Page 69 of The House on Blueberry Lane

“Yes, a sexual thing.”

He was beginning to not like any words that had the word sex connected to them. “Will you ever level with them—those you trust and feel close to—and let them know we once shared something more serious than a sexual thing?”

She tilted her head and looked at him, frowning. “But that’s all we shared before Jaye—a sexual thing. My mistake was thinking it was more, remember?”

He could hear the hurt in her voice and reached out and took her hand, ready to tell her the truth. “Velvet, I—”

Velvet quickly pulled her hand back. “No, Jaye. Please don’t spoil this moment for us. I don’t want to talk about the past. I just want to focus on now.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin, smiled and said excitedly, “I’m ready to try out our rocking chairs.”

A SHORT WHILE LATER, with full wineglasses, Velvet and Jaye settled into the rocking chairs, admiring the view. Fields and fields of blueberry bushes stretched under the beautiful Louisiana sky. She was glad he’d decided to put the chairs out back instead of in the front. Not just for privacy, but because the view was a lot nicer and provided a sense of peace and tranquility. She hoped this would become one of their favorite places.

“This feels nice, Jaye. You did a great job.”

“And you helped.”

“Yes,” she said proudly, grinning from ear to ear. “And I helped just a little.”

“You helped a lot. I enjoyed working with you. We make a great team.”

She refused to read anything into what he said and jokingly asked, “Is that your way of hinting that you want me to help you build those planters for the porch now?”

He chuckled. “That would be nice.”

Velvet chuckled as well. “That can be arranged.”

They rocked while sipping wine. Eventually, she said, “Sierra called after you left. The wedding is in less than two weeks, and I think she’s getting nervous.”

“Vaughn came into the bank Friday, and he doesn’t seem nervous at all.”

“That’s a man for you.”

He took another sip of wine and then asked, “Who’s keeping their goddaughter while they’re honeymooning in the Caribbean?”

“Things worked out great since they’ll be gone the week of spring break. Just so happens, it’s the same as spring break for schools in Atlanta, so Teryn will be spending the week with Dani, Emory and their kids.”

He nodded. “I forgot all about spring break. What do you have planned for that week?”

She shrugged. “Nothing really. Last year Sierra and I took Teryn to Disney World in Orlando, and we had a great time.”

Jaye stopped rocking and looked at her. She saw the serious look on his face. “Jaye, what’s wrong?”

“I’d like to ask you something. You don’t have to give me your answer now, but promise me you’ll at least think about it.”

“What?”

“The week of spring break... Since you don’t have any plans, will you go out of town with me, Velvet? Spending time with you here is nice but I’d like to take you out to dinner and do fun things with you outside of the bedroom.”

She didn’t say anything and took another sip of wine. That was a switch. Even when they went on trips together in the past, they would stay inside and in the bedroom most of time, being the two passionate beings that they were.

“Where would we go?” she asked, wondering what he would say. Usually, they’d gone to his family’s cabin in the mountains of North Carolina, his place on Lake Tahoe, or skiing in Aspen.

“I want you to decide. Somewhere you’d want to go for a week to get away, wherever it is. I want to take you there. Where we can engage in unrestrained indulgences and won’t be confined to this house.”

Unrestrained indulgences...

Velvet thought about his offer. Honestly, she would love to go somewhere for a week. The only reason she hadn’t planned something was because she hadn’t wanted to sacrifice any time she could spend with him—inside the bedroom. Especially when she had no idea how much more time they had left.

She studied him. “Thanks for the invite, Jaye. I’ll give it some thought and let you know my decision.”

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