Simple. Elegant. Just right for a ranch wedding.

Her hair was pulled into a knot on the back of her head with curls coming from it to soften the look.

She wore round rubies in her ears. Red for love.

Her bouquet had five red roses surrounded by white hydrangeas. She’d been specific with the number of roses and couldn’t wait to share the reason why with Luke.

It hadn’t been easy keeping her secret. Lucky for her, the morning sickness made her queasy and tired only before subsiding around lunch each day.

She’d been tempted to tell Luke on the day he proposed in Paris during their two-week trip to complete the install of the security program for Griffin Worldwide Financial. They’d spent nearly every waking hour together traveling from one country to the next, city to city, and office to office. In that time, they got to really know each other over long dinners, exploring the places they visited, and just being together without all the other distractions.

They missed the kids terribly, but they enjoyed each other.

And on their last stop, Paris, Luke took her on a tour of the city that ended at twilight in front of the Eiffel Tower, where unbeknownst to Sarah, Abby stood by recording the whole scene unfold as Luke took a knee in front of her, held up a gorgeous diamond solitaire, and asked her to be not just his wife, but his everything for the rest of their lives.

Sarah barely remembered any of it, except saying yes and kissing Luke. She loved kissing Luke.

But the video showed her in a soft flowing pink dress she’d put on to go to dinner and Luke in slacks and a dress shirt, looking too handsome for his own good, down on one knee, her smiling, tears running down her cheeks, and both of them looking so happy and in love. She remembered the applause from the tourists around them when Luke slipped the ring on her finger. She didn’t remember him scooping her up and twirling her around. But the kiss. That she remembered. And the love that made her heart feel like it might explode from her chest.

Caught up in the moment, she held on to her news for today.

They wanted to be married right away.

It took three weeks to put the wedding together. And she couldn’t wait to walk down the aisle to the man she loved.

Today, they’d finally be an official family.

Sarah picked up the wedding gift Luke left her. She tore open the white wrapping and found a rectangular velvet jewelry box inside. She opened the lid and tried really hard not to cry her makeup right off.

She stared in wonder at the pearl and ruby necklace she’d worn the night of the charity benefit. She took it from the box, hooked it around her neck, and let the pearls and large ruby hang down her back and checked herself out in the mirror again.