Page 90 of This Loving Feeling (Mirror Lake)

But that was a fairy tale. No matter what was going on in her personal life, she had a responsibility to her town. Her community. She would tell them the truth.

She held the mic carefully and looked out into the crowd. Over three thousand seats, all filled. “We were counting on the matching funds from the state grant that expires this year but despite all our efforts, we’re still two million dollars short.”

“Actually, we’re not,” someone from behind her said.

The crowd gasped. Behind her, a man in a tux that hugged every smoking hot muscle on his tall lean frame walked onto the stage. His thickly layered hair shone in the spotlights and his wicked smile gleamed. Tiny diamonds flashed from his ears. He was the sexiest man she had ever seen. And he’d come back.

She blinked, unable to believe it. The crowd went crazy, whistling and whooping. Lukas man-hugged Ed and nodded to Sam a little tentatively, like he wasn’t sure how she would react.

She was stunned. Speechless. Shaking. And tearing up. Again. Lord, she’d cried more in the past week than she had her entire life.

“Hi, everybody,” Lukas said to the packed house, “I’m Lukas Spikonos. Ed and I are going to sing together.” That made everyone roar even louder, but he signaled for quiet. “But right now I’d like to say a few words.

“As you know, I’m from Mirror Lake. But I wasn’t from the nice part of town. I didn’t come from a nice family. In fact, I could pretty much say it was a miracle that one day I met someone nice who made me want to be a better man. And that someone is standing next to me.

“Samantha,” he took her hand in his warm, callused one, “you’re everything to me. More than the stars and the sun and the moon—and the Stones. And I have something for you.”

He had something for her? It was enough that he was here. She didn’t need anything else, ever.

Murmurs of surprise drifted up from the crowd, but Lukas kept talking. “A long time ago, I wrote some music, but I didn’t have any words for it. In fact, I’d never written words to a song before. But Samantha wrote me a poem and as I read the poem, I realized it fit perfectly to the music. So I used her words without asking, never thinking the song would ever be anything more than a little tune I’d sing as part of a late-night set in some smoky bar.

“Sam, ever since ‘You Don’t Know Me’ came out, I’ve put all the proceeds from it into an account.”

You could drop a Q-tip on the floor and hear it.

“Stevie, come on out here.”

The little boy ran onto the stage holding an enormous cardboard check that was almost as big as he was. His hair was slicked back and he wore a tux with a black bow tie that matched Lukas’s. He was absolutely adorable. The check had “The Palace Theater” written on it and the words “two million dollars.”

“This is half the money from the song—my half for writing the music, and I’d like to give it as a gift to the theater. I’m sorry about not giving you credit, Sam. The other half is yours to use however you’d like.”

Sam was stunned. She was having a hard time processing. Lukas had saved the theater. He’d come back forher.

Lukas took the cardboard from Stevie, and Sam bent to kiss and hug him. “We’re back, Sam,” Stevie said. “And now you can be my mom and Uncle Lukas can be my dad. Say you will, okay?”

“I have to ask her to marry me first,” Lukas whispered to Stevie.

Lukas’s gaze fixed on her, and she saw everything in his eyes. Love. And a little bit of mischief. Sam backed up a bit. I mean, there were a ton of people out there. She was never one to envision a marriage proposal that was shared by three thousand people. But Lukas grabbed her waist, halting her escape. And dropped down on one knee, handing the mic to Stevie so only Sam would hear.

“You don’t have to—” she said.

“Yeah, I do.” He held fast to her hand.

“Lukas, before you go any further, I have to tell you something. I was always afraid of having a risky life. But I’m willing to do what it takes to be together. If that means going out on the road, I’ll do it.” She paused. “Thank you for saving our theater. But I don’t want the extra money. All I ever wanted was you.”

Lukas looked into her eyes. “I was afraid I couldn’t love you or anybody. But you taught me about love, Sam, and Stevie taught me that maybe just loving someone with all your heart is enough. I want to give us a chance, Sam, and I’ll do anything for it. I’ll cut down on the touring. I’ll build a recording studio in the house. I’ll write songs for other artists. Whatever I do, I’ll do better this time if you give me a chance. I want to build a life here with you and Stevie. I want to put him in school here, have a real home base, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. I’ve loved you from the moment I caught your eye walking down that street by Clinker’s, and I was a stupid fool to ever let you get away. Will you marry me?”

She was crying now. “I love you, too, Lukas. I always have. I was thinking Stevie and I could come with you sometimes—in summers, on vacations. We can work it out.”

“Yeah,” he said, pressing his forehead against hers, “we can work it out.” And there, on the old stage, in front of over three thousand people, with Ed Sheeran crooning a love song behind them, and the crowd going wild, Lukas kissed her.

Lukas lifted Stevie up in his arms and all three of them hugged.

Then Stevie ran off stage, and Lukas kissed her until she really did see stars.

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