Which part of this day was the best? Brett didn’t know. Maybe it was the moment when Willow, wearing a sheath dress of ivory silk that just about knocked him out, walked to him on her Uncle Colin’s arm, holding a bouquet of pink and ivory peonies, burgundy roses, and lavender orchids, and shining like every dream he’d ever had.
Some brides looked nervous. Willow smiled. She did more than that. She shone.
Maybe it was sliding the diamond-studded band onto her finger while the sky over the river turned to pink and gold. Saying the words, and knowing she was his. Finally, and forever. Or it could have been walking back up the aisle with his bride, into a wedding-cake space with a dome that rose above them like an embrace, with the glitter of gold candlesticks and gilt-edged plates softened by more flowers. Ivory and pink and burgundy, all the silk and fire that was Willow.
Or maybe it was this moment. When the piano played the soft overture, and a voice began to sing. When he was holding out his hand to his wife and saying, “Would you do me the honor, Mrs. Hunter?” When he saw the beam of her smile, the shine of her tears as she recognized the song. The reason they’d taken those lessons, and a plan that had begun on the night her uncle had waltzed her aunt around the terrace in this same place, and she’d thought that could never be her life.
He took her onto the floor, and then he took her in his arms, the strings swelled, and they began to waltz. On the dais, a man sang about dreaming and believing, about making the journey together, exactly as the singer had done in that film they’d watched on the plane. Enchanted. About a princess who’d come to live in the real world, because that was where the man she loved had to stay, and she’d do anything to be with him. About the moment when she made him believe in happily ever after, and she let him know that the two of them could stay like this, holding each other so close, and make each others’ dreams come true.
Forever and ever.
The Food
French toast casserole (Paula Deen)
Crab cakes with almond meal, lemon, and mint
Chanterelle and goat cheese pizzas
Harira (Moroccan vegetable stew)
Moroccan slow-cooker lamb stew
Boston Cream Pie (Cook’s Illustrated)
Hummingbird Cake (Southern Living)
The Places, Sights, & Sounds
Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia (with a very happy song)
Queenslander houses (Federation architecture)
Flying foxes coming in to roost
The dawn chorus, Australia
The blobfish (Voted World’s Ugliest Animal, 2013)
The Customs House, Brisbane
Sydney Opera House: Vivid Light Festival 2016 (Aboriginal art & music)
Vangelis, Mythodea, Movement 9, Temple of Zeus, Athens (Jessye Norman & Kathleen Battle)
Enchanted movie
Some Rich-Man Porn, Because Why Not
The Residence, Etihad Airways
Sunflower by Harry Winston, Three Motif Diamond Pendant
Graff Bow Collection (hairband & earrings)
Willow’s wedding dress
An Aussie Glossary
A&E: Accident & Emergency (the ER)
air con: air conditioning
aubergine: eggplant
Aussie: Australia, Australian (pronounced “Ozzie”)
bogan: redneck
boofhead: idiot
bowled out: like being struck out in baseball (cricket)
capsicum: red or green pepper (the vegetable, not a hot pepper)
chook: chicken
dinky-di: pure Australian
dog’s breakfast: mess (made a dog’s breakfast of it)
drongo: fool
dunny: toilet
ginger: redhead
gobsmacked: flabbergasted
hinterland: the interior, away from the coast
holiday park: like a campground, but usually has motel spaces also
how you going: how are you
ice block: Popsicle
knobhead: idiot, jerk (literally “penis head”)
lolly: candy or money
mobile: cell phone
Mullum: Mullumbimby, laid-back, artsy, foodie town about a half-hour drive inland from Byron Bay
narky: annoyed
Neighbours: popular, long-running Aussie soap, syndicated to New Zealand and the UK
not much chop: no good, not much use
op shop: secondhand store
Oz: Australia
pash: kiss
pavlova: iconic Australian/NZ dessert (there is argument over which country invented it), especially for Christmas. A meringue base with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
pissed: drunk
pressie: present (also see Chrissy [Christmas], brekkie [breakfast], sammie [sandwich], etc.)
scarper: run off
sheila: girl, woman
singlet: tank top
skint: broke (out of money)
smoko: work break (Here’s a video, because it makes me laugh)
sook: crybaby
sussed: figured (sussed that out)
tramping: hiking
treacle: molasses
turn to custard: goes south
wanker: jerk (literally, “masturbator”)
yonks: ages (he took yonks to get here)
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The Sinful, Montana, series
Paige’s & Jace’s story: GUILTY AS SIN
Lily & Rafe’s story: TEMPTING AS SIN
Willow & Brett’s story: SEXY AS SIN
The Portland Devils series
Dakota & Blake’s story: SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL
Beth & Evan’s story: NO KIND OF HERO
The Escape to New Zealand series
Reka & Hemi’s story: JUST FOR YOU
Hannah & Drew’s story: JUST THIS ONCE
Kate & Koti’s story: JUST GOOD FRIENDS
Jenna & Finn’s story: JUST FOR NOW
Emma & Nic’s story: JUST FOR FUN
Ally & Nate’s/Kristen & Liam’s stories: JUST MY LUCK
Josie & Hugh’s story: JUST NOT MINE
Hannah & Drew’s story again/Reunion: JUST ONCE MORE
Faith & Will’s story: JUST IN TIME
Chloe & Kevin’s story: JUST SAY YES
Nyree & Marko’s story: JUST SAY (HELL) NO
The Not Quite a Billionaire series (Hope & Hemi’s story)
FIERCE
FRACTURED
FOUND
The Paradise, Idaho series (Montlake Romance)
Zoe & Cal’s story: CARRY ME HOME
Kayla & Luke’s story: HOLD ME CLOSE
Rochelle & Travis’s story: TURN ME LOOSE
Hallie & Jim’s story: TAKE ME BACK
The Kincaids series
Mira and Gabe’s story: WELCOME TO PARADISE
Desiree and Alec’s story: NOTHING PERSONAL
Alyssa and Joe’sstory: ASKING FOR TROUBLE
I got the idea for the inciting event in this book on my second-to-last night in Byron Bay, over dinner at Main Street Burger Bar. Weirdly, the next morning, I had my own too-similar inciting event and got the real-life chance to experience some Aussie medical care. Also weirdly, while I was writing Brett’s hospital scenes, my nephew’s wife sustained a similar injury and had almost the same surgery. Savannah, if I’m responsible for putting that idea out into the universe, I’m sorry!
Many people helped with the research for this book. Any errors or omissions, however, are my own. Special thanks to:
Ward Bass, Elizabeth Breese, and Abigail Opper, for assistance with accounting a
nd financial management.
Marie Eriksson, Moscow Mountain Sport & Physical Therapy, for assistance with injury treatment and recovery.
Rick Nolting and Bob Pryor, for assistance with materials science and physics.
Megan Story of Fabula Flowers, for assistance with floral design.
And a shout-out to Holdsworth House Medical Practice, Byron Bay, for taking such good care of me during my own medical crisis, and to the staff of Air New Zealand, who wheelchaired me through every transition on an endless series of flights home. You guys are awesome.
A special thanks, as always, to my alpha read duo, Kathy Harward and Mary Guidry, for their help, questions, corrections, and inspiration as they read along with this book, and to Barbara Buchanan, Carol Chappell, Erika Iiams, and Bob Pryor for their feedback.
And to James Nolting and Rick Nolting for reading along, supporting the author, and nursing me through injury and recovery. James, thanks especially for the insight on jerk boyfriends. So glad you aren’t one.
Finally, to my neurosurgeon, Brett Dirks—I swear, the character was named already! But thanks for fixing my back.