Page 71 of Love At The Shore
Lucas had never wanted to be that kind of father, which was precisely why he’d never married, never had kids. And yet history was repeating itself all the same.
The screen door slammed, pulling Lucas back to the present as Jenna joined him on the deck.
She walked toward him, arms crossed. She was wearing another one of those cardigans he loved so much. This one was blue, the exact color of Tybee’s north shore at low tide.
“I’m glad your meeting went well,” she said.
He smiled. “Thank you.”
“But you can’t do that.”
His smile dimmed somewhat. “Yes. You’re right. Absolutely. I should have gotten a dog sitter. I didn’t know how long it was going to take.”
It was a cowardly apology. He was avoiding the real issue, and they both knew it.
“This isn’t about Tank.” Jenna’s voice broke, splitting Tank’s name into two syllables. Lucas hadn’t thought he could feel worse about Nick not making the team, but he’d been wrong. “You can’t make promises to kids that you can’t keep.”
Lucas took a ragged exhale and weighed his next words very carefully. “I thought Nick had it.”
It was the truth…
And it still wasn’t good enough.
Jenna shook her head. “But he didn’t.”
“And that’s my fault?” No, it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. Lucas refused to believe it because if he did, it was tantamount to admitting he’d become the one thing he’d never wanted to be. He’d become his father.
Jenna stared at him, incredulous. “It threw him.”
Lucas let out a long sigh. “See, this is why I stay unattached.”
“Responsibility?” She arched a brow, and he had the distinct impression she was considering adding another foot or two to the fence that still stretched from one end of the patio to the other.
“Hey, it keeps things simple.”
Or it had, until he’d fallen for Jenna. Because he hadn’t just fallen for her—he’d fallen for all three of them. Jenna, Nick and Ally. They were the three sweetest complications he could have ever imagined.
“So you just want to live the bachelor lifestyle forever? Never get close to anyone?” Her eyes were soft as a doe’s. It made it hard for Lucas to look at her.
I can still fix this.
Ihaveto fix this.
But he couldn’t, because no matter how much he wanted to, Jenna wouldn’t let him. She’d made up her mind. One mistake, and he was back on the opposite side of her fence.
“You’re one to talk.” He glanced at the fence and then back at her. “You literally built a barrier in your backyard because you’re too afraid to let people in. Well, you cannot write people off like that.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “This isnotabout me.”
Lucas countered as gently as he could, “It kind of is.”
He should know. It had taken him nearly all summer to scale that fence.
“It’s about Nick,” she said sharply. “He needed your support.”
Lucas was treading on dangerous territory. He knew how much Jenna loved her kids. But he also knew how much trouble she had letting go. She’d admitted as much during their dinner at Sam’s. She wished she could stop“trying to control things from all sides.” Those had been her exact words.
Lucas took a tentative stop closer. His hands itched to hold her, but he didn’t dare. “He’s not a little boy anymore. He’s eleven years old. He can’t rely on other people to push him. He needs to learn how to push himself.”
