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I shook Carrie’s hand, and then Wyatt appeared at his wife’s side. I could see the immediate resemblance to my Whitley in his features. Except that he’d apparently gotten all the height in the family. He was only a few inches shorter than me as he extended his hand.
“You must be Gavin,” Wyatt said.
“That I am.” We shook once, firm. “It’s good to finally meet you.”
“Anyone who makes Whitley happy is welcome here,” he said easily. “Shall we? Mom? Dad?”
They both nodded, and as a family, we headed into the bustling festival. We ate funnel cake and caramel apples. I convinced Whitley to ride a spinning ride that made us both very nearly sick. At the end, I played the ring toss until I won Whitley a fluffy pink teddy bear. She held it tight to her chest as we meandered the grounds together.
My heart soared as I saw her anxiety about the afternoon dissolve away. She took my hand and rested her head on my shoulder.
“This has been fun,” she admitted. “I wasn’t expecting it to be fun. No one has been horrible to me.”
“Just wait … there’s still time.”
She snorted. “Fine. Fine. I do need to find my mom. She said that some of the ladies at the country club wanted to give me something.” She wrinkled her nose. “I want to tell her no, but I just …”
“What?”
“They did me wrong so many times. Maybe they don’t even deserve all of this from me, but I don’t want to live my life with regrets. And I’d regret not seeing this through for my dad. No matter what our history is.”
“That’s very mature of you.”
She poked me in the side. “Don’t make fun of me.”
I snatched up her hand and brought it to my mouth. “I’m not. I’m serious. It’s good that you’re reconciling as much as you can right now. There’s not a lot of time. Just because you don’t have what I have with my family doesn’t mean you can’t have something.”
She sighed. “I just feel like … like I’m letting Safia down by being okay with them.”
My heart skipped at the mention of her ex-girlfriend. I’d known they were serious, but we hadn’t talked about the relationship much. With Whitley, when something was over, it was dead and buried. To have her mention it … she must have been very vulnerable.
“Your father is dying. I never knew Safia, obviously, but I can’t imagine you dating someone who wouldn’t acknowledge the importance of that.”
“Yeah. She had a kinder heart than me.”
“I very much doubt that. Look at all you’re doing here.”
“But I can’t put the past behind me.”
“You don’t have to. You don’t have to forgive and forget. You have to move forward.”
She nodded once and leaned up onto her tiptoes to steal a kiss. “Thanks, Gavin.”
My heart leaped at the look in her eyes. I wanted to tell her how I felt. I wanted to tell her right then and there. To pour my heart out to this little pixie. She was mine. All mine. And I couldn’t stand another second without her knowing.
But then she pulled back, and the moment passed.
I buried the words that I’d almost spoken. The words I wanted to say, but I refused to frighten her. And I watched her walk away to find her family once more.
27
WHITLEY
Itromped up the hill toward the country club. Night was falling rapidly as the sun began to set on the horizon. Soon, we’d have to find our seats on the hill to watch the fireworks, but for now, I was supposed to meet my mom.
I was halfway there when footsteps sounded behind me. I jerked around. My New York instincts taking over. But all I found was my brother jogging toward me.
“Jesus, you scared me. What are you doing?” I asked, falling into step beside him.
