Page 14 of Promised Love

“No!” My hands rest against my ears. “You sold me?”

Dad pulls my hand down. “No one sold you, tums. We agreed it was a possibility that could be explored when the time was right.”

“P-possibility for what?”

Grandma says, “Fulfilling your great-grandmother’s promise by you marrying Lukas Spencer.”

3

LUKAS

Present Day

“What do you think, Uncle Lukas?” Merida asks as her father plods out of his bedroom.

Keith Adams is my buddy and colleague at Kings Security, an elite security company I co-own in St. Peppers.

This is the third white shirt he’s tried, and for the love of God, I can’t tell the difference between any of them, but his teenage daughter always finds something.

A collar too short. A button weirdly shaped.

“It looks great.” I repeat the words I’ve said for the previous ones.

“Hmm…this one looks good to me too,” Merida finally says, tapping her finger on her chin.

“Great. I’ll put on the jacket.” Keith is already half-turned when Merida jumps from the couch.

“Wait, Dad. Just let me check again. Maybe I can find something better in your closet. Please?” She clutches her hands close to her chest.

“Okay. Just one.” Keith shakes his head before slumping next to me as Merida disappears into his closet.

“I think your tux selection will be longer than Clementine’s dress fitting,” I tell him.

Clementine Hawthorne is Keith’s girlfriend and is returning from Italy today. Merida is determined that her dad look his best when he meets Clem at the airport.

“You don’t say. If Merida could, she’d propose to Clementine on my behalf.”

“So is a proposal planned soon?” I ask, not at all surprised. Clementine is perfect, not only for Keith but for Merida too.

“I’m forty, man. I don’t have time nor interest in anything casual. What about you?” He nudges his foot with mine. “As long as I’ve known you, I haven’t seen you with anyone. Living alone, without true love, is a painful way to live.”

Of course he’d think this way. Keith married his childhood sweetheart, and after she passed away, it took him ten years and Clementine coming into his life to open up his heart again. I don’t think he’s been with anyone during that time.

“Are you hiding a secret girlfriend somewhere that no one knows about?” His words have my palms sweating.

Fuck! If he only knew.

But before I can find some nonsense excuse to give my friend, Merida walks out holding two more white shirts in each hand, and I know we’ll be here for a long while.

* * *

In the afternoon, I’m bringing Merida home from school. We’re halfway to the Kings Security campus, listening to Eric Clapton, when she lets go of a deep sigh.

“I love the music you listen to, Uncle Lukas.”

I chuckle at her remark of “Tears in Heaven.”

“You need to hang out with kids your age more, Mere. We’re too old for you to spend all your time with.”

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