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He cleared his throat. “You might want to reconsider. The world keeps moving. In other words, your job may not be here when you want to come back.”
Her own father wouldn’t hold her position for her. She hadn’t anticipated that, but she managed to hide the pain of his betrayal. “I’ll take that chance,” she said.
“Your choice. Now, if you’re finished, I have work to do.” Without meeting her gaze, he picked up his pen and looked back down at his papers. If not for the slight tremor in his hand, Alexa would think him completely unaffected.
“One more question,” she said softly.
Maybe it was her tone of voice, but he glanced up. “What is it?”
“What did we do for my fifth birthday party?”
His gaze narrowed once more. “I don’t remember.”
“Tenth?” she asked.
He clenched his jaw. “Same answer.”
Alexa nodded. The only birthdays she recalled were the ones she spent missing her mother and hurting that her father chose to work instead of staying home.
“The sad thing is I wish I didn’t remember them either,” she said, fighting to speak over the lump in her throat and the tears threatening to fall.
Something flickered in her father’s gaze. Or maybe Alexa just wanted to see emotion there. She didn’t know. “Bye, Dad,” she said.
But when she looked over, he’d returned to his work and didn’t reply.
Chapter Eight
Family gatherings at Luke’s parents were always huge. With three sisters, all married and all with kids, plus cousins, neighbors, and friends included, the noise level was high, and the privacy factor was nil. Usually, Luke loved these events. Not today.
Today, his heart wasn’t here. It was back in the small town of Serendipity, New York. A place he never thought would leave a mark on him, much less impact him so strongly. He couldn’t get Alexa out of his mind.
They’d said goodbye on Thursday. Today was Saturday. He’d programmed his number into her phone and hoped she’d use it. With the way they’d parted ways, Luke giving her his unasked-for opinion on how to live her life, he wasn’t holding his breath.
To avoid focusing on himself, he looked around to see which sibling he was in the mood for, and his gaze settled on Ashley, the middle of his three sisters. She had two kids, having married right out of high school to a guy Luke hated.
And Luke considered himself an easygoing guy who got along with most people, but not her husband. “Hey, sweet cheeks,” he said, using his nickname for her.
“Hey.”
He sat on the picnic table bench next to her, and she immediately laid her head on his shoulder. Warning bells went off in his brain. “I was only gone a week. What happened?”
“I left Todd.”
Luke held in his cheer, more concerned about his sister’s feelings than his own. “Why?”
“He was cheating on me with Mandy Stone.”
“Mandy Stone, whose daddy is Todd’s boss?” Luke asked through gritted teeth. The same Mandy Stone who felt it was her civic duty to hit on Luke at every town event he attended and had done so since Luke accepted the scholarship to the University of Miami to play football for the U.
“I think Mandy was just the most recent in a long line. He never liked being tied down.”
“Then he shouldn’t have gotten you pregnant the summer before college.”
She sniffed but ended in a laugh. “Takes two to be stupid, Luke. And I wouldn’t trade my kids for anything.”
“What will you do now?”
“The kids and I moved in with Mom and Dad. I need some time to work out a plan.”
He kissed her temple. “You will. And I’ll be here to help you.”
“Thanks.”
“Anything for you, sweet cheeks. You know that.”
She sighed. “I do. And I love you for it. So how was your trip east?”
“Business was good. Got some solid endorsement deals lined up.”
“Just for Men? Erectile dysfunction meds? Hemorrhoid cream?” She nailed him in the ribs with her elbow.
“This is when sweet cheeks changes to brat,” he muttered. “How about Ford Broncos and my own cologne?”
She nodded, her blond hair tickling his nose. “Proud of you, little brother. So what else did you and Cole do? Pick up any hot chicks while you were there?”
Luke weighed just how much to tell her, then decided to go for broke. He needed to talk about it, and Ash needed the distraction from her own life. “Cleaned out Cole’s dad’s house, though I think he’s gonna do some work on the place and keep it instead of selling. And yeah, I met someone.”
Ashley sat up and turned in her seat, her eyes slitted as she stared at him.
“What?” he asked, uncomfortable under her narrowed gaze.
“I asked if you and Cole picked up any hot chicks. You countered with I met someone. Big difference. What gives?”
Luke glanced up at the cloudless sky. “Been asking myself that same question since I laid eyes on Alexa.”
