Page 32 of Silver Lining Love

“And how are you and Whitney getting along?” she asked in a faux-innocent tone.

I knew exactly what she was fishing for, and I was not going to bite. My mom had always suspected that I had a thing for my neighbor. She wasn’t wrong, but there was no way I was going to confirm it.

“Good.” I made sure to keep my face unreadable. “How’s everything there? I saw that Lilah’s been loving riding.”

If there was one thing to distract my mom, it was getting her talking about her grandkids. JJ told me that my niece was getting pretty good on the back of a horse, and that she’d been riding any chance she got at the farm. The call ended when practice did and thankfully, she hadn’t circled back around to me and Whitney.

Honestly, I wish there was something to report. If it were up to me, there would be. But there wasn’t. We were friends, and as much as I wanted more, I was just happy that she and the kids were in my life.

13

WHITNEY

“Stop looking for your happy place in the same place you lost it.” ~ Gamma Mary

I set the vodka soda that I’d been nursing for the past hour down on the high-top table I was posted beside. My eyes scanned the gorgeous view of the city from the rooftop that the event was being held on. The night summer air was a perfect seventy degrees, there were string lights hung above, music played through speakers and the dance floor was packed.

Sometimes these things could be stuffy or boring, but this was actually fun. Or it should be. Unfortunately for me, I just couldn’t stop thinking about home. About the kids. About Wyatt.

I glanced down at the time on my Apple watch. It was ten p.m. I’d been here for an hour, but it felt like ten. I used to be the Queen of Small Talk, but tonight, I’d quickly come to the realization that now that there were actually important things in my life, small talk didn’t come as easy for me as it used to.

The buzz around the event was that Ruby Sky had a meltdown on stage. She was an influencer/Broadway actress. She’d apparently started stripping out of her costume in her debut performance as Roxie Hart in front of a sold-out audience. Some people were saying it was drugs, other people were convinced it was a mental breakdown. It was so shocking because her image, or brand, had been wholesome, small-town southern girl making it in the big city. I’d met her a few times at events, and I remembered thinking that she was exactly who she represented herself as on social media, which wasn’t always the case with influencers. Some of the people I met were not anything like their internet personas. From what I’d witnessed, Ruby wasn’t a party girl, and she’d seemed really down-to-earth and sweet, so I had no clue what could have happened.

I’d only half-listened to the gossip that typically would have been very interesting to me. I was distracted. My mind couldn’t concentrate on what the latest influencer scandal was. I was thinking about Michael’s game tomorrow, and whether or not I’d remembered to put Alice’s leotard in the dryer so it would be ready for her ballet practice in the morning, which Wyatt would be taking her to. He was taking Benji with him to ballet, and then he was going to take Alice and Benji to the park so I could spend the morning with Mikey.

He’d told me that his mom used to take each one of her kids out for one-on-one time. She’d called it mother/son day or mother/daughter day. He’d said those days had been some of his best childhood memories and suggested that I start doing that with Mikey and Alice and Benji when he was old enough. Tomorrow was the inaugural run, and I was excited to have some uninterrupted time with him. He’d been opening up to me slowly but surely ever since the morning after the fight.

That was the same morning he’d interrupted the talk with Wyatt about our kiss. We’d never revisited that conversation and, unfortunately, there hadn’t been an encore performance of our symphonic kiss.

As disappointed as I was, I had to admit I was equally happy that nothing had changed between us. Yes, I’d love it if Wyatt and I were something more than friends, but there was a danger in that. If we acted on our mutual attraction and things didn’t work out, I wasn’t the only one who would lose him; the kids would, too. And honestly, I had no idea what we’d do without him in our lives.

Alice had said it best when we’d been watchingThe Avengersmovie, she leaned over to Wyatt, hugged him around the neck, and told him that he was our superhero. My heart melted and I knew it had affected Wyatt, too. He’d gotten a little misty-eyed, but then he picked her up and flew her around the room like she was an airplane.

He was so good with the kids, all three of them.

I wondered if he’d had a hard time putting Benji down. He’d slept for an extra thirty minutes during his nap this afternoon. Sometimes when he did that, getting him to go down was a nightmare.

My phone buzzed in my clutch bag. I pulled it out, hoping that it was Wyatt giving me an excuse to leave. When I saw that it was Jasper, my stomach turned.

Jasper:You look so hot tonight.

Great. My ex was here. He hadn’t reached out in all these months, and the last thing I wanted to do was have to speak to him face to face.

The message might not have been from Wyatt, but it had definitely done what I’d wanted it to. I’d been searching for an excuse to bounce, and this just gave it to me.

I tapped on my Uber app when I heard my name.

“Whitney!”

When I lifted my head, I saw Talia waving her hands in front of her as she rushed toward me.

“Shit,” I whispered beneath my breath as she flung her arms around my neck.

“Oh my god! I’ve mished you!” she slurred her words as she spoke.

She was drunk.

“You look soooo beautiful.”

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