It was fully dark by the time Luke made his way back along the beach toward the resort, the night sky lit by a fat full moon hanging low on the horizon. The sand glowed with a pale luminescence and the waves crashed softly. The effect was all achingly beautiful, a night tailor-made for romantic moments. Too bad his most intimate moment this evening was spent with a seagull.
A bonfire was blazing along the shore. Luke recognized Julia’s friend Andie and waved, but she didn’t notice—too wrapped up in her own intimate moment with Curt. He shook his head, smiling to himself as he recalled the antagonism between those two at the start of the week. Who could have seen that coming? His sister, probably. Which was another surprise entirely, and one he should have seen a long time ago.
A lot had happened this week that he couldn’t have predicted. Luke sighed and started up the steps to the hotel. A few couples still lingered on the terrace, talking in low murmurs, flickering candlelight casting their faces in light and shadow. He didn’t see Pen and Jay among them. He headed upstairs, bracing himself as he knocked on the door to his sister’s suite.
It took a moment for her to answer, and every second he stood there in the hall he debated hightailing it out of there and escaping to his own room. But before he could convince his feet to move, the dead bolt clicked and Penelope opened the door.
“Luke.” Her face was guarded, eyes wary.
He hated that his sister felt like she had to hide things from him, hated that he’d been the one to make her feel that way. “I owe you an apology.”
“You do.” She opened the door further, inviting him in. “And you owe Jay one, too.”
Luke drew up short, struggling with his initial shock at seeing Jay in his sister’s room. “You’re right.” He swallowed. “I owe you both an apology for my reaction earlier.”
Penelope gestured for him to take a seat and moved to join Jay on the sofa in the suite’s sitting area. Luke settled into the chair across from them, acutely aware of how the position made him feel like he was facing off against them. They were supposed to be a team. Three peas together in a pod.
Maybe his rage earlier had been more than the reaction of a protective older brother, more than a bubbling-over of his frustrations with Julia. Maybe he was scared of losing them, that if Pen and Jay were together, things would change. Peas were meant to come two in a pod, after all.
Luke realized he wasn’t worried just about Pen getting hurt. He also was afraid of how this change in her relationship with Jay would change her relationship with him. He wouldn’t be as important to her anymore, wouldn’t be the one she went to for help. But even if all that were true, he couldn’t let his fear get in the way of his sister’s happiness. He wouldn’t. “I was taken by surprise,” he admitted. “And I reacted poorly.”
“Jay and I owe you an apology, too. We shouldn’t have hidden…” Penelope paused, reaching out to clasp hands with Jay. “Us from you.” She took a breath. “But based on your reaction, can you understand why we were hesitant to let you know?”
“Pen, I—”
She cut him off. “It might be hard for you to accept, Luke. But I’m more than your little sister. More than that sick little girl in the hospital.”
“I’m well aware of that.” He scowled.
“Are you?” She stared at him, gray eyes steely with challenge. “Sometimes I’m not so sure. I haven’t been that sick little girl in more than a dozen years. I’ve graduated college, helped you build this project, and now I’m even running it, and I think I’m doing a pretty good job—”
“You’re doing a great job,” he rushed to assure her.
“Let me finish.”
Luke flushed, but he shut his mouth and waited for his sister to continue.
“What I’m trying to say is, I’m doing okay by myself. More than okay. That big secret I’ve been working on with Mrs. W…” She bit her lip. “It wasn’t the talent show.”
“Oh?” Luke felt like he was standing in an open field, waiting for the next chunk of sky to fall on him.
“We’ve been discussing the possibility of expanding the experience. Developing new events, like a holiday-themed one for the winter season.”
He held himself in check. “Any particular reason I was excluded from this discussion?”
“Well…” His sister straightened her shoulders, as if gathering courage for what she was going to say next. “Mrs. W. wants to hire me full-time. Beyond this contract. She asked if I would be willing to spearhead the program and run themed experiences at the resort year-round.” Penelope glanced at Jay. “Jay plans to stay here, too. Mrs. W. asked him to be her head of marketing.”
Luke turned his attention to his best friend. “Is that so?”
Vijay cleared his throat. Maybe it was Luke’s snarky response, but something nudged his friend into action. Jay leaned forward, speaking for the first time since Luke had entered the room. “Not just for the immersive experiences, but for the entire resort.”
“How nice for you.” Luke couldn’t keep the acid from his tone this time. How had all this been happening right under his nose? Disappointment and betrayal simmered in his gut, but he quelled the urge to snap, keeping the angry words trapped behind his clenched teeth. “Is there a reason you felt you needed to go behind my back?”
“It’s not like that,” Penelope objected. “Working on this game has been a dream come true for me, but I know it was supposed to be a onetime thing for you—your dream is to launch your own start-up.” She shrugged. “I didn’t want the possibility of developing new projects here to make you feel like you had to stay and help, out of a sense of responsibility or obligation.” Her voice dropped. “That’s kept you from going after what you want long enough.”
“I don’t regret it, Pen, and I don’t resent you for any of it.”
“I know,” she said gently. “I told you, you’re not Dad. I’m not Mom.”
“You will always be my little sister,” Luke said, heart aching.
“But I’m more than that, too.”
“Damn straight she is,” Jay stood. “She’s an amazing woman, and I hope she will be my wife.” He stared at Luke, chin jutting out with stubborn purpose. “I want to marry your sister.”
“You do?” Luke asked, bewildered.
“You do?” Pen echoed, equally bewildered.
“I do.” Jay spun around to face Penelope. “We’ve known each other a long time. You were my best friend’s sister, and for years I thought of you as a little sister, too. But then something changed. I’ve always loved you, but that love shifted, grew, became something else. I started noticing all these little things I’d never really paid attention to before, each one making me love you a little more. The way you make that soft little sigh at your favorite part in a movie or song. The way you dissect your sandwiches and eat them in layers. The way you love watermelon but hate anything watermelon-flavored.”
Luke swallowed an affectionate chuckle, torn between wanting to witness this tender moment between two of the people he loved most in the world and wanting to fade into the wall so they could share this moment alone. He settled for being as quiet and still as possible.
“There’s a line in one of those rom-coms that you love so much: ‘When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.’” Jay dropped to one knee, reaching for Penelope’s hand. “Pen, I’ve known for a long time. For me, it’s always been you. But I waited. I waited because I didn’t want to be selfish. I wanted to give you space to live your life, a chance to meet other people—time to figure out what you wanted.”
“I know exactly what I want.” Penelope slipped off the couch to kneel across from Jay. “So stop waiting and trying to give me what you think I need and just marry me already.”
“Yeah?” Jay asked.
“Yeah,” Pen said.
And then his sister and best friend were kissing and Luke wished he could perform a disappearing act for real. He glanced down, realizing he was still wearing the ridiculous cape. Maybe he could toss it over his head and they’d forget he was in the room. Wait—that might not be the best idea. Luke cleared his throat awkwardly.
Penelope laughed and let Jay help her to her feet. Together, they turned to face Luke.
“Congratulations,” he said, truly meaning it. “I’m sorry I acted like such a jackass. To be honest, if you asked me, I couldn’t imagine anyone ever being good enough for Penelope.”
His sister made a noise of protest and Luke hurried to add, “Jay, you’ll never do better than Penelope.” He turned to his sister and grinned. “But Pen, you could do a lot worse than Jay.”
“Thanks, man,” Jay said drily. “I’m going to head to the bar and grab us some champagne to celebrate.” He gave Pen a quick kiss before shooting a warning glance at both of them. “Don’t kill each other while I’m gone.”
Luke chuckled, the moment of familiarity easing some of the remaining tension in him.
Penelope laughed too, then paused. “I just realized something,” she said. “I’ve become a romantic-comedy trope.” She beamed, love shining in her gray eyes as she watched Jay leave the room. “I’m the girl who falls for her brother’s best friend.”
“Guess I should have seen that coming, huh?” Luke teased, a shade tartly. The sting from all they’d hidden from him had dulled considerably, but the wound was still there. He’d get over it though. His sister was happy, and that’s all that mattered.
“Now then,” Penelope said, grin turning sly. “It’s your turn.”
“My turn for what?” he asked, knowing that when his sister got that look on her face, he was in trouble.
“I got my happily ever after, so it’s only fair I do what I can to make sure my big brother gets his happy ending too.” She settled back on the couch. “We need to discuss your plan.”
“My plan?” Luke raised his eyebrows.
“For how to fix things with Julia, of course.” Penelope rubbed her hands together.
“I was hoping you could help me with that,” Luke admitted, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I really screwed things up.”
“Every romance has to go through a dark moment,” Penelope assured him. “The important thing is you have to be willing to put in the work to reach the light on the other side.”
Luke grimaced. “You make it sound like I’m dying.”
“You kind of are,” Penelope mused. “The old you, the person you were before you met Julia.”
“Jay’s proposal must have affected your brain,” Luke teased.
His sister ignored that comment. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I mean, what should I do?” He leaned forward. “I was thinking now’s the time to go big. I think I need a grand gesture.”
“I’m not so sure.” Penelope cocked her head, thoughtful. “I think what’s needed here is a sincere grovel.”
“Come on, Pen,” Luke said. “I’ve only got one shot at making things right with Julia before she leaves. I’ve watched enough rom-coms with you to know the best way to win her back is to apologize with a grand gesture.”
Penelope looked like she was going to argue, but then she shrugged. “It’s your call.” She sighed and crossed her arms. “Tell me your plan.”