A Magnolia Friendship - Anne-Marie Meyer Page 0,51

inherent flaw within me that he’d needed to compensate for with another woman.

Danny wasn’t supposed to want to be close to me. Didn’t he realize that?

He lingered by me for a moment longer. Despite my desire to protect myself, I allowed my gaze to trail up to his, and I held it there for a moment. His expression was so warm, and there was a heat in the way he looked at me that took my breath away.

Did I dare allow myself to hope that it meant what I wanted it to mean?

“Are you ready?” he asked. His voice has shifted. It was low and throaty. As if he were reacting to our proximity like I was.

“Ready?” I asked. I was whispering now. If I spoke louder, would he spook? Would I wake up from this dream?

“To make a wish.” He stepped back, taking his warmth with him. I shivered involuntarily as the desire for him to come back washed over me.

But as he moved farther away, my mind began to clear, and I was brought back to the present and what we were here to do.

Release the lanterns. One of which was lit and in my hands.

I glanced down and stared at the flame as it flickered in front of me. Danny wanted me to make a wish. But what did I wish for? My life was already in shambles. Did I allow myself to hope that a spoken desire mixed with a lantern could actually fix the problems that bogged me down?

Suddenly, two arms surrounded me from behind, and Danny’s large and warm hands enveloped my own. His chest pressed against my back as he moved closer to me.

“It’s just a wish,” he said softly.

His warm breath tickled my skin as his lips lingered next to my ear.

“Just a wish?” I asked so quietly that I doubted he could hear me. But I felt his head nod next to mine.

“Just a wish,” he repeated. “Close your eyes and say what your heart wants.”

I didn’t hesitate as I let my eyes flutter closed. What my heart wanted. What did it want? Tears pricked my eyes as I thought about the last year. What it had done to me. What it had done to my family. I’d been so lost and alone for so long, that I’d forgotten how to think for myself. How to want something for me.

What did that feel like? Was I ready to allow it?

And then, deep down, a flicker emerged. It was a glimmer of what I really wanted. It wasn’t something that I could find in a store or that someone could give me. It was something that I needed to do for myself.

I wanted to be happy. Truly and wholly happy.

I was tired of feeling down on myself. For hating what Craig had done to me. For feeling broken and destroyed. I wanted to let that all go and begin again.

So I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and took in a deep breath. “I want to be happy,” I whispered as I opened my eyes and released the lantern into the air. I watched as it floated up into the sky, taking my wish with it.

Danny’s hands moved to my waist as he pulled me in closer. My breath caught in my throat as he held me. So intimate, and yet, I could feel his support. His desire to be close to me washed across my entire body.

“You want to be happy?” he asked. His voice was so low and sexy that it was doing things to me that I was too embarrassed to admit.

Danny was a man. Unlike the man I’d married. Danny was something else entirely. He knew how to hold a woman. He knew how to be close to her. He made me feel like I was a woman. And I needed to feel like that. More than I’d realized before.

“Yes,” I said softly.

He tightened his embrace. “What does that look like?”

Fire erupted inside of me. A desire to act. I was tired of feeling weak. I was tired of berating myself. Of telling myself that I wasn’t good enough for Danny. He seemed to want me like I wanted him. Why was I so shy about allowing myself to want again?

Had Craig ruined me this much?

At some point, I was going to need to let what happened go. I was going to need to face the future—whatever that meant.

Before I could talk myself out of acting, I slipped around