Page 96 of Loyally, Luke
But at the current moment, his life looked a little too much like a movie to discard caution, even the ridiculous kind.
“You’re all over the news, mate.” Pete sat up from his reclined position on the couch, where he’d been looking at his phone. “Thisone photo from the luncheon does make it look like the two of you are close.”
Luke moved from the finished banquette to peer at the photo on Pete’s phone. Someone, likely Monster Maxim, had taken a picture of the moment when Ellie placed her hand on his arm and leaned close. From their position, one could almost guess she was leaning in for a kiss.
Luke rolled his eyes and took a giant bite of his sandwich to keep his words from offending his own ears. No wonder Ellie wanted to seclude herself back in Crieff. Dealing with this all the time would drive anyone batty.
He took another large bite of sandwich.
Another item to add to his list of reasons for avoiding social media.
“What are you going to do?” Pete looked up from his phone.
“What is there to do? Isn’t it some sort of usual royal protocol to keep a stiff upper lip and go on? Keep quiet?” He raised the rest of his sandwich as if toasting a glass. “That I can do.”
“And what if...” Pete’s smile took a mischievous turn. “What if she wants you to be her prince?”
Every bone in Luke’s body revolted against the idea of him and the wordprincein the same sentence. “She’s not going to ask.”
At Pete’s skeptical expression, Luke sighed and rested his hip against the back of the couch. “Ever watch theMission: Impossiblemovies? OrIndiana Jones?”
Pete only blinked.
“Rambo?”
Nothing.
Pain pinched in Luke’s chest at what Pete had been missing in his life. “Well, they’re not romance movies. They’re adventure movies. And in those, the guy doesn’t usually get to keep the girl. Or maybe the girl doesn’t get to keep the guy. It’s not that they stop caring about each other, but life happens and hard choices have to be made.” Lukeshrugged. “Well, in Indie’s case, he’s just really bad at choosing the right woman, but anyway, the point is, just because two people care about each other—and I’m not saying Ellie cares about me in the way you’re implying—doesn’t mean they get to choose to be together.”
“And you’re going to be okay with that?”
“Life’s full of hard choices, Pete.” Luke looked down at his half-eaten sandwich, his appetite gone. “Sometimes, between two good choices, you have to pray, consider, and hope you choose the best one for all the right reasons.”
“And if you don’t?”
“You make the best of your choice and do the next right thing.” The weight of the declaration pressed him to sit on the back of the couch. “I’m not going to say it doesn’t feel awful. I feel like someone’s repeatedly punched me in the stomach, but I’m also not so shortsighted or hopeless to think that God can’t turn choices—the best or not—into something good and right.”
“Even if you missed your soul mate?” Pete looked utterly horrified.
Luke gave his beard a scratch as he pondered how to answer. Not the most popular opinion either. “My granny once said that love is much stronger than any feeling. It’s achoiceyou make over and over again. Choosing her and what’s best for her every day.” He shrugged, sifting through his own words for consolation and strength. “It’s real nice to think of all the magic of finding that one person in the whole universe who will makeyouhappy, but I feel that’s going about it inside out.”
“Really?”
“Focusing on what I can get out of it? Doesn’t sound like real love to me. Does it to you? If I’m spending so much time stewing over my own happiness, I’m bound to cook up a whole lot of discontent, self-focus, hurt feelings, and pride—and to be honest, I don’t know if any of us need to spend too much time inside our own heads.” Luke shuddered. “Scary place in there.”
Pete’s grin quirked.
“But real love isn’t so much looking out for myself as it is the other person’s best. Helping them shine.”
“Like what you want for the princess?”
Love? Yes. He did love her. Luke looked away. But there was no way he was going to say it out loud. Especially to Pete, the chatterbox.
Luke’s phone buzzed in his pocket, so he pulled it up to view.
An email? From HRHStClare?
HRH?
