Page 65 of Love At The Shore
“1:18,” Nick said.
“1:18.” Jenna glanced at Lucas. “Remember?”
“Of course I remember.”
Nick turned hopeful eyes on Lucas. “So you’ll be there?”
He nodded. “I am going to try my hardest.”
Nick’s gaze shimmered with admiration. “‘Cause I always do better when…”
When I’m there.
Lucas didn’t let him finish. “You know what? I’ll be there. I promise.”
The look of relief on Nick’s face hit Lucas square in the chest.
He cleared his throat. “And on that note, thank you so much for dinner. The salad was delicious. I had a really nice time.”
“Me, too. Thank you,” Jenna said, and Lucas realized he’d been waiting the whole summer for her to smile at him the way she was right then.
How had he not known he’d been waiting for that all along?
His breath hitched. “Good night.”
“Good night,” she said, and her glowing smile stayed with him while he walked back to his side of the house.
He carried it in his heart as he sat down to go over the details of his presentation one last time. Tank nestled next to him on the patio sofa and even though Lucas’s laptop was open on the table, glowing in the dark beside a stack of charts and budget projections, his thoughts kept straying back to it. Time and again.
He picked up the tie and turned it over in his hands. Beside him, Tank let out a soft woof.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Lucas bent and kissed the top of the pup’s head. “But no, this does not mean we’re going to Disneyland.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jenna darted around the kitchenin her favorite pajamas the next morning, slicing fruit and scrambling eggs. No pancakes today, she’d decided. No chocolate chips. This was a special day for Nick—a day that called for protein, vitamins and minerals.
She couldn’t help smiling to herself as she pushed the eggs around the frying pan with a pretty turquoise spatula. Despite her mild case of nerves about Nick’s swim test, she was practically giddy. Last night had been so cozy, so…unexpected. Something had definitely shifted between her and Lucas. Something important.
After Lucas had gone home, Ally and Nick kept stealing glances at her, grinning from ear to ear.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she’d finally told them, but she couldn’t even get the words out without a bubble of joy rising up within her.
She wasn’t imagining things. Even the kids had noticed the feelings swirling around the beach house between her and Lucas. Jenna wasn’t quite sure what they meant yet, but they were real.
“All right, come eat!” she called, scooping a generous dollop of eggs onto Nick’s plate.
He bounded up the stairs, already dressed in his favorite swimsuit with the shark print and a striped shirt that looked an awful lot like something Lucas had worn recently.
“I want you to get all the major food groups in before your test.” She added an extra spoonful of eggs to Nick’s serving as he pulled out a chair.
“You need to stop worrying, Mom. I’m ready.” He plopped down and picked up a fork.
“I know you are.” Jenna stirred the bowl of cantaloupe and strawberries she’d prepared and slid it toward him. “I just want you to feel good. Full of energy.”
He studied her as he chewed a bite of eggs. “You look happy.”
The goofy grin she’d been wearing since last night hadn’t gone anywhere apparently. “I’m always happy, bud.”
