Page 119 of Getting Lucky

He grinned at her. “You stole it? There’s a whole bad-girl side to you I didn’t fully know about.”

“I didn’t steal it, and can I say you got far too excited over the possibility that I did?”

He kissed her, then pulled back, grinning like a fool. Maisie did this to him, but he didn’t mind one bit.

“It was my dad’s,” she said quietly. “He would have liked you. A lot.” She swallowed. “It sat in a box for years, like everything else. But what good is it to keep things in boxes? And…it felt right for my past and my present to merge into my future.”

A lump filled Jack’s throat. He was the luckiest guy in the world.

“You hate it,” she said, horror filling her eyes as she misinterpreted his silence. “I didn’t buy it, so I know that makes me cheap, but I—”

Jack kissed her hard. “Maisie.This is the best gift I’ve ever received. Thank you.”

“Are you positive?” she asked, looking uncharacteristically unsure of herself. “I really can get you something else.”

“Don’t you dare,” he said, removing the watch from the box. He slipped it onto his wrist and fastened the clasp. He tried to slide it up and down his wrist, but it barely moved. “It fits perfectly.”

“It’s like you were meant to have it.”

He stared into her worried eyes. “I know it’s hard for you to let go of the past, but you don’t have to let go of everything, and I’ll be there to help you. At your pace. There’s no rush.”

“Thank you, but I finally feel ready. I want to focus on the present…and on starting my future with you.”

He smiled at her. “I already have plans for our future, starting tonight. Dirty plans.”

She grinned back. “I should hope so.”

The front door opened and Iris’s face appeared. “The neighbors are texting River, telling him there’s an indecent couple on Beau’s front porch.”

Maisie laughed.

“If they think we’ve been indecent, then let’s give them something to talk about.” He shot his sister a look. “Go inside, Iris.”

She squealed, then slammed the door.

“Should I be concerned that your sister is excited we’re about to do something indecent?”

“Probably, but it’s too late to change her now. Just be thankful for her blessing.” Then he kissed her with a hunger he’d suppressed for the last hour. She met his passion with her own, until they were both breathless.

“Do you think that was indecent enough?” Maisie asked playfully.

“I don’t know, but I fully intend to keep on working on it.”

Epilogue

“Oh my God, I forgot to ask. Does Molly like pizza?” Iris asked anxiously. She’d started reading Molly’s column, and much to Maisie’s amusement, she now acted like Molly was a celebrity.

“Iris,” she said as she slung an arm around her shoulders. “If my sister didn’t like pizza, I would disown her myself.”

“She means it too,” said Jack, touching her hip. They stood like that for a moment, the three of them linked together next to the dining room table, the dogs at their feet, sniffing hopefully at the scent of fresh pizza in the air, and Maisie felt a swell of emotion. Her house was becoming a home again. And now her sisters were coming to visit, finally, to spend New Year’s with them. Although Maisie would have preferred to see her nephew too, Mary had decided—after a long bout of hemming and hawing—to come alone.

All these months without a visit, and apparently all Maisie had needed to do was find a boyfriend…arealboyfriend, as Mary referred to him…to convince them to come. Of course, she suspected Molly also intended to needle them all for details of the epic Christmas Eve engagement party that had ended up getting Prescott Buchanan and Vic-tor-ia arrested…along with half a dozen other employees from Buchanan Luxury. Although Prescott and Victoria had both been granted bail, the evidence that had been collected against them, thanks to Lee, was fairly damning.

Didn’t matter why they were here. If she was permissive of pandering and the occasional white lie to secure a dog’s adoption to a good home, she was even more so of her sisters’ behavior.

A knock landed on the door—the pattern one she and Molly had perfected in childhood and taught to River—and Iris flinched as if she expected Taylor Swift might walk through the door.

The dogs dashed toward the door, Chaco still wearing the jingle bell collar Dottie had gotten her for Christmas, much to Jack’s annoyance. He’d told Maisie they should “lose” it on a walk, but she’d insisted they wait for at least a full week to ensure believability.

---