Derrick and Eliza were the last pieces of my puzzle. My life was complete.

Once the kiss ended, I rested my head on Derrick’s shoulder with a contented sigh. The minutes ticked by and I finally sat up straight in order to look over the edge of our bucket. “I wonder what’s taking so long.”

“Oh, I paid the guy to wait for my signal before he let us down.”

My head shot in his direction. “What? Why’d you do that?”

He smiled and kissed my lips again. “Because I have something I need to ask you, and having you trapped at the top of the Ferris wheel is kind of the perfect way to guarantee I get the answer I want, don’t you think?”

Giddy anticipation built in my belly like a million butterflies taking flight, and I couldn’t stop the crazy smile from spreading across my face. “Oh yeah, and what do you have to ask me?”

He reached down and pulled something from his pants pocket, keeping his fingers closed tightly around it. “Oh, I think you know.”

I nodded. “I think so too, but why don’t you ask anyway?”

“Chloe Delaney?” he started. I held my breath and waited eagerly. “Will you…” God! The suspense was killing me, “please stop leaving your damned shoes all over the house! For the love of God, woman! I nearly broke my neck last night! I swear, I have no idea what the hell women need with so many shoes. I’m thinking about getting a dog just so he can chew them all to hell.”

“Derrick!” I shouted, smacking him in the chest.

“Okay, okay,” he chuckled, opening his palm and revealing a beautiful ring. “Will you marry me?” he asked softly.

Tears immediately started falling as I nodded my head. “Yes,” I sniffled, snatching the ring out of his hand and sliding it on my finger. “Yes!” I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him like my life depended on it.

“I love you,” I said against his lips.

“I love you too, sunshine. More than anything.”

“You were just kidding about letting a dog destroy my shoes, right?”

He laughed and pulled me against him tighter. “Maybe just a little bit.” Once we pulled apart, he leaned over the edge of the bucket and shouted, “She said yes!” at the top of his lungs. Our loved ones below — along with some of the other people on the ride — hooted and hollered from below.

“And you said you’d never get married again.” I couldn’t help but tease as the ride started back up and we began our decent.

“Well, I never expected a curvy little bakery owner to waltz into my life and throw everything off course all because I called her by the wrong name. It took me a while, but I finally realized.”

“Realized what?” I asked, staring up into those hazel eyes I’d been in love with since I first saw them.

“That I’d been waiting my whole life for you.”

Yeah, I was most
definitely
getting my fairytale ending.

Eliza

I FELT LIKE
I’d been living in a fairytale all day long. Everything about my Dad and Chloe’s wedding was so beautiful. I looked around the room, nothing but white Christmas lights twinkling all over as people danced and talked and laughed. It made me wonder what
my
wedding would look like. I would want it
just
like Chloe and Dad’s.

I stood off to the side of the dance floor, watching my Dad and Chloe kiss as they swayed to the music. I was
SO
glad he picked her to marry. Chloe was the
best
. She even picked out the prettiest dress for me to wear in the wedding! I felt like a princess as I looked down at my feet, covered by the long skirt. I swished it back and forth, watching the material move around my legs like a wave. I felt like a grownup in that dress.

My hair was pretty and done up just like Ms. Harlow’s, and I even got to wear a little bit of makeup! I’d hoped it would make Ethan notice me, but when I finally got the guts to go over and talk to him a few minutes ago, he didn’t even say anything.

I sighed as I remembered how handsome Ethan looked in his tux. He really was the cutest guy I’d ever seen, and I hated that I was so much younger than him. I heard Dad and Chloe arguing about it one night — they always liked to argue so they could make up after, going in their room to kiss and stuff. Dad said Ethan was way too old for me. That he’d gone through most of the cheerleaders in his school already.

I remembered my face getting hot as I listened in on them. I wasn’t really sure what Dad was talking about, but I knew if Ethan liked high school cheerleaders, then there was no way he would like me.

“Hey there, kiddo.” My eyes shot up off the floor. The sound on his voice made my stomach flip over and over.

“Uh… hey.”

“What are you doing over here looking so sad?”

“I look sad?” I hadn’t realized I looked sad. I guess thinking about Ethan had kind of bummed me out, but I hadn’t realized people would notice. Especially him. “I’m not sad. I was just… thinking.”

“What were you thinking about so hard?” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his tuxedo pants and smiled at me. It was the best smile I’d ever seen.

“N-nothing,” I stuttered. Gosh! I hated when I did that around him. He probably thought I was stupid or something.

“Well, if you’re not thinking about anything, and you’re not sad, then why don’t we dance?”

My mouth dropped open and I felt like my eyes were going to pop right out of my head. “You want to dance? With
me
?”

“Sure,” he laughed. I loved his laugh. It made my belly feel funny, like there were butterflies in it or something. “We’re basically family, right?”

My shoulders slumped at his question. I was in love with Ethan Prewitt and he only thought of me as part of his family. He’d never see me as anything more than a sister no matter what I did. “Oh, yeah… sure. Family.”

One of his eyebrows hooked up in that really cool way. “Do you know how to dance?”

“I guess,” I shrugged, feeling like such a dork for crushing on the coolest guy
ever
. “I mean, I know a little bit.”

“Well then let’s go.” He reached for my hand and I felt goosebumps break out across my skin as he pulled me onto the dance floor.

“Your girlfriend won’t mind that you’re dancing with me?” My eyes darted all around the room as he put one hand on my waist. My body tingled from him holding me and I thought I could die happy, all because the coolest guy in
high school
was dancing with
me
. His hand was on
my waist
and he was staring Right. At. Me.

“Nah,” he shrugged. “We broke up. She was kind of a pain in the ass.” I giggled and felt my cheeks turn red. “You know, your dad’s staring at me like he wants to shoot me.” I jerked my head around to see Dad glaring right at me and Ethan. Chloe looked like she was trying not to laugh.

I turned back around, embarrassed. “He’s just protective.”

Ethan laughed again and I wanted so badly to lean in closer and press my ear to his chest so I could hear what his laughter sounded like close up. Lilly was going to
die
when I called her and told her that I talked to and danced with Ethan! She knew how much I liked him.

“Well, you can’t really blame him, right? I mean, if I had a daughter that looked like you, I’d probably chain her down in the basement.”

My forehead wrinkled as I looked up at him. “Huh?”

“I just mean, you’re really pretty. I’d lose my mind if I had a daughter that looked like you,” he shrugged like what he said wasn’t the best thing I’d ever heard in my entire life.

I was pretty sure my heart stopped beating for several seconds. “You… you think I’m pretty?”

He shrugged again, “Well, yeah kiddo. You’re really pretty. And when you get older, I bet you’ll be gorgeous.”

He thought I was pretty. And he thought I’d be gorgeous when I grew up! I only ever heard of people on TV being called gorgeous, or Chloe when my dad had really screwed up.

In that very moment I made a decision, a decision I’d hold on to for years and years. I was going to have my fairytale wedding one day, and I was going to marry the love of my life, just like Chloe and Dad.

Standing on the crowded dance floor at the most beautiful wedding I’d ever been to, I made a promise to myself.

One day I was going to marry Ethan Prewitt.

He just didn’t know it yet.

The End

Stay tuned for Ethan and Eliza’s story.

Coming Fall 2016

Thank you so much for reading Sweet Sunshine. I hope that Derrick caused you to swoon, and that Chloe made you want to be best friends.

Please consider taking the time to leave a review for Sweet Sunshine. It helps us authors out so much, and I just love reading your thoughts and feelings!