AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, Daddy.”
“All right then, Sammy Jo. You take care now. We love you.”
“Love you too.”
I juggled the box I was carrying as I placed my phone on top.
“Hey, Jo. Where do you want this?” Emily unpacked my well-used Kitchen Aid stand mixer.
“The side counter. I use it a lot, so I like to keep it handy. Oh, and can you leave the box in the garage with the packing stuff in it? I don’t break that one down.”
“You’re not moving again,” Lucas whispered against my neck as he passed by me with another box. Wow, he was fast.
After I agreed to move in with Luc, he was like an unstoppable force, scheduling his friends and family to help. After our mile-high experience, we spent the following weekend in Pullman, watching Luc’s younger sister Tess graduate with her MBA. Then Monday, he moved me in. Ed helped me finish packing my apartment making me promise to stop by when I could. I assured him he was my fresh fish connection, and as a chef, I was motivated to keep in touch. Plus, he was a good listener.
For now, we were telling Emily that we wanted to live here while Lucas looked for a house to buy. That was sort of true. Once Finn proposed in a couple of weeks, Luc would make the case that we found a house, this one.
“Anything else to go upstairs? This little box says lingerie on it, so I’m thinking that’s upstairs, or maybe it’s kitchen.” Tess smirked. She was home for a few days before heading off to central Washington to start her new job as assistant events manager at a big winery.
“Upstairs,” I said. My phone rang. “Saved by the bell.”
Lucas was closer to the box it was sitting on, so he grabbed it and handed it to me with his eyebrows raised in question.
Reef’s name registered on the caller ID. I winced. “I called him before and left a message. I was going to ask him for a job so I could be in Seattle with you.”
“You were willing to work for him again?”
“I was all in, Luc.”
“Sweetness, I’m all in too.” He caressed my cheeks with his talented hands and dropped a smacking kiss on my lips.
“Hello,” I said into the phone.
“Hey, you called last weekend? Sorry I didn’t call back sooner,” Reef said.
“Yeah, I was going to ask about the royalties. Then, my check arrived, so I’m good.”
“Good save.” Lucas winked.
We talked for a few minutes, and I wished him well. I didn’t want Hill & Ocean to fail, and I hoped Reef would find his way to making the place great someday.
“Hey! I brought provisions,” Luc’s friend Rhys called from the open front door. “Pizza and beer. The standard move-in special.”
Rhys took in the space piled with boxes. My roll-top desk was the only large piece of furniture I kept since it had been my dad’s. It was tucked against the wall on the other side of the room. We’d find a permanent spot later. My bed, dresser, sofa, and everything else except kitchen supplies and a few smaller things went to the Soroptimist thrift store in town. Their efforts supported programs that empowered women to make their own choices, and I was all about that.
“Never thought I’d see the day you settled down,” Rhys said to Lucas.
“All it took was the right woman.” Emily touched my shoulder.
Finn grabbed the pizza boxes. “Yeah, he’s making a commitment, opening a business here. He knows how to cook, and he’s not a jackass anymore. It’s a change for sure. Your animal just keeps showing up.” Finn fake punched his brother in the side, but his true sentiments ran deeper, and it showed in his eyes. “It’s good to have you home to stay.”
“Here, here,” Rhys said. “Who wants a beer?”
“Hi Honey, I’m home,”I remembered when Lucas greeted me that way right after we started dating. I was afraid to admit it then, but I liked the sound of those words coming from him.
“Hey, Sweetness, how was Ed?”
Ed called yesterday to tell me he had a mess of Penn Cove mussels. Well, he didn’t saymess. That was my Southern showing. He said his connection on Whidbey Island gave him more mussels than he could eat, and he wanted to share some with me. Lucas encouraged me to stay and visit when I picked up the shellfish.
