“They live next door,” Lucas said. “Didn’t I tell you?”
Next door? Maintaining her smile was no easy feat. “You neglected to mention that detail.” He was going to get an earful later.
“Hey, guys,” Lucas called as his family approached.
The dog leaped on Lucas. It was the size of a bear.
“Hey, Bo.” He ruffled the animal’s floppy ears.
That is not Bo. She considered the size of the house and the size of the dog. What was he thinking? She nearly expressed her thoughts, then remembered his family would find it odd she hadn’t seen Bo before. They probably wondered how they hadn’t seen her there before, living right next door like they did.
Roy Wright approached first, wearing jeans, a Nantucket polo, and a genuine smile. “Welcome, welcome.” He hugged Kate first, patting her shoulder as if to burp her. He had a thick head of gray hair and a tan that leathered his skin. His clear green eyes angled downward at the sides.
“Thank you,” Kate said. Her eyes met Susan Wright’s as the woman came to a stop at the edge of the gravel driveway. “Hello.”
Susan nodded, her rose-colored lips pulled back into what didn’t quite pass as a smile. “Kate.” Her mushroom-shaped hairstyle framed her narrow face and high cheekbones.
“I wanted to get some pictures.” Jamie held up the camera that was around her neck. Her smile revealed braces with purple and pink bands. “Did you have a wonderful week?”
Kate felt like she was trapped in a Raymond episode. In real life the situation wasn’t so amusing.
“It was perfect,” she said as Lucas embraced his mom. Brody shook her hand, an apology in his eyes, if not on his lips.
What kind of man built a house next door to his parents? Apparently she’d not only married a pickup man, but a momma’s boy as well.
Lucas and his parents caught up briefly before Lucas asked them inside.
“No, we’re not staying,” Susan said pointedly. “Are we, Roy?” She set a fine-boned hand on her husband’s arm.
“Of course not; we just wanted to welcome you home, welcome Kate to the family.”
“And take a picture of Lucas carrying Kate over the threshold,” Jamie said.
Kate had forgotten about the tradition. A stupid tradition. She didn’t want to be cast into the helpless maiden role. “How thoughtful.” She was tired of smiling. She didn’t want to smile for the next week.
“Don’t pressure them, Jamie.” Susan eyed Kate up and down. “Besides, Lucas might not be up to it.”
Score one for the mother-in-law. Kate smiled through clenched teeth.
“No doubt,” Brody whispered to Lucas, wearing a sly smile. “Bet you’re exhausted.”
Lucas elbowed his brother. “Far be it from me to deny tradition.”
“Pick her up, Lucas!” Jamie said. “This is so romantic.” She clapped her hands.
“Scrubbing the floor would be romantic to you,” Brody said.
“Shut up.” Jamie whacked him in the gut with the back of her hand while Bo barked loudly and circled around them as if sensing the excitement.
“I’ll get your bags,” Brody said, walking toward the trunk.
Before Kate could move, Lucas swept her off her feet. She grabbed him around the neck, latching onto his shoulders as he walked toward the cottage and up the three steps. The camera clicked several times.
“You could have warned me,” Kate whispered in his ear. First the next-door in-laws, then the big hairy dog, and now another photo op? Who’d started this dumb tradition anyway? She felt like a worthless sack of beans in his arms.
“Just sit back and enjoy, Mrs. Wright.” His breath hit her cheek.
Another photo snapped. “Don’t call me that.”
He shifted her and pulled open the screen door, then twisted the knob on the wooden door. She should probably help, but wasn’t in the mood. She heard yet another click as Bo brushed by, squeezing his enormous mass past them.
Kate clenched her jaw. Please let this end!
“That’s enough, Jamie,” Susan said. “For heaven’s sake.”
Once inside, Lucas set Kate down and she stepped away, relieved to be on her own feet again. Brody had followed and now handed Lucas their luggage. They stood awkwardly for a moment, Brody looking from one to the other with a grin.
“Well, guess you two love birds want to be alone.”
Lucas looked at Kate. “Guess so.” Kate refrained from responding.
Brody hugged Lucas exuberantly and, after a slight hesitation, did the same for Kate. He clattered down the steps to his waiting family.
“’Bye, kids!” Roy waved.
“I’ll print these out soon and bring them by,” Jamie said, holding up the camera.
Susan merely nodded and turned back toward her house.
“Thanks,” Kate called.
She stood watching her new in-laws through the screen door as they made their way back up the hill, Brody and Jamie arguing the whole time. Then she turned and narrowed her eyes at Lucas. “You are so dead.”
Before he could respond something caught her eye. Her gaze left him to scan the room. “What in the world . . . is all this . . . stuff!”
She stared in horrified amazement at piles and stacks and layers of stuff. Clothes, boxes, magazines . . . The phrase “Early-American Junkyard” came to mind. Was that a shovel leaning against the TV? And what was that smell?
And through it all, Bo wove in and out, his enormous backside wagging. The dog hit a leaning tower of newspapers, and it toppled.
Lucas is a messie. She’d married a messie.
“Sorry about that.” Lucas kicked a sack aside and closed the front door. “Didn’t have time to clean up before the ceremony.”
There had been clues on the honeymoon. Socks balled up and left lying on the floor, toiletries spread across the marble counter, wet towels left on the couch.
But this . . .
She felt trapped, and she wasn’t even a claustrophobic. What was the floor even made of? She could hardly see it through the stuff. Anna could have warned her, for heaven’s sake.
Bo bumped up against her, knocking her sideways. Lucas steadied her. “No, Bo. Come here.” He rubbed the dog’s head and Bo sat. “Settle down, boy.”
Kate picked up her bag. Maybe the whole house wasn’t like this. “Where can I put my things?”
Lucas grabbed a few articles of clothing from the back of the sofa and draped them over his shoulder. “Let me show you around.”
Bo was up again, circling them, panting happily. Kate glared at him and then at Lucas. Lucas appeared to get the idea.
“Come on, buddy.” He let Bo out the front door, where the dog sat facing the screen and barking. “He’s just a little excited.”
Scooping up a Pepsi can and an empty bowl with a sticky-looking spoon, Lucas led the way down a short hall.
“This is the bedroom.”
Bed unmade, clothes heaped on the dresser.
“Yours?”
He opened a dresser drawer, shoved the clothes from the living room inside, and pushed it closed. “Uh, yeah. You can put your bag here.” He pushed the heap of clothes to the other side of the dresser, having the grace to look sheepish. “I’ll make room in the drawers and closet for your things.”
“I was planning on taking another bedroom.” Hopefully a cleaner one.
He set down the can and bowl and took her suitcase, setting it on the dresser. “I’m afraid this is it.”
Kate let this sink in as she watched him attempt to make the bed. He pulled the blue quilt up over the pillows, leaving the sheets in a wad underneath. “‘This is it’? What do you mean?”
He pocketed his hands. “There is no other bedroom.”
This was getting worse by the minute. “You built a house with one bedroom?”
He lifted his shoulders. “There’s only one of me.”
How could he be so casual? So indifferent? Wasn’t he at all concerned about his s
pace? “Well, now there’s two of us, in case you haven’t noticed.”
One side of his mouth turned up. “I noticed.”
“Who builds a home with one bedroom?” And who was going to sleep on the couch? For a whole year.
“I was planning to add on later.”
Well, there you go. The answer to their dilemma. How long could it take to build a bedroom? He could add a room on the other side of the house by the living room.
“Uh-uh,” he said, watching her face. “Do you know what my family will think if I add another bedroom?”
That they were sleeping separately? Or no—that they were planning to start a family. Why else would they need another bedroom? Jamie would probably start knitting baby blankets and booties. Strike that idea.
“Look. We’re grown adults,” Lucas said. “The bed’s a double, plenty big enough for both of us.”
She looked him over. He was easily six feet, maybe an inch or two more, and he was broad. He’d make the bed feel like a twin. The thought of sleeping so close to him left her feeling hot and itchy.
She cleared her throat. “I’ll just take the couch.” She took the handle of her luggage.
He set his palm flat on the suitcase. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t sleep on the couch for twelve months.”
“Sure I can.” Especially if he wasn’t going to offer. She pulled at the suitcase, but it went nowhere under his grip. “Let go.”
“What’ll my family think?”
“They won’t think anything. They won’t even know.” She would put her blanket and pillow away first thing every morning. She supposed she’d have to keep her clothing in the bedroom, though.
“You turn in early, Kate. I’m a night owl.”
She hadn’t thought of that. How could she fall asleep on the sofa if he was watching TV until midnight? She checked the bed out, wavering.
Lucas leaned against the dresser and crossed his arms over his chest, looking smug. “You afraid or something?”
Kate crossed her own arms. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not the one getting all hot and bothered about sharing a bed.”
“I’m not—” She ground her teeth and smothered a growl. Why did he have to say things like that? It was like he took pleasure in getting under her skin.
It’s just a sleeping arrangement, nothing more. What am I so afraid of ? It’ll be like sharing a bed with a friend on a girls’ outing. Her eyes swept over Lucas’s solid frame, down to his hairy legs and sandal-clad feet. She swallowed hard. Okay, not quite like that.
I don’t have to . . . do anything in that bed except sleep. In fact, I’ll be asleep by the time he comes to bed anyway. And he rises before me. I’ll hardly notice he’s there.
Resolved, she met his eyes square on. “Fine. We’ll share the room.”
Know what you’re looking for before you
begin dating. As with a spontaneous shopping
spree, if you don’t have a goal in mind, you’ll
come home with the wrong thing.
—Excerpt from
Finding Mr. Right-for-You
by Dr. Kate
Chapter Nine
It was dark by the time they unloaded Kate’s belongings in the cottage. She plugged in her treadmill, which they’d squeezed into a corner of the living room. From here she had a good view out the front window and could watch the news too.
As she contemplated her surroundings, Bo brushed against Kate’s legs as if trying to guide her toward the sofa.
“He wants you to sit down and pet him,” Lucas said.
“Why is his fur discolored under his mouth?”
Lucas rubbed Bo behind the ears. “Drool yellows the fur.” He disappeared into the kitchen, Bo plodding behind him.
Kate grimaced. I had to ask.
She turned on the treadmill, making sure it worked, then straightened the square pillows on the couch. She’d tried to tidy up a bit, and now that the floor was clutter free, she saw the nice rug that covered the oak floors. Too bad it was covered in dog hair.
Bo ambled back and plopped down by the fireplace, watching her, his huge, shaggy head cocked. His white hair hung like a dirty mop over his eyes. At least he didn’t smell.
“You didn’t tell me Bo was so big,” Kate called.
“He’s a sheepdog,” Lucas called from the kitchen, as if that explained it.
“I thought that was like a miniature Lassie. I wasn’t expecting a” —there was no call to be rude—“a large dog.” Kate stepped past Bo and surveyed the room. Even clean, it felt tiny. The treadmill looked mammoth against the sand-colored wall.
“That’s a Shetland sheepdog. He’s an Old English sheepdog.” Lucas was in the kitchen doorway, two steps away. He extended a cut-glass vase filled with white daisies. “These are for you.”
Kate didn’t know what to say. “What for?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Our one-week anniversary.” Was that a flush climbing his cheeks? “It’s silly.”
The gesture took her aback. “No, it’s very . . . sweet.” The petals were satin smooth, the stems and leaves clean and groomed. She wondered where he’d gotten them. And when; they’d been together most of the day. “Daisies are my favorite.”
“I know.”
Kate was sure she hadn’t mentioned it on their honeymoon. Even Bryan had always sent orchids for special occasions just because they were most expensive.
Lucas gestured toward the flowers. “You always have them on your desk at work.”
She stopped at Flowers on Chestnut for a fresh bouquet every Monday morning after getting her latte. Having fresh daisies perked up the office and inspired her. Strange that he’d noticed. She remembered the daisies he’d etched on the gazebo. She’d thought it a coincidence.
“Well, thank you,” she said. “I’ll set them on the kitchen table between the salt and pepper shakers.”
“I’ll do it.”
As he returned, Kate yawned. It was getting late, and there was no delaying bedtime. Besides, if she hoped to be asleep when Lucas retired, she needed an early start.
“I think I’ll turn in now,” she said.
Lucas sank into the recliner and flipped on the TV. Bo curled up at his feet. “’Night. Let me know if you need anything.”
Kate stood awkwardly for a moment, but it looked as if Lucas was engrossed in what he was watching. Well, okay then.
After completing her beauty regimen and brushing and flossing, Kate changed into her pajamas. She surveyed the bed and felt something cold wedge between her ribs.
I can do this. I can. No big deal. She snorted at the thought. Yeah, right. I’m about to climb into the bed of a man I barely know. And he’s going to climb in later.
Her eyes fell on a worn quilt crumpled between the bed and wall. She retrieved it, spread it across the bed, then rolled it like a giant burrito. Next, she laid it down the center of the bed as a barrier between the two sides. There, that should do it.
Kate clicked off Lucas’s lamp and rounded the bed, settling on her side. The sheets were soft and cool against her skin, the mattress giving slightly to her weight.
She turned her face into the pillow and immediately regretted it. It smelled faintly of Lucas, all musk and woodsy. Even here, she couldn’t escape him.
She thought of the daisies and chided herself for thinking ill of him. He was trying. It wasn’t his fault they were so different. Or even that they were stuck together for a year. In fact, he’d saved her life, and she should be grateful. He’d salvaged her book and her career.
She’d called Pam twice from the White Elephant, and Rosewood was thrilled with the wedding publicity. Several cable network shows wanted Kate to make an appearance. Rosewood was talking about a possible book tour, and Pam had scheduled numerous phone interviews with radio shows and newspapers. Kate wondered how she’d keep up with her articles and find time to write another book.
No matter, though. If the publicity sold
book one, it would be worth it. And at least she would still have her office space to work in since Lucas hadn’t rented it out yet.
She thought of Lucas’s family and wondered how she was going to find time to help his parents’ marriage. She’d sensed the tension between Susan and Roy. Maybe she could find an activity to do with Susan. It would give them time to talk.
Kate turned and pulled the quilt over her chilled shoulder. It was quieter here than in town. If she listened closely, she could hear the water hitting the shore, and a clock ticking somewhere. The TV program Lucas was watching barely filtered into the room, and a slit of light from the living room underlined the door.
What time would he retire? She hoped he kept to his own side of the bed. Judging by the rumpled sheets she’d found upon her arrival, she had her doubts. He was used to having the whole bed.
Kate was too, but she planned on hugging the edge all night.
If I ever fall asleep. She rolled over again and resituated the pillow. She’d already made a to-do list for tomorrow, which usually freed her mind to sleep. She was tired, so that wasn’t the issue.
As it had all week during quiet moments, her thoughts turned to Bryan. Kate hadn’t called him again, nor had he called. She supposed there was no reason to expect him to. She shouldn’t even want him to.
But feelings didn’t flip off like a light switch. She wondered if he’d seen the photo and article in the New York Times. Part of her regretted not telling him her marriage was temporary. The other part hoped it sowed seeds of jealousy.
He’s not jealous; he’s with another woman. I’m the one who’s jealous.
She didn’t want to dwell on it anymore. The sound of the woman’s voice when she’d answered the phone, the rustling of covers before Bryan spoke. It was torturous.
Think about something else.
Kate turned her thoughts to her book and upcoming Dr. Phil appearance. Ten seconds later, she was thinking of the daisies on the kitchen table. Ah, we’ve come full circle.
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