After the dinner plates were cleared, a hand came down on his shoulder. “Got a minute?”

Nate craned his neck in Jack’s direction. “Of course,” he said, tossing his napkin on the chair and following Jack, who weaved through the tables, past the torches, and onto the soft, white sand. They walked away from the wedding guests, and towards the water, moonlight bathing the ocean in its soft nighttime glow.

Jack stopped and faced Nate. “Let me ask you a question. Do I look stupid?”

Nate furrowed his brow. “What?”

“Just answer the question. Do I look stupid?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so. Because I’m not stupid and that means I know you’re in love with my sister.”

Nate blinked several times. “What?”

Jack stared hard at him. “Again. Not dumb. Don’t you play dumb, either.”

He swallowed dryly. This wasn’t how he’d intended to tell Jack. But then, nothing had gone as he’d intended the last few days. “I won’t play dumb.”

“Good,” Jack said in a firm voice. “What are you going to do about it?”

“Aren’t you going to tell me I’m going to break her heart and that I need to keep my hands off her?”

“It’s not for me to tell you what to do or not to do. I simply want to know when you’re going to deal with it.”

“Why?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Because I’m getting married tomorrow. Because I want everything to be perfect for the woman I love. Because if you’re standing next to me with my sister pissed off at you, or some scowl on your face, or waiting to have another fight in the bar—yes, Michelle told me, so don’t look so shocked that I know—that will make her unhappy, and that will make me unhappy. And all I want is for her to be happy. So can you deal with this tonight, please?”

“I was planning on dealing with it tonight,” Nate replied.

Jack clapped him on the back. “Good. Let’s go back, and you’re excused for the rest of the night. This is more important.”

He laughed. “Yes. It is,” he said, and all he wanted now was to take Casey in his arms and make her his.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Jack said as they neared the veranda. “I’m not even going to tell you not to hurt her, because I know you know better. But remember this—Casey and Michelle are the two most important people in the world to me. And you’re next. So treat her like she’s the world to you.”

“I promise,” Nate said, then an idea flashed before him. A brilliant idea. “Hey. You’re doing some work with European companies, right?”

Jack nodded.

“There’s something I need,” he said, then gave him the details.

“I’ll see what I can do after the wedding,” Jack said, then gestured to the rehearsal dinner. “Now go take care of business.”

But Casey was no longer at the table. His heart beat faster as he searched for her on the veranda, but he didn’t see the woman in the light-blue dress. He stopped by Michelle’s seat, bent down, and asked her if she knew where Casey had gone.