She didn’t finish the sentence, but apparently she didn’t have to.
“I know,” he said. “I know. But it’s going to be okay. I promise.” Without another word, he walked out, the door clicking shut behind him.
For a minute, nobody moved.
Then Drew shattered the silence. “Okay, someone needs to explain what the fuck just happened, because I feel like I blacked out and missed an entire season of this show.”
“You two are dating?!” Liam said, sounding genuinelybewildered as we all made our way back to the table. “Since when?”
“Oh, please, I saw this coming from a mile away,” I said before taking a drink of my wine.
“We should probably talk,” Gordy said quietly, just to her.
Sam nodded, looking dazed, and the two of them slipped out of the dining room back toward the hallway.
The second they were out of earshot, the table erupted.
“Did you really see that coming?” Liam asked, turning to me.
“Oh, yeah. Those two have had some weird chemistry since the first time I saw them together. Back me up on this, Abby.”
She nodded, but her gaze was locked on the stairs.
“Abby?”
“Why wouldn’t she tell me she and Gordy are dating or that she hadn’t actually gone home in five years?” she asked.
We all stared at each other, none of us sure of the answer. But after that entire interaction, I wondered if there was a lot more Sam was hiding that we didn’t know about.
EPILOGUE
TWENTY YEARS LATER
“Hey, how long has this ‘check oil’ light been on?” I asked my wife as soon as I got home. I’d borrowed her truck to pick up feed for the chickens since mine was full of wood for the new coop I was building. I always checked her oil, so it couldn’t be low unless there was a leak.
And of course Ava hadn’t mentioned it. No doubt she’d been too busy with recital prep and wrangling four kids with four different schedules and making sure nobody forgot their homework, hockey equipment, or dance shoes.
“Uh, a few days, I think. Not that long,” she called from the kitchen.
Hmm, I’d definitely need to have them check for a leak. I checked her oil only two weeks ago and it was full.
“I’ll call and schedule an appointment to have it checked,” I said as I entered the kitchen and found her wearing a blue sundress, which was unusual these days since she’d been favoring jeans and T-shirts. But I sure as shit wasn’t going to complain.
She smiled up at me before giving me a kiss. “Thank you for always taking care of me.”
That was the deal, and one I hadn’t backed out of for even a moment.
I checked my watch. We had thirty minutes until the kids got home from school. Thirty minutes of quiet in a house that rarely knew the meaning of the word. And she looked too fucking good to not take advantage of every second.
“Come with me, wife.”
Her eyes sparked with mischief. “And where are we going, husband?”
Twenty years, and she still made my heart stutter when she smiled at me like that.
“I have something to show you.”
She let out a laugh that was like wind chimes tinkling in the air. “Oh, I’m sure you do.”
