Page 16 of California Love Songs (The Davenports, #4)

Damien nodded. “Of course. I remember how often you used to go to Ray’s. It’s so cool you still do that.” There was a pause. “Would you mind if I joined you? Dancing this morning in my folks’ backyard reminded me how much I love salsa.”

In all the years she’d known Damien, he’d never once gone to a salsa night. Then again, maybe he’d been to hundreds—she just didn’t know because he’d been on the road so much. She smiled. “Everyone’s welcome.”

Suddenly, there was a rap at the passenger window and Crystal almost jumped out of her seat. Mila!

Damien lowered her window and his sister leaned into the car with a grin. “Hello, you two.”

“Hey, sis,” Damien said casually. “I’m just dropping Crystal off.”

Mila’s ring winked in the sunlight. “So I see.”

Crystal hurriedly unbuckled her seatbelt, feeling like she’d just been caught doing something illicit. She turned to Damien and said, “See, I told you Mila would want to start planning right away.”

Mila laughed. “It’s true, I can’t wait.” She paused and looked at the two of them a little quizzically. “But we can meet later in the week.”

Damien said to Crystal, “At least you got a good hike in before my sister makes you sit poring over wedding dress designs for hours. I’ll leave you guys to it.”

Crystal stepped out of the car and with a quick, “See you later,” closed the door and Damien drove off.

Mila put her hands on her slender hips and watched the car disappear down the road.

She turned to Crystal with a look of pure glee.

“Do you want to wait until we’re sitting down before you tell me where you’ve been with my brother this afternoon?

By the color in your cheeks, it sure looks like you’ve had fun. ”

Crystal was mortified. “We just went for a hike at Garland Ranch. Like we used to when Damien was around more.” She tried to deflect any more attention by making a big show of looking for her keys.

As soon as they were indoors, Mila made herself at home in the kitchen. “So come on, Crys. What’s the deal with you and my little brother?”

Crystal was fixing them a batch of peach iced tea.

She was glad she had her back to Mila, because she was pretty sure she’d flushed an embarrassing shade of fuchsia.

Gathering her composure, she took the jug of iced tea and two glasses to the table and insisted that there was only friendship between them.

“You know how close we’ve been since high school,” Crystal said, carefully pouring from the iced-filled jug, conveniently avoiding Mila’s gaze.

When she glanced up, Mila seemed unconvinced. She had also set out a stack of wedding magazines Crystal had been too distracted to even notice. “I can feel it in the air,” she said. “There’s something much more than friendship between you and Damien.”

Crystal shook her head. “It’s because you’re head over heels in love that you see love everywhere.

I’ve watched it happen dozens of times with happy brides.

They’re always trying to set me up with someone they think would be perfect for me—even when I’ve got a boyfriend.

” She laughed. “It’s like you’ve got the love bug and you want to infect everyone with it. ”

Now it was Mila’s turn to laugh. “I’m sure there’s truth in that. I do love Hersch more than anything and I want everyone I love to be as happy as we are. But I know chemistry when I see it. And as much as it grosses me out to speak about my bro like that, you have it with him.”

Crystal drew a big breath. She hated to admit it to herself, but hearing Mila confirm something she was secretly thinking felt good.

Seriously good. She wasn’t just imagining this new intensity between her and Damien; it was visible to other people, too.

But then she remembered how she’d felt on the mountain when Damien took that call from Opal Dahlberg.

She needed to protect herself and the crush she’d so stubbornly and hopelessly had on her friend all these years.

And that meant keeping it buried. Way, way down.

With the bright professional smile Crystal had perfected, she took one of Mila’s magazines from the pile. “Right now, it’s all about you and your big day. I’m so happy to be part of the planning.”

Mila looked as eager as any bride Crystal had ever worked with. “I’m so excited to start. I didn’t realize how much I wanted a big wedding until Hersch asked me. Now I want to bring everyone I know together and have a party!”

“That sounds great,” Crystal said, catching the wave of Mila’s enthusiasm and filling up with the particular joy of helping someone achieve their dream. “Do you have a venue in mind?”

“The beach, of course, for the ceremony. I want to be near the water, and now that Herschel has conquered his fear of the ocean, it’ll be the perfect backdrop.

I’m imagining a simple ceremony with close friends and family gathered on the sand.

I just want to hear the sound of the ocean while I say my vows. Does that sound crazy?”

Crystal smiled as she made a note. “Not at all. It sounds perfect. Intimate and natural. I think it’s a lovely way to involve your deep connection to the water.

I know a hotel on the beach we could take over for the wedding, so you can say ‘I do’ with your feet in the sand, and then walk up to a beautiful meal and dancing under the stars. What do you think?”

“I think there’s a reason you’re the best wedding planner in the biz.” Mila squeezed her hand. “I’m just so excited.”

Crystal could feel Mila’s happiness radiating from her.

She knew Mila so well that she completely understood why the bride wanted a simple ceremony at the water’s edge followed by a big, splashy party.

The hotel she had in mind could offer the perfect blend of Mila’s laid-back, surf-loving soul and the sophisticated elegance she envisioned for their celebration.

She told Mila about it and said she’d arrange a site visit, as well as researching some other options as backup.

“I think this place is perfect,” Crystal said. “But they’re often booked well in advance. I know you want to marry soon, but have you set an exact date?”

Mila shook her head, but a determined expression entered her eyes. “We’ll decide tonight,” she said. “But I’m hoping for spring.”

Crystal nodded and continued to make notes.

She’d been doing this work for so long that she really was a well-oiled machine.

She knew exactly how to make Mila’s wedding dreams come true and it felt wonderful.

But Damien’s dare had got under her skin.

She loved what she did, but there was always a pang of sadness when she thought back to her younger self, the girl who believed all you had to do was work hard, get good grades, do the right thing, and you could be whatever you wanted when you grew up.

It had hurt like hell to give up her dream of a career in medicine, but she’d made a great life for herself, built a thriving business. Did she really want to revisit her childhood dreams?

She’d always loved school, loved learning. What if she simply started an undergrad degree part-time? As Damien had suggested, she could look at a community college nearby so she wouldn’t have to be away from her family and friends. Med school was still far off in the future.

She’d visit her mom and talk it over. There was no one in the world who knew Crystal as well as she did. No one whose opinion Crystal respected more.