Page 76 of Whisper of Temptation (Whisper Lake 4)

CHAPTER 26

“What about your ankle?” Austin hesitated.

“My ankle’s fine. There’s no swelling or bruising. And I want to dance.” Sara’s tone reminded him of when she laid down the law with the kids.

As much as Austin wanted nothing more than to take Sara in his arms and sway to the music with her, he was worried she hadn’t rested enough. Since he’d spent the entire day with Brielle, he knew that she’d probably been on her feet all day.

After getting Brielle and Anaya in the car and headed to the airport he’d barely made it to the community center in time to watch Charlotte and Trevor perform in the talent show. Thankfully the older kids went first because they didn’t want to follow the younger ones. As soon as it was over they walked out and saw that the end of festival street dance was in full swing. Charlotte and her “sister” were dancing beside them. And Trevor was down by the lake throwing the ball with Ali’s nephew KJ. The teen was pretty impressed with Trev’s arm and Austin didn’t blame him. He was already thinking about trying to get him down to Wishing Well to his cousin JJ’s complex.

Next summer. It should be odd or feel strange that he was planning things with the kids over a year away, but it wasn’t. It might be unwise since he had no idea where Sara stood, but not strange.

It was still crazy to him how much had changed in such a short amount of time. For so long, all he’d had to worry about was himself. Even when he’d been engaged, he’d never really worried about Brielle. She had a good job, good friends, and a good family. When he was gone, he’d known she had a support system.

But now he didn’t just have Sara, he had Charlotte and Trevor too. He loved every second he spent with them. Not that it was all fun and games. Charlotte got really cranky around four o’clock if she didn’t get a nap, and Trevor hated sharing any of his toys with his little sister, which led to several fights a day. If they had too much junk food, there were serious tummy aches, and if Charlotte saw anything in a movie even remotely scary, it was almost a guarantee there’d be a nightmare to follow. It was difficult to have any kind of an adult conversation while they were awake, and as much as a day was planned out, surprises always came up and you had to adjust. And he loved it. He loved all of it.

Before he’d met Sara, he didn’t know what he was missing. But now that he did, he had no plans to let it go.

“Seriously, I’m fine, and I want to dance,” she insisted. “But if you don’t want to dance with me, I’m sure I can find someon—”

“You’re a brat,” he growled and pulled Sara up into his arms and spun her onto the dance area. Her head fell back and she laughed. He loved seeing her so happy. So carefree.

When “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You” started playing, he lowered her to the ground and they began swaying back and forth.

She looked up at him and scrunched her face in his favorite way. “Does Marvin Gaye sing this?”

Austin nodded.

“Oh my gosh.” She chuckled. “Shelby would love this.”

“Your sister is a big Marvin Gaye fan?”

“No.” A blush rose on Sara’s cheeks and she shook her head. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Okay.” He was very interested to find out the backstory behind the sudden blush, but that could wait. What he needed to tell her couldn’t.

“How did things go…back at the B&B?” There was a mix of concern and maybe a little nervousness in Sara’s eyes.

Austin tightened his grip around her waist. The fact that she’d waited this long to ask him, was proof she was a one of a kind. She hadn’t been upset when he’d had to bail on her at dinner. And instead of being mad that he’d abandoned her on her last day together to talk to his ex, her face had lit up when she’d seen him walk into the auditorium and she’d told him that she was so glad he made it.

“It was good. Sort of. She had a lot to say. Some of it wasn’t easy to hear, but I’m glad I listened. There’s always two sides to every story, and I’m glad I know hers now. It was closure. Just like you said.”

Sara grinned. “I have to admit, I was a little nervous that she wanted you back.”

“Oh she did. At first. But I don’t think it was about me. Steve, my best friend, left her for some girl at his gym.”

Sara hissed through her teeth.

“Yeah. She’s scared because she has Anaya and she’s alone. But I told her that she doesn’t need anyone. She’s strong and a great mom. She doesn’t need a man.”

“Especially the wrong one.” Sara sighed. “So she’s okay?”

“Yeah. She’s going to go stay with her mom and go back to school.”

“I’m glad you talked to her.” Sara smiled, looking genuinely happy for his ex.

He was done talking about his past. He needed to talk about his future. Especially since his future planned on getting in a car and driving away from him in the morning.

“I need to talk to you about something.” He could hear his tone grow serious, but he was unable to stop it. This was serious.

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