Page 66 of Wild Justice

Life in Harper was looking up, and the possibilities seemed endless.

18

Lulu was humming.Humming.

This morning, she’d caught herself humming while in the coffee shop, picking up coffees and pastries for Kai and herself. She’d told herself to stop and had succeeded for a little while.

Then she’d caught herself doing it again on the drive to the house. It wasn’t even a tune she recognized. It was simply a happy, light tune for someone also feeling happy and light these days.

I might be in love.

She hadn’t said it out loud yet. She’d thought about it a great deal, mulling over what a serious relationship with Kai would look like. They were both too mature to just “date around”. At this point in their lives, if they were going to spend their precious little time off with someone, it was going to be a person that they could picture themselves with long-term. Kai was no fuck boy, looking for a quick hit, and Lulu had left the hooking-up culture behind. She might not be looking for forever, but she was looking for a person she could share her life with. Someone who could be a real partner to her.

She’d had her fill of men who couldn’t commit, or didn’t have a job, or still wanted to pal around every weekend with his “bros” while she sat at home contemplating her position as a doormat in his life.

Of course, there were other men who were threatened if her life wasn’t fucked up, too. Her last boyfriend had adored her when she’d still been searching for what she wanted to do, but as soon as she’d started to make moves to improve her life and skills, he’d complain that she wasn’t paying enough attention to him.

He’d had the nerve to do this while not even giving her the courtesy of looking in her eyes. He’d been glued to the television where he was playing a video game. With his bros.

Luckily, she’d remembered what her mother had told her when she’d started dating.

“If you’re not important to him now during the honeymoon phase of your relationship, it’s not going to get any better later.”

Presley Reilly had also told her this one, “Don’t fall for a man’s potential. He may never get off the couch and meet it. Fall for what he is - right now - at this moment. With few exceptions, that’s who he will stay.”

That day he’d complained to her about not paying him enough attention, she’d taken a deep and long look at her life. It hadn’t taken long to realize - maybe a few minutes - that this so-called relationship was for the birds. She’d been so busy trying to convince herself that mature, adult relationships weren’t always fun that she’d forgotten that she was supposed to at least be happy to be with him.

After that revelation, she’d promptly risen from the sofa, put on her shoes, and gathered her purse and other belongings before disconnecting his router. She could hear his howl of outrage from the bathroom, where she was grabbing her eyeliner and toothbrush. She then marched out and told him that she wished him good luck in his life because he was clearly going to need it. She’d walked out without a look back.

He’d spent the next few weeks sending her texts telling her that she wasn’t ever going to do better than him. She’d sent back one single reply.

I’ll take that chance.

He’d even had the audacity to tell her that she wasn’t “fun” anymore like she was in the beginning. It was hard to be the fun one when he relegated her to being the designated adult of the two of them.

Brianna, of course, had told Lulu that she’d never liked the guy in the first place. Brianna had an instinct about people that was foolproof. She could sniff out a lying, cheating asshole a mile away. It was her superpower.

“You should have told me,” Lulu had said. “If you had, I wouldn’t have stayed with him.”

“No, you were in love,” Brianna had replied. “You would have made some excuse for him. I knew you’d eventually come to your senses. And if you didn’t, I might have had something else up my sleeve.”

Brianna never would say what she’d been planning, but Lulu had no doubt it was low-down devious, calculating, and ingenious. Brianna - in a nutshell - was fucking brilliant.

But with this man Kai Oliver, Lulu was so happy she washumming.She’d always sort of made fun of girls who walked around practically floating on air because some guy was so amazing. And now she was doing it, too.

In the middle of a murder investigation no less.

An investigation that just might get a break today. The DA had been able to procure search warrants for Allie’s apartment, car, and also her workspace. Maybe…just maybe the forensic unit would find something that would be helpful. In the meantime, Lulu could only wait for news.

She unlocked the front door of the house and walked in, juggling the two coffees and a box of pastries that Chase had packed especially for her. If she was lucky, there was a gooey cinnamon roll in that box. Or two, if Kai liked them as well. If not, well, she liked him so she might share.

She might even love him, but she wasn’t ready to make that declaration. Not yet.

Placing the coffee and pastries on the kitchen counter, she stepped back to happily survey her new home. So much more room than the tiny apartment she was sharing with Henry. The house was a three-bedroom ranch style with a primary bathroom big enough that Lulu could have all of her makeup strewn across the vanity. Her clothes wouldn’t even fill half of the closet.

She wasn’t sure how long Henry would stay in Harper, but he would have his own side of the house with a separate bedroom and bathroom. He’d even have a real bed if all of the furniture she’d ordered was actually delivered today. She’d had a few delays with the furniture company, and she still didn’t quite believe that today was the day.

Lulu hadn’t inherited the decorating gene, sadly. Her dad could barely put colors together that didn’t clash, and her mother had decorated their home simply, not liking clutter in any form. There had been no Pinterest fireplaces or pantries, no fresh flowers on the kitchen table each week, or handmade potholders for every holiday.

---