Page 13 of Wanting Happily Ever After

Brody’s phone buzzed with an incoming text message, and the moment he saw the name on the display, he smiled.

I was thinking of going to the lake on Sunday. Maybe a group? Will you come?

“How do you guys feel about the lake?” Brody asked the men, interrupting their conversation.

“Love the lake.”

“The lake is awesome.”

“Would feel pretty good in this heat.”

“Yes!”

Brody listened to the back-and-forth for a minute before Logan finally looked at him. “Have you been?”

Brody shook his head. He’d heard a lot about Cedar Springs and the lake in the neighboring town, but he’d been too busy to ever get there.

“We should go,” Damon chimed in. “Get a group together.”

“Yes.” Brody raised his phone in way of explanation. “That’s exactly what Sarah just said.”

The men froze and looked at each other. “Sarah?”

“She suggested the lake?” Logan asked. “Sarah did?”

“She did. Just now. She sent me a text.”

The men exchanged glances as Katie returned with a mountain bike for Brody. “What’s going on?”

Damon offered the information. “Sarah just texted Brody and—”

“Ohh…” Katie wiggled her eyebrows. “Sarah. So things between the two of you are—”

“The same.” Brody cut her off. More and more, it seemed as if their friends thought there was something more going on between the two of them. And it didn’t matter how his feelings were changing; if Sarah didn’t feel the same way, nothing was ever going to happen anyway. “We’re friends,” he added to make his point. “Good friends.”

Damon and Logan exchanged looks that made it very clear they disagreed, but Katie at least seemed to accept his explanation.

“Whatever you say.” She winked. “Anyway, what’s up with Sarah?”

Logan answered his sister. “She just texted Brody and suggested getting a group together to go to the lake.”

Katie’s mouth fell open, but she caught herself quickly. “Sarah suggested that?”

Brody nodded his confirmation, although he had no idea why they were being so strange.

“Okay,” Katie said slowly. “Then we should go. All of us.”

Brody had finally had enough. “What’s going on? Why are you all being weird?”

Katie smiled softly. “You know that Sarah’s husband Josh drowned, right?”

Brody nodded but before he could say anything, it hit him in a flash. “Shit.” He dropped his head and rubbed at the back of his neck before looking up. “At the lake?Thelake?” He didn’t know why, but he’d always assumed he’d drowned in the ocean, or…well, he didn’t know what he actually thought. Except that he probably should have asked. “Shit.”

“Shit indeed,” Logan said. “And Sarah’s never been back to the lake. Ever.”

“But it seems like she’s ready now,” Katie added.

She did seem to be ready.Maybe she was ready for a lot of changes.First dating, and now this… Brody lifted his phone and reread the text before quickly typing in his reply.

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