Page 64 of Love At The Shore
Who chose this furniture, anyway? Oh, right. He did. This washishouse, both halves of it. And he still hadn’t managed to bring himself to tell Jenna.
He cleared his throat. The details of the beach house rental were probably something he should get out in the open. But before he could say anything, Jenna nodded toward the kids, and Nick pulled a small square gift box out from behind one of the sofa cushions. He passed it to Ally, who in turn handed it to Jenna.
“Here.” Jenna held the box toward him. “The kids got you a little something.”
“What? You guys are crazy.” He took the gift and ran the pad of his thumb along its carefully tied white bow.
There was no telling what was inside. Another craft project? A multi-colored dessert?
“Open it.” Ally grinned at him.
Lucas untied the bow and braced himself for something covered in glitter, shells or chocolate. Maybe even all three. But when he lifted the lid of the box and peeled back a few layers of yellow tissue paper, he didn’t see any of the trademark features of a homemade gift. He saw smooth burgundy fabric, dotted with tiny white polka dots. His heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vise as he lifted a fine silk necktie from the tissue paper.
This wasn’t just a gift from the kids. It was from Jenna, too.
“I don’t know what to say,” he said quietly. She’d cooked him dinner and invited him to spend the evening with her family. And now this…
Could it be true? After all these weeks of hiding behind her fence, had Jenna Turner finally decided to let him in?
“It’s for good luck,” Ally said.
Nick shrugged. “Well, you could say thank you.”
Lucas laughed and unfolded the tie, trying to imagine himself wearing it.
“Now you have a tie for your meeting.” Jenna tilted her head.
“You didn’t have to.” Lucas’s throat grew thick, and he had a sudden memory of a Father’s Day long ago and giving his dad a similar silk tie. “But thank you. Thank you very much.”
Ally scrambled off the sofa, walked over to him and threw her arms around his neck. Lucas wasn’t prepared for the sudden display of affection and sat still as stone for a moment before hugging her back.
It was too much all of a sudden—the dinner, the gift, the urge to be more to this little family than just the messy surfer next door.
He wanted to make them proud. He wanted to live up to the vision these kids seemed to have of him as someone who they should look up to…someone whomattered.
Lucas had no business wanting those things. He couldn’t be a father figure. He didn’t even know how.
You’ve built the life you want, remember? Simple, free, easy.
He swallowed hard. Why dideasysuddenly seem synonymous withempty?
Lucas extricated himself from Ally’s embrace and stood, shifting from one foot to the other. “Okay, you know what? I should probably get going.”
Nick sighed. “He’s not a big hugger.”
They weren’t going down that road. Not here. Not now.
Besides, he really did need to get back to his side of the duplex. Tomorrow was important, and he was suddenly questioning all of his priorities, which wasn’t the best way to impress an investor.
“I just want to get up early and get a surf in before my meeting. You know, de-stress,” he said.
Jenna rose from the sofa to stand beside him. “You’re going to do great.” She smiled in Nick’s direction. “Well, it’s a big day for everyone tomorrow. Nick has his swim trial.”
Was that tomorrow? Lucas hadn’t realized it was scheduled for the same day as his big meeting.
He should be there for Nick. Hewantedto be there. But his meeting was off the island, and he wasn’t sure what time he’d return.
“What’s the lucky number you need to make swim team at school?” Jenna cast a quick look at Nick, but Lucas was pretty sure she knew exactly what time he had to beat. They all knew.
