She skids to a halt and turns around. Dylan watches her and his expression says it all. What happens next?

She smiles broadly. “Yes, Dylan. I’ll fly to London with you.”

He grins, a lightning-electric smile that shows off two rows of brilliantly white teeth. He grabs up his gear and jogs to catch up to her.

“What about your flight?” she asks, concerned he won’t get through security in time to board. The line is obscene.

“I’ll either get you onto my flight or we’ll book the next one, as long as we’re together.” He tilts his head and his brows bunch up, his expression wary.

“What?”

“Strangest thing happened before you found me. I was writing in my notebook and my future flashed by. Weirdest experience ever.”

Joy stops midstride. A sinking, eerie sensation churns in her stomach. “Same thing happened to me outside.”

“What do you think it means?”

She slowly shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

“I didn’t like what I saw.” He dramatically shivers.

“Me neither.”

They exchange what-the-heck-just-happened looks until the security officer clears his throat, reminding them to get a move on. Dylan shoulders his duffel and reaches for her hand. “I think I’m going to like this future better.”

“Same here,” she says with an exhale of relief. Hand in hand, they walk outside into the hot August afternoon. Her car idles at the curb. She smiles sheepishly at the perturbed officer keeping watch over her car and he steps aside when Dylan reaches the passenger door.

Dylan turns to Joy. “This feels right.”

“So right.” She rises to her toes and kisses him in complete agreement. For the first time in eight years, everything about her life, especially her future, feels like it’s moving in the right direction. Heading west, toward the sun, the surf, and home.

EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

NOW

Dylan

Dylan weaves through the crowd of music lovers at the Boomtown Fair in Winchester, England. They sing along with and dance to the act onstage. The music is loud and the night is cool. The stench of weed permeates the air and beer turns the dirt to mud under his shoes. Temptation flows around him like a mythical creature luring him into a night of lust and a morning of regret.

He walks by a couple of women. They dance arm in arm and invite him into their fold. Their hands suggestively move up his arms, slide down his spine. Their mouths, sexy and full, a siren’s call.

He doesn’t answer.

He regretfully smiles and politely shrugs off their persistent advances. The women are gorgeous, and it feels good to be wanted. In another life, another possible future, he would have let them stroke his ego and other body parts. But neither woman is the one he wants.

He double-checks his phone to confirm where they’re meeting and looks up to find her there.

His Joy.