Page 54 of Silver Lining Love

My heart swelled before I turned the corner just hearing the conversation. When I stepped into the doorway, another organ swelled. My jeans grew uncomfortably tight in the crotch region when I found Whitney bent over as she finished changing Benji.

After her shower, she’d changed into cutoff jean shorts that molded to her backside and a white tank top that showcased her slim arms. The outfit was basically lingerie for a country boy—which this trip had reminded me I was, at heart.

I must have made a noise of male appreciation because she glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, hey. I didn’t know you were back.”

Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and her face was scrubbed clean. She looked like a very dangerous combination of innocent and sexy. I had the strongest urge to walk into the room, close the door, push her up against the wall and kiss her senseless, but since I knew my siblings would be arriving at any time, I didn’t want them to find us in a compromising position.

“Need some help?” I asked, hearing the gravelly timber in my voice indicating just how turned on I was.

“No, I think we’re good here.” She finished dressing Benji and picked him up.

When she straightened, her eyes met mine, and all the air felt like it was sucked out of the room. A sense of déjà vu passed through me as memories that hadn’t happened started playing like a slideshow in my mind’s eye. It was like the vision I’d had of us getting married, but on steroids.

Whitney is sitting on the front porch of my parents’ house and me getting on one knee asking her to be my wife.

Me standing at the end of the aisle at church as Whitney walks toward me in a white gown.

Whitney wrapping her arms around my neck as I carry her over the threshold of our new home.

Me teaching Michael how to drive stick in my old truck.

Whitney and I taking pictures of Alice as she leaves for prom.

Me taking off training wheels so Benji can ride a big boy bike.

Whitney and I sitting on a porch watching grandchildren run around.

The strangest thing about the psychic images wasn’t that they showed me getting married and raising kids with Whitney, who wasn’t technically even my girlfriend. It was that all the scenarios had taken place in Wishing Well, not in D.C.

I’d put this town in the rearview the first chance I’d gotten and had never spent more than a week at a time back here since I’d left nearly twenty years ago. Now, I was imagining my future here.

A concerned expression fell on Whitney’s face. “Are you okay?”

I blinked, trying to blank my head of everything I’d just been thinking. I didn’t believe in telepathy, but if anyone had a shot at reading my mind, it was Whitney.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just tired,” I lied.

As she stepped toward me her head tilted to the side. “Are you sure?”

I nodded as my heart pounded in my chest. It wasn’t that I’d never imagined a future with Whitney. I had. I just never imagined it here, in my hometown. The flash forward had me feeling things I wasn’t sure how to process.

Suddenly, everything I never knew I always wanted had come into crystal clear focus.

Whitney’s brow furrowed. “Wyatt? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…I just…I was thinking…”

I heard my mom calling out my name as soon as the front door opened and she greeted my brother Beau and his wife Sasha.

“Are you ready for this?” I asked, placing my hand on her back.

Her shoulder shrugged. “I guess so.”

Leaning down, I whispered in her ear, “If you need to escape, just blink twice.”

I felt a shiver run down her body as she smiled up at me. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Well, that made one of us.

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