on the opposite end of the table from her. Thankfully, I had a clear view, so it wouldn’t be obvious that I was staring at her. Which I couldn’t help but do when she was around.
After my dad said grace, my brothers attacked the food like Viking savages. None of their manners had improved as adults. As I looked around, I realized that the only missing Briggs was Wyatt, who worked in D.C. doing something for the government that I didn’t understand. He was the real-life Will Hunting, the character Matt Damon had played in Good Will Hunting.
A sense of nostalgia washed over me, but it was mixed with something else as my gaze fell on Josie, who was now holding my nephew, Trace Jr. His head was resting on her shoulder and he looked totally content. I envied the kid. I’d love to be snuggled up to Josie.
The sight evoked two intense reactions in me. First, she looked so natural and relaxed with my family, and that was no small feat. Many a female had crumbled under the weight of Sunday Dinner. But not Josie, she looked like she belonged.
And second, seeing her with my nephew made me want to put a baby in her. I hadn’t been lying to my brother when I’d said that I had no interest in settling down. But there was just something about Josie that made every primal, primitive instinct come roaring to life. I knew why I was feeling the way I was, it was an instinct hardwired into most males’ DNA so the human race wouldn’t become extinct.
But what I didn’t know or understand was why Josie was the only person that had ever brought it out in me. Or why the thought of Josie cradling our child didn’t terrify me and send me running for the hills.
Maybe I was having a mid-life crisis. Was thirty-four too early to have one? If that was the case, I thought men were supposed go out and buy Ferraris and get new wardrobes. Why in the hell was my midlife crisis wanting to put a ring on and a baby in Josie?
As I looked around the table at everyone laughing and eating, it hit me that I needed to get the hell out of Wishing Well. All of my siblings at this table, except Beau, were coupled up. It was a sobering visual. Something must be in the water.
Tomorrow morning’s flight could not come soon enough. I needed to put hundreds of miles between me and the woman I was fantasizing about, and I needed to do it fast. I might even crash at JJ’s house tonight just so I didn’t find myself creeping to her room at midnight.
All I needed to do was get through the next twelve hours and then I was out of here, and away from the woman that made me understand how people could meet and get married three months later. Away from the woman that made me want to kill her ex in a brutal and torturous way. Away from the woman who had me imagining walking down the aisle, white picket fences, late-night feedings, and growing old together sitting on a porch sipping sweet tea.
Away from the woman that made me feel like I’d been doing it wrong. That the only real success, the only thing that actually mattered, was what I’d been trying to avoid my entire life. Being tied down. Having obligations. Those things used to feel like a noose around my neck but thinking of being with Josie made me feel like I had wings. Like having those things was where true happiness was found.
Yeah, I definitely needed to get the hell out of Dodge.
“So how are things going with the show, girls?” my mom asked as she passed the potatoes to my brother Sawyer.
Mia smiled. “Amazing! All of our locations and interviewees are locked in and we have our host.” Her voice got higher as she said ‘our host.’
“Oh, good! Who did you get?” Harmony asked.
“Josie Clarke!” Mia announced enthusiastically.
There was a wave of applause and my eyes shot to Josie. She was smiling but I could see that, behind the smile, her eyes were filled with terror. I wasn’t sure if her anxiety had to do with me, or the situation in general. Everyone peppered Mia and Josie with questions, and I could see that her anxiety was building. All I wanted to do was march down to the end of the