Hypothetical Heart (Farewell Fairwood #2)

Chapter 30

30

Flashback: 1 year ago

“ L ogan!” Winnie comes running up to me.

“Hey, Win.” I smile at the sight of her. I haven’t seen her since she went swimming with Genevieve and Eloise, and that was at least four volleyball games ago.

I’ve spent the last few hours doing my best to keep an eye on her, making sure she’s having fun and not drowning in Hagen’s Lake or flashing people. All valid concerns.

She pulls a T-shirt over her head, but hell, if I don’t notice her tiny, pink Dior bikini, or how her blonde hair has become just a tad lighter because of the sun.

Winnie in the summer screams happiness, like she’s so full of life and it’s causing her to burst at the seams, and I’m just happy I’ve gotten to bear witness to it all.

“Are you still doing fireworks tonight?” she asks.

“That’s the plan.” I throw the volleyball back toward the guys. “Why? Are you going to stay?”

“Yeah, but I told Genevieve and Eloise if they want to leave early, they could take my car, and you would take me home…” she trails off like she’s waiting to see if I’m okay with it.

“That’s fine.” I shrug. “It’s not far out of my way,” I say sarcastically. She lives next door. Why wouldn’t I take her home?

“Hardy-har-har,” she deadpans.

“I’m lighting the fireworks as soon as it gets dark out, and Luke is building a big bonfire in the sand. I’ll come find you when I’m done lighting them off.” She nods.

“Thanks!” She smiles, turning and running back to where Genevieve and Eloise are sitting on a blanket in the sand.

Eventually, the sun starts to set, and I pull the bins full of fireworks from the trunk of my car and toward the beach. Everyone gathers around with camping chairs while I set them up.

I see the way Winnie bites her nails as she watches me. I know she doesn’t like the idea of me lighting explosives on fire, but once she sees the burst of colors in the sky—and all of my fingers still intact—she’ll be having the time of her life.

“Be careful!” she yells when I make eye contact with her, lighter in hand. My face goes stoic while I nod because I want her to know I’m not joking around with fireworks.

I light the first wick, and I back up quickly as it sizzles and then shoots into the sky. Three different bursts of color go off, and despite the intrigue of watching them float through the sky, the only thing I can focus on is Winnie.

The way her head tilts up to watch, the smile on her face as the sparks fall toward the ground. I love that this is making her happy.

After a few more times, one of the other guys offers to take over lighting the fireworks, and I quickly take him up on it. I run over to where the girls are sitting.

Luke and Jameson are also around here somewhere, and I’m sure they’ll show up at some point.

“Done risking your life already?” Genevieve asks as I approach, taking a seat in the sand in front of their three chairs.

I roll my eyes. “Must you make everything so dramatic?”

“Do you know how many people get their hands or feet blown off by fireworks every year?” she counters.

“No, but I’m sure you know the statistic,” I joke.

Winnie sets her hand on top of my head. “I think Evie and El are going to head out. Are you still good with taking me home?”

“He lives next door to you. It’s not like he has a reason to say no,” Eloise scoffs.

“Yes, I’m taking you home,” I tell her, ignoring Eloise.

Both Genevieve and Eloise have one too many sarcastic bones in their bodies, which seem to control every jab they make at me. It’s something that—while it’s infuriating at times—I can’t help but love about them.

“Okay, well, we’re leaving.” Genevieve stands. “You two have fun, and if you see a firework tip over, run .” She directs the advice toward Winnie, making her eyes widen.

“Jesus, Gen, we’re fine,” I say, shooing her away.

“Bye, guys.” Eloise smiles, making smooching noises as she and Genevieve walk away.

“Don’t worry, I would step in front of you if a firework was headed in our direction,” I tell Winnie, putting a hand over my heart.

She does the same, but hers is less serious. “My hero,” she pretends to fawn .

Another set of fireworks goes off and everyone sitting around oohs and ahhs.

“Do you want something from one of the food trucks?” I ask Winnie as I stand. I can’t remember the last time I ate something today, and I’m not sure if she has at all.

“Yeah, that’d be great. What are you getting?” she asks, getting out of her chair.

“Tacos, probably.” If there’s one thing you can never go wrong with at a food truck, it’s tacos.

“Okay, I’ll get some too.”

We walk through the grass area and then the parking lot, glancing over our shoulders every few steps so we can still watch the fireworks.

I’m happy with the selection I made. There’s a good mixture between willow trees, comets, and sparkles, all of which I’ve come to love.

Not shocking to anyone, Luke is standing with Jameson next to one of the other food trucks. It looks like they’re getting burgers.

“What are you guys doing?” he yells across the parking lot when he notices us.

I point to the taco food truck, which is bright yellow with mini taco string lights all the way around it.

“What do you want?” I ask Winnie as I approach the window of the truck.

“I’ll get it.” She tries to step in front of me, pulling her wallet out of her purse.

I stretch my arm out straight so she stays behind me. Using my other hand, I pull my wallet out of my pocket. “No way.”

“I can pay for us,” she argues, and I take her wallet right out of her hand, holding it above my head.

“No, you can’t because I won’t let you,” I say more sternly. “Now, order your tacos, and don’t even think about trying to pull out your card.”

Begrudgingly, she tells the cook what she wants. I do the same and hand over my card. I hand her wallet back to her once I’ve successfully paid.

“I don’t know why you don’t ever let me pay. It’s not that big of a deal, Logan.” When I look down at her, she’s pretending to pout.

“You know my mother,” I say, giving her a pointed look. “If she found out I was letting you pay for me, she would never let me leave the house again.”

The cook hands me the two cardboard containers with our food, and I hand Winnie hers. Luke and Jameson join us as we walk back to our spot on the beach.

The fireworks continue, I help out when I can with lighting them, but the scared-to-death look on Winnie’s face every time I grab the lighter makes me not want to participate as much.

“I still can’t get over the fact Gen got a 1580 on the SAT,” Luke sighs, making Winnie and me laugh.

“The girl’s smart as hell. Why wouldn’t you believe that?” I ask.

“I know she’s smart. It’s just crazy to think she’s smart enough to be in the 99th percentile of the entire country.”

“And out of the country,” Jameson adds.

“Man, shut up, you got almost as good of a score,” Luke says. “You and Genevieve are responsible for driving up the average, which makes people like me look bad.”

Luke got a score in the 1400s, and so did Winnie, Eloise, and I. The reason for our scores likely has something to do with the Genevieve Alderidge SAT Boot Camp she put us all through .

“I’m not going to lie, when she said 1580, I think my heart skipped a beat,” he replies.

“Be honest. Do you have some type of kink for smart girls?” I jokingly ask, and all Jameson does is shrug.

“I can’t lie. That girl is gorgeous.” A smirk grows across his face.

Winnie looks over at me, smiling mischievously like she knows something the rest of us don’t. I make a mental note to ask her for the rest of the details later.

Meanwhile, I point a finger at Jameson. “I don’t care what you do with Gen. She’s her own person and is clearly intelligent enough to make her own decisions. All I’m going to tell you is don’t fuck with her.”

Jameson looks taken aback like he didn’t realize how much Genevieve really means to me. “I got it.”

“Good,” I say. “Because that girl is smarter than you, and I’d hate to see how she’d get away with your murder.”

“Yikes,” Luke winces. “It is true, though. Gen would hide your body better than the best serial killers.” We all laugh.

The bonfire crackles behind us as most of the crowd has started to thin out, leaving just a few of us lounging on the beach, soaking in the final moments of the evening. I glance over at Winnie, who’s sitting next to me in the sand, her eyes fixed on the horizon where the water meets the stars.

She shifts beside me, brushing some sand off her legs. “You know,” she says thoughtfully, “there’s something kind of magical about tonight.”

I raise an eyebrow, intrigued. “What makes you say that?”

She shrugs, a soft smile playing on her lips. “I don’t know. It’s just… nights like this remind me that even though everything changes, there’s still this.” She gestures toward th e sky. “The stars, the lake, us. It feels like no matter what happens, this will always be here.”

I nod, understanding what she means. But it’s not the stars or the lake that have me feeling like I’m standing still in time—it’s her.

Winnie pulls her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “It’s stupid, I know,” she murmurs, almost shyly.

“It’s not stupid,” I say softly. “I get it. Some things feel like they never change, even when everything else does.”

She gives me a sideways glance, her hair glowing in the firelight. “Like us?”

I feel a lump rise in my throat. “Yeah,” I say, my voice quieter than I meant for it to be. “Like us.”

There’s a beat of silence, and the only sound is the distant pop of a firework from another party down the lake and the soft lapping of the water on the shore. Then, she suddenly sits up straight, a spark in her eyes.

“I have an idea,” she says, standing up and dusting off her shorts. Without waiting for me to ask what, she grabs my hand, tugging me to my feet.

“What are you doing?” I ask, amused.

She pulls me toward the edge of the water, kicking off her sandals and laughing as the cool waves wash over her feet. “We’re going for a swim!” she announces.

I laugh, shaking my head. “You just got out of the lake an hour ago!”

“And now I’m getting back in. Come on, Logan, live a little,” she teases, her crystal blue eyes bright with challenge. She takes a few steps into the water before turning back to face me, walking backward, and holding out her hand.

I hesitate for a second, but when she gives me that look—the one that says, you can’t resist this —I sigh dramatically and pull off my shoes. “You’re lucky I trust you,” I mutter as I follow her into the lake.

The water’s warmer than I expected, gently lapping against my legs as we wade in. Winnie’s already up to her waist, her blonde hair spilling over her shoulders as she turns to face me.

“Come on,” she calls out, splashing water toward me. “Don’t be a chicken.”

“You’re impossible.” I laugh, walking toward her, feeling the sand give way beneath my feet. When I’m within reach, she darts forward and pulls me under with a sudden splash, her laughter ringing out over the lake.

I come up, wiping water from my eyes, and find her grinning, her face glowing with pure joy. “You are so going to regret that,” I warn.

She squeals as I chase her, sending ripples through the water. When I finally catch her, I scoop her up and spin her around, her laughter echoing in my ears. She holds onto my shoulders, her wet skin slipping against mine as I let her down, the world around us fading into nothing but the two of us, the lake, and the stars overhead.

Her breathless laughter dies down, and for a moment, we’re just standing there, close, too close. I feel her heartbeat against my chest, and she looks up at me, her eyes soft and warm in the moonlight. There’s something unspoken between us, something that’s always been there but feels so much closer tonight.

“You’re crazy, you know that?” I say, my voice quieter now, the teasing edge gone.

She smiles, her eyes sparkling. “Maybe. But you love me for it. ”

I swallow hard, my heart pounding. There’s a truth in her words that hits me harder than I expect. “Yeah,” I admit, my voice barely above a whisper. “Maybe I do.”

The space between us feels charged, like it could break open any second. But instead of saying more, she reaches up and brushes my wet hair back, her fingers grazing my cheek for just a moment longer than necessary.

“Come on,” she whispers, tugging on my hand. “Let’s go sit by the fire.”

I let her pull me back toward the shore, the weight of everything I didn’t say hanging between us. We sit down by the bonfire again, the warmth seeping into our skin as we quietly watch the flames.

After a while, our conversations come to a close, and the fireworks finish up. We all clean up the best we can before heading out.

“Ready?” I ask as Winnie buckles her seatbelt.

“Yes, do not go fast,” she warns me.

“This car can go zero to sixty in three seconds and you don’t want me to go fast?” I mock surprise.

“I don’t want to die,” she replies seriously, her eyes telling me everything I need to know.

The gravity of the situation weighs on me. The fact that Winnie’s mom died in a car accident makes her more cautious of cars than the average person.

“I won’t go fast,” is all I say.

“Thank you.”

Trauma does horrible things to people. Sometimes, it makes them afraid or upset in certain situations. Sometimes, it makes them reckless in their own life.

But sometimes, it shows you just how much life is worth living, and I’d do anything to honor Winnie’s wish to keep living in light of her mom’s death, because she didn’t always feel that way.

There had been days for her when the grief was too much, and she thought being with her mom would make her better off. She never tried, thank God, but she’s told me she thought about it.

Sadness is a dark tunnel, and sometimes, it’s easier to get lost than try to find your way out. But there isn’t a day I don’t silently thank Winnie for finding the light at the end of it.

Winnie grabs the aux cord, not even bothering to ask because she knows I’ll tell her to do whatever she wants.

She switches between songs, never letting one play all the way through before skipping to the next one. Some people would find her tendencies infuriating, but I am purely fascinated by her.

When I pull into the driveway of her house, I get out while she gathers her things, opening her door for her and helping her carry her stuff into the house.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asks from the doorway as I head back to my car.

“Yeah, of course,” I reply.

She nods, and I wave as I get back in my car. It may be unnecessary for me to pull into her driveway just to have to back out and pull into mine next door, but I’m not worried about it.

She blows a dramatic kiss from the front door before she shuts it, and I pretend to catch it as she watches through the glass.

That girl has been the center of my life for as long as I’ve ever known. She enraptures me in every way of the word, and I don’t think I could ever adore someone the way I adore her.

Winnie Carter is the sun and all the stars, but most importantly, I am the earth, and my life revolves around hers.