Page 51 of Choosing Happily Ever After

“You.” He cut her off. “Remember? I wantyou.And I want everything with you. A baby, travel, settling down—alife, Hope. That’s what I want. I need you to be able to understand that, okay? No more deciding what I want for me, okay?”

She nodded. “So you think…”

“I think we should have it all.” He smiled. “Let’s get on a plane and see the world, while we make a baby. There’ll be plenty of time to come home and settle in before the baby comes.” His eyes flashed with excitement. “There’s never going to be a perfect time to do it,” he continued. “But after the baby comes, there’ll be new complications plus your treatment.” Levi’s eyes grew serious. “Your health comes first, Hope. Over everything. But I think we can make this work.”

He sounded so sure of himself, so sure of his plan.Could they really have it all? A baby and travel and a healthy life together?

Levi certainly thought so, and so did she.

“I think it sounds amazing. Let’s do it.”

“Really?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am.” He pulled her into his arms. “I was ready with all kinds of arguments about why it was a good idea.”

“Well, you don’t need them.” She nuzzled in closer to him. “Because I totally agree with you. It sounds perfect.”

Levi

“You pulled it off, cousin.” Logan handed Levi a bottle of beer and leaned up against the bar next to him.

The wedding reception was in full swing and Logan was right—he had definitely pulled it off, but not alone. He’d had help. A lot of it.

“Thanks for all your help, Logan.” He clinked his bottle together with his cousin’s. “I don’t think I could have done it without you.”

Logan chuckled. “This was all you, buddy. And Faith. I was just manual labor.”

Levi’s eyes followed Logan’s to the dance floor, where his new bride was dancing with her sister. He snuck a look back at his cousin, who watched Faith with a very strange look. One he’d seen on him before, many years ago. “Don’t tell me you still have a thing for her.”

Logan almost spat out the beer he’d been drinking. “What?” He managed to get the word out. “What are you talking about? Faith? No. I’ve never had a thing for her.”

Levi raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

“No,” Logan said again. “That’s totally not a thing. Besides, she’s just temporary, and I have no interest in getting involved in anyone whose plans involve living in the city.”

“Interesting.” Levi lifted the bottle to his mouth. “Because you have never mentioned getting involved with anyone. Ever. At least not until now.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Logan’s face went red. “I just meant—besides, she’s seeing someone in the city.”

There was definitely more to what Logan was saying than he was letting on, but Levi decided not to push his luck with his cousin. It probably wouldn’t go over well if he ended up sporting a black eye on his wedding day.

“As long as you two can work together,” Levi said. “I don’t care what else goes on between the two of you.”

He said it casually, but despite his attempt to slide it past his cousin, Logan wasn’t letting anything slide. He stood up straight and stared at Levi. “What exactly are you talking about?Worktogether?”

“Who’s working together?”

In exquisite timing, Faith and Hope had chosen that moment to leave the dance floor and join them. Levi wrapped an arm around his new wife—wife;he’d never get tired of that—and pulled her close to his side. “I was just about to tell Logan about our plans.”

“Plans?” Faith glanced between all of them. Her gaze landed back on Levi. “What kind of plans? Like a honeymoon?”

“Sort of.” Hope shrugged. “We were actually going to wait to talk to you about this another time, but I guess there’s no time quite like the present.”

“Will someone just tell me what’s going on?”

Levi took a breath, smiled at Hope, and told them what they were thinking. “Hope and I have decided to do some traveling while we start a family and then, before the baby is born, we’ll come back and settle in.”

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