Page 176 of Happily Never After

He released a ratchet strap that was securing a tarp to a large, rectangular bundle. “You’ll see.”

He undid another strap, then whisked the tarp off like a magician.

An intricate, hand-carved desk sat in the back of the truck. She set Winston on the deck and danced down the steps to the truck.

“You got me a new desk?” She gripped his arm.

“Well, we banged the other one to splinters.”

“Do you think this one can hold our weight?” She ran one hand over the smooth oak surface.

“Only one way to find out.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

To Do:

- Triple check EVERYTHING

- Pick up mom

- Remind Mindy to get flowers for the families

Claire rolledover in bed the morning of Luke’s premiere. Today marked two straight weeks of not sleepwalking. Heather was fully trained and would head back to Los Angeles to spearhead Darius and Nick’s proposal after Luke’s event. They had two West Haven proposals on the books—one board game themed and one sunset river boat proposal. They were both going to be stunning. Her blog post on Brad’s proposal was so popular that her site had crashed four different times. The proposal supercut Luke had put up on YouTube had received over eight million views and was climbing by the day. Ad revenue was rolling in. Things were going suspiciously well.

Luke slept soundly next to her, spooning Winston. She poked him in the cheek until he woke up.

“Hey. It’s premiere day. Are you excited?” She rested her chin on his shoulder.

He moaned and tugged the blanket back over himself. “I told you I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

“Yes, and respectfully, I don’t care.” Claire patted the top of his head and flung the covers off. “There’s so much to do! I have to check in with the food trucks and head over to monitor the decorating. I really should stop at the warehouse too and see how construction is going. I can’t keep shoving speakers and tablecloths in our garage forever.”

Luke grunted and put a pillow over his face. Winston huffed and ducked his snoot under the covers.

“You don’t mind if we go separately?” Claire asked, digging through her jewelry box and laying a few choices in her travel kit.

“It’s better if we go separately. I don’t want to be there eight hours early.” His voice was muffled beneath the pillow.

She rolled her eyes and zipped up her case. “Fine. Your tux is on the rack in the bathroom. I would go wingtip collar and bow tie, but I left a couple options out for you. And your dad’s cufflinks are in the dish on the sink if you wanted to wear those.”

“I still think we should have gone with a mandatory sweatpants dress code.”

“That’s for after.” She swooped in and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m so proud of you. Your dad would be too.” She turned to go, but Luke grabbed her wrist and pulled her back onto the bed.

“Thank you,” he said before dragging her down for a kiss.

“You’re welcome,” she said with a stupid smile. Even though he drove her insane sixty percent of the time, he still gave her butterflies.

She ran through a quick yoga flow in the master closet before climbing into a steaming hot shower. She needed to be focused and disciplined today. Everyone was going to be there—Luke’s family, her family, some studio executives from LA, the mayor, most of the West Haven Police Department, friends. While today was primarily a celebration of Luke’s achievement, all the victims’ families were also coming. There would be no mountain lions, no bomb threats, no unexpected rickshaw trips. Everything needed to be perfect, respectful, and beautiful.

She threw on a quick base coat of makeup and towel-dried her hair. She would fix everything later, closer to premiere time. The chances of her sprinting around and sweating off all her hard work were extremely high.

Three dresses stared at her from the closet. Should she take the shimmering silver gown that was practically begging to go down a red carpet? But what about the slinky black number with the sky-high slit? And then there was the royal blue gown with the sweetheart neckline that had nearly made Luke’s eyes pop out. Shrugging, she shoved them all into a garment bag with shoe options and lugged it over one shoulder. Mindy would give her the honest truth.

Luke and the dogs were asleep again by the time she came back out. That man could sleep through a tornado full of marching band equipment.

She tiptoed through the bedroom laden with half a dozen different bags and crept into the hallway. Downstairs, she made a nutritious breakfast and left an omelet on a plate in the refrigerator for Luke. Protein was mandatory today, especially if the studio executives tried to ply him with an excess of twenty-year-old scotch again. After the last studio event, Luke had spent two days in bed.

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