Captiva Ever After (Captiva Island Series #7)

“You two go ahead and eat. I had a late lunch. Besides, I think I’ll go into the other room and give my father a call.”

Becca picked up her laptop and headed upstairs to the master bedroom. It was hard to imagine that her father had anything to do with what she saw online, but she couldn’t be certain unless she talked to him. Whatever the situation, she’d deal with it as rationally and calmly as possible, something she’d learned to do ever since she began planning her wedding.

CHAPTER 4

Becca held the conch shell in her hands and thought of her family on Captiva Island. She lay back against the bed’s headboard and closed her eyes. She could see the sailboats against the bluest horizon and imagined herself floating on the deck of her family’s nightly sunset cruise.

Having grown up on Captiva Island, Becca had once taken for granted that her life would be forever entwined with the island. However, everything changed the moment Christopher Wheeler reentered her life after years of separation.

Their reunion wasn’t marked by love at first sight. Instead, it brought back painful memories of Christopher’s anger and depression, a reaction born from the loss of his leg in Iraq.

Becca cringed as she relived those moments, doubting that such a tumultuous beginning could ever lead to a wedding.

Yet, against all odds, here they were—deeply in love and on the verge of becoming husband and wife, after living together for several months.

Even though medical school consumed her days and nights, Becca was determined to carve out time to create the wedding of her dreams, an impossible task if her father wasn’t set straight right away.

She dialed his cell phone and impatiently tapped her finger on her Pathology course book.

“Becca! How’s my favorite daughter?”

Wasting no time with pleasantries, Becca got right to the point of her call. “Your favorite daughter is upset with you.”

“What did I do?” Crawford asked.

“The Captiva Chronicle that’s what. How could you write such a thing?”

“Oh, that,” he answered.

“Yeah, that. What were you thinking?”

“Becca, honey, I understand why you’re upset, but the truth is that it wasn’t really my fault. I wrote a simple announcement because Ciara said it would be good to let the islanders know that you were getting married. It was nothing more than that. Linda St. James is responsible for what ended up in the paper. You remember Linda, right? She used to babysit you and the boys when you were little.”

Becca sat up straight. “Are you serious? That woman thinks I walk on water, and it’s all Mom’s doing. I mean, I appreciate how much she cares about me, but this is over the top.”

“Believe me, Becca, I know. Ciara came running in with the paper the other day when it came out. I had to show her the original email that I sent to Linda. That woman created the front page ad without input from me. I paid for a small announcement several pages in, not for a front page ad. What can I do to fix this?”

“Well, for one thing, you can get to the source and talk to her. If she won’t listen, then tell her that she’ll be hearing from me. Don’t appear angry at what she did. She probably thinks she did us a favor. Just explain that we are trying our best to keep this low-key and that I’d be very upset if there was a large island celebration. It wouldn’t hurt for you to remind her that this is also Beth and Gabriel’s wedding too.”

“Ok, I can do that. Again, I’m sorry, honey. Although, I have to admit that you were beautiful on top of that Christmas float every year. I think some of us older folk like to remember those days.”

Becca sighed. It was hard to stay angry with her father for very long. She too had memories she held close and couldn’t blame him for wanting to relive a piece of the past.

Feeling sad as well as nostalgic, she answered, “I know, Dad. I like to remember them too.”

“I know how hard it must be for you to not have Mom here to help you plan the wedding. I wish…”

Her mother’s death was a reminder of how much they’d both lost.

Becca finished his thought, “I’m a very lucky woman. I have you, Finn, Luke and Joshua. Mom is with me all the time, and she’ll be there on my wedding day. I promise you.”

She didn’t know how she’d accomplish it, but her mother’s spirit would be in everything she planned for her special day. No matter what the islanders thought about her, Becca knew who she was. She was Julia Powell’s daughter, and that was princess enough for her.

* * *

“I really don’t have time. Since I came back to work, I’ve been playing catch up every day. What’s so important that we have to video?” Beth asked Sarah.

“Seriously, Beth? You can’t take some time to talk about the wedding? I don’t want to repeat myself with Becca and you separately, and she’s got a schedule that she can’t control the way you can. If she’s willing, then you should be too. Besides, this isn’t my idea. Mom wanted me to call you guys.”