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“Do you want to buy some? I mean, you don’t even have towels.”
“I’ll get some.”
“I can come by and take you shopping. There’s a new Target on Emerson.”
“I’ll be okay,” I assured him. “I’ll go later.”
“Okay.”
Luke looked to the door, knowing this was his cue to leave, but he didn’t.
“I just can’t help thinking that it would be all too easy for you to up and leave,” he said finally.
“I can’t leave. I have a lease now.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. But I promise not to leave without saying goodbye to my friends,” I told him. “And that includes you.”
Luke smiled and I showed him out. He really had been an awesome friend to me lately, helping me check out places, negotiate prices, and work his charm with the landlords. As he headed back to his truck, I leaned against the doorjamb and watched him walk away.
“You’ve got it bad, Captain Lawless,” Andy said, approaching me from behind and startling me.
When I caught my breath, I finally said, “We’re just friends.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t want him.”
I said nothing. I just stood with Andy in a companionable silence.
“Come on. Let’s watch a movie,” he said.
“Huh?”
“A movie. Something mindless to pass the time. I’ve got popcorn,” he said in a teasing tone. “Unless you’re only allowed to have onefriend.”
I rolled my eyes and followed him inside. Friends. I needed more friends.
Friends who didn’t make my heart beat faster.
The next fewweeks were chock full of job hunting, movies with Andy, and wedding planning. There were occasional coffees or lunches with Luke, but I managed to keep myself pretty busy. The amazing thing, however, was that Andy was right. Time did help. So did routine.
I wasn’t saying Blue Creek felt like home. But it was starting to feel comfortable.
We were checking out a few locations for the wedding that week. Steph and Maya were determined to get married as close to Blue Creek as possible, so their options were limited. In the past few days, we’d looked at a wedding mill-type catering hall a few miles away and a very nontraditional church in town with a basement that could house a reception. Neither were quite right. But we had our fingers crossed for the third and final location.
And as Maya pulled off the highway, I recognized where we were going immediately.
“Wait, are you really thinking about getting married at the Amberfield?” I asked. “Because I had my senior prom there and that place is…”
Ugly. The word was ugly.
“It’s under new management now,” Maya informed me. “Renovations took almost a year and they’ve only just started booking events. But my cousin had a sweet sixteen there and the whole family went on about how beautiful it was.”
I pursed my lips, doubting it. All I could remember was carpeted walls and the smell of old-lady potpourri.
And Luke dancing with Emmeline.
But as we pulled onto the grounds, all three of us gasped.
