Be My Love (A Walker Island Romance Book 1) (15 page)

“Ah, I see you’re interested in Pansy Pendleton’s last poem.”

“Her
last
poem?” Hanna asked.

“It’s why it’s up on the wall,” the inn’s owner explained. “She wrote it here, and I believe she was planning to read it at the poetry festival. But Justine is the expert on all of this. Have you met Justine?”

Hanna nodded, knowing both she and Joel owed the head of the Woodburn Poetry Society more than they could say. Without her, they never would have worked out Pansy Pendleton’s real identity and learned what happened to Poppy.

“I was thinking,” Joel said as he turned to her, “that perhaps I might let the Poetry Society here have Poppy’s old journals and poetry as a thank you. I think it’s time the world knew who Pansy Pendleton was, that she was also Poppy Peterson, and that she was a brave woman who risked so much to follow her dreams. Do you want to come down to Justine’s place and tell her with me? I’m sure it will be fun to film her reaction.”

It probably would, but Hanna knew that she could go on collecting new footage forever, and never actually get her documentary finished. “I think I’d better stay here and work on editing. You don’t mind, do you?”

Joel kissed her, tenderly. “You’ll still be here when I come back. That’s all I need to know.”

Settling back into a corner of the Inn’s dining room, she concentrated again on piecing her film together. But when there still seemed to be things missing, on a whim, Hanna put in some of the footage she’d taken of the whales on the ferry over to the island. The sequence shouldn’t have worked, because it took the focus away from the main story, yet somehow, it did.

Because wasn’t the island a defining part of
her
story, too? Hanna Walker wouldn’t be Hanna Walker without the island, or her sisters, or Joel and the Petersons. Joel had asked her once if she was only telling other people’s stories, or if she was trying to tell her own, as well. Now she finally understood that the heart of the story she wanted to tell now, and for the rest of her life as a filmmaker, was one of love—for others, for oneself, and for dreams.

So she added in the footage of the whales, making a note to add narration about the importance of the whale migrations to the island, but also about how she’d watched the whales with awe so many times as a child. She put in footage of the storm on the northern bluffs of Walker Island where she and Joel had come so close to kissing. She put in footage of the festival and the B&B in Seattle where she’d learned he truly respected her filmmaking skills. She even included footage taken from the dance recital so that she could show her love for her sisters and Ava.

And what she found was that her documentary worked so much better when she brought herself—and her real life on the island—in. Meanwhile, she also tried to tell Joel’s story alongside that of his family, although by the end, their stories were so intertwined it was hard to tell which was which.

By the time Joel walked into the room, she felt that it was almost all there. But there was still something missing. Some piece she couldn’t quite see.

He lowered his mouth to hers to give her a kiss before asking, “Can I see what you’ve got so far?”

She was a little nervous about showing it to him, but he smiled as he watched it, even during the more emotional sections. “It’s fantastic, Hanna.”

“It’s really just a rough draft. There will be a lot more work to do before it’s really finished. And the ending still isn’t quite right somehow, leaving things in the graveyard. Maybe I should have gone with you to see Justine today.”

“No, you were right to stay here, to work on your documentary while everything was so fresh. Besides, I have a better idea for the ending.”

“You do?”

“I do.”

The next thing she knew, he was getting down on one knee and taking a box from his pocket.

“How about with some footage of what the island has been waiting for all these years? A Peterson-Walker wedding.”

“Oh my gosh.” He opened the box to display a stunning antique wedding ring. “Joel, it’s beautiful. Where did you get it?”

“It was Poppy’s. When I showed up today, Justine said she was so glad that I came back. She remembered the ring after we left yesterday, and told me that the Poetry Society had been keeping it in a safe all this time because they couldn’t locate any of her relatives. They could have never found us if we hadn’t come looking for her, Hanna. I know this documentary will secure your place in the graduate program in Seattle, because no one has ever deserved it more, but I was hoping this might give you a reason to come back once you’ve earned your degree.”

“You’ve already given me all the reasons I could ever need.” Still, for as much as Hanna wanted to yell
yes!
to his proposal, something wasn’t quite right about this ending...and she thought she knew what it was.

Lowering herself to her knees in front of him so that they were eye to eye, she said, “I love you, Joel, so much that I can’t stand the thought of your not being happy. Truly happy. If it’s working in an office all day, I’ll be behind you every step of the way. But I can’t help but feel that you’ve pushed away your own dreams for too long. Far too long.”

He stared at her for a long moment, before he finally nodded. “All day, I’ve been thinking about what Poppy went through, about how she was brave enough to pursue her dreams even though it meant disappointing our family. For so long, I thought I needed to be what they wanted me to be to keep everyone happy, even after my father and grandfather passed away. Especially then, because I didn’t want to do anything that would diminish what they’d built on the island with Peterson Shipping. But now…how would you feel if your husband made his living as a sea captain?”

She threw her arms around him in answer. “I love you, Joel.”

“I love you, too, Hanna. Say you’ll marry me. Before or after you graduate from the master’s program—it doesn’t matter when or where as long as we’ll be together for the rest of our lives.”

“Yes.” Finally she was able to shout it out. “
Yes!”

And when he slid the ring onto her finger, she was hardly surprised by how well it fit. As endings for her documentary went, she had to admit, their wedding would be a good one.

Really, really good.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

They held the wedding outside so that everyone on the island could be a part of the celebration that would end the long-running feud between the Petersons and the Walkers. Hanna had set up cameras all over the beach to capture the celebration for her documentary, and fortunately, everyone had offered to pitch in on all other fronts for the huge wedding and party.

Emily had insisted on taking over the catering for the event, baking and cooking with such intensity that Hanna had almost been worried that her sister didn’t approve of her and Joel. Of course, Emily had quickly dispelled that by saying, “I don’t just cook when I’m annoyed, you know.” She’d hugged Hanna, then. “I’m happy for you. We all are.”

Paige had co-opted a few of her students from the dance school into volunteering to pitch in for the occasion. Hanna had been a little worried about whether that was allowed, but Paige had laughed it off.

“Are you kidding? Most of them would kill for a chance to be involved in the island’s biggest wedding.”

“It’s not
that
big,” Hanna insisted. “It’s not like we’re putting on some sort of elaborate, over-the-top show.”

“Only because the two of you didn’t give us enough time to set that up. A month isn’t nearly enough time to plan a wedding, Hanna. Although,” Paige said with a twinkle in her eyes, “watching the way you and Joel are together, I can understand why you don’t want to waste another moment.”

They’d wanted to get married before she headed back to the university. Not only had her official acceptance into the graduate program come through, but Professor Karlson had even been talking about showing it to a couple of production company friends of his.

Still, for as happy as all of that made her, in the end, getting into graduate school and impressing her professor wasn’t really the point.

The point was that it was the story of Hanna’s heart that she had needed to tell.

And now, all she needed to do was walk up the aisle, or at least the patch of beach that counted as the aisle for today, on the north side of the island near the caves where she and Joel had taken refuge from the storm. Right this moment, in fact, she was using the cave where they’d sheltered to get ready, with her sister Morgan fussing with Hanna’s dress and makeup, applying a little eye shadow. Morgan coming back home for the wedding so that all five sisters could be together again made the day even better than it already was.

“When did you get the pink highlights, Hanna?”

“A while ago. Do you think they don’t suit me?”

“Hanna, it’s your wedding day. Everything suits you.” Morgan hugged her. “Although, honestly, I’m still trying to get my head around you and Joel Peterson. We haven’t had a chance to talk much, but from the little we have I really like him. Still, I never would have thought…”

“Me neither,” Hanna told her with a smile. “I guess you never know how these things are going to turn out.”

“No, I guess not,” Morgan agreed.

Like Hanna’s other sisters, Morgan had decided not to wear a formal bridesmaid’s dress. Instead, she was wearing a butter-yellow dress that floated like waves around her kneecaps.

“You do realize that with our little sister getting married, you’ve just managed to make the rest of us feel old? Even those of us who are just a couple of years older than you?”

Hanna grinned and teased, “Yet another
good reason to get married as soon as possible.”

Morgan returned her grin. “No, that would be the part where you love Joel with all your heart.”

“I really do, Morgan. He’s
amazing.
”

“In that case, I think it’s time for you to go get married.”

Hanna paused, savoring the heady moment, before stepping out onto the path down to the beach. It was a slightly trickier climb down in a wedding dress, but the extra time it took meant that she got a better look at all the people gathered down below on the beach on the chairs set up just above the tide line.

Ava sat down in the front row, and Hanna could see her already dabbing at her eyes. Every seat was taken, and people were also gathered on every last bit of beach. There were even watchers on the sea.

For today, amazingly, all of the captains and skippers from Peterson shipping were out in the waters just beyond the beach in support of Joel. Just last week, he’d formally announced that he would be hiring a general manager to handle the day-to-day business, giving him more time out on the boats, and they’d all rallied behind their boss, who loved the sea just as much as they did.

Joel was waiting for her by the small arch that Michael had helped put up on the beach for the ceremony, staring at her in wonder as she began her approach. He looked amazing standing there, gorgeous in his tux, though very definitely not wearing a tie. Hanna had insisted on that part.

Her father, Tres, was there beside Ava. Hanna knew he’d gotten the shock of his life when he’d come back from his European school trip to find his little girl was engaged to Joel Peterson. Thankfully, Ava had quickly and deftly explained the situation to him, with Hanna’s sisters there, as well, to confirm that Joel really was Hanna’s dream come true...and that he loved her with his entire heart and soul, as well.

Having every eye on her was a strange feeling when she was usually the one watching everyone else. For today, though, she could accept being the center of attention, especially when there was only one gaze that mattered.

Everything but Joel fell away when he looked at her with so much love and heat in his eyes that it stole her breath. So when the officiant started the ceremony, it almost took her by surprise.

“We’re gathered here to witness the marriage of…”

As he spoke, Hanna couldn’t help thinking of everything it had taken to get here today. All those decades when their families hadn’t spoken. All the gossip that had been spread about her grandmother. She thought about herself growing up without a mother, but with so much love from her sisters, father and grandmother. And she thought about Joel, too—the way the teenage boy she’d had a girlhood crush on, who had so deftly darted through the defenses of opposing football teams, had become the incredible man who stood opposite her now, holding her hand and waiting for her to say the two words that would bind them together forever.

“I do.”

* * *

They held the wedding reception up at the house and, to Hanna, it looked almost as busy as a downtown Seattle festival. There was music playing loud enough that it could be heard outside, and food was set out on every available surface. Rachel was off at one side of the room chatting with friends while keeping an eye on Charlotte as she ran around excitedly with a couple of the island’s younger children. Paige was dancing, while Emily was making sure everyone had what they needed. Morgan, of course, had attracted a small group of admirers interested in hearing about her adventures in Hollywood.

But it was Ava whom Hanna and Joel sought out. Hanna’s grandmother hugged her first, squeezing her tightly. “You have made me the happiest I’ve ever been, darling.”

Beside Hanna, Joel smiled. “I’m pretty pleased too.”

Ava pulled Joel into an embrace that looked stronger than her age might have suggested. “I know Poppy would be proud of you, both of you.”

“I know she would too, Ava, and I’m sorry that for so long I thought—”

“Oh, hush now,” Ava said in a gentle voice. “Must we go through this every time I see you? I’m just happy for the two of you. And you should know that if my granddaughter doesn’t wear you out too much first, young man, I’m going to be claiming a dance from you later.”

As Ava stepped away, Hanna told her new husband, “She’s serious about the dance, you know.”

“Then we’d better get some practice in first,” Joel suggested.

Putting their arms around one another, they swayed in time to the music. Joel, she already knew, was a fabulous dancer, and long after the song ended, they remained in each other’s arms.