Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Maybe he felt the same way about me as I felt about him.
The length of time you’re with someone wasn’t really important. When you know, you know.
Then I started to picture it—all the dreams I’d had as a young girl and had given up after Josh.
A wedding. My niece as a junior bridesmaid. Lucas as a junior usher. Flowers. A new dress. Maybe a honeymoon somewhere tropical. A house—a picket fence. A yard. A dog, maybe two. Doctor’s appointments together where we’d hold hands and stare at the sonogram screen in awe together.
Maybe …
Just maybe.
I was still daydreaming when the ceremony ended. I didn’t even snap out of it during the post-ceremony bridal pictures. At one point, I caught Wilder watching the bride and groom. His eyes slanted to mine as if to say, You’ll be my bride one day.
Apparently the seed I’d planted was ivy—because it just kept growing and growing. And I allowed it. This had been the most stressful week of my life, and I needed a little breather. Wilder made it easy. He seemed to be in a particularly playful mood tonight, all lovey-dovey.
Once wedding-party duties were done and the reception was underway, Wilder led me out to the dance floor. He took one of my hands in his and the other wrapped around my waist and tugged me close.
“I love you in green. You look beautiful,” he said.
I smiled as we swayed to the music. There had to be three hundred people in the room, but the way Wilder looked at me made me feel like it was just the two of us. “Thank you. And you look handsome. With most men, a tuxedo wears them, but you wear the tuxedo.”
“I have no idea what that means, but I’ll take it as a compliment.”
I laughed. “It was meant that way.”
Usually when I was this close to Wilder, what I saw in his eyes was heat—not that I faulted him for that. My body lit on fire when the man stepped into the room. But tonight, something was different. I saw more.
Wilder shook his head. “I really don’t know what I would’ve done if anything had happened to you.”
I smiled. “Well, you’re not going to have to find out, because I’m fine.”
“Maybe. But it was a wake-up call, a reminder that life is short, and I don’t want to have regrets.”
“What would you regret?”
He looked into my eyes. “Not telling you I was in love with you.”
My heart raced. “You love me?”
“I’ve felt it for a long time, but I was too afraid to say the words. But I’m done being a chickenshit. I love you, Sloane Carrick.”
Tears filled my eyes, happy ones. And that ivy grew a little taller. “I love you, too.”
Wilder closed his eyes. When he opened them, it looked like he was on the verge of tears as well.
My heart was so full.
He loves me.
Wilder loves me.
So many emotions bubbled up, it was difficult to contain them all. It hit me that I didn’t want this moment to be marred by a secret. I hadn’t been planning on telling him until tomorrow, but it felt right.
Wilder loves me.
It would be okay.
So I took a deep breath and swallowed. “I’m … pregnant.”
The change was immediate. Wilder’s face fell, and he took a step back. He let go of me. “What did you say?”
“I … I’m pregnant.”
30
WILDER
TEN YEARS AGO
“Thank you for everything.”
My dad patted my leg. “I’m glad she let me help out at the end.”
We’d just boarded our flight back to New York after the most horrible week of my life. My mom had died eight days ago. It felt like I was leaving a piece of my heart behind in England. Up ahead, the flight attendant closed the cabin door, and I suddenly felt claustrophobic. Leaving seemed so final. But I had a baby coming in a few weeks, so it wasn’t like I had a choice.
Two days after Whitney’s baby shower, my mom had called to tell me she’d stopped the chemo months ago. She hadn’t wanted to give me the news while I was waiting for a child, so she’d been lying and telling me she was still in treatment. She’d hoped to make it until after the baby was born, but it wasn’t in the cards. My dad flew out the following day to help take care of her. That didn’t go over too well with wife number three, especially when he stayed for over a month, but nothing could have dragged him back home. My divorced parents had a strange relationship. They couldn’t make it work married, yet they never stopped loving or caring for each other.
“I should call Madison and let her know we caught the red-eye,” Dad said. “They’re going to tell us to turn off all devices any minute.”