The high school auditorium was packed by the time Whitney arrived. Fortunately, Sebastian had reserved a seat for her. Even if he hadn’t, she would have found a spot close to the stage, because she was the only member of the family in town and Sebastian needed to know his family supported his dreams. He might have spent the week pretending the talent show didn’t matter, but Whitney knew he was nervous.
Not as nervous as she’d been for most of the week, however, as she’d told her relatives about Kenneth, one by one.
Her brother had been easy to tell, because Whitney knew he wasn’t going to judge her. Annette had been easy, too. The hardest part was stopping her cousin from continuing to suggest other men to date to take her mind off the “pain” of losing Kenneth. It had taken a good quarter of an hour to persuade Annette that “we both decided to end it” was not code for Kenneth having run off with someone else.
Her parents had been the hardest ones to tell. She’d put it off all week, expecting her mother to cry and her father to say how disappointed he was in her for letting a good man like Kenneth go. The last thing that Whitney had wanted was to hurt them.
Despite her fears, her parents had actually been great. Once she’d finally managed to get the words out, her mother had hugged her. Her father had asked her if she was sure it was what she wanted, and when she said yes, he’d seemed almost relieved.
“All we want is for you to be happy, honey,” he’d said. “I’m glad you realized this now, before you and Kenneth got married.”
“We’ve always liked him,” her mother had added, “but if the two of you don’t have that spark, then you obviously aren’t right for one another. I know one day you’ll find someone who will make you truly happy.”
It had been surprisingly easy to tell them the truth. So much easier than Whitney had thought it would be. So easy that sitting there in the darkening auditorium, she found herself wondering if she couldn’t tell her parents the rest of it, that she wasn’t sure she wanted to spend her life running their company.
Only, the truth was that resigning as head of operations of the Banning Group would affect everything. And Whitney couldn’t possibly forget the conversation she’d overheard five years ago.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do now that Whitney has decided to go to veterinary college,” her father had said.
“You aren’t thinking of staying at the company, are you Graham?” her mother had replied. “You know what the doctor said about stress and your health.”
“I don’t know what else I can do, Jen. Whitney’s the only one I trust to take over. Could you imagine one of her cousins doing it?”
“We could recruit someone else to take your place, someone who has been in the business for a while already. Your health isn’t good enough to put in those long days anymore.”
“I won’t have a stranger running the family business.”
“But if Whitney doesn’t want to do it…”
Her father’s face in the shadows had been resolved. “Then I have to keep going.”
Had anything really changed since then? Whitney wondered, as the last few people came in to the auditorium.
No, it hadn’t.
After thirty years behind a desk her father had been pale. Too thin. He traveled too much and didn’t eat right. As soon as she’d taken over, his health had improved. Now when he traveled it was for pleasure. And he was full of laughter whenever they were together. She loved knowing she’d been there for him the way he’d been there for her her whole life.
Her parents still wouldn’t want a stranger running the business they had worked so hard to build up. So who did that leave? Sebastian in a few years, after he graduated from college?
Whitney looked up at the stage and knew her brother’s heart was in music, not running an international corporation.
The reserved seat next to her was the only empty one in the room. Just as the lights went all the way down, a man sat down beside her. Whitney couldn’t help staring, her pulse speeding up automatically, her breath coming fast.
“Tyce? What are you doing here?”
Even in the dark auditorium, she could see he looked particularly good tonight, wearing a dark shirt and slacks. Whitney thought that she could see the muscles moving under his shirt as he sat down, then chided herself for noticing.
“I came down to support Sebastian,” he said. “After all the work he’s put in over the past week, I wanted to be here.”
“All the work…” Whitney stared at Tyce for a moment or two, drinking him in. His nearness. His clean scent. The beautiful flash of his eyes as he stared back at her. She’d asked him for time and he’d given it to her, but now she wished he hadn’t. “You’ve been helping him?”
“Shh!” a parent behind them hissed. “The show is starting.”
It was so hard to keep her hand on her own lap, rather than slipping it into his. Tyce helping her brother was so sweet.
She had to forcefully remind herself that she’d only just told her parents about Kenneth. And that she hadn’t even begun to work out what she really wanted when it came to her future.
All too aware of Tyce sitting next to her, she kept her eyes carefully glued to the stage as groups of high school students started to perform. Whitney did her best to focus on the acts that came on one after the other, but it wasn’t easy. The kids were quite talented, and she had to admit that the talent show was a lot more fun than she’d thought it might be, but when his hand brushed against hers on the arm rest, Whitney simply couldn’t concentrate on what was going on up on the stage.
She quickly pulled her attention back to it when Sebastian walked out onto the stage with his guitar, though. No, not walked.
Strode.
Her brother strutted like he owned the auditorium, and when he began to play, every eye in the room was on him. He looked around the crowd as he played, seeming to connect with all of them at once. It wasn’t quite like watching Tyce perform, but it was close. Closer than Whitney would have believed it could be.
He’d obviously put in a lot of work with her brother.
Everyone else in the audience seemed to think Sebastian was great, too, judging by the way they applauded. She could hardly bring herself to stay in her seat for the rest of the show, she was so eager to find her brother and congratulate him.
When the talent show ended, Tyce and Whitney both headed to the front of the stage.
She hugged her brother. “You were wonderful.”
Beside her, Tyce nodded. “You did great. I knew you would.”
“After all that time on the stage at the Rose Chalet, it wasn’t so bad,” Sebastian said. “It was fun being up there with everyone looking at me. Thanks for coming.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Whitney assured him.
“Me either,” Tyce said, reaching out to shake Sebastian’s hand. “Listen, I thought I could take you out to celebrate. After all the hard work you’ve put in, you deserve it.”
But Sebastian’s eyes had already wandered to his friends. “A few of the guys from my class were talking about hanging out over at Connor’s place, and I’ve kind of already said that I’ll go. Plus, Michelle from my math class is going…”
“You don’t need to say anything else,” Tyce said with a smile that seemed to Whitney to be just a fraction too wide. It obviously had Sebastian convinced, though. “Go hang out with your friends. We’ll jam together a different time.”
“See ya,” Sebastian said, hurrying off to join a group of kids his age.
“You’re very sweet,” Whitney said, finally letting herself reach out to put her hand on Tyce’s arm.
He was so warm. So real.
And so beautiful that she didn’t know how much longer she was going to be able to stay away from him.
Or even why she was anymore.
“Not just for offering to take Sebastian out to celebrate, but for helping him in the first place.” She paused for a moment before adding, “If you’ve got a big celebration planned, it seems like a shame to waste it. Maybe you and I could—” The words got stuck her throat, all the things she wanted mixing with all the things she didn’t think she could have.
Tyce’s eyes held hers. “What could we do, Whitney? Tell me.”
She took a breath, or tried to, anyway. Being this close to Tyce made things like breathing hard.
“Maybe we could spend some time together tonight.”
He grinned at her, obviously thrilled with her suggestion. “The place I had in mind is close enough to walk.”
Whitney loved walking beside him in the darkness. Just the way they once had.
“How are things going over at the chalet? I hope Rose isn’t too upset that I cancelled.”
“Honestly, she just wants people to be happy.” His grin turned lopsided as he teased, “Even if it means losing the steady stream of Banning income.”
“Maybe someday,” Whitney said.
Tyce’s smile fell away as he gave her another of those burning looks that melted her insides. “Maybe someday,” he echoed in a low voice.
They ended up at a small Italian restaurant, where he had a reservation. The place was nice without being too formal, plus it had great vegetarian food. Trust Tyce to know all the best vegetarian places to eat in the city.
It wasn’t a hugely romantic setting. In fact, Tyce waved away the candle the waiter tried to bring to the table, obviously not wanting to make things uncomfortable for her.
He really was sweet, Whitney thought as she found herself laughing when he started to give her the details of a few strange weddings he’d helped put on at the Rose Chalet over the years.
“They really wanted a horse up there on the stage with you?”
Tyce nodded. “Unfortunately, it reared every time I played a loud chord. It ended up putting a hoof through one of my amps, and I had to finish the set on an acoustic guitar.”
Whitney laughed again, and told him a couple of stories about the chaos of trying to run a business with half her family under foot. Before Whitney knew it, they’d licked the plate of tiramisu clean, the check was paid, and he was pulling back her chair to go.
As they walked back to their cars, it was so natural for Whitney to slip her hand into his. She stared up at the stars, admiring the beauty of the night sky, and when she looked back, Tyce was staring down at her.
She’d missed him so much this past week. Just as she’d missed him for five years.
“I’m glad you came to Sebastian’s show tonight.”
Tyce lifted their linked hands to her face and gently ran his knuckles across her cheek. “I am too.”
She thought he was going to kiss her for a moment, and would have let him this time, when a bird squawked loudly from a tree branch right above them.
Whitney jumped back in surprise. “My cat Clementine would be beside herself trying to get up the tree to that bird.”
With that, she started to tell Tyce about her cat, about a fashion show her cousins had dragged her to, about anything really. He was so easy to talk to. So easy to be with. She could just be herself. Tyce was a great listener, and all night they talked and laughed as if the last five years hadn’t been lost. They talked so much, in fact, that they almost walked straight past the school parking lot where they’d left their cars.
“We could always just keep walking,” Tyce suggested, and his expression turned serious. “Doesn’t it feel like the night’s only just gotten started?”
Whitney could imagine spending the night walking hand-in-hand with Tyce all too easily. Of course, she didn’t have to imagine, because she could remember what it was like from five years ago. It would be fun, and magical, and it would end with a very sweet kiss before they went back home again. It was the kind of thing great memories were made of.
But sweet memories weren’t enough. Not anymore.
Not when Whitney wanted more.
“I don’t want to keep walking.”
“You don’t?” Tyce looked a little confused. “But I thought—”
Whitney pressed herself tightly against him, feeling the strength of his muscles as she finally kissed him the way she’d been longing to kiss him all night long.
“I’d rather go back to your place. We can still talk, but…”
“But you don’t just want to talk?” Tyce said it softly, almost cautiously, obviously giving her the chance to back out if she felt she needed to.
Right then, though, backing out was the last thing Whitney wanted.
“No,” she agreed softly, “I don’t just want to talk.”
And then she kissed him again to show him just how much she meant it.