Just a Little White Lie(35)
She looked around the table at the smiles, the happy eyes—and she couldn’t. Couldn’t dash their dreams. Couldn’t break their hearts.
Calling herself every kind of coward, she picked up her teacup, tapped it against theirs. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world. I’m going to love being a Parker.”
The sip of tea barely slid past the clog in her throat.
When Lucy got home, Jake was stretched out in the recliner reading a book about Custer’s Last Stand.
“I hate to interrupt your work—”
“Hey,” he greeted her. “I actually did work. Called my partner in the law firm here in town. Told him I was back and would be ready to start taking cases next week.”
Her brows rose in surprise. “Good for you.”
Closing the book, he hopped up and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. “How did it go?”
She grimaced.
“That bad?”
“Jake, you’ve got the most wonderful family I’ve ever met.”
“You’re forgetting my dad.”
She shrugged. “He wasn’t at lunch.” Breathing deeply, she gathered her thoughts. “Here’s the thing. What happens five days from now?”
He gave her a blank look. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that in five days, I have to go back to work too. Back to Florida and my life.” She made a face. “My honeymoon will be over. What do you tell Grandma Hattie then? Your mom? Your dad?”
“We’ll work something out.”
She said nothing.
“You could always stay.”
“I can’t, and you know it.”
“Yes, you could. If you wanted to.”
“Jake, that’s not even an option.”
“Not permanently, no, but…”
“I can’t.”
“Why? Your dad owns the company. What’s he gonna do? Fire you if you ask for a little bit longer to get your feet back on the ground?”
“It’s not my feet we’re talking about here,” she reminded him. “Nor is it my family we lied to. In answer to your question, though, yeah, he might do that. He’s beyond furious with me and closing in on apoplectic.”
“It’ll work out. Don’t worry.”
“Ooohhh, you are such a man!”
He dared to grin. “I am that.”
She walked into the kitchen and dropped onto a chair. Folding her arms on the table, she laid her head on them. Apprehension and skepticism ate holes in the lining of her stomach. Nipping at the heels of those feelings came a touch of anger. Why should she worry? It was his family. His idea. In five days, she’d be gone, and he could deal with it. So that was that. Nothing for her to fret about.
Then Grandma Hattie’s face floated into her mind. That expression of absolute love and trust when she’d run her hand over the old quilt on her bed.
Drat!
Jake interrupted her musings. “I’m gonna run down to Mark’s office, Luce.”
She looked up to find him leaning against the kitchen doorjamb. “Mark’s?”
“Yeah, Mark Douglas. He was a couple years ahead of me in school, but we were fishin’ buddies. He’s Gram’s doctor now.” His green eyes clouded. “Birdie seems to think she’s fine, that this is all a ruse to get me home, but did you notice sometimes last night she’d seem okay, then she’d look at me and clutch her chest? Her heart? I need to know how bad she is, if there isn’t something we can do.”
Lucinda nodded.
“I’m gonna see what I can find out.”
Time he stopped drifting and took charge. First order of business was to see about Gram. After he was finished with that, Jake intended to bite the bullet and have a long overdue chat with Lucy about Darling Enterprises’ Gulf Coast involvement.
Now that he knew her, he couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that she’d been in cahoots with her dad. That she’d had any idea what was going on. He’d watched her with his grandmother, with Selma Mae at the store, with Annie in the restaurant. Lucy led with her heart.
Still, he’d ask. He had to know if she’d played any part in that mess. It wasn’t a conversation he looked forward to, but it was time to lay it out on the table. Ignoring it wasn’t going to make it go away. Giving her a chance to tell her side would.
And speaking of going away. He’d shocked the hell out of himself when he’d suggested to Lucy she hang around longer. Problem was, he really liked her. Not that he wanted to get married or anything. Hell, no. But if a man had to, Lucinda Darling wouldn’t be hard to wake up with every morning.
He walked up the sidewalk to Mark’s office and admitted he wasn’t being honest with himself. Something was going on with her. With him. With them. Something he wasn’t sure he was ready to think too deeply about. Not just yet. He knew, though, that five more days wasn’t enough time with Lucy.