Page 24 of Wanting Happily Ever After

“Not for a second.”

“You’ll keep her safe?” It was the most important question.

“I swear on my life.”

His choice of words caused her to wince, but still, she exhaled slowly and nodded a final time. “Okay. Go. Before I change my mind.”

Brody didn’t jump up right away. Instead, he looked as if he might kiss her, and in that moment, Sarah wanted nothing more than for him to do it. Instead, he smiled slowly and winked at her before rocking back on his heels and standing up.

“I got you,” he said, before jogging down the beach to Rory.

It only took a second before her daughter let out a loud cheer.

She’d done the right thing.

But that didn’t make it any easier to watch.

Still, that’s exactly what she did.

Sarah didn’t take her eyes off Rory and Brody as they made their way to the water’s edge. Rory dipped her toe in carefully and let out a small screech at how cold it was. Sarah laughed, but Rory, determined not to back out, moved confidently into the water, her little hand tightly gripped in Brody’s.

She’d always loved water. Just like her father. Just because they’d avoided the lake didn’t mean they hadn’t gone swimming. Sarah had taken her to the town pool for swim lessons when she was younger, and a few times when they’d gone into the city, Sarah always tried to pick a hotel with a pool.

It didn’t take long for Rory to forget her hesitation and start splashing the cold water all around. Gradually, the ball of tension in Sarah’s gut began to unravel. Brody was so good with Rory. He was laughing and smiling and having just as much fun as the six-year-old.He really cared about Rory.It wasn’t the first time she’d had that thought. Their relationship was special.

Just like yours.

The thought of it might have made her laugh, if it wasn’t true. Her relationship with Brodywasspecial.

Her fingers floated to her lips. She could still taste him. Still feel him. It had been such a small kiss that they’d shared, but at the same time, it had beenhuge.With one simple—almost chaste—kiss, her body had come alive in a way it never had before. He was her best friend, yes.But could he be more? Could things with Brody be different?Loving him didn’t have to mean losing him.Did it?Maybe she’d been wrong to keep him at arm’s length.Maybe…

The stress of the situation and the heat of the day started to take its toll and Sarah’s eyes grew heavy as her brain worked through the scenarios ofwhat ifwhile she watched her daughter and the man she was falling for play in the water. She leaned back against the tree and gave in to the exhaustion as her eyes drifted shut.

ChapterSeven

It didn’t matterthat Faith had grown up spending her summers playing in the glacier-fed lake; she still couldn’t get used to how cold the water was. Thanks to the heat wave they’d had, the water was actually bearable, even refreshing. And Faith knew that in a few weeks, as the water levels receded a little more, it would warm up even more.

Still, every time her toe slipped from the paddleboard she was lying on and dipped into the water, it startled her.

But the sun was warm, and having paddled a little past the swim line, it was peaceful on the lake, away from all the kids splashing and playing. She rested her head on her arms and let her eyes close. The night before had been a late one. A big wedding of just over two hundred people, with what seemed like two hundred different dietary requests, a drunk mother of the groom, and a party crowd that went well past one in the morning. She needed just a few minutes of sleep.

Or a few hours.

She let the gentle movement of the paddleboard on the waves calm her. As her breath got increasingly slow, Faith allowed her mind to wander. The wedding the night before hadn’t only just been a lot of work. It had also been absolutely beautiful. One of the most romantic ceremonies she’d seen. And that meant a lot, because she was undoubtedly the least romantic person in the wedding business, if not in town.

Although, lately, those views seemed to be changing a little bit. Faith hated to admit it, but there was something that tugged at her heartstrings just a little bit when a man and a woman stood in front of all their family and friends and declared their love for each other. And some couples were different. It was just in the way that they looked at each other that you knew theyreallyloved each other.

Maybe love could be a thing?

It was a thought she’d been considering more and more. It was impossible not to, really, when all around her, people were coupling up and falling in love. Even Sarah and Brody looked, for all intents and purposes, to be a couple. Faith knew that situation was complicated, but if she didn’t know better, she would think that they, too, had finally got over their own bullshit and were actually dating. She opened her eyes and looked toward the beach long enough to see an intense conversation between Brody and Sarah. She grinned, because it sure looked like he was about to kiss her.

He didn’t. She watched Brody go to Rory and lead her into the water. He really was so good to Sarah and her daughter.

Happy for her friend, even if Sarah didn’t fully realize what she had in Brody, Faith exhaled slowly and closed her eyes again.

Even if they weren’t officially dating, the way Brody cared about Sarah was impressive. It wouldn’t be so bad to have a man care about her that way. Not at all.

A deep and completely unexpected wave of sadness washed over her.

---