The July sun was bright overhead, shining down on the Notting Hill terrace. As the warmth seeped into his shoulders and back, Luke stirred, realizing it was already past noon. He logged off his laptop and twisted in his chair, stretching his spine. Over the past month or so, he’d established a new routine. Work on the plans for his start-up in the mornings, followed by a walk down to the lake. Then he’d have lunch with Pen and Jay and spend the afternoon helping solve any problems they might be having, either with the resort website or with the simulation software. In the evenings, he’d usually take another walk along the beach, mentally reviewing his notes from the day.
By all appearances, it was a pleasant, organized, simple life. But Luke recognized it for what it was—a holding pattern. Come fall, Penelope and Jay would be rolling out their new experiences at the resort and they wouldn’t need his help anymore. Truth be told, they really didn’t need him now. Pen and Jay made a great team.
At first, the realization had only amplified his sense of being kicked out of the pea pod, a useless third wheel. It took a bit of time and self-reflection for Luke to move past his initial distress regarding the shift in the dynamic between his sister and his best friend. He eventually got over himself, but that didn’t make being around their lovey-doveyness all day any easier.
While planning romantic-comedy experiences for others, his sister and best friend had gotten their own happy ending. He wasn’t jealous, exactly, but it was hard not to feel the sting, like a bit of salt rubbed in an open wound. The hole in his heart. Seeing them together amplified his own sense of loneliness, and it made Luke acutely aware of what he was missing.
After rejecting his grand romantic gesture, Julia’s glowing review of Notting Hill had surprised Luke. Ironically, the resort likely would have succeeded regardless of what her review said. Even before the TrendList feature went live, bookings had begun pouring in—many from LARPing aficionados who’d heard about the resort via word of mouth, thanks to Patrick and David.
To date, Pen and Jay had run two more sessions of the rom-com sim, each time expanding the player capacity a little more. Business at the resort was booming, and Mrs. W. was over the moon. But it wasn’t the impressive registration numbers that had his boss swanning about the hotel for weeks in a colorful, silken cloud of gloating satisfaction. And it definitely wasn’t the revenue. As she’d told Luke, the woman really didn’t give a fig about money.
He shook his head, recalling the morning she’d called him into her office to celebrate. It was a week after the first session had wrapped, and Julia’s “Take Me!” review of the resort had just posted on the TrendList website.
His boss had handed him a mimosa, plopped a corgi in his lap, and told him congratulations, he’d earned his bonus. When she rattled off the amount she was transferring to his account, Luke was stunned, unable to do little more than suck down cocktails as fast as she poured them. By the time the shock had worn off his brain, Luke realized that while his boss had kept refilling his glass, she’d stopped bothering to mix the drink, and his “mimosa” was now nine-tenths champagne with a splash of orange juice for color.
“Do you know what convinced me this experience was successful?” Mrs. W. asked.
Luke set his glass down and tried to collect his thoughts. “You found someone who believed the fantasy was real?”
“Exactly.” Cheeks flushed pink with drink, she beamed. “And that someone was you.”
“Me?” Luke asked, wondering if he’d misunderstood. His mind was slow, his brain soggy and saturated with champagne. “What makes you think so?”
“Oh, this and that.” Her gaze turned mischievous. “I wondered, when you told me you’d decided to participate in the simulation, what was really going on.”
“I was just trying to do my job,” he assured her.
“I’m certain that’s what you told yourself. And maybe you even believed it for a bit.” Mrs. W leaned back, supremely confident in her assessment. “But soon enough, you realized you were falling in love.”
Luke sputtered.
“Against all odds,” she continued, ignoring his attempts to deny what she was saying. “Over the course of the week, you met someone and fell for her, despite everything.” She gazed at him over the rim of her glass, expression sly. “And trust me, I tried to add a few obstacles myself.”
What is that supposed to mean? Ideas sloshed together and his eyes widened. “That night at the talent show. You mentioned my job at the resort on purpose.”
“Did I?” Mrs. W. asked, her tone indicating a confession, not a question.
Luke studied his boss. Sitting in her overstuffed office chair, one hand idly stroking the corgi curled in her lap, champagne in the other hand, Mrs. W. looked like she was auditioning to be a Bond villain. “Why would you do that?”
“I thought it best to get everything out in the open.” She clicked her tongue. “Can’t build a relationship on a false foundation.”
“Who said anyone was trying to build a relationship?” he demanded.
The look Mrs. W. gave him told Luke she saw right through his bullshit. But just in case he didn’t interpret the message correctly, she opened the laptop on her desk and turned the screen toward him.
Luke glanced down, swallowing hard when he saw the video of himself holding the speaker over his head. There was no denying the lovesick look on his face. That was a man who wanted a relationship. His heart contracted. “This might not be the best example to prove your point.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Romantic comedies are supposed to have a happy ending, right?” He nodded at the screen, throat tight. “Well, this one didn’t.”
“My dear boy…” Mrs. W. smiled tenderly. “What makes you think this story is over?”
And just like that, his boss transformed from Bond villain to fairy godmother. Sometime later, Luke had left her office covered in corgi fur, a little tipsy, and very bemused.
He’d fulfilled his contract and earned the bonus. Finally, he had the time and money he needed to devote to his start-up. His sister was safe, secure, and supposedly happy. And yet here he was, a month later, still hesitating.
Reflecting on that afternoon when Mrs. W. had handed him his future on a silver platter, Luke wondered if he wasn’t the problem, the obstacle that had been in his path all along. Not the lack of money, not the concern he had for his sister, but himself.
He tapped his pen against his notebook. If he was serious about launching his company, eventually he was going to have to stop planning and start doing. He needed to take the next steps, do things like register domain names, secure an office space, and hire a team. It was daunting, to have what had only been a dream for so long finally on the verge of becoming a reality.
That was the irony of dreams: they appeared more attainable when they were out of reach.
The high-pitched yapping of an excited canine barreled through his thoughts and he glanced up. Penelope was making her way across the terrace toward him, her fluffy, faithful new companion in tow. Luke shook his head. By some miracle, his sister had managed to control herself and had adopted only one fur ball from the legion of corgis she’d brought to the resort.
And even though Cuddle with Corgis had continued to be a part of the rom-com experience, Pen had resisted the temptation to add any more companions to her personal entourage. Luke’s teasing that she was going to turn into Mrs. W. probably helped. While Penelope had limited herself to one dog, their boss had adopted at least another three—possibly four. At this point, Luke had lost count. He just got out of the way when he heard them coming.
“Have you taken your walk on the beach yet?” Pen asked.
“Am I that predictable?” Luke asked, squinting up at her.
“Do you really want me to answer that?” she shot back.
“No.” They both knew he already knew the answer. “And not yet,” he added. “I was just about to, though.”
“Do you mind if Crumpet and I join you?”
“I don’t know,” Luke said slowly, a teasing grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I’m not sure if I can handle such a shocking deviation from my routine.”
His sister laughed. “Challenge yourself.”
“If you insist.” With a beleaguered sigh he slipped his laptop into his bag and followed his sister down to the beach.
A few minutes later, Pen had talked “Uncle Lukey” into holding Crumpet’s leash. Luke would never admit it, but he loved it when his sister referred to him as her dog’s uncle; the fox face and fluffy heart-shaped rump had grown on him. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
His sister glanced at him from beneath her lashes. “Am I that predictable?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
“Fine,” she snorted. “You got me.”
Crumpet scampered eagerly toward a large chunk of driftwood that had washed ashore overnight, and Luke paused to let the dog investigate. “What’s up?”
“Jay and I finalized plans for the holiday sim.” Pen brushed some sand from the top of the wood and sat down. “We’re going to turn the pond into an ice rink and use the paintball field for snowball fights. And there will be hot cocoa and candy cane cocktails and gingerbread house–making contests…” She grinned. “It’s going to be great. I’m talking epic, greeting card–level perfection here.”
You were perfect. Julia’s words echoed in Luke’s mind.
“Wow.” He sank down next to his sister. Perfectly imperfect. “Hard to picture all this winter stuff in the middle of summer.”
“Christmas in July, right?” Penelope laughed. “But Jay wanted everything ready for the website so we can start booking the holiday season now. And then there’s the New Year’s Eve party to plan.”
Luke wrapped the dog leash around a broken limb sticking out of the log. He thought about the months ahead, picturing the days turning colder, the nights longer. All of it happening without Julia.
“What do you think?”
“Huh?” Luke blinked.
“For New Year’s Eve. We’re thinking of making that its own separate mini-experience. A weekend event.”
“Oh. Sounds fun.” He frowned. He didn’t want to face those long, cold nights alone … didn’t want to ring in a new year without her.
His sister studied him carefully but didn’t say anything.
That first week after Julia left, Penelope had tried to get him to tell her what happened, but Luke had shut his sister out. It had been too painful to think about, let alone talk about. By the time he’d finally felt ready to open up, she’d stopped asking him about it.
Crumpet sniffed between their feet and sneezed.
“What happened, boy?” Luke glanced down. “Did you snort some sand?” As glum as he felt, he couldn’t help smiling at the goofy dog’s antics, his heavy heart lifting a fraction.
Penelope laughed and pulled a baggie of dog treats from her pocket. She held one out to Crumpet, scratching him behind the ears while he made short work of his snack. “I’m assuming by that point you’ll have launched your start-up.” Penelope said casually, attention still on her pet.
“That’s the plan.” Luke swallowed. A plan that wasn’t moving forward, because he was stuck in neutral.
“Have you given any thought to where you want to open your office?” she asked, the casual tone a bit more forced this time.
Luke shrugged. “Probably somewhere in town.”
“Here?” Penelope looked at him, face aghast. “In this dinky vacation town? Why would you do that?” She shook her head. “You need to go to Milwaukee…” Her gaze turned sly. “Or Chicago.”
He snorted. “I can’t go to Chicago.”
“You sound like Crumpet,” Pen teased. “Did you get sand in your snout too?” She reached up and mussed his hair. “Of course you can go to Chicago. I know Mrs. W.’s bonus was big enough to let you open your company on the moon if you wanted to. Or California. Isn’t that where all the cool tech kids go to launch their start-ups?”
“I’m not moving to California.” The idea of being that far away, on the other side of the country … He might as well be on the moon. Thinking about it made Luke’s stomach heave.
Penelope’s eyes narrowed shrewdly. “I had hoped we were finally past the overprotective big brother routine.”
“We are,” Luke spluttered. “I am.”
“Chicago, then.” She raised her brows in challenge. “Unless you have another reason for not wanting to live there.”
“More like someone who doesn’t want me living there,” Luke mumbled.
“What’s that?” Pen tilted her head, cocking her ear toward him.
“She doesn’t want me there,” Luke growled.
“Who? Julia?”
Hearing her name out loud like that, for the first time in weeks, stole Luke’s breath. He nodded curtly, belatedly realizing his sister had craftily maneuvered him into having the conversation he’d been avoiding.
“That’s ridiculous,” Penelope scoffed. “Have you tried calling her?”
He shook his head.
“Not even once?”
Another shake.
“Then how do you know?” she demanded, exasperated. “What happened between you two?”
“You were right.” Luke forced the words past the lump of regret lodged in his throat.
“I was?” Penelope blinked in confusion. “Well, of course I was.” Her face pinched. “What was I right about this time?”
“The way I handled things before she left.”
“Ah,” Penelope said, understanding and sympathy filling that one sound to overflowing.
“I don’t know what I was thinking. Trying to impress her with some big, showy, grand gesture.”
“It was easier,” Penelope said simply.
“Excuse me.” Luke glared at his sister. “But getting up in front of a crowd of people and declaring my love was hardly easy.”
“Oh, so you declared your love?”
“No.” Luke scowled. “She wouldn’t let me get that far.” He kicked at a pile of sand, startling Crumpet. “She told me she didn’t want to hear what I had to say.”
“Why would she?” Penelope scoffed. “You weren’t being real with her. I told you to be sincere.” She ran her hand down her dog’s back in slow, soothing strokes. “But you had to play the game. Hide in the fantasy.” Pen shook her head. “It’s easier to take risks that way. You think, by letting the fake version of yourself make mistakes, you won’t have to suffer the consequences of your choices.” His sister glanced up, gray eyes reflecting more than the same color back at him. She understood. She knew.
“Pen?” Luke asked gently.
She turned away, gaze shifting to stare out at the lake. “When I was sick, it felt like my entire life was narrowed down to that one thing. Everyone I knew, everyone I cared about, was preoccupied with managing my health. It didn’t matter what I did or said, it wasn’t me people saw—it was my illness.” Her shoulders stiffened. “The cancer may not have taken my life, but it had taken over my life, and I hated it.”
Luke wrapped an arm around his sister, squeezing those shoulders that had carried so much, so young.
“Maybe that’s why I became obsessed with romantic comedies,” Pen continued, seeming to talk more to herself than to him. “The problems always seemed … silly. Life was silly. And simple. You could count on what happened next. Two people would stumble across each other’s path, a bunch of ridiculous stuff would happen, the situation getting more and more ridiculous until finally they realize they love each other. Bam. Kiss. Happily ever after. Roll credits.”
Luke chuckled. “Yeah, but what happens after the credits roll?”
“Who cares?” She fed Crumpet another treat, giggling as he licked her palm. “I sure didn’t. Not when I was a kid and there was always another rom-com to watch, always another happy ending I could escape into.”
She turned to look at him, face sobering. “But as I got older, I realized it was after the credits rolled that was the most important part. That’s when things get real. When I got better and we were past the cancer, Mom and Dad—” Her mouth worked. “I think they pretended for so long, while I was sick, that when things were finally normal and they could be real with each other … they didn’t know how.”
“Maybe because they were too busy being selfish assholes,” Luke said gruffly. His sister would not waste one moment of her hard-earned happiness on their parents. He wouldn’t allow it.
“You’re right.” Pen sagged against him in deflated acceptance. “I mean, it sucks, but you’re right.”
Luke sucked in a breath, thinking through his sister’s words. He clenched his jaw, considering. “Yeah, but you’re right, too.”
She tilted her chin and looked at him curiously.
He shook his head. “Julia said something that got me thinking.”
“You talked to Julia about Mom and Dad?” Penelope’s eyes widened.
He squirmed uncomfortably. “It just sort of happened.”
She grinned. “I get the feeling a lot of things ‘just sort of happened’ between you two.”
And he thought he’d been uncomfortable before. Luke grimaced.
“Oh, wipe that broody scowl off your face and tell me what she said,” Penelope urged.
He dug the toe of one shoe into the sand. “She mentioned her parents were still together but she didn’t think they loved each other.”
“Ouch.” Pen’s mouth pinched in sympathy.
“All this time, I was mad at Mom and Dad for not trying hard enough to make it work. And while I still think it’s true that they were selfish assholes who loved themselves more than anyone else and that’s why they didn’t want to try … at least they were honest enough to admit it.”
“Damn, Luke.” Penelope’s voice was hoarse as she reached for him.
He hugged his sister tightly, struggling against the sudden sting of tears. “I will always love you enough to fight for you,” he said fiercely. “Always.” He eased his hold on her and wiped his eyes. “And Vijay will, too,” he added. “If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t have been so chill about his marriage proposal.”
“That was you being chill?” Penelope laughed. “You need to let me fight my own battles,” she reminded him, rubbing at her tearstained cheeks. “Besides, it’s not me you have to worry about fighting for.”
Luke’s throat tightened; there was that lump again.
“Stop being a daft prick and tell her how you feel.”
He jerked back in surprise. “What the hell, Pen?”
“Enough with the pearl-clutching.” She rolled her eyes. “I was quoting Notting Hill, you idiot.”
“Oh.”
“Seriously, though.” She leaned into him, nudging him with her elbow. “Go to Chicago and find Julia and be honest with her. No more games.”
Luke wanted to. He’d been wanting to do exactly that since the moment Julia walked away from him. But he hadn’t. He wasn’t sure how. Problems in gaming programs were so much easier to deal with than people. With people, it’s not like he could identify the broken piece of code, fix it, and hit Refresh.
If he dug deeper, Luke knew that much of his hesitation stemmed from fear. What happened if he admitted his true feelings and she walked away again? Or worse, what if she said she felt the same and they decided to make a go at a relationship together? Once she had a chance to really get to know him, would she still love him? All of him? Or would she start to find him intolerable?
“Pen,” Luke blurted out. “Am I intolerable?”
“Only sometimes.” She flashed him a smile. “But I’m your sister. I have to love you anyway.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Luke admitted. “There’s nothing forcing Julia to put up with me, no reason she has to love me.”
“That’s what makes love so amazing.” Penelope squeezed his hand. “When someone sees you—the real you. And loves you just for you.”
Luke nodded.
“You won’t know unless you try,” she added quietly.
He nodded again.
“I need to head back. Jay’s going to be wondering where I wandered off to.” Penelope reached for Crumpet’s leash and tugged it loose. “Are you going to join us for lunch?”
“I’ll be along in a minute.” Luke stood. “Do you mind if I have a few of those dog treats?”
She cocked her head, mouth curling in amused disgust.
“They’re not for me,” he assured her.
She shrugged and handed him the bag, then waved and jogged back up the beach toward the resort, Crumpet trotting along at her side, heart-shaped rump bobbing merrily.
Tucking the treats in his pocket, Luke turned and headed in the opposite direction. Before long, he reached his destination—a now-familiar spot. He climbed up the grassy dune, careful not to move too fast. Rather than approach the nest, he paused at the top of the little hill and pulled out the treats, crouching down and setting them on the sand next to him.
It didn’t take long for his friends to realize they had a guest.
His friends. Luke chuckled at himself. And he thought Mrs. W. was eccentric.
Luke watched as the adult birds left the nest together, moving in a syncopated rhythm, keeping their young sheltered between them. The baby chicks were covered in a fuzzy silver down. As soft and tempting as they looked, he knew better than to touch an animal’s young.
Ever since the night of the talent show, he’d been coming to visit the nest every few days, checking on Bonnie and Clyde and their little clutch of eggs. He’d grown protective of the mischievous pair, and when the eggs had hatched, Luke was honored that they trusted him enough to let him near their precious babies.
He’d joked with Julia about looking up on the internet how seagulls procreate, but Luke had done some research on things like egg incubation period and what foods were safe for the birds to eat. Considering the way they stole anything and everything in sight, he wasn’t sure what he was worried about. He’d also learned that gulls mated for life, and he found something about that very comforting.
A series of little squeaks and chirps let him know they’d finished off their snack.
“Sorry, that’s all I’ve got for you today.”
The squeaks grew louder.
“I’ll bring more next time, I promise.” He stood, brushing sand off his hands. “Though next time might be a little while,” he admitted. “Remember that pretty lady you stole the bikini top from?”
Clyde tilted his head, and Luke swore the bird understood exactly what he was saying.
“Well, she stole my heart. And I need to go make sure she’s been taking good care of it.”
For all he knew, she’d abandoned his heart, and any thoughts of him at all, when she left here. But he couldn’t believe that. He wouldn’t. She’d asked him if he believed true love was real … and he did. Because of her. And it was worth fighting for. She was worth fighting for.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t still scared as hell. Fighting for his sister was one thing; fighting for Julia, for himself—for what they might be together—was another. Luke stared out at the lake, a sense of wonder and fate washing over him at the thought of these same waves crashing on the shores of the city Julia called home. Penelope was right. He needed to take a chance. Make a move toward his future.
Which meant he was headed to Chicago.