AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Luke looked around and shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’d change. Maybe a coat of paint in the dining room, but other than that, I’m not really sure.”
Emma smiled. “Yes, the dining room could definitely use it. I hadn’t changed anything in there since it was my grandfather’s.”
“Your grandfather’s?” Luke asked.
“Yes. It was his and my grandmother’s house. He gifted it to us as a wedding present, since my grandmother had passed and he wanted to move into something smaller.”
“Then maybe you can solve a mystery for me.” Luke grinned. “Come over here.”
Emma followed him into the living room and over to the mantel. He pointed to the A +L carving.
“A and L?” He asked. “Who were they?”
“Amelia and Liam,” she answered. “My grandparents. They were married fifty-two years before she passed away years ago. They met when they were kids.”
“Wow!” Luke smiled. “They sound like me and my wife. We were high school sweethearts.”
Emma’s heart skipped a beat, and she forced herself to mask her disappointment with a polite nod. “And is your wife here now? Or is she still in Chicago?” she asked.
“Well...” Luke paused. “She passed about a year ago now. It was cancer. She always wanted to live on the Georgia coast. That’s one of the reasons why we moved down here.”
Emma reached out and put a hand over his. “Luke, I’m so sorry.”
She felt a rush of conflicting emotions—sympathy for his loss and a flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, fate had brought them together in an unexpected way.
At that moment, a teenage boy who looked so much like Luke it could only be his son walked down the steps and glared at Emma.
Emma turned to him and smiled. “Hey, I’m Emma.”
Ignoring Emma’s greeting completely, he glared at his father for a minute, then headed back upstairs and slammed his bedroom door.
“Excuse me. I’ll be right back.” Luke took on a serious tone and walked up the steps.
Emma nodded, taking a seat in an armchair nearby.
“Jeremiah! Open this door!” Luke shouted.
“Why?” Jeremiah shouted back. “I don’t want to talk to you. Why don’t you just go downstairs and back to your girlfriend?”
“Jeremiah, you come out of this room and apologize right now,” Luke said.
The door swung open. “It hasn’t even been a year yet, and you’re already bringing another woman home. Have you forgotten about her completely?”
“Jeremiah, of course I haven’t! And lower your voice. Why don’t you just come downstairs and meet—”
“No! I’m not gonna meet your replacement for Mom! She was better than you... I wish it was you who died, and not her!”
The door slammed, shaking the windowpanes in the living room.
Emma’s heart ached as she witnessed the tense exchange between Luke and Jeremiah. Her chest fell heavy as she realized that their unresolved strife could stand in the way of any possible relationship between her and Luke. She knew that the situation was complicated, and she didn’t want to add more turmoil to Luke and Jeremiah’s lives.
Riley trotted in after finishing his treats and sat next to Emma’s feet. After getting an earful, she knew it was time for her to leave. She scooped Riley into her arms and stood up as Luke came back downstairs with a stoic look on his face.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that,” he told her.
“Oh, it’s alright,” Emma said lightly. “I was just leaving anyway... I have to get home.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Luke followed her outside and over to her car, where he opened up the passenger door. Emma placed Riley inside and looked back at Luke.
