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“I’m sure. I don’t need anything. No, she’s staying with Joshua tonight; tomorrow is our big day out on the town,” Elisabeth Walker held the telephone between her head and her shoulder as she cooked her son’s dinner. “No, Katy leaves next weekend for college. I can’t even believe it.”

Elisabeth finished her son’s dinner and sat the plate on the table. “Jake…dinner!” Going back into the kitchen, she grabbed her bowl of salad before heading out onto the deck.

“Give me a call soon, okay?” Greta Henderson said. “Before the wedding.”

Elisabeth chuckled slightly. “I’ll try.”

Greta laughed. “Do you think you can tear yourself away from Ben long enough?”

“Barely,” Elisabeth teased as she heard the ever familiar “beep” of her call waiting. “Speaking of…”

“Okay, hon. Call me when you get a chance.”

“You know I will. Bye, Greta,” Elisabeth said and answered the incoming call. “Hello?”

“Hey, baby,” Benjamin Hyatt’s velvety voice filled her ears, causing her to smile. “Talking to Greta?”

“I was but she had to go. How are you, baby?”

“I’m even better now that I’m talking to you,” he answered with a sexy whisper.

Elisabeth smiled again. She loved his voice. “How was your flight?”

“Oh, the same as any other boring flight,” she could practically hear him shrugging his broad shoulders. “I miss you, though.”

“I miss you too, Ben,” Elisabeth sat back in her chair and sighed happily.

“Just think, in a month you will be Mrs. Benjamin Hyatt,” he said softly. “I can’t wait.”

Elisabeth smiled to herself. “Neither can I.”

***

“What about this one?” Elisabeth held up a denim skirt that wasn’t too short or too long. “I think this one is cute, and it would look great with that top.”

“I dunno, Mom,” Kaitlyn Walker scrunched up her nose as she took the skirt from her mother. “It doesn’t really look like me.”

Elisabeth just laughed and nodded. “Okay, how bout I just let you pick out your wardrobe and you can fill me in about it later?”

“Sounds good,” her daughter smiled brightly. “So, how is Ben?”

With a contented sigh, Elisabeth found a seat in the dressing room and smiled. “He’s great. He called me last night from New York.”

“Is he going down to North Carolina before the wedding?” Katy asked as she threw her jeans over the top of the dressing room door.

“Yes, he’ll be down there a few days after I get there. We’ve still got to make a few final decisions about the ceremony and I want him to have as much input in this as I have.”

“Well, I think the wedding should be on the beach. That would be so romantic, Mom,” Katy said and stepped out of the dressing room. “How does this look?”

Elisabeth nodded with a smile. She was so thankful to be having this experience with her daughter that sometimes it was still hard for her to realize that they actually had a stable mother-daughter relationship. If this had been three or four years earlier, Kaitlyn would have flat out refused to go shopping with Elisabeth. In six long years, Elisabeth and Kaitlyn had managed to turn all the tension and animosity between them into love and understanding.

After they returned home to Chicago from North Carolina six years earlier, Elisabeth had not wasted any time in seeking the divorce she knew she was more than entitled to. She was determined to get away from Joshua Walker once and for all; he had controlled her life for thirteen years, but that was going to end. And it had. A year and a half and a hefty amount of money later, Elisabeth was walking out of the courtroom, a triumphant smile lighting up her soft features. She was no longer Joshua’s “bitch” and she never would be again. So, if she had everything she wanted, why wasn’t she truly happy?

Being single again was no easy task for Elisabeth. She had not been single since high school and she found it very difficult to go back to something she knew next to nothing about. Many times she considered moving back to Sunset Beach, North Carolina and finding the man she knew she would love until the day she died, but uncertainty would always take over and she just pushed the “silly” thought to the back of her mind and continued on with her life.

Shortly after her divorce came through, she did make a move, but not to North Carolina. She moved away from the big city life in Chicago to a small town in Bond County, Illinois about two hours outside of St. Louis, Missouri. Elisabeth, Kaitlyn and Jacob all seemed to adjust well to the change rather quickly. It was much easier for Elisabeth to try and mend the broken relationship with her daughter once Joshua was out of the picture. He couldn’t interfere with the situation like he could before. Of course, he was supposed to see Katy and Jake every other weekend, but many times he came up with an excuse miss the visit. Amazingly, it didn’t seem to bother the children, but Elisabeth was still upset that he would treat them that way after trying so hard to make them hate her.

After some time, Kaitlyn started warming up to her mother and before long, they were getting along like a mother and daughter should. The three were a happy family and Elisabeth couldn’t have been more thankful for that. And just when her life seemed perfect, she would find something or see something that reminded her of Nick Carter and she’d have to start from scratch.

Elisabeth had tired so very hard to put that part of her life behind her; she knew that Nick would always have her heart, but he didn’t have to consume everything in her life. She knew she would never see him again, so why should she dwell on the past? It hurt too much to think about.

“Mom…Earth to mom!” Katy said as she waved her hand in front of Elisabeth’s face. “Where were you?”

“Just thinking about everything,” she answered. “It’s just really hard to believe you’ll be in college this time next week.”

“Oh, mom, you’re not gonna start crying on me, are you?” Katy asked with a smile that mirrored her mother’s. “Come on…let’s get some lunch and that will cheer you up! Besides, this time next month, you’ll be a blushing bride.”

Elisabeth laughed at her daughter as they linked arms and made their way to the checkout counter. They still had plenty of places to hit before heading home.

***

*Two Weeks Later*

“Grab that bag, Jake,” Elisabeth instructed as she pointed to a large suitcase in the trunk of the rental car.

Doing as he was told, 12 year old Jacob followed his mother to the front door of his grandparent’s Wilmington, North Carolina home.

“Welcome home, Lizzie Layne!” Robert Butler greeted gleefully as he wrapped his only daughter in a warm hug and lifted her slightly off the ground. “I’ve missed you, baby girl. And you,” he said turning to Jacob, “have grown quite a bit. I sure can’t call you ‘little man’ anymore, can I?”

Jacob smiled and shrugged slightly.

“Oh, darling!” Abigail Butler’s voice joined the conversation as she greeted her daughter and grandson. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“Hey, Mom,” Elisabeth smiled and allowed her mother to kiss her on the cheek.

“How was your flight? Did you have any problems?”

“No, everything was fine.”

“Jacob, don’t you just look adorable?” Abigail began to dote on her grandson. “Why don’t you come with me and I’ll make you some lunch.”

Elisabeth laughed as her mother continued to fawn over Jacob and how tall he was how he was growing up much too fast. Dragging her bags into the house, she dropped them in the foyer and took a deep breath. She always loved the smell of home; it was familiar and comforting. With a quiet sigh, she grabbed the bags off the floor and headed for the stairs. She wanted to finish unpacking as soon as she could.

“Oh, Elisabeth darling, where are you going?” Abigail called to her before she had reached the top of the stairs.

“I thought I would go ahead and unpack now so I won’t have to worry about it later,” she answered with a shrug.

“Well, don’t bother unpacking here, sweetheart. We’ll be going down to the beach house tomorrow morning so you’ll just have to re-pack everything if you do that.”

Elisabeth blinked once and then swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat. The beach house? Damn it… “Oh, okay…can I ask why? I mean, that’s the summer home, right?”

“Yes, but it’s still summer here and you know that it doesn’t get too cold until October or so. This isn’t like your northern living, dear,” Abigail smiled brightly. “We just wanted to stay down there a few more weeks. Besides, I think that a beach wedding will be absolutely gorgeous.”

Looking at her mother’s genuine smile, Elisabeth tried hard not to sigh. She nodded slightly. “Okay, well, I’ll just slide these into my room for now.”

“Okay, sweetie. Come on downstairs when you get done. You need to eat something.”

***

“Mother, we really don’t need to do this right now,” Elisabeth groaned as Abigail dragged her from her car and into the small bridal shop.

“And why not?” Abigail sounded offended. “This is a big deal, Elisabeth. Don’t you think it is?”

“Well, of course I think it’s a big deal, but can’t it wait just a little while. I just got here for Heaven’s sake.”

“No, it cannot wait,” Abigail stated stubbornly as she grabbed her daughter’s arm and continued toward the boutique.

Elisabeth groaned again, inwardly this time, and let her mother drag her along. She felt like a helpless toddler being shown where to go and what to do; it was ridiculous. She had been married once before and though it was a big day, she knew everything didn’t have to be done all at once. Especially if it was going to be a small, private wedding on the beach in mid September. Even after arguing for an hour with her mother, Elisabeth still had no choice but go with her; she was picking out a dress before they left Wilmington.

Once inside the tiny, but elegant bridal boutique, Elisabeth slipped her arm from Abigail’s grasp and began to browse through the dresses. I will be so glad to get home, she thought to herself. They had already been to the Wilmington Star News and submitted the wedding announcement; they would be submitting it to the Brunswick Observer on their way to Sunset Beach.

“Do you need any help with anything?” a bright female voice interrupted her thoughts.

Turning around Elisabeth smiled. Just as she was about to speak her mother broke in.

“Yes actually. We’re looking for something non-traditional; a dress that would be good for a beach wedding. This is her second marriage so we’re going simple this time around.”

“Mother, please,” Elisabeth scolded in an angry whisper. Turning to the sales woman, Elisabeth plastered a fake smile on her pretty face. “Excuse us for just a minute.”

Once they were away from the obviously nosey sales woman, Elisabeth looked at Abigail and sighed. “Why do you always have to do that?”

“Do what?” Abigail asked, shocked.

“Take control of everything! You always have to be in charge of everything going on and that is so damn annoying. This is my wedding, and I think I am capable of handling the details of it. I’m not a teenager anymore, I’m thirty-six years old.”

Abigail stood stunned for a minute before finally responding. “O-okay. It’s your wedding, hon. We’ll do it the way you want.”

Elisabeth sighed and immediately felt guilty when she saw the hurt flicker in her mother’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Mom…it’s just, I have a lot on my mind and I’m just a little stressed out.”

“That’s okay, sweetheart. I understand.”

Smiling, Elisabeth hugged her mother and then turned back to the woman, she cleared her throat. “I would like to see some non-traditional dresses, please?”

“No problem, hon,” the short, redhead smiled and guided her to a small table and instructed her to sit down. Sliding a small binder over to Elisabeth she smiled again. “These are our most popular non-traditional wedding dresses. Let me know if you see something you like.”

***

“We have all the major details out of the way then, right?” Elisabeth asked distractedly.

“Of course not! There’s the reception—what food is going to be served, the cake—you have lots of planning to do, Elisabeth.”

“Okay, clothing wise, Mother. That’s what I meant. We picked out my dress and Katy’s maid-of-honor dress and you already have a dress so that’s something we don’t have to worry about. And honestly, I really don’t care if the guys have tuxes or suits…it would probably just be better to have a nice suit and not worry about renting a tux. But, that is up to Ben, so it’s what he chooses,” she ended her thought with a shrug of her slender shoulders.

“I think that would be nice…just to wear suits…nothing too formal because it’s not going to be a formal wedding, but…”

Elisabeth stopped listening to her mother as she watched the scenery out the window. Every now and then she would nod or mumble an “uh huh” to let her mother know she was indeed still paying attention, but her mind was somewhere else entirely. Letting out a quiet breath she turned her attention back to Abigail who was still going on about wedding details. Smirking at her mother’s enthusiasm she shook her head. Welcome home, Lizzie.