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"I would prefer an elopement right now, but since that's off the table..." I didn't want parties. I didn't want to wait. I wanted forever with Marley right now.

"We've already said the words, we're already living together, is a wedding really that important?" She cocked an eyebrow.

Teasing. Always teasing me. I ran my hand through her hair and pulled her in for a kiss. "Yes, my love. It is. I need it official. In writing. Legal. Immediately."

Gus shoved us apart, apparently as unenthused with our kissing as his mother. Marley tickled his ribs as he passed. "My mother will pitch a fit but actually, yes, this is a good plan. She can complain for a month and then it will be over."

"She's still not over me hanging up on her?" Shot myself in the foot with that one.

"She just likes having something to complain about. When she meets you in person, she's going to fall in love with you and she'll forget all about the incident." Marley waved it off like it was a forgone conclusion her parents would accept me.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because that's the way it is. Mom fauns all over Elora's fiancé Craig. In fact, you'll probably be her new favorite because Elora and Craig are dragging their feet on the wedding while you can't get me down the aisle fast enough. You and Craig will be friendly but not friends. You'll hate Eric at first but then you'll share a beer or something and realize you actually like each other. And Dad just goes along with everything. The phone thing will be old news the moment I tell them what day we're getting married."

"Mawage!" Gus shouted like the Impressive Clergyman fromThe Princess Bride.

Which of course sent us both into shock and then side-splitting laughter that my nephew imitated like a bad mimic.

Marley wiped tears from her cheeks as she tried to stop the giggles. "Well, then I guess we better set a date. Our ring bearer is already rehearsing."

Forty-Five

Marley

I still can't believe I came here to walk around in Sammy's town and I ended up friends with the woman who wrote her books

"Well,what was Georgie's favorite movie?" Maeve asked over breakfast at The Green Door.

Hearing Georgie's name didn't make my chest tighten like it used to. She didn't feel like a ghost trailing around with me. When we talked about her it felt more like she was my guardian angel sitting on my shoulder. They were all still there, still part of me, but brighter and happier.

Plus it was fun to talk with someone about them again. "She was obsessed withThe Prestige.You know the magician movie with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman?"

She placed her hand over her heart. "Do I know the movie? Are you kidding me? I'm obsessed with both actors. Of course I knowThe Prestige!"

"It's been a few years."

"And I'm a few years older than you." She tapped her chin. "I think that's your answer. You need some cloak and dagger. Some misdirection. A simple, obvious, but completely blindsiding answer."

"And that would be?" I took a sip of my coffee while my gears started turning. This, this could be the last piece I needed to get the plot ironed out. I wrote a few test chapters that I actually liked and now I was excited for Huk to build my cottage because I was ready to write and I wanted to do as much of it as I could in there.

"Well I don't know. I'm not the writer you are. Maybe Georgie's character has a hidden identical twin or, oh, some magic no one knows about?"

I did really like the idea of there being someone in the shadows. It didn't have to be an identical twin. Although...why not? "I'll play around with these ideas. See where it takes me."

"How do you do it? Sharon would sit down at her desk every day and just write away. You're different."

"I have those days. But this stage is where I like to spend the days imagining scenes, playing out scenarios in my head. A lot of things get cut after I realize it takes the characters in the wrong direction, but it's also where I realize all the other options I hadn't thought of before."

I finished off my grits and hash browns. "I still can't believe I came here to walk around in Sammy's town and I ended up friends with the woman who wrote her books."

"You really didn't know it was Sharon?"

"Not a clue! I thought she was just a murder obsessed super reader!"

"Well, you two are going to make quite the pair around town."

We'd make a pair because I was staying. I still needed a breath every time the thought crossed my mind.