AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
“Less than two years to go, right?”
Willow bit her lip and tried to smile. “Right.” They’d promised to marry each other if neither of them were married by the time they reached thirty.
It was a promise they had made to each other when they were young. He was probably bringing it up because Willow’s sister, Charlotte, had just gotten married a few days ago.
“Do you really plan on following through with that?” she asked.
“Of course.” Asher grinned at her, his blue eyes dancing in the sunshine, making Willow scowl.
“Very funny.” Rolling her eyes, Willow let out a long sigh and slipped one arm through his as they carried on strolling across the lake’s shore. “You don’t have to tease me so much, you know.”
A deep rumbling laugh came from Asher’s chest. “Sure, I do. It’s the only way I can get your nose to wrinkle that way.”
Willow laughed and shook her head at him. “I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be a compliment.”
Asher wiggled his eyebrows but didn’t give her an answer.
“And now I can tell you’re teasing me.”
“Sure am! It’s one of the perks of being your best friend.”
She couldn’t even pretend to be mad at him. Laughing, they walked in silence for a few minutes, with Willow looking out across the lake and thinking just how beautiful this time of year was. June brought the start of the hot summer sunshine, and with it, the spectacular sunsets. For Willow, there was nothing better than walking along the edge of the lake and looking out at the sun as it danced across the dappled water. Nothing better than being here with her best friend.
“Why did we ever promise to do that?” he asked.
“We had just graduated from college, and I guess the world looked a bit scary back then. Neither of us had a job.”
Asher nodded. “Right. There were so many unknowns, so many questions that didn’t have answers. So, I guess we found a way to answer one of them.”
Is he going to tell me that he doesn’t want to keep this promise anymore?
A frown suddenly lined her forehead, and she dropped her head, her gaze on the ground. Even though she didn’t like him talking about it, she liked having that safety net. A swirling tornado began to roll in her stomach.
“Makes you think, doesn’t it?”
Her frown drew down harder. “Think about what?”
“Marriage. I guess you have to be pretty good friends with the person you choose to marry.” A broad grin settled across his face. “At least we’ve got that going for us.”
Willow’s frown rose as she rolled her eyes at him again, a breathless laugh escaping from her lips. “I guess so.”
“Charlotte’s wedding was great. She looked so happy.”
A gentle smile tugged at Willow’s lips as she thought about her sister. “Yeah, she did.”
Charlotte had married Owen Nichols and was now looking at a life of fame and fortune. Not that either of those things mattered to Charlotte. Willow could tell just by looking how much her sister loved Owen, and that Owen was head over heels crazy in love with Charlotte, too.
“I always thought you’d be married by now.”
Willow’s head spun toward Asher. “What?”
He shrugged. “Like I said, I figured you would be married by now. Let’s face it, Willow, out of the two of us, you’re the great catch!”
A slight heat began to wind its way up Willow’s neck. “I don’t know why you’d think that.”
Asher’s lips twitched. “You light up a room when you walk in. You’ve always been that way.”
