“The Whisper Lake spell,” Sara repeated, unsure what exactly they were talking about.
“It’s part of the whole Stone Castle myth, that people come to Whisper Lake and they fall in love. Whether they want to or not, it’s like they’re under some magic spell,” Ali explained.
Magic. That had been the word that her grandma had used to describe Whisper Lake.
Wait…did Ali and Jess think…“Oh, I’m not…we’re not…I didn’t say that…” Sara didn’t want her friends getting the wrong idea and then telling Kade, or Ethan, or Axel who’d tell Austin that she’d said they were in love.
That was crazy.
Jess patted Sara’s arm as she scrunched her nose. “Sure you’re not.”
Sara wanted to say more, to defend herself, but before she had a chance, a woman appeared. She walked up the bleachers, waving to them.
“Oh, hey, I didn’t know you were stopping by.” Jess stood and embraced the attractive middle-aged woman.
“I had some wedding plans to go over with you.” The woman beamed.
Jess and her fiancé Ethan were planning a Christmas wedding. Sara had never been a big fan of weddings. When she and Jack had gone to the courthouse, it was fine with her. She considered them a lot of hassle and from a financial standpoint, she didn’t see the point in spending a ton of money on one day. Her mind had started to change when her sister and brother had got married. Watching them vow to spend their lives, with the loves of their lives had been moments that were priceless.
She was actually a little bummed that she wouldn’t be able to witness Jess and Ethan’s nuptials. She’d felt connected to their story even before she’d met them since she’d posted their proposal.
“Oh, okay but first I want you to meet someone.” Jess motioned beside her in a ta-da gesture. “This is Sara, from Arizona. Sara is the one that shared the proposal video on her blog.”
The woman’s face lit up. “Sara from the What the F blog?”
It felt so odd to Sara that anyone read her blog, much less strangers that lived thousands of miles away from her.
“Yep.” Jess motioned down to Charlotte who was still engrossed in her movie. “She’s here with her daughter, Charlotte, and her son, Trevor, who’s down on the track with Austin. Sara, this is my mom, Bonnie.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.” Sara reached out to shake the woman’s hand.
When Bonne sat down next to Jess, Jess said, “We were just telling Sara about the Whisper Lake spell.”
Bonnie shook her head. “Well, I don’t really believe in spells or magic.”
“That’s because you met the love of your life when you were ten,” Jess reasoned.
“Ten?” Sara heard herself repeating.
“Well, I didn’t know that he was the love of my life then,” Bonnie explained.
“Dad did,” Jess’s tone was matter-of-fact.
“You met your husband when you were ten?”
“Yep. At church.” Bonnie nodded.
“My dad said that he was sitting in a pew with his family and he turned and saw her walk in, and he was a goner. He knew that she was it for him.”
“At ten? He knew?” Sara thought about Trevor. He was seven.
“When you meet my dad, you’ll understand,” Jess assured her.
“Bonnie and John are Whisper Lake’s relationship goals,” Ali noted.
“Everyone in town aspires to have a relationship like theirs,” Brynn added.
“Only because even after being married for forty years, my dad can’t keep his hands off of her. But who can blame him? Look at her.” Jess waved her hand up and down. “She’s hot.”