Page 14 of For the Love of Lily

“I know!” My smile felt wide enough to split my cheeks.

Petra looked past me to the door in surprise. “Luke!” she almost shouted as she stood up. “You’re back!”

“What?” I didn’t understand what Petra was saying. I turned around, holding the most romantic and expensive bouquet imaginable, and found myself eye to eye with my best friend, all the way back from Africa.

Luke looked at me with that beautiful smile in place, how I’d missed it. His blond hair had always darkened over winter, but now he was back from the sunshine, it was full of icy highlights that would cost a fortune to try to recreate with dye. His white t-shirt, which I recognised from a gig we’d gone to together, was crumpled and creased, which wasn’t like him. His eyes flicked to the flowers in my hands, and then back to me with confusion. There was a lot to fill him in on. I put them down on the desk and excitedly crossed the reception to him, smiling as he grabbed me into a tight hug.

“I missed you so much!” I said as I squeezed him tight. “We weren’t expecting to see you until next week.”

“There were problems with the flights,” he replied. “So, I had to come back now or stay an extra week. I knew I had appointments here I needed to be back for. Feels like I’ve been gone months, to be honest.”

“You’re really tanned, lucky thing!” I grinned, then noticed his bags behind him. “Did you come here before going home? That’s dedication.”

“I can’t find my house keys, must’ve packed them too well. Could I nip upstairs for your spare set?” he asked.

“Of course, I’ll come up with you. You OK for a few minutes, Petra?”

“Sure am. Don’t forget your flowers,” she grinned at me.

I noticed Luke frown at the bouquet as I picked it up and headed outside, chattering animatedly as we walked to the side entrance.

“Help yourself to a drink while I find them if you like,” I shouted over as I began to look through the sideboard drawers.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” he replied. “Just exhausted from the flight so want to sleep, to be honest. It’s going to be so nice to sleep in my own house again. The beds there were not good.”

“It’ll feel amazing!” I wrapped him into another giant hug. “I missed you so much! If you feel up to it later, I could come over, and you can tell me all about the trip?”

“I’ll see how long I sleep for,” he yawned as he backed out of the hug. “Better dash or I’ll be sleep walking back. Is everything good with you?” I saw his eyes dart around the living room as if looking for something out of place.

“Yeah, all good. Great. I’ll fill you in soon. You can barely keep your eyes open.” I pressed his keys into his hand. “I think Scarlet will be glad you’re back, yoga attendance has been through the floor without you there for the ladies to impress.”

Luke laughed to himself before heading downstairs. I felt warm inside, knowing he was back. My eyes shot to the bouquet. I grabbed my phone and took a photograph before I opened the card.

To Lily,

I’m so glad you said yes to the date date

Love Zack xxx

You’re so sweet, they’re beautiful. Thank you xxxxx

P.S. I’m glad I said yes too x

In the end, it seemed the jet lag was too much for Luke, who I didn’t hear from until lunchtime the next day. Cassie was desperate to catch up with him too, so we arranged to go to his that evening. I was worried about my Zack news in case it made Luke all overprotective, but I was also excited to have a chance to talk about it all over again.

Cassie’s ‘falling in love’ theory was obviously correct, but I wasn’t ready to address that yet. Every now and then the speed of the last month would catch up and scare me. On balance, those trust issues and fears were still there, they lurked just below the surface. I wanted to escape that cycle.

“It is SO good to have you back!” I beamed as Luke let me in to his house. He looked more like himself now, dressed in expensive jeans and a slate grey shirt, which would never be described as crumpled or creased. “Was the internet that bad?” I raised my eyebrow accusingly but with a smile.

“Well, we were pretty remote most of the time. I wanted to enjoy the downtime from modern life, you know what I mean?” he said as we walked through to the living room. I loved Luke’s house; it felt like a second home. Despite always being immaculate and a definite bachelor pad, it felt welcoming and warm.

“Yeah, I get that. I saw a couple of the pics you put on Insta, it looked like an amazing trip.”

“It was. I want to do it again. But… I sort of get the impression you’ve been having adventures without me?” He looked serious as his blue eyes darkened.

“Yeah, I tried to call you while you were away, but I had to rely on Cassie’s guidance, so anything could happen now.” I giggled, hoping it’d break the tension.

“You met someone?” Luke asked as he handed me a large glass of cold white wine. I sank down into the deep cushions of his soft, rolled arm sofa.

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