Page 48 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

They reached his car, something black, low, and sleek, a far contrast to the large pickup he had the other day. Sienna was thankful he was the one who opened the door. She was afraid to leave any smudges on the shiny metal.

She watched Beau through the windshield as his long, thick legs glided along the pavement. Everything about him was effortless and working in his favor—the stubble from not shaving, the way the hair at the top of his head sat soft and barely done.

Beau’s hair reminded Sienna of a time when it was her hand that made it unkept after hours and hours of kissing and winding her fingers through the tresses, her nails scraping Beau’s scalp, making him kiss her harder. Beau closed his door, and Sienna ran her thumb across her bottom lip, which felt plumper, softer as if it had grown in size.Muscle memory, she thought, trying to focus on the “memory” part. There had been so many, and suddenly Beau’s closeness in the car, his smell—woodsy and leathery—the view of her home, of the roof they had lain on in the quiet of so many past nights overwhelmed her.

“You okay?”

Sienna nodded over enthusiastically, slipping off her coat. “Yeah, just a little warm.” She looked back at the house, but not at the roof this time, at the living room window where she could see Grace peeking through the curtains.

Beau pulled onto the street.

“Where are we going?” Sienna asked.

His focus remained on the road, but she could see the wide grin spread across his face.

“Back in time.”

* * *

Sienna wasn’t sure what Beau meant by “back in time” because it only took her eight minutes to realize they were heading to Dallas.

“Do you have something against ties?” Beau asked as he pulled onto the highway.

“No, not personally,” Sienna told him while thinking,but I do love an open collar.“Why?” She watched as Beau removed one hand from the steering wheel, reached into his pocket, and tossed a long black piece of material at her.

“Grace ordered me to take it off.”

Sienna giggled, winding the tie in her hands.

“She also said I should’ve brought you flowers.”

“You don’t have to bring me flowers.”

Beau shrugged beside her. “I think it’s kind of awkward. I hand you a flower arrangement, and you stand there before putting it down. If you like the girl enough to bring her flowers, you don’t want to wait a minute for the date to start.” He cocked a grin at Sienna.

“Even worse, a bouquet wrapped in paper that I would have to trim and find a vase for.”

A quick chuckle escaped his chest. “What do you think, I’m a dog bringing you a stick? I’d never.” Sienna watched his face slide into a clever smirk.

“What?” she asked.

“I hope you like them,” Beau said.

“Like what?”

He turned quickly to look at her. “Nothing. Just let me know if you do.” Sienna was about to ask again, but Beau continued, “Grace seems like a lot of fun.”

“And a lot of work,” Sienna added. “But she’s pretty great. Especially considering everything.”

“But she’s good now, yeah? Full on remission?”

“Not exactly full,” Sienna corrected him. “That comes after five years.”I hope we make it to that part.“But she’s good. No evidence of disease.”

For now,she nearly added, but Sienna lost her voice when Beau reached for her hand, clasping it with his on his thigh. She studied it for a minute, the way his thumb slipped from her grip to brush gently back and forth before squeezing and letting go. The slight movement provided an enormous amount of reassurance, as if Beau were saying all the things she had needed to hear over the course of the last tumultuous years.

It’s going to be okay.

“Thank you for what you did for Damien. Honestly, I thought you could call in a favor.” She broke their hold and pulled her phone from her purse to flash a photo Luella had sent of Beau and Damien after their workout. “I didn’t meanyouhad to coach him.”

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