Page 75 of Whisper of Temptation (Whisper Lake 4)

“Soooo long,” Shelby said dramatically.

Sara couldn’t help but smile. “Was it everything you’d hoped it would be?”

“Yeah, it really was,” Shelby confirmed. “So let’s review—”

“Are you serious?” That was the exact opening Sara had used when she had to have a come-to-Jesus talk with her siblings. She’d start with ‘let’s review’ and then list all the things she’d seen that she was worried about and then move on to list where she saw their actions taking them.

She really did love lists.

“Oh yeah. This is happening.” Shelby nodded with glee. “As I was saying. Let’s review. You met a man that fills the air in your tires before he even knows your name. Then that same man just happens to own the B&B that Grandma Betty stayed in all those years ago. He spends the week catering to your every need. And I do mean every need.” Shelby waggled her eyebrows. “He’s amazing with the kids. They love him. Your ex-husband even makes a point to tell you he thinks Austin is the one. He’s the grandson of grandma’s first love. You can work from home anywhere you want. Your house is sold. The movers are leaving tomorrow. And you don’t even want to give it a chance.”

“Shelby, you don’t understand. I can’t just uproot the kids—”

“Ehhh,” her sister made the sound of a buzzer. “Wrong answer. You already uprooted the kids’ lives.”

“Yeah, but that’s different. I did that to be closer to family,” Shelby shot back.

“It’s not different,” her sister deadpanned. “What else ya got?”

Lowering her voice, Sara explained, “I can’t make this big of a decision based on a man that I’ve known for a week. What kind of example is that setting for the kids?”

“Fair enough. So let’s take him out of the equation.”

“What?” Sara wasn’t sure where this was going.

“Let’s say you hadn’t met him. That you’d gone to Whisper Lake and he wasn’t there. But you still met Ali, Jess, Brynn, and Chrissy. You still met Mrs. D, who knew grandma and you got the invite into the Needlepoint Mafia.” Shelby had thought the matchmaking mob trio was hilarious and that they ran the entire thing through the front of a knitting club. “Charlotte still met Sally. Trevor met those two girls that have decided he’s their bestie.”

Sara had to smile. Cassidy and Kimber were Trevor’s shadow. She was glad that her son wasn’t one of those boys that thought girls had cooties.

“You love it there, Sara. I don’t think you realize how much you’ve talked about the town this week. You told me how much you love waking up and seeing the lake outside your window, that it starts your day feeling peaceful and centered. How much you love walking downtown where all the businesses are whimsical and named after fairytales. You love that they have a gazillion festivals. You love the gazebo on Foster Pond and watching the kids play in a blow up castle while you drink wine around a fire pit. And you love the B&B, Karen Carpenter—not the singer—and her bear of a husband Sylvester—not the cat—the brownie sundae at the Drawbridge Diner, and parking at True Love’s Kiss make out spot, and the castle… I mean the list goes on and on.”

Sara sat silently, taking in what her sister was telling her. She hadn’t even realized she’d been talking about the town that much.

“I think you may have fallen in love with two things. Austin Stone and Whisper Lake.”

She knew her sister was right, but Sara still found herself shaking her head. “It’s not that easy. This isn’t my real life. I’ve been on vacation.”

“Have you?” Shelby tilted her head to the side. “So you haven’t worked at all since you’ve been there?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Sara had worked every day.

“No, what I know is that you’re used to things being a struggle, because that’s all you’ve known. You stepped up and took care of me and Matt when you should’ve been busy just being a kid. Then as soon as you were done with that, you got married and had Trev. And just when you were adjusting to that, Charlotte arrived.

“And the whole time you’ve been doing it alone. Sure, Grandma Betty helped with us when she could. And Matt and I helped with Trevor and Charlotte when we could, but the buck always stopped with you. That’s all you’ve known, and I think you’re scared now that you’ve found a real partner. Someone who is in this with you, who takes care of you like you’ve always taken care of everyone else.” Shelby sniffed, and Sara saw her sister’s eyes grow misty. “And it scares the shit out of me that you might walk away from it just because being alone is what you’ve been programmed to expect.”

“Shelby, don’t get upset. No matter what happens, I’m going to be fine,” Sara assured her.

“I know you will be. You’re always fine!” Shelby let out a forced laugh. “But you deserve better than fine.”

Her sister’s words slammed into her like a Mack truck. She’d never really thought about what she deserved. She’d been so focused on making sure Shelby, Matt, Trevor, and Charlotte had what they deserved. But maybe her sister was right. Maybe, she did deserve a shot at being really, truly happy.

And the best place to take that shot was here. In Whisper Lake. Whether she and Austin worked out or not, she did love it here. She was happy here. The kids were happy here. This was home.

“When did you get so wise?” Sara asked in awe of her sister’s maturity.

“I learned from the best.” A huge smile spread across Shelby’s face. “I am who I am because of you. I know I don’t tell you enough, but thank you.”

“No, thank you, Shelbs. You stopped me from making what could’ve been the biggest mistake of my life.” Sara swiped the single tear that fell down her right cheek and sniffed as she took in a deep breath. She didn’t want to start bawling in the garden of the community center. Shaking her head, she let out a long breath. “Okay, I have to go. I have a moving company to call.”

Shelby whooped and screamed, and even though she had earbuds in, Sara was pretty sure anyone passing by would be able to hear her sister’s cheers.

“Wait,” Shelby shouted. “If you marry Austin, that means both of us will own B&Bs. We’ll be the B&B Sissies.”

Sara laughed. Shelby might be getting ahead of herself, but that was definitely a nickname Sara would not get tired of hearing.

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