Andie lifted one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. “Possibly. He was rather vague on the details.” She wrinkled her nose. “I swear I heard him say something about dance practice.”

“Ooh, maybe they’re going to do one of those flash mob dances at the wedding.” Kat grinned. “I’ve always thought that would be fun to do.”

“As your future maid of honor, I hereby declare that to be a hell no,” Andie said.

“Hey!” Julia poked Andie. “Who decided you get to be the maid of honor?”

“You will both be my maids of honor,” Kat announced.

“What?” Andie shook her head. “You can’t have two maids of honor!”

“It’s my wedding.” Kat crossed her arms. “I can have whatever I want.”

“How about you figure out who you’re going to be marrying at this hypothetical wedding before we get too wrapped up in the details,” Julia suggested.

“Too late for that,” Andie snarked affectionately.

Julia laughed. It was true. Maybe it was because she was a florist, but when it came to wedding planning, Kat didn’t have a list of ideas, she had an entire book. Her friend wanted the happy ending so bad.

If she was being honest with herself, they all did. Their own version of it, anyway. Julia wasn’t sure what her version of happily ever after looked like, exactly, but she knew it wouldn’t be like what her parents had. She wanted to be with someone who made her feel. Immediately, her thoughts turned to Luke. There was no question she had many feelings where he was concerned. But could she trust those feelings? Could she trust him?

She replayed the events of the past few days and wondered if the “romanticness” of their moments together was causing her doubt. The kiss in the rain, the make-out session on the beach as the waves crashed, the goofy, sweet things he said … It all seemed too good to be real. Imperfectly perfect, to use Luke’s expression.

What if he was an actor after all? The suspicion had crossed her mind more than once this week. She’d even gone so far as to wonder if it was possible to train a seagull. But why would he do that? What would be the point?

Julia tried to shove the negative thoughts away. She had a habit of assuming the worst, and it had destroyed more than one relationship. Take, for example, any guy she’d dated in college. The better things seemed to be, the more she would second-guess and overanalyze. It was like she was looking for a problem. Waiting for something bad to happen to give her a reason—an excuse—for having doubts. Proving herself right.

This time, she had to hold out hope she was wrong.

“Earth to Jules,” Andie called. “Come in, Jules.”

“Huh?” Julia blinked.

“Oh good, you’re not having a stroke,” Kat said drily.