Paige

 

THE MOMENT WE walked into the dance hall, our friends erupted in cheers. Lucas wrapped his arm around me and pulled me to him. Milo walked up to us and shook his head.

“Jesus, Mary, and all the Josephs in Bethlehem. Only you two would go from enemies to engaged in what? A week’s time?”

Lucas shot him the finger. “What are you talking about? This is us going slow.”

Milo looked confused, and I laughed as I exchanged a look with Lucas. The private joke was just that, private. We didn’t need to explain anything to anyone. I knew the only people who would worry would be our parents. My father, mostly, who would say we were moving entirely too fast. But that was a worry for later.

We spent the rest of the evening simply enjoying ourselves. We danced, we kissed, we made out in a back corner like two teenagers, then we danced some more. Jen was confused, especially when she saw the engagement ring on my finger. We hadn’t told anyone, and even though Jen had caught a glimpse of it right off the bat, she didn’t push the issue, and honestly, I was relieved. So many emotions had hit me in the last twenty-four hours. I wasn’t sure I was able to take any more.

Our friends slowly started to bug out, one by one they said their goodbyes and we thanked them for coming. I had been worried at first about how it would go. Neither Lucas nor I had really hung out with our friends from Johnson City in ages. A few had gotten married, one or two had kids, but once we all got together, everything fell into place. When we had called our friends and told them we were going out to celebrate getting back together, they’d all been so supportive. I had missed this group of friends. The small talk between the years, the random texts or Christmas cards hadn’t been nearly enough. Lucas made everyone take a vow we’d do this once a month.

When only Milo stood before us, the last of our friends, he picked up my hand, smiling at the ring. His eyes lifted, and he looked at me, then Lucas.

“Do I even want to know what happened between you two?”

Lucas and I exchanged a knowing look, then both said at the same time, “No.”

“Fine, I’m going to just go with it. You’re back together, you may or may not be engaged, and I’m going to guess there is no more talk of buying anyone out?”

“You would be correct,” Lucas said.

“On which part?” Milo asked.

“All of it,” Lucas said with a slap on Milo’s arm.

He rolled his eyes. “You two were always so weird.”

 

 

I stood in the middle of the large, open room. “I can see it now! The brick walls will be painted white. Maybe some cabinets over here, in a light shade of pink or even white and grey.”

Lucas leaned against the opposite wall with a wide grin. It had been four days since we had stumbled onto the two chests. Two weeks since he had moved in. And everything had been perfect.

“You know, the furniture in the storage shed…there might be some pieces you could use for the flower shop.”

I smiled. “Lucas, that’s an amazing idea.”

We had yet to make our way to the storage unit. I knew we were afraid of digging up any more secrets.

“Will you sell other things, besides flowers?” Jen asked.

“I think so! It would be so fun going to market. You could come and help me pick out some things.”

“What is market?” Lucas asked.

“It’s a trade show where you can go and look for items to carry in your stores,” I answered.

Jen walked around tapping her finger to her chin. “You know, there is a girl here locally who makes soaps and lotions using goat milk. You could talk to her about carrying her items here. She even does soap petals to put into baths. They are amazing.”

Excitement bubbled up. “I love that idea! And the apiary that’s right outside of town has products from their honey bees. We could stock their stuff, as well.”

Jen nodded in excitement.

“What about baskets?” Lucas said out of the blue.

Jen and I turned to look at Lucas. So far, he had remained quiet, asking a question here or there.

“Baskets?” I asked.

He looked unsure of what he was going to say. “Never mind. I was thinking out loud.”

“Please tell me what you were going to say. I want your input too, Lucas.”

His smile seemed uneasy. “This one time I saw this flower shop, and it reminded me of you. On the outside, the owner had wicker baskets that were filled with flowers. It reminded me of you when you would walk the flower garden with your mom and Grams. You’d cut the flowers and lay them in the baskets. I always thought it looked nice. Might look cute outside your little flower shop.”

My jaw fell open, and I rushed over to Lucas, throwing myself into his arms.

“It was a cute idea, but don’t you think you’re giving him a little too much credit?” Jen asked.

Lucas chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

I kissed him. Lucas pushed his fingers in my hair, drawing me even closer as he deepened the kiss.

“Okay, seriously, I know you’re making up for lost time, but no one falls into a romantic kiss like that for the hell of it!” Jen stated.

Smiling against Lucas’s lips, I whispered, “You just named the shop.”

His brows pinched in. “What?”

“When I was in France, right outside of Paris, there was this little flower shop, it was called The Little Green Shop. I thought at the time that it was a cute name. You said the little flower shop, instead of green, but it’s the perfect name.”

I took a step back and tilted my head as I regarded him. “As a matter of fact, there were baskets outside, with flowers in them.”

Lucas let his smile slip, and I realized why he had acted so indifferent. “You’ve seen that shop, haven’t you?”

“I’ve seen hundreds of flower shops, Paige.”

I shook my head, and a rush of sadness swept over me that I couldn’t stop, even if I had wanted to. Lucas and I had been living in a bubble the last four days, so much so that we still hadn’t talked. About anything. It had been easier to push it all aside and be in the moment.

“Was it in Paris? With Bianca?”

He looked away and over to Jen. I followed his gaze and saw my friend give him an expression that might have been a warning to tread lightly. She lifted her brows and took a few steps back. “I’m going to step outside, take a look at the exterior and see what your dad is thinking, Lucas.”

Lucas nodded, then met my hard stare.

“Yes, I think we saw the same flower shop,” he finally said.

I turned away and walked into the middle of the store. I knew I was feeling childish, but I couldn’t help it. No matter how happy we were in this moment, it still hurt knowing he had traveled to so many places with Bianca. Places he should have gone with me. I had wanted to experience those places with him. I couldn’t help but think of May. She had to have felt the same way when William never came after her.

“If I could go back in time, Paige, I’d be there with you. I wasn’t even with Bianca that day. She was at a photoshoot, and I was walking around Paris. I saw the shop and walked into it.”

I gasped and turned around. “Were you in a blue coat?”

With a befuddled expression, he asked, “What? When?”

“Were you in a blue coat? The day you walked around Paris? I saw the flower shop and stopped to admire the flowers. When I glanced into the shop, I thought I saw you. Dressed in a blue coat. I berated myself for thinking it could be you, but I knew you had gone to France before with Bianca. I went to step into the shop but was too nervous about how you would react if you saw me. Then I realized how stupid I was and went back the next day. I vowed I wasn’t going to do it, but I asked the shop owner if she remembered a man from the day before. She said yes, he was American, but that was all she could remember. It was you! Wasn’t it?”

“Honestly, Bianca always had me dressing in the stupidest of clothes, but it could have very well been me.”

I nodded, then looked away. I didn’t want the excitement of only a few moments ago to slip away, but it did.

Lucas wrapped his arms around me, holding my back tightly against his chest.

“We can’t change the past, but I promise I’ll do whatever I can to make your future—our future—beautiful.”

My eyes closed as I dropped my head against his sturdy body.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m sorry for reacting that way. It was childish, and I don’t know what came over me.”

He leaned his chin on the top of my head and let out a long breath of air.

“We need to talk, Paige. We’re playing pretend, and we need to talk about it. All of it.”

I let out my own exasperated sigh. “I know. Let’s go home.”

I turned in his arms, and Lucas lifted my chin until our eyes met. There was so much emotion in his look. Love, regret, anger, sadness. Both of us had a whirlwind inside and pretending like the past had never happened was only causing the whirlwind to turn into a hurricane.

He leaned down and kissed me gently. My arms instinctively wrapped around his neck, and he held me tighter, lifting me off the ground as he sucked on my tongue, then nipped at my bottom lip.

“I love you,” we said together.

We laughed and quickly stepped apart when Lucas’s dad cleared his throat.

“When did this happen?” he asked.

Lucas and I exchanged a look and then focused back on his father.

“A few days back,” Lucas answered.

Carl nodded. “Your granddad always said it was fate that the two of you would end up together. When he told me about leaving the house to both of you, I wasn’t so sure it would work. I would have rather he told you the truth.”

I swallowed hard and looked at him.

“What do you mean by that, Dad?”

With a laugh, Carl walked into the room. He glanced over his shoulder, making sure we were alone before he spoke.

“I know the truth. That William wasn’t my father by blood.”

My hand came up to my mouth as I tried to hide the quick intake of breath. “How do you know? Did he tell you?”

Carl glanced sadly down at the floor before looking back over to Lucas to give him a slight smile.

“No, he didn’t tell me. About six years ago a gentleman from England came to see me. He claimed he was my brother and that I had been named in the will of his father. Apparently, my biological father had a guilty conscience about abandoning your grams.”

Lucas ran his hand over his face and let out a mumbled curse. “Dad, I just found out only a few days ago. Granddad said you didn’t know and asked us not to tell you.”

“I know. I never told him about the visit. I had been willed some land in Scotland. Apparently dear ol’ Dad was a lord or a duke or some bullshit. I informed them that I didn’t want anything and that it belonged to their family. We went about having it legally turned over to my half-brother. He’s a nice guy. We’ve kept in touch over the years, as friends. I didn’t tell your granddad. I figured he and Grams had their reasons. But it was never lost on me how much you looked like William, Paige. The connection the two of you shared. It’s a small town, rumors still got around. No one will say it, but everyone knows Dad gave up his son that his first wife had the night she passed way.”

A tear ran down my cheek. “Does my father know?” I asked.

Carl rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s heard the rumors. We grew up together and people talked, but we both ignored it. I think deep down your granddad knew we both knew. Phillip adored William, and William adored him. Just like he adored you, Paige.”

Lucas paced across the room. “This is so fucked up. Why didn’t Paige and I hear any of these rumors? Y’all didn’t think to say anything to us? If you and Phillip knew why William left the house to us like he did, why the hell didn’t you say anything? Why make us find out like that?”

He shrugged and gave us a half-smirk. “I think your granddad wanted you both to go on that adventure together, the one you never got to go on with each other. He’s probably laughing as we speak.”

I could see that Lucas didn’t find any of this funny. He shook his head and walked out of the store.

Carl looked at me, and I pulled in a deep breath before letting it go. “It’s been an emotional rollercoaster the last few days.”

He chuckled. “I can only imagine. May I give you a piece of advice, Paige?”

I nodded. “Yes, please.”

“Let the past go. None of what happened two years ago, or even ten, is going to change your future. You decide the path you’re going to take. I see the way the two of you look at each other. Everyone has seen it from the first time you walked hand in hand up the pathway to that house. Be there for each other. Stop and listen to your concerns, fears, dreams. And most important of all, follow your heart. It will always lead you home.”

My chin trembled as I attempted not to release my sobs. The words of two different Foster men felt like they had pierced into my soul and instantly grounded me.

Nothing else in this world mattered but being home. And home wasn’t a house. Or a job. It was him.

Lucas was and would forever be…home.