Page 111 of Flirting with Trouble

“Never too busy for family.”

“I’m glad to hear that, because if we didn’t see you and your sweetheart, we’d miss you both. As you can see”—she glances at my father and Victory—“she’s already taken root in our hearts.”

My father twirls Victory, and her smiling eyes catch mine for only a second before she’s in his arms again. “Don’t worry, Mom. She hasn’t just taken root in mine. She claimed the whole damn thing.”

The song ends, and we head over to Victory and my father. “Hey, old man, want to swap chicks?”

My father laughs. As we each reach for the hand of the woman we love, the DJ’s voice cuts through the air. “This next song is for a very special couple.”

Everyone looks around the crowded dance floor as Bon Jovi’s “I’ll Be There for You” comes on. Victory’s eyes fill with disbelief.

“They’re playing our song, sweetheart.” I take her hand, drawing her into my arms as “Aws” and “Go, Wells” ring out around us.

“I can’t believe you did this,” she says quietly.

“I told you I wanted to be the guy you can count on. The one you smile when you think about. The best way to do that is to give you so many reasons to smile, it’s impossible not to when you think of me.”

“It’s already impossible not to smile when I think of you,” she says as other couples join us on the dance floor.

“Then it’s time for phase two.”

“What’s phase two?”

“One last night beneath the stars on my boat, loving you so thoroughly, you never want to leave.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Victory

As Wells pilots the boat out through the moonlit water, my thoughts drift back to dancing with his father. I asked Alexander if he had any advice about dating his son. He joked at first, telling me to be ready for anything, his love for Wells coming through in every word. But it’s his serious response that came afterward that I hear now, with the same gentle authority as when he said it. Raising my children taught me the value of time. Follow your heart, put the people you love first, and don’t let anything stand in your way, because every hour you put something off is an hour you can never get back.

I know that from losing Harvey, and I’ve preached it over the years to my brothers, but the advice hits different now. Being on the island and spending time with Wells in the city have reminded me what it’s like to not be focused on work all the time, to be open to new things instead of keeping myself sequestered in my office or sitting alone in a restaurant giving off leave-me-alone vibes, or going from point A to point B without noticing my surroundings.

Seth was right. I had put myself in a box, but those weren’t wasted years. I needed them to heal. I feel bad for avoiding his calls last week and slip my phone out of Wells’s suitcoat pocket, which I’m wearing because it’s chilly while we’re cruising, to send him a text.

Me: I found a box cutter.

Seth: Please tell me you didn’t use it on Wells.

I smile as I type my response.

Me: Not a chance. Thank you for pushing me.

Seth: I just pointed out the obvious. You pushed yourself.

Seth: Want to get together this week?

Me: Sure. I’ll let you know my schedule after I get back to the office and see how much work has piled up. Thinking better of putting him off, I thumb out, Actually, let’s plan it. Pick a day. I’ll make it work.

Seth: Are you okay?

Me: Yes. I’m just learning to work to live instead of living to work.

Seth: Excellent. Breakfast 7 Tuesday? The diner?

Me: Perfect. See you then.

When I look up from my phone, Wells is watching me with that easy smile that stirs butterflies in my chest. I picture the butterfly that landed on his shoulder, and my love-drenched heart wants to believe Harvey really did have a hand in all of this.