Page 3 of Another June with You

She glanced over at him and smiled. “My air conditioner doesn’t work.”

He angled his head toward her car. “Among other things.”

“I’m trying to keep it running as long as I can.”

“I’d say it’s on its last leg.”

“I don’t want a car payment right now.”

“I get that,” he replied.

“Says the guy driving a Lexus.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s Keely’s dad’s car.”

“Oh.” She’d never pictured him as someone who would drive a fancy car like this, and hearing it wasn’t his actually made her happy. Like her, he hadn’t come from money. Their families had worked hard for everything they got. And she didn’t like the thought that they might not have that in common anymore. Not that she would resent him if he drove a Lexus. Because if he did, it meant he had worked his butt off to get it. A strong work ethic had always been one of his most attractive qualities.

“So, you’re doing it,” he said. “You’re living the dream.”

Countless nights had been spent lying in his arms in the back of his pickup, staring up at the stars, talking about her love of photography and how she someday wanted to run her own business.

“I guess I am,” she replied.

“No guessing about it. You made it happen.”

She smiled over at him and found him smiling back.

“I’m so proud of you.”

Her throat tightened with emotion, and she quickly turned to look out the window so he wouldn’t see any runaway tears. Those words affected her more than anything had in a long time. His pride in her had always been evident when they were together. He believed in her, and had encouraged her to shoot for the stars, to dream big, because anything was possible.

Receiving that support from him again after all these years broke her heart open and spilled out feelings hidden away long ago. Those feelings were quickly followed by nudges of doubt and worry and regret—her biggest being the night she let Micah go.

Silence invaded the car. She hadn’t even realized she was stuck inside her head, sinking into the memories, until she felt the weight of his hand on hers.

“Hey, where are you right now?”

Her eyes met his, and it all fell away. “Nowhere.”

His expression said he didn’t believe her. Not at all.

“How are you?” she asked, anxious to outrun thoughts of the past and focus on the present. “What do you do now?”

“I’m still in Virginia. I work for NASA. Computer engineering.”

Shannon gasped. “NASA? Wow! So a Lexus probably isn’t out of the question for you, huh?”

He laughed. “I don’t know about that, but I do all right.”

“You said you introduced Keely and Chase.”

He nodded. “Chase and I went to Liberty together. I brought him and a couple friends home with me one weekend and took them to church. Keely was there, and he was awestruck.”

“Aww, that’s sweet.”

“They’ve been together ever since.”

“I knew they’d been together for a long time, but I didn’t realize it had been that long.” She and Keely were old high school friends, but they hadn’t remained close after graduation and had only recently reconnected when Keely hired her as their wedding photographer.

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