Page 57 of Wanting Happily Ever After

Being with Rory and Sarah in this way was so easy and it felt so right. As did waking up with Sarah’s naked body pressed up against his for the last few mornings. That feltveryright. He was going to have a very hard time moving back into his own little house with the big empty bed.

In fact, everything felt empty about his house. Without Rory and Sarah in it, it wasn’t much of a home. He glanced over at Sarah, who sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. She was alternating between watching the two of them cook and checking out her social media feeds on her tablet. As if she sensed him watching her, she looked up from her tablet and grinned at him. He blew her a kiss and went back to supervising the pancake flipping.

A few minutes later, Rory carried a plate full of piping-hot pancakes to the table and breakfast was ready.

It wasn’t until after they’d eaten, and Sarah had sent Rory to go change and she was gathering up the dishes, that she slid her tablet toward Brody. “Check this out. Faith is going to lose her mind.”

Brody clicked on the tablet and saw what Sarah had been referring to. It was a photo from their photo shoot the week before, but it wasn’t a picture of Brody and Sarah like the ones Faith had sent over the day before. Instead, it was a close-up of Faith and Logan in a very intense, passionate embrace that had obviously been part of Logan’sdemonstrationkiss.

“What is this?” Brody looked up with wide eyes and shook his head before looking back to the screen and scrolling down to the article.

“Faith said something about the photographer giving her a deal if he could use a few of the pictures in a freelance article about weddings he had commissioned. But…”

“This isn’t a wedding picture.”

Sarah laughed. “Nope. And read the article.”

Brody scanned down. The headline read,“Twins find their own Ever After in love-inspired location.”He quickly scanned the article, which was actually a great advertisement piece about Ever After and both Faith and Hope, who ran it. The only problem was, Faith hadn’t found love the way the article described it.

“It’s pretty great, don’t you think?” Sarah didn’t even bother hiding her glee at the misinformation, and Brody could see why.

Faith was going to freak out. Although it was clear to anyone who saw them together that there was something between them, Faith behaved as if Logan were a giant pain in her ass and had been adamantly denying that she had any feelings for him at all. And from what Brody heard around town, it had been like that since they were in high school.

“Oh man,” Brody agreed. “You’re right. Faith is going to freak out, and Logan is going to love it.” He took a few minutes and read the rest of the article while he finished his coffee. When he took the cup to the sink, he wrapped his arms around Sarah and kissed her on the cheek. “Why don’t you go have a shower and get ready for the day while I finish up in here?”

They’d both still taken the day off work, but they’d made the decision to actually leave the house, grab some lunch at the restaurant, and maybe even rent some bikes from the Hub. But first, Brody had other plans.

The moment he heard the water running in the shower, as much as he would have liked to join her, Brody sprang into action. He hadn’t spent much time planning or really, anything at all. But he’d made the decision to follow his heart. And he was going to need Rory’s help.

By the time Sarah emerged from the bathroom, her hair still wet and hanging down her shoulders, they were ready. Brody peeked around the corner of the kitchen into the living room where he’d left the note.

He watched as Sarah picked it up.

There’s a seat and a treat waiting for you outside.

She smiled and looked around.

Brody ducked back into the kitchen before she could see him. A moment later, he heard the patio door open and he looked down at Rory, who was grinning broadly. “Ready?”

She nodded. “Tell me what to say again.”

Brody chuckled and bent down so he could look her in the eye. “I want you to take this to your mom.” He handed her the tray that held a single daisy he’d picked from her front garden. “Ask her to put it in her hair and close her eyes.”

Rory giggled.

“Can you do that?”

She nodded and looked affronted. “Duh. Of course.”

“I know you can,” Brody added quickly. “And then, once her eyes are closed, and make sure she keeps them closed, hit the Play button on my phone.” He handed her his cell phone, which she tucked into her pocket with a serious nod. “Got it?”

“Got it, Coach.” She turned to get to her task, but stopped and looked at him before going. “Does this mean you’re going to be around more?”

Brody grinned. “I sure hope so. Is that okay?”

Rory nodded seriously. “It’s about time.”

If he hadn’t been so nervous, he would have laughed. But instead, Brody closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He’d spent too long not listening to his heart. It was time for things to change.

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