Page 45 of The Lucky One

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

When I step out the door, Luke is waiting for me. He tips his hat with a grim smile.

“So look, Ella told me we have to havethe talk.”

I grimace. Those two words could mean a whole range of things and I’m not sure I like any of them.

“I’m afraid to ask,” I say.

“It means, we’re going to take a walk so she can see I’m doing what she asked and it’ll give her peace of mind about her sister. And then I’m going to ask you a couple of questions about your intentions because these girls got dealt some crappy cards on the parent front. And then we’re going to find something else to do until it seems like we’ve been gone long enough to have had a good man talk.” He claps me on the shoulder. “Sound good?”

As an only child, today has already been overwhelming.

But if this is part of being in Bridget’s life—I’m here for all of it.

“You lead the way.” I gesture toward the farm.

“Are you really stuck in that house with Bridget?” he asks as we head in the opposite direction of the cafe.

I grin. “All week.”

“Maybe we better head to my emergency stash to have this conversation.”

I like Luke already.

seventeen

BRIDGET

“Haveyou broken out in hives yet from deviating from the script?” Laila nudges me with her hip before she crouches to sprinkle gold glitter across the cardboard base of the leprechaun trap.

“More!” Lucy insists. “They really like shiny stuff.”

“He’s the one that deviated,” I mumble.

That kiss has me all out of sorts, but not for the reasons I suspect they think it does. Weston has done nothing but work to get under my skin all week long. His little jabs and annoyances drive me crazy.

But then there are theotherways he’s getting to me.

He somehow already knows my morning routine and has my coffee waiting when I come out of my room. He teases me, but follows up with a compliment I never expect. It has my head on a swivel. There was a scarf draped across my dresser that I’d eyed at a booth the day of the scavenger hunt, and Iknowthe house doesn’t randomly produce things like that.

Andrew love bombed me. If we got into a fight, he’d show up with extravagant flower arrangements, gaudy jewelry I repeatedly told him I didn’t like, or he’d book us dinner at the most ridiculous place you could think of. Sometimes all three.

I’m scared to trust these feelings that are developing for Weston because I don’t know if I trust them. And it’s not because I don’t trusthim.

Weston is over the top, but in a way that’s so genuine it scares me. He wears his emotions proudly, and doesn’t hesitate to say what he’s thinking. Like the “what would you save in a fire” question.

He’s pushing for honesty and Iwantto give him that.

But what happens if I open up to him, and he doesn’t want me?

“Do you think Daddy has the gold coins yet? We really need those for the pot-of-gold!” Lucy asks as she carefully finishes printing ‘gold this way’ on a little sign she made.

“I’m sure he’s on the way with them,” Ella says with a giggle.

I watch as Ella bends to kiss Lucy’s temple before she joins Laila with a bottle of silver glitter. Ella was terrified of being a terrible step-mother, but I hope she knows she’s far from it.

Granted, Ella is naturally a nurturing person. She always had a way with brides that far exceeded the rest of us, and that’s probably one reason that our mother couldn’t stand her. But loving Lucy was effortless from the get go. Ella was always part of the Jackson family because of her friendship with Gaby. Marrying Luke simply cemented her place there.

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