Chapter 2

Lucy gasped and tried to sit up, but the hand on her face held her down. Eyes wide open, she saw Kate. Her younger sister’s vibrant green eyes sparkled with mischief and absolute glee. Her fingers pinched Lucy’s nostrils together.

“‘Eriously?” Lucy gurgled. Kate nodded and removed her fingers.

“Fastest way to wake you up. You’re home!” she squealed, sounding closer to ten than twenty-one.

“I’m home but I’m not awake. Get off my bed.” Lucy pushed at her sister with her feet while trying to hide her head under the pillow, but she immediately regretted her actions when Kate applied pressure to the top of the pillow. She flailed her arms and Kate laughed and scooted off the bed before Lucy could smack her.

“You are such a brat.”

“Get up!” Kate bounced from one foot to the other.

“I’m up.” Lucy threw the pillow at her, but Kate tossed it back.

“Like out-of-the-bed up,” Kate added, unzipping Lucy’s suitcase and pawing through it. She tossed a bra at Lucy, followed by a pair of cotton underwear, a T-shirt, and black yoga pants.

“Hey!” Lucy protested when most of the clothing landed on her face. She threw the mountain of warm covers off her cozy body and sat up. Kate came back to her side and threw her arms around Lucy’s neck.

“You’re home,” she repeated.

“Yes, I’m home,” Lucy sighed. She gave Kate a tight squeeze.

“For now,” they said in unison. Lucy tried to glare at her sister but couldn’t pull it off. When had she gotten so beautiful? They shared the same cheekbones and hair, but Lucy could see features in Kate that she didn’t have. Her father’s elegant jaw and his long, straight nose instead of their mother’s button one. When had she transitioned from teen to woman? While you were wandering.

“I missed you. Or I did, until you woke me up.” She pushed at her sister’s shoulders, but Kate bounced back, undeterred.

“Missed you, too. Come on. Get up!” She stood and yanked Lucy’s arm while Lucy grabbed the pillow with her free hand and smacked her with it. Kate tried to keep a straight face as she told Lucy, “Mom’s making whole wheat, honey, and oat pancakes. Apparently, they help with stomach problems.”

Lucy scrunched her brows together. “I don’t have stomach problems.”

Kate nodded as she pulled Lucy’s clothes out of her suitcase and began loading them into the same dresser she’d used as a teen. Lucy stretched and, left with no other options, stood to get dressed.

“None of us do.” Kate laughed, tossing her long brown hair over her shoulder to look back at Lucy. Their mom was always on the lookout for the next non-existent problem to solve, often using her daughters as research for the self-help books she wrote.

Lucy pulled her top over her head and shook her hair out, figuring her slightly disheveled look was good enough for breakfast. She could use a shower, but that could wait.

“Are Charlotte and Luke coming over?”

Kate slipped two of her sister’s handmade paper-bead bracelets around her wrists and stretched her arm out to admire them.

“They’ll be at the center later to help. I can’t believe you haven’t met baby Mia yet. These are gorgeous.”

“I can’t wait to meet her. Unlike you, I’ll just call her Mia. I think it’s fairly evident that she’s a baby.” Lucy tugged her covers up to the top of the bed and considered it made. She tried to ignore the pang of guilt that settled under her ribs when she thought of missing her niece’s birth. Looking back at Kate, she gestured toward the bracelets. “Those were made by the women of one of the tribes I photographed. It’s their primary source of income. Pretty amazing, actually.”

“They’re gorgeous. And look good on me,” she said. Lucy shook her head. The bracelets shifted on Kate’s wrist when she looped her arm through Lucy’s and pulled her down the stairs.

Her parents were chatting about motion lights as Lucy and Kate entered the kitchen. Lucy’s smile widened when her mom leaned in to kiss her dad on the cheek. Mark smiled up at his wife with the same fondness he always did, making Lucy grateful that some things really didn’t change.

“I’ll see how much—there she is!” Julie Aarons bubbled, catching sight of her middle daughter. She clapped her hands together and pressed them to her mouth. Her flowing mass of hair framed the soft angles of her ageless face. Lucy walked toward her, and Julie opened her arms, meeting her halfway. Her mom rocked side to side, holding tight as Lucy breathed in the fragrant combination of her mom’s favored Oil of Olay body wash and the still-percolating coffee. Nothing else made her feel more at home than those two smells. Tears pricked Lucy’s eyes as her mom continued the hug. She ran her hand up and down her mom’s back.

“Hi mom,” she croaked, surprised at how difficult it was to swallow the lump in her throat. Julie squeezed harder.

“About damn time you came home, missy,” her mom lectured without heat. She pulled back and looked Lucy up and down.

“I missed you.” Lucy said. She hadn’t even realized how much.

“I thought of you once or twice, too,” Julie answered. When her eyes met Lucy’s, they were damp. Lucy bit her lip and looked over at her dad.

“Hey dad.” Like her mom had, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. His hand came up to her hair and held her there for a moment.

“Hi, sweetheart. How’d you sleep?”

“Good. Really good.”

Kate brought her over a cup of black coffee, adding one more reason she adored her younger sister.

“Great. There goes all my attention now that the prodigal daughter is home,” Kate joked, stealing her dad’s last rectangle of toast before sitting on the opposite side of the table.

“I’m pretty sure you’re the reason I came home, brat,” Lucy reminded, sitting down beside her sister while their mom just beamed.

“Sit down, Julie. It’s not the first time we’ve all sat at the table. No reason to make a Hallmark moment of it,” Mark laughed at the way his wife stood, hands clasped, staring at her family.

“Oh, be quiet. It can’t be a Hallmark moment if Char isn’t here. I need all three of my girls for that. You look tired, Lucy,” she rambled, ignoring her daughter’s frown at the assessment. She ran her palm along Lucy’s cheek and added, “I can say that because I’m your mother. I have some tea that helps rebalance energies. I’ll make you some after you eat.”

Lucy shared a glance with her dad and Kate. Her mom had written several books on a multitude of topics that dealt with healing yourself, being yourself, and finding yourself. Lucy thought she needed to write one on how to lose yourself. She would make for great research for her mom—she’d spent several years trying to do just that.

They fell into an easy space of teasing and sharing, catching up and remembering, filling in the gaps for the time she’d been gone. Regardless of where Lucy was in the world, her family was her constant. Her north star. She didn’t need to tend to them or check on them; she’d known that they’d be there when she needed direction. She tried not to think too hard about the fact that she needed them but they were all just fine without her. They thought she was home to help Kate, but truthfully, this trip was going to go a long ways toward helping herself. She hoped.

Alex pulled off his worn hoodie and tossed it onto the front seat of his truck. It was shaping up to be a warm day. He’d had to follow up on some phone calls in the morning, so he was later than he wanted to be, but he could see that Kate had no shortage of helpers for her community ‘pitch-in’ day.

Once upon a time, long before Alex had arrived in town, the paint-chipped, battered recreation building had been a centerpiece of Angel’s Lake. After the new high school had been built, it was used less and less. Its parking lot saw more action than the actual building as a local teen hang out. The walls of the building had been tagged and uniquely decorated with both images and words that no one needed to see. Alex was glad the more colorful words were getting covered up today.

He wandered through the groups of people—some he’d known most of his life—waving and nodding. There were some people he recognized but didn’t know, some newcomers, and some he wished he had never met. Being sheriff made him privy to secrets he would rather not know, pieces of their lives that weren’t shared with the general population but ended up being, in part, his problem.

“Hey Sheriff!” The bank manager waved at Alex. As he waved back, he caught sight of Kate giving orders and directions, a clipboard in her hand. She pulled a pencil out of the knot of hair on her head and made notes as Lucy walked over to her with a bottle of water. All three of the Aaron sisters were beauties, but there was something about Lucy that made him feel like he’d swallowed his tongue.

“Well hey there, Sheriff,” Lucy said. She smiled at him, her eyes playful, as she handed Kate the water.

“Ladies.”

“Hi Alex. Thanks for coming,” Kate greeted.

She took a long swallow of her water and then passed it to Lucy, who did the same. Alex made himself look away so he wasn’t focused on Lucy with her head tipped back, her hair flowing down her back, and her eyes half closed.

“Where do you want me?” he asked.

He arched his eyebrows as Lucy sputtered on her water. A little drop escaped down her chin when she lifted her head. She promptly wiped it away with the heel of her hand.

“You okay, Luce?” he asked, giving her a knowing wink. His chest filled with satisfaction. Maybe she wasn’t as immune as she’d always seemed.

“She’s fine,” Kate assured, pursing her lips and giving Lucy a look that he couldn’t quite decipher.

“How about you go help Sam. He was getting all of the rolling pans ready. I want the first coat on today,” Kate suggested, pointing in Sam’s direction.

Alex saw Sam, his closest friend, on the other side of the lot. When his gaze went back to Lucy, her cheeks were still flushed, and locked his eyes on hers.

She broke eye contact first. “I’m going to grab my camera and set up for some shots,” Lucy said.

“Perfect. But don’t think that’ll get you out of the heavy lifting later.”

“Yeah, yeah. When did you get so bossy?” Lucy grumbled, scrunching her eyebrows and frowning at her sister.

Alex laughed at the look of indignation on Kate’s face. From the outside, it was easy to find the back and forth sniping amusing. He had always wondered what it would be like to have siblings. With the mutual glaring contest happening between the two, he thought it best not to mention that he thought they were lucky to have each other.

“I’m off to find Sam. Play nice, ladies.” He smiled, tipped an imaginary cap, and strolled away.

“He looks just as good walking away as he does walking toward you, huh?” Kate commented, her tone bland, her annoyingly ever-present clipboard at her side.

“Do you have a thing for him?” Lucy asked, pulling her gaze away from Alex’s back. Which, indeed, looked pretty fine walking away.

“A thing? No. He’s a sweetheart and I adore him, like most of the town, but no, I don’t have a thing for him.” Kate looked up from her list and pinned Lucy with a serious glare. “And you shouldn’t, either.”

They wound around two guys setting up a table saw, a couple of teens laying down painting tarps, and an older woman wearing an odd hat that resembled both a fedora and a sun visor setting up a food table for the volunteers. Lucy’s stomach rumbled even though she’d eaten her fair share of her mom’s oatmeal pancakes.

“Why not? Is he taken?” She tried to keep her tone casual.

“No. But he’s not for you,” Kate evaded, her eyes on her list. Lucy reached out and grabbed the clipboard from her sister.

“Hey!”

“Why did you say that?” Lucy demanded, her voice low. She held the clipboard out of Kate’s reach while her sister chewed on her bottom lip then frowned.

“He’s long-term and you’re not. He’s forever, and you’re … for now,” Kate answered. With a huff, she held out her hand for the clipboard.

“Well, don’t hold back.” Lucy gave Kate the board and turned away.

It was the truth, and Lucy knew it. She didn’t understand why hearing it from her sister bothered her so much. She would grab her camera from Kate’s car, and lose herself in taking pictures of the events around her without having to take part. Another thing she did well.

When Kate had asked her during a Skype session if there was any way she could come home and help with this project, it had been perfect timing. Vincent, the editor for the international magazine Everywhere Around Us had made it clear that the ladder to success would be a lot easier to climb if she were to sleep with him. When she had disagreed, vehemently, he had decided she didn’t belong on that particular assignment or on any other with the magazine. She snapped a picture of the woman with the fun hat as she shook thoughts of Vincent from her head.

She was a good photographer; better than good. She had freelanced countless jobs and had her work featured in a number of top magazines. She’d photographed models and movie sets, architectural wonders, and indescribable landscapes. Still, she’d only ever been a “contributor,” and she now found herself wanting a more reliable income. Even when she was abroad, where costs were minimal, it was comforting to have a cushion, particularly since she never knew if the next job would be her last.

“Hey, Lucy! Nice to see you,” a woman called out. Lucy turned. She recognized the woman but couldn’t remember her name. She was almost positive she was a friend or fan of her mother’s. Julie Aarons had many fans, especially locally. She used to come out and soak up the energy and feel good about seeing how her work affected people. It had surprised Lucy when her mom had insisted she needed to stay home today. Lucy gave a one-handed wave and snapped a photo in the woman’s direction. Perhaps she’d put together an album for Kate. Ideas played in her mind as she continued to take candid shots. This community was so different from the one she had just come home from, yet the core elements were the same.

She had been on assignment in Kenya in a small village called Lwak. A clean drinking water project was making drastic differences in the lives of the people there, and Lucy had felt like she was a part of something special. It was certainly the longest-running feature she’d done. On other photo shoots, she was a background figure, like an extra in a cast of thousands. The size of Lwak, along with the nature of the job, forced an intimacy she hadn’t immediately recognized as familial.

“Are you taking pictures of anything besides hot men?” a familiar voice asked sardonically. Lucy lowered her camera carefully, placing it back in the insulated bag hanging on her shoulder, a smile tugging hard as she bit her lip. She turned to look at her older sister, already leaning in for an embrace.

“Why? Is your husband offering to pose?” Lucy teased as she wrapped herself around Charlotte in a hug that settled the upset inside of her.

“He probably would if I let him, but he actually had to work today,” Charlotte laughed, pulling Lucy impossibly closer. “You’ve been gone too long this time.”

Lucy bit her lip to keep from crying, but the tears fell anyway. She held tighter and hoped the pressure would alleviate the ache in her chest.

“I stay away to make sure you appreciate me when I come back.”

Charlotte leaned back and eyed Lucy with her critical, steely blue gaze. This close, she could see the odd strand of grey in her sister’s sharply bobbed, dark brown hair. Her narrow face and high cheek bones had always lent an elegance to her features that was matched by the way she presented herself. She could see the hint of late nights around Charlotte’s eyes. To Lucy, and most others, she was perfect. Something that Lucy would never be.

“We appreciate you just fine. I’ll appreciate you even more when you get your butt in gear and do your share of this project Kate has us all slaving over,” she laughed, the seriousness in her eyes fading.

“Slaving. As if. You might chip a nail,” Kate interrupted. In her arms, she held Charlotte’s youngest daughter.

Lucy didn’t think she was the squealing type, but that was what she did as she reached for the bundle of pink.

“Let me have her,” she said when Kate took too long to pass Mia over.

“This is your auntie Lucy, Mia. She’s a bit nutty and doesn’t stay in one place long, but we love her. She takes good pictures and makes the best scrambled eggs ever,” Kate cooed to the sleeping baby as she slowly shifted her from her own arms to Lucy’s.

Lucy held Mia and stared down in awe at the wonderful mix of Charlotte and her husband, Luke. Some hidden pocket of longing slammed hard into her ribs, surprising her with its intensity. The Aarons nose and Donnelly lips stood proudly on smooth, porcelain skin. Her eyelids scrunched and fluttered, but didn’t open. Lucy beamed silently at her sisters and caught sight of her dad walking toward them with Carmen, Mia’s five-year-old sister, in tow.

“She’s gorgeous, Char. She’s just perfect.” Lucy kissed Mia’s tiny forehead.

“Obviously,” Charlotte laughed as Carmen walked in between them. Lucy thought she’d stayed close to everyone—she Skyped and Facebooked whenever possible. She’d talked to Carmen and sent birthday gifts, but just like with her dad last night, seeing her in person hit Lucy like a punch to the stomach. Carmen was carrying a book, talking steadily to her grandfather, who nodded thoughtfully. Lucy gently bounced her arms when Mia peeped then looked down at Carmen.

“Hello there,” she said to the animated five-year-old. Carmen didn’t look away from her grandfather.

“There are more than three hundred fifty types of sharks,” Carmen stated. Lucy’s dad nodded.

Char touched Carmen’s shoulder to interrupt her, and when she looked up at her mom, Char said quietly to her daughter, “Your aunt said hello, Carmen. Can you say hello, please?”

Carmen’s tiny face scrunched in uncertainty, or perhaps frustration from being interrupted. Looking back at her grandfather, she said, “Hello. Sharks hardly ever get tumors. That’s very different from humans.”

Charlotte glanced at Lucy, gave a tight smile, then kneeled down and touched Carmen’s shoulder again.

“Your aunt Lucy has photographed several sharks,” Charlotte shared. This caught the little girl’s attention, and she turned toward Lucy now, face serious.

“Have you photographed a great white shark? Those are my favorite. They are known as the king of the sharks,” Carmen said, her tone very matter-of-fact. With her shoulder-length hair and serious nature, she reminded Lucy very much of Charlotte.

Lucy kissed Mia’s soft forehead once more, breathing in the delicious combination of baby shampoo and powder, and then handed her to Charlotte. Standing to take the baby from her, Char’s lips turned down slightly. Lucy squatted down so she could meet Carmen’s eyes, but her niece looked beyond, her gaze darting everywhere but directly at Lucy.

“I haven’t, no. But I did photograph a Porbeagle shark when I was in Chile,” Lucy answered. Carmen’s brown eyes widened even as her brows furrowed together. She opened her book, The Anatomy of Sharks, and looked through the index.

“I haven’t read about that one. Do you have a picture?” Carmen asked, closing the book.

“I do on my laptop. I could show it to you sometime.” Lucy weaved a little in her squatting position. She really had to work out more. Or do yoga. Or something.

“You photographed it?”

“I did. They’re known as a playful shark.” Lucy rested her hands on her thighs while Carmen looked her over.

“You look different. Mommy says we met before,” Carmen announced. Lucy grinned at Charlotte’s mini-me and the abrupt shift in topic.

“You look different, too. Bigger. But I was here when you were born, so we have met. You’re cuter now than then, though,” Lucy said. Carmen looked at Lucy for a moment, tilting her head to the side.

“You are, too,” she replied solemnly, making her and her family laugh.

The sound of everyone’s laughter reminded her that she was surrounded by almost all of the people she loved most in the world. The thought of what she’d missed out on twisted her stomach in opposing directions. She’d tried to cajole her mother into joining them this morning, but Julie had claimed she had a deadline that she couldn’t put off any longer. Her father and Kate had exchanged a strange glance at this, and Lucy had wondered if her mom had been pitching in at the center. She stood and offered her hand to Carmen.

“Want to take some pictures with me, Shorty?”

“My name is Carmen. I’m five. Can I use your camera?” Lucy bit back a smile at the serious tone and expression.

“Do you drop things often?” Lucy put a protective hand on her camera bag.

“I didn’t drop Mia.” She stared up at Lucy, one hand on her hip.

“Good enough for me.”

Carmen passed her book to her grandfather and took Lucy’s hand. Lucy squeezed it gently and smiled at her sisters and her dad. With Carmen and her favorite camera in tow, she waved to their family as they went to see what different groups of townsfolk were up to. Carmen tugged her hand.

“What other sharks have you photographed?” she asked, making Lucy smile.

“Why don’t you just toss the little jerkoffs into a cell?” Sam asked Alex as he held the board in place. They were putting together a portico that would apparently add character to the rundown building. Sam, an architect and carpenter, started to explain his vision, but Alex had insisted he just tell him where to stand and what to pass him when. He had done some repairs on his home, but he didn’t have anything close to Sam’s talent and capability. Which is why it came in handy that they were friends—Sam would be helping him make a few renovations over the summer.

“Not that easy. For one thing, I don’t know how many I’m dealing with. I don’t want to nail the lackeys if someone is behind them. It seems like more than just stupid kid pranks. Something isn’t sitting right with any of this.”

Sam took the triangular structure he had nailed together and put it to the side. Alex used the hem of his T-shirt to wipe the sweat dripping into his eyes. As he lowered his shirt, his gaze made contact with Lucy, who was strolling hand in hand with Carmen. She blushed when he caught her staring then went back to listening to whatever Carmen was saying. Charlotte and Luke’s oldest was cute and had a free spirit. Kind of like her aunt. But she also had rigid boundaries, and Alex suspected she might be on the autism spectrum.

“You missed a spot of drool.” Sam said, swallowing back some water.

“Huh?” Alex looked down at his shirt and then at Sam.

Sam nodded toward the hem of Alex’s shirt that he was still holding.

“You got the sweat, but now you’re drooling. Though I don’t really blame you. She’s smokin’ hot. Just like her sisters.” He waggled his eyebrows comically.

Alex frowned and grabbed a water of his own, opened it up, and then watched as Lucy showed Carmen how to point and shoot with her high-tech camera.

He gave Sam a small shove. “Aren’t you getting married? To an extremely hot woman of your own?”

Sam grinned, tossing his water bottle into a nearby bin already overflowing with empties. “That I am, my friend. That I am. But I’m not blind or dead, so it’d be hard not to notice the Aarons sisters,” Sam returned easily, picking up his hammer.

“Fair enough. She’s never around long enough to do more than take a glance anyway,” Alex mumbled, grabbing the next piece of wood to attach to the triangular addition that he still couldn’t fully visualize.

“You never know, man. Maybe she’ll stick around.”

“Sure. And maybe the pain-in-the-ass kids that are messing up the town will turn themselves in and ask to repair all the damage.”

Sam scoffed with a smile and the two of them returned to sweating and pounding nails in the Minnesota sun.

By late afternoon, Alex needed a shower desperately. There was a BBQ over at the Kellys’ house, and Alex silently debated attending as he wandered around the side of the building. It backed up to a huge field that was surrounded by an array of forested hills. Alex heard the rushing of the nearby waterfall that had started to melt with the approach of summer. The entire center had received a fresh coat of paint today, which really made a difference. When he reached the back of the building, he smiled at the sight of the dumpster that still sat out back. He remembered, fondly, how at sixteen he’d tried to get Danielle Peterson to kiss him by the dumpster that still sat out back.

At the sound of clicking, he turned his head and found himself staring down the barrel of a camera so big it almost covered Lucy’s face.

“Hey, Sheriff. What’s the smile for?” She snapped another picture.

“I was thinking about kissing Danielle Peterson right here in this spot,” he admitted, rocking back on his heels with his thumbs hooked in his pockets. He didn’t flinch when she kept snapping but wished she’d put the camera away. He wasn’t shy but he didn’t crave the spotlight.

Lucy lowered it, frowned at him but before he could ask why, she gave him a smile that made his stomach tilt. She was more than just beautiful with the sun setting behind her, highlighting the red and gold strands peeking out of all that dark. He wanted his hands in that hair.

With her camera in front of her like a shield, she glanced at him through lowered lashes. “I hope that didn’t make you feel special.”

Alex grinned. Her lips pursed into a small pout that he found adorable. He probably wasn’t the only guy with memories of Danielle behind the rec center, but he cared less about that and more about Lucy’s slightly snide tone.

“At sixteen, I didn’t care if I was special as long as I—”

Lucy cut him off by putting her hands up to her ears, letting the camera hang from her neck. Alex laughed and stepped closer to her but instead of pulling her hands down, he reached for the camera. Her hands came down immediately, stopping him from slipping it off of her neck. He arched an eyebrow and gave a small tug. With her lips pressed together, she continued to hesitate.

“You let Carmen have a turn.” This close to her, it was hard to keep his focus on the camera and where it was resting against her chest.

“She told me she held Mia without dropping her, so it seemed like she could handle my baby.”

He slipped a strap over her head. “I held Mia without dropping her, too, you know.” He chuckled, putting his eye behind the viewfinder.

“Alright. Just be gentle.” She put her hands on her hips and watched him.

He clicked the camera, surprised by the little thrill that the sound inspired. He turned the camera toward her and saw her frown in miniature.

“Take pictures of the view.”

“I am. It’s an excellent view,” he laughed. She rolled her eyes and walked toward the field.

Doors slammed from the parking lot as people loaded up supplies and families and took off for the evening. Alex was enjoying seeing the town come together for something that would benefit them all. Following behind Lucy, he found that it was a bit tricky to navigate the camera and move at the same time.

“I don’t remember you dating Danielle,” Lucy said, her tone stiff.

“Never said I dated her. She was just a girl,” Alex said, wondering what all of the different buttons did. What was wrong with just ‘point and shoot’?

Lucy and Danielle had never been chummy, but her tone suggested there was a reason for this. Confirming his suspicion, Lucy added, “Just a girl who kissed a lot of boys wherever she could.”

Definitely a story there, but he didn’t want to talk about the past. He was pretty damn happy with the present. “I know. But I didn’t care at the time,” he answered easily, zooming in on the trees in the distance. They were in full bloom, blending together and melding into one another as if they couldn’t exist without touching. So much beauty. He loved this town and being in it.

Lucy stood beside him as he snapped a couple photos. His skin buzzed, like his body was completely aware of her next to him. He could feel her gaze. “And now?”

He lowered the camera, meeting that questioning gaze. Very clearly, he replied, “Now I still don’t care who she kisses.”

Her smile spread slowly before it reached her eyes and she nodded, accepting the camera as he passed it back to her. She carefully removed the extended lens and loaded it into the bag on her shoulder.

He was still staring at her with a smile of his own when she looked back up. A soft breeze had her brushing back a few strands of hair from her eyes. Then she turned and tipped her face to the sky.

Lucy sighed, as though she was tired or just happy to stand still. “I forgot how beautiful it can be here.” Tendrils of hair stuck to her neck, reminding him he needed to get home and shower if he was going to make an appearance at the BBQ. Before he could stop himself, his thoughts wandered to her needing a shower as well.

“You heading to the Kellys’?” he asked, clearing his throat, hoping his train of thought didn’t show on his face.

She looked over at him with eyes that held a hint of sadness. Her smile matched.

“You okay, Luce?” he asked, giving into the urge and brushing the strand she’d missed behind her ear. Her eyes closed briefly and his breath stuck in his throat.

“I’m fine. I think I’ll skip it. I’m tired and not really in the mood for another crowd. Especially since Kate has roped me into more work tomorrow.”

He tucked his hand back into his pocket and told himself that the electricity between them was just a combination of lust and his own stupid memories.

“Are you headed over?” She turned and began walking back toward the building, kicking blades of grass and stray rocks as she stared at her feet.

“I haven’t decided. I don’t know if I feel like another crowd either. How about some dinner? I’m starving.” Their shoulders brushed as they walked side by side.

“Together?”

He laughed at the surprise on her face.

“It would be nicer than alone, I think. It would definitely be better than Bruce’s burgers. I think it’s some sort of sacrilege when a man can’t BBQ.”

Lucy laughed and, finally, her smile reached her eyes.

“I don’t know. Kate suggested that I leave you alone.” She looked away, and he put a hand on her arm, pulling her around gently.

“What? What does Kate have to do with this?”

He was sure he’d never sent mixed signals to Kate. He’d never thought of her that way. He’d only ever wanted Lucy.

“She says you’re long-term and should be off limits to a girl like me,” she said, her tone flat.

He wasn’t surprised by her candor—Lucy had always been direct. Though she made light of it, he could see she was bothered by what Kate had said. She stood in front of him, not quite meeting his eyes.

“Well,” he mused, closing the small space between them so their bodies were all but brushing against each other, “last time I checked, I didn’t let anyone tell me who I should or should not get close to.”

He could kiss her—press his mouth against hers as he’d been dreaming of for years. Her eyes were half closed and her breath was sawing in and out in short bursts. He could see the tiny spattering of barely there freckles on the bridge of her nose, and he had the ridiculous urge to run his finger from one to another. She wet her lips quickly, making his stomach—and lower—tighten. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He leaned in, moving his hand to her arm, which was soft and sun warmed. He trailed his fingers up until he could cup her cheek. She watched him through lowered lashes and he wondered if he’d ever wanted to kiss anyone more than he wanted to kiss Lucy Aarons.

Regardless, he knew better than to let attraction rule over caution. “Besides,” he murmured, his lips narrowly missing hers to travel up and graze her ear, “I only suggested dinner.”

The sensual cloud scattered from her eyes and she rapped him on the chest.

“Jerk, “she said, her lips curving up.

Shaking her head at him, she nudged him again and the tension, sexual and otherwise, between them eased. They walked back to the parking lot in time to see Kate loading up her trunk. He was surprised by how quickly the lot had cleared. Maybe others didn’t know about Bruce’s burgers.

Kate glanced over and gave Lucy another odd look as they walked toward her. He felt Lucy stiffen beside him.

“You know what? Dinner sounds great,” she said, louder than necessary.

“You guys aren’t going to head over to the BBQ?” Kate slammed her trunk closed.

“No. We’re going to shower and grab a bite to eat,” Lucy answered in what could only be described as a defiant tone. She seemed to realize belatedly what she had actually said.

“I mean,” she stammered, her eyes darting back to him and then over to her sister, “we each have to shower. In our own showers. And then we’ll eat. Together. After we each shower alone.”

Kate chuckled and, just like that, the sisters were at ease with each other, despite Lucy’s cheeks now looking sunburned. As Lucy stowed her camera gear in the backseat, Kate moved in and kissed Alex’s cheek.

“Hang on to your heart. I love her, but she won’t stay,” she whispered so low he wasn’t even sure he’d heard her right.

“I’ll drive with Kate and meet you at your house in an hour?”

“Sounds good,” he agreed.

He watched as both women got into the car. The day had definitely not gone as he’d expected. There’d been no major issues in town, he’d actually enjoyed working with his hands, he’d almost kissed Lucy Aarons, and he would be having dinner with her, alone. He was more than a little curious to see what the night would bring. He caught himself whistling as he moved toward his truck.