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Ellen and Lo gave me the eye that meant we’d be discussing this after dessert while Dad and the guys watched TV in the basement.
“What about me, gran’pa? Should I give pivacee? My daddy always wants pivacee with Mommy.” My niece, now in Dad’s arms, gripped tightly to his neck while Billy preened, not even shy about wanting alone time with my sister, Ellen. Another baby was clearly in the works.
“Yes, bug, you especially,” Dad said.
My family shuffled inside, with Dad bringing up the rear. He nodded to Lucas and leaned into my ear. “Take your time Sammy Jo. You know, he looks kinda like a dream.” He winked.
Yep. Nothin’ got past Daddy.
45
LUCAS
I stoodmy ground as her family looked me over, then walked up the front porch steps and into the modest house. The muscle-bound guys with the hats didn’t look like they planned to kill me yet. The screen door closed with a whoosh and clatter.
She lengthened that beautiful neck and started in. “I was in Perry Harbor for almost a month, and you didn’t come.”
“Jo, I was an idiot. I … I wanted to do this better, but it can’t wait.” Now I understood why Finn was so bunched up about proposing to Emily. These big moments were scary as hell, and you wanted the world on your side first.
“Do what better?”
“Tell you I love you. Because I do. I have for a while, and I was scared to say it. I’ve never said it before. I’ve never had a girlfriend, and I wasn’t sure I ever would. You mysterious and fascinating creatures wandered into my life in college, and I assumed you all would wander back out someday. I wasn’t sure what to do when you said we were temporary. We’re not temporary, Jo, but I don’t know how to do this. You’ll have to help me.”
I stepped closer.
“I can write code for anything you want, and I can close million-dollar deals with some of the biggest dickheads you’ll meet, but with you, Jo, I’m so far out of my comfort zone.”
Her face was unreadable as the seconds ticked past.
“Say something.” I raked my hand through my hair for the millionth time today.
“I’m savoring. You know what that is.” A little smile teased in the bright porch light.
My heart swelled. It fucking swelled. That little smile had to be good.
I stepped fully into her space, my hands itching to touch her as I caught her sweet scent in the still air. I’d missed it every damn day. “I don’t like this silence. Tell me if you still think we’re temporary.”
She looked to the side, and her unfettered curls swished around her shoulders. When she glanced back, tears glistened at the edges of her deep brown eyes.
My hands surged to her face, my thumbs wiping the tears. “Don’t cry, Sweetness. Talk to me.”
“I don’t think we’re temporary. I never did, and I never should have said that on Anna Island.”
“Jo, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I wanted to collapse with relief and jump a mountain with joy. That had to be a solid green light. I covered her mouth with mine as I pulled her against me, where she belonged.
A man’s throat cleared in the distance. “You know what I love? Chicken a la king.” One of the trucker hat guys stood in the doorway and patted his stomach. “Dinner’s ready, Sammy Jo. Ya’ll come on now.”
I sat next to Jo,head bowed for grace, in her parents’ dining room. The giant polished table matched the enormous hutch behind me where what looked like a hundred different dishes and colored glass bowls were on display.
“Amen,” her mom said with conviction before starting to pass the food around the table. “So, Lucas, we’ve heard so much about you. Tell us about your family. Your dad farms?”
What? Okay, anything was better than the grilling I expected about hurting Jo, especially after seeing those guys at the bottom of the stairs.
“That’s right. Tulips are big business in that area. More tulip bulbs are grown in that part of the Pacific Northwest than anywhere else in the world outside of Holland.”
