Page 59 of Reuniting with Lucy

“Nothing in New Bern is that far. I’ll drive you. Let’s finish the workout.”

“Okay. Cool, man. Thanks.”

They put in a few more rep sets and left about thirty minutes later. Kenny sat in the passenger seat, giving directions.

“Don’t you have an address I could enter into my GPS?” Jack said. He hated taking play-by-play directions.

“Uh, I don’t know the address. Turn left here,” Kenny said, a hundred feet before the turn.

Jack hit the brakes and took the turn much too fast. “Little warning next time? I prefer to drive on all four wheels.”

Kenny laughed. “Sorry.”

Kenny gave directions until Jack recognized where they were—Lucy’s parents’ neighborhood.

“This one here?” Jack asked, turning into the driveway Kenny signaled to. “Thisis your grandparents’ house?”

“Yeah,” Kenny said, unbuckling his seatbelt.

It was the same house Lucy had pointed out as her dream home.

“Are you shittin’ me?” he asked. “Lucy loves this house.”

“Seriously?” Kenny said. “Has she seen it? Does she know my grandparents?”

“I have no idea whether she knows them. She saw it at an open house a few years ago. I thought you said your mom was broke?”

“She is. She’s also too proud to take anything from my grandparents. Although, they’re not exactly rich either. From what I’ve overheard, they pinched pennies for a long time in order to buy this house. Said it’s their forever home. Anyway, thanks for the ride. See ya.” He jumped out and dashed into the house with a wave.

Jack mulled over the odds of Lucy being in love with a house that he now had a connection to. It had to be a sign. But what to do with the information?

Christmas was a week away, and Jack couldn’t help but think this was the perfect time to win Lucy back. It was the season of miracles. Maybe Santa would help with one. Except that he didn’t believe in Santa, and he needed real help. Desperate, he swallowed his pride and picked up his phone.

“And why should I help you?” Kate said. He’d called her because he couldn’t risk Lizzie telling Lucy what he was up to. “You broke my sister’s heart.”

“I know,” Jack said. “I’ve seen the error of my ways and want to make amends. I want to make it up to her. I want to marry her,” he practically shouted. Kate must have felt the sincerity through the phone. “I just need some help,” he pleaded.

“In that case,” she said. “Be at my office in one hour. We’ll see how serious you are.” She hung up without waiting for an answer.

Okay, this was good. One hour. Until then, he would start his own list. What did Lucy like? What would make her happy?

Sixty minutes later, he walked into Kate’s office. It was fifty-five degrees outside, but he was sweating nonetheless. If she couldn’t help him, or wouldn’t, he didn’t know what he’d do.

Kate and her fluffy little dog were waiting in the lobby when he arrived. They led him to a conference room where Lizzie, Daisy, Sophie, Nana, and Emma sat around the table. The chair at the head of the table was empty, and Kate gave a slight nod toward it.

“Welp,” he said, sitting down and wiping his brow.

“State your case,” Lizzie said with no other greeting.

All eyes had him pinned to his seat. He cleared his throat, but just as he was about to speak, Kate passed him a folded piece of paper, which he read quickly.

Only Lizzie and I know about the baby. Keep it that way!

He slid the note into his breast pocket, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “I’m an idiot,” he said, quickly reorganizing his thoughts to avoid spilling the baby secret. “I’ve hurt Lucy twice and never want to do it again. Ten years ago, I judged her without giving her the benefit of the doubt and lost ten years with her because of it. Earlier this week, I accused her of being after my money.” It didn’t make much sense outside the context of a baby, but if Kate didn’t want him to say anything about that, he wouldn’t.

Everyone spoke at once. “Ooof.” “Ouch.” “Asshole.” “Howmuchmoney?”

He was actually grateful he didn’t have to cop to what an ass he’d been about the baby news. If they thought it was only the marriage thing, maybe he’d have a better shot at winning them over and getting their help.

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