Page 85 of A Montana Secret Admirer
Serenity heaved a sigh. “Come on, you can tell me.”
Another shake of her head.
“I’ll figure it out eventually. You might as well spill,” Serenity insisted.
This time, Wendy faced Serenity, and the look on her face was almost hilarious. Her eyes darted all over the place before she finally said, “I’ve never had an actual boyfriend.”
Serenity’s mouth hung open. She couldn’t be serious. Not one boyfriend? “I thought you dated before. You’ve talked about them?—”
“Dated, yes. But I’ve never gotten serious. I don’t know what it’s like to be in a committed anything besides what my friends tell me and books I’ve read. How would I be able to write something I don’t exactly know anything about?”
Serenity stood frozen for a moment, then she let out a burst of laughter. “Do you think that anyone who’s written about dragons knows anything about them? Fiction isn’t real. It’s a fantasy—even romance novels. Write what makes you happy, and it will bring joy to others.”
Wendy’s lips pursed as she considered her advice. Then she nodded. “Yeah, maybe. Or maybe I need to do some hands-on research.” Her eyes met Serenity’s, and they both laughed at the implication of what she was saying.
She’d need to find a boyfriend first.
But the question was, would it be a real relationship, or would she go undercover? Serenity wouldn’t put it past Wendy to do the latter.
Thankfully, with Wendy’s attention on the idea of writing a novel, she was no longer pushing for details about Reese.
Or Leo, for that matter.
Christmas was right around the corner, and snow covered the ground outside. Serenity watched the flakes fall as she considered how much time she and Reese still had to go before he’d be back, and they could see if something would spark between them again.
Tegan asked about Reese a lot more lately, and occasionally, he wanted to speak to him on the phone. That gave her a little more hope that everything would work out when Reese came home for good.
The closer the holidays got, the more anxious she was becoming. If Reese came home to visit, she wasn’t sure she could see him without it hurting too much.
It was just one more selfish thought she hated about herself.
Wendy had moved to the bookshelf, and she was tapping her chin with her finger again as she considered the titles before her. Something told Serenity that Wendy wouldn’t be worried if she was in Serenity’s position. How could Serenity get to a pointwhere she wasn’t terrified of the unknown? Of losing someone she had feelings for?
When she finally figured that out, maybe then she’d be ready to give her heart completely to Reese for good.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Christmas would beat the end of the month, and Reese couldn’t recall something he looked forward to more than going home. It was probably a good thing he hadn’t gone to college back when he’d had the chance. There was no telling if he would have been able to manage being away from his family for a couple of years if this was how he felt about it after only a couple months.
Who knew that he was so attached?
To be fair, Reese wasn’t looking forward to going home just for his family.
He wanted to pay a visit to Serenity, and he fully intended on staying in the city with her for a couple days so they could figure out what it was that was growing between them.
For someone who hadn’t wanted something long distance, they sure talked a lot. The days they didn’t speak on the phone were few and far in between. They spoke over video chat, too.
While he hadn’t told her he loved her outright, he knew she had to understand that was where his heart was. Nothing had changed since he’d written that letter.
He’d been tempted to get her address from Jane so he could send her a bouquet of flowers, but he thought better of it.
Space.
Serenity needed her space—to feel in control.
“Did you hear about the program change?”
Reese looked up from the textbook he was reading. Today, they were doing research for their course on different types of equine therapy, or rather, different ways it helped patients. Maddox was in the same program as he was—a fast track to becoming a therapist, but he’d be moving forward and adding to his education by getting trained clinically.
