by Mj Fields
It’s something profound … this moment … a bespoken promise. It’s also telling.
Jade hasn’t announced that she’s pregnant to anyone. It’s been like her treasured secret, and if anyone unknowing suspected the bump was anything but weight gained possibly in grief, there is no doubt now.
The party comes to a quiet end shortly after. We say goodbye to those who came to celebrate with us.
Ben walks up and smiles. The first Ben Sawyer smile I think I’ve ever seen that was forced.
“Taking off?” Lucas asks, holding his hand out to shake his, and he does it … nicely.
“Mom and Dad are tired.” Ben shakes his hand firmly.
“Where are you going to school, man?” Lucas asks.
“Ithaca, actually.”
“Did you graduate this year, as well?” Lucas asks Ben’s girlfriend.
“Yes, I’m going to Ithaca, as well.”
“Cool. Lucas is going to SU,” I tell them. “Drive safe, Ben.”
“Of course. We’ll give a shout when we get home.”
“Please do.” Lucas says. “Tessa worries about her friends.”
Ben lifts his chin and nods toward Jade. “Gonna say goodnight to the little momma.”
I turn to Lucas, fall into him, and wrap my arms around him. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He kisses the top of my head and rubs my back. “You?”
“No.”
He steps back and looks down at me in question.
“I didn’t finish my cake.”
He smiles. “Let’s go feed you some cake then.”
Walking past my parents, I stop and ask, “Hey, can Lucas spend the night?”
“Tessa …” Dad says in warning.
“What, Dad? I have my period and, anyway, for some reason, Lucas has a no-hands policy when we’re here.”
His face turns bright red. “Fine … he can stay in Alex’s room … with the alarm.”
As we walk away, I hear Mom say, “You’re really okay with that?”
“How do you say no to her?” Dad grumbles.
“It’s a two-letter word.”
“One you know well, Mags.”
“Oh, hush.” She laughs.
“A no-hands policy, Tessa?” Lucas asks.
“I’m pretty sure it’s been your mouth in the house.” I grin.
“I can’t stay tonight. I told the girls I would stay with them at the hotel.”
“You sure it’s not because of my condition.” I sigh exaggeratedly.
“I’m very sure.” He runs a finger across my lips.
I capture his finger in my mouth, briefly, then ask, “May I, please?”
“Did you seriously just ask that?” He sounds surprised.
“Sorry?” I press my forehead to his chest.
He lifts my chin, eyes heavy. “Baby, I wasn’t saying no. I just feel bad because I can’t.”
I grab a plate with a huge piece of chocolate cake on it then drag him to the unlit area beyond the tent and toward the barn.
Laughing, he asks, “Why the cake, baby?”
“Chocolate cake and Lucas Links … mmm-mmm good.”
“No shit?” he gasps.
“None.”
When we emerge from the barn, every bit of tension that he’s held in his shoulders from the moment Ben arrived to Jade’s beautiful moment is gone.
“Tessa Ross.” He shakes his head as he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me tightly to his side.
I wrap my arm around his waist, too. “Lucas Links.”
“Tessa Links,” he whispers.
“Lucas Ross,” I joke.
“If that’s what it takes.”
I stop and look up at him. “Seriously?”
“Not a fucking chance.” He laughs.
Chapter Forty
On Sunday, Molly insists we go to church. Then, during Joys and Concerns, Cory announces that Molly has accepted his proposal, and they will be married in August.
“This isn’t a shotgun wedding,” Cory jokes.
Molly looks completely embarrassed.
Laughing, I throw my arms around her. “Molly, congrats! That’s so exciting!”
After church, we head to Lakehouse for a celebratory dinner, and Lucas joins us.
“Your parents are sitting next to each other,” he whispers his observation as he pushes my seat in.
Molly announces she’s transferring to a school twenty minutes from Cory, and they will look for an apartment soon. They just don’t want to be a part anymore. Their wish is to have a small wedding at our local state park and will hold off on a honeymoon until they’re both finished with college.
Dad nudges Mom. “Mags, give her the news.”
“You sure?” she asks, and he nods then looks at Molly.
“We have enough money saved for you to have a bigger wedding, Molly.”
“What? How?”
Mom explains, “Each of you has a savings that Grandma started when you were born. It was intended to be for college, but your father and I have been able to manage that because you’re amazing students, and scholarships help. Which means, Molly, you have about twenty-five thousand to spend however you see fit.”
Dad interjects, “I think a small, personal wedding would be great, and when you two decide to buy a home, you could use that as a down payment, but it’s yours, so you can make the decision.”
“Wow.” Molly nods. “Thank you, and thank you, Grandma.”
I look across the table at my maternal grandmother, who literally said two words to me all day yesterday.
“Sweetheart”—she holds her hand out for Molly—“you deserve so much more. I am proud of the woman you’ve always been.”
I glance over at Alex, who looks down as soon as he sees my eyes roll slightly.
Molly looks at Cory. “Cory and I will discuss it, but I think we will both agree that we truly want a very small wedding.”
Cory nods his agreement.
“So, how much do I have?” Jake asks.
“Not as much as Molly does. She’s older. Interest and wise investing will help yours grow, too,” Dad explains.
After we eat, I can’t get out of there fast enough. I hug my grandmother and wish her a safe trip back. She simply responds with, “Hmphs.”
Outside, Lucas asks, “What’s the deal with your grandmother?”
I laugh. “You mean, why does she hate me?”
“Kind of caught on that she feels the same about your father and—”
“Molly, Alex, and Jake look more like Mom.”
He laughs. “What?”
“Kendall and I trait after Dad. She’s never liked him. Mom quit college and married Dad.”
“So, she—”
“Don’t try to understand. Her sister, my aunt Ann, told me that she felt sorry for her because she was always so busy looking down on others that she never got a chance to watch the sun rise.”
“Wish I could have met her, Tessa,” he says as he opens the door for me and kisses me softly.
“She would have loved you.”
“You excited to start work tomorrow?” Kate’s boyfriend, Bob, who Lucas thinks asks too many “fucking questions,” asks Lucas. He thinks he’s trying to shrink him.
Lucas nods, hands clasped behind his head, lying in the chaise next to me as we relax by the pool. “Really excited to boss people around.” He smiles.
“Interesting. Very interesting,” Bob says before Kate peeks her head out of the sliding glass doors.
“Bobby, would you help me carry out the snacks?”
Lucas sits up. “We’re good, Mom. Tessa and I are going out to dinner.
“We are?” I whisper.
Driving home from our unexpected dinner date, I squeeze his hand. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“Guy’s a dick, Tessa.”
“I thought you liked—”
“It’s like he’s trying to figure out how I push her to the point of wanting to kill her—�
�
“No.”
“No?” he huffs.
“No, you’re her child, Lucas. She’s the mother. She’s an adult.”
“I’m not blameless, Tessa. I get pissed when she’s fucked up, and—”
“Nope.”
“Tessa,” he says in frustration.
“No,” I say. “Just no. He’s a man in love. He’s just trying to figure her out. He wants her to be okay. He’s a grown-ass man, Lucas. Let him. It’s you time now.”
“Me time?” he says it like he’s trying the words out.
“Lucas Links, you were made to soar, and maybe, just maybe, Bob is not only a blessing to her but to you.”
He nods, and the rest of the way home, I watch him try to make peace with it, and I think he actually does.
He pulls into my driveway and throws the car in park.
“Stay with me tonight?”
“Baby, I have to be up at four.” Lucas smiles, hops out, runs around to my side, and opens the door for me. “Let me get through this week; see how hard this schedule is going to kick my ass?”
“Well, my schedule is pretty open for the next two weeks until I start work.” I look down, down, down, and then I peer up at him. “I’m going to miss you.”
“No, you won’t. You can come have lunch with me every day. I think we can get a lot accomplished in an hour. That is … after your situation is resolved.” He chuckles.
“I am going to miss you, Lucas.” I grip his shirt and give him a shake. “I’ve been able to see you at school every day with no more than a forty-five-minute break between each time. This is going to be so hard.”
“We’ll get through it and see each other often.” Lucas smirks. “I did ask you to move in, and you told me no. Offer’s still on the table. Think about it. I got to go, baby. It’s ten. Six hours of sleep is going to suck.”
“Suck?” I wag my brows.
He chuckles as he heads to the driver’s side. “I’m going to text you tomorrow. I want you to come to lunch. I love you.”
I stomp all the way to the house, purposely.
When I walk in, Mom and Dad are both sitting at the table.
“In for the night?” Dad asks as I give him a kiss and move to Mom.
“Yep, goodnight. You two should check out the hot tub.” I grab the cordless and head upstairs.
I open my pager’s instructional manual and set to learning how the damn thing works.
Halfway through, the cordless rings.
“You’ll never guess what I’m doing.”
Lucas laughs. “Tell me you’re touching yourself, and I’m going to lose my shit.”
“I’m touching something all right.” I laugh.
“Baby, don’t mess—”
“My pager. Write down my number and send me one.” I rattle off my number. “So, now you can page me if you can’t get a hold of me.”
“Perfect.” He pauses.
When doesn’t say anything for a while, I laugh. “You asleep?”
My pager makes a sound, and I gasp.
He laughs.
I look down at the small screen and ask, “What does 58008 mean?”
He chuckles. “Turn it upside down.”
I do. “Okay …? What does 80085.”
“Read it like letters,” he says in his smiling ear-to-ear voice.
Then I see it and laugh. “Boobs, Lucas?”
“I love yours.” He laughs.
“So, my very first ever page seriously says boobs?” I flop back in bed and laugh.
My pager goes off again.
5318008. I turn it upside down and ask, “Boobies? How is that better?”
“Love you, babe. I’ll page you tomorrow.”
I hold my pager to my chest and the phone to my ear. “Love you, anyway, Lucas Links.”
After using the bathroom, I head to the kitchen to grab a drink. I hear music coming from somewhere … Outside?
I lean in to look out the window and see …
“Holy shit! Holy shit!” I whisper and happy dance my ass all the way up the stairs.
I shake Alex, and when he gasps, I cover his mouth so that he doesn’t wake Jake.
“I need you downstairs,” I whisper.
I tiptoe out then hurry down, running to the kitchen and looking back out the window.
“Coyote?” he asks, leaning over me.
I slide over so he can get a closer look and whisper, “Look at the hot tub.”
“Is that …?” He steps back and points to the window. “Is that Mom and Dad?”
I grin and nod.
“Tessa, gross!” He rubs at his eyes and snaps, “My damn eyes are burning.”
“I hope that more than your eyes are burning around here.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asks, still looking like he just witnessed a mass murder.
“It means I hope Maggie and John are both burning with desire.” I wag my brows.
“I think I’m gonna get sick.”
I wake in the morning to a page. I grab the little rectangular device and look at the screen.
831-11. I turn it upside down and can’t make out this little code.
I grab the cordless and call Lucas.
“Hey, baby.”
“What does 831 dash 11 mean?”
“Eight letters, three words, one meaning. The 11 is LL—me.”
I sigh. “It is too early to solve a rhyme.”
“There are eight letters in the three words—I love you. Those words mean one thing.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper.
“Lunch today, baby,” he says in his sexy, soft, deep, morning voice.
“Yeah, Lucas, and dessert.”
When I pull into the job site, I see him standing over blueprints spread out on the tailgate of a Links Construction truck, jeans hugging his rock-hard ass. When he stands and looks at the men around him, I grab the picnic basket, hop out, and hear him directing people on what to do after lunch.
I see Landon standing next to his truck, closer to me than Lucas, and walk over to him.
“How’s he doing?”
“Great. He’s a natural.” Landon winks.
“Bossy, huh?”
“But good at it,” Landon tosses back.
I laugh, and Lucas looks over and smiles.
He motions for me to come over. “All right, lunchtime. This is Tessa.”
I wave hello before opening the basket and pulling out a container, handing it to Ryan, then another for Landon, who both thank me.
“Nothing big. A lot of leftovers from the party on Saturday.”
“Let’s go.” Lucas drags me to his SUV.
He drives to the state park nearby and pulls in, giving my hand a squeeze. “Remember when we came here?”
“We’ve never been here, silly.” I laugh.
“Yes, we did. You showed me the girls that night.” He lets go of my hand and palms one of my boobs.
“Well, I think I’ve heard stories.”
He parks his vehicle on the outskirts, in the last parking lot and by the wooded area. Then he hops out, and I do the same.
“Would have gotten the door for you,” he calls to me as he pops the hatch.
I open the picnic basket, pull out the container, open them, and hand him a sandwich.
He grabs it and takes a huge bite.
I laugh. “You going to eat without me?”
“No way. Come on in.” He holds the sandwich in his mouth. “Got yours right here, baby.” Then he undoes his pants, pulls his dick out, and slides back, sitting on the jump seat. “I brought you something, too.”
He shuts the hatch, and I set about devouring my lunch.
Lucas walks me to my Jeep and opens the door, but instead of moving to get in, he uses the door as a shield from the work crew.
“Got an idea for tonight? Dinner? Unless you’re too full.” He smiles as he strokes his thumb over my lips.
“Not ever too full for dinner.”
He kisses me as he cups my breasts. “See you girls tonight.” He winks. “Probably about five thirty.”
When we step out from behind the door, Lucas looks up, and his whole crew is grinning at him. “Shit.”
I look up and see them all looking at us. “Is this not okay? Me being here?”
“It won’t be if they run their mouths.” He’s annoyed, but he kisses my head. “Love you, baby. Drive safely.”
Once in the driver’s seat, he pulls my seat belt and hands it to me. “Buckle up, baby.”
Once home, I head to the shop where Alex and Dad are working on the tedder.
“Did you get lunch?”
“Not yet,” Dad answers. “We’ll be in, in a few minutes.”
I grin. “I’ll get it ready.”
Dad looks at me skeptically. “What did you do now?”
Alex kicks my foot in an obvious attempt to get me to keep my mouth shut, but it’s hard to do when I know … things.
“Nothing, Daddy.”
Dad narrows his eyes as he studies my face, “Mmmhmm.”
When they come in, I have heaping plates of pasta salad and chicken salad sandwiches made from the leftover chicken halves.
They both wash up as I pour them some sun tea.
“Tired, Dad?” I wink at Alex, who gives me the death glare, a warning.
“Little bit,” he says as he dries his hands.
“Did you enjoy the hot tub last night?” I grin at Alex.
Dad looks at both of us then points his fork at me. “I don’t want to hear it from you, Tessa.”
“How about me, Dad?” Alex asks.
“Nope, not you, either.” He picks up his plate and walks into the living room, grumbling.
Alex and I laugh, and then Alex finishes up his lunch and I clean up the chopping board.
When Dad comes back in, I ask, “Do you want more, Dad?”
“Yes, please,” he answers.
I take his plate and squeeze his shoulder. “I think it’s good.”
“We’ll see, but until then, it’s between us three, got it?”
“Just keep dancing with her, Daddy.”
I glance at the clock then give Dad a kiss. “Gotta meet the girls to pick out invitations for the wedding.”