Poor Caroline, Nora thought and swiped at a rogue tear hiding at the corner of her eye.

Poor William.

CHAPTER 30

Thursday night at 11:48 p.m. Nora placed the last period in her book. She saved her document and shut down her computer. She could barely suppress her smile as she floated from the office and looked in on Wesley on her way to her bedroom.

All week after reading her book he’d been quiet, but not angry. Desperately she wanted to talk about what had happened between them on Easter, but she knew she needed to leave Wesley alone to think about it on his own. She could barely sleep at night for the flood of memories of Wesley’s hands and mouth on her, how close they’d come to making love. All this time he’d wanted her even more than she’d ever guessed. He’d been ready to give her his virginity, to give her his body. Her Wesley—he’d never have sex with someone he wasn’t in love with. Wesley in love with her…what was she going to do with that kid?

The kid in question was supposed to be sound asleep. But he turned over in his bed and smiled at her through the dark.

“You have an eight-thirty class tomorrow,” she reminded him. She came in and sat on the edge of his bed.

“It’s canceled. Professor Matheny’s sick. Or he just wants to start the weekend early. Either way I get to sleep in.”

“Congratulations.” She ran a hand through his mussed hair. “Can I tell you a secret?”

Wesley propped himself up on his elbows.

“Definitely.”

She leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

“I finished the book.”

“Are you serious?” Wesley pulled back to look at her.

“Yeah. Just now. It’s full of typos but the book itself, it’s done. And it’s good.”

Wesley threw his arms around her. “That’s awesome, Nora. I’m so proud of you.”

She returned the hug and released him. “We’ll celebrate tomorrow night. We’ll celebrate the best book I’ve ever written that no one will ever read.”

“Absolutely. But I think someone will read it someday. It’s too good to just sit in a drawer.”

“Maybe. But I’m not going to worry about it. And neither are you. Bedtime.”

Nora started to leave, but Wesley called her name.

“What’s up, kid?”

“Tomorrow night when we celebrate, I want to talk to you about something.”

“About us?”

“About me. It’s not bad, I promise. There’s some stuff I want to tell you. A lot of stuff.”

“Tomorrow. It’s a date. ’Night, sweetheart.”

Nora leaned over to kiss his forehead. But at the last second Wesley turned his face up and brought his lips to hers. Too shocked to move, Nora only shivered in that eternal moment as a light, white and winged, brushed over her shoulder and settled somewhere she could not see.

She was still smiling when she fell asleep that night.

Friday morning, Nora awoke and dressed and gathered the handful of things she would need for the day. Last night’s smile still remained. Without Zach, without anyone, she’d managed to finish her book. It was done. It was good. And she couldn’t wait to start the next one.