“Do you promise?” he asked and before she knew what she was doing, she’d nodded in agreement.
“Perfect.” He jumped off the bed and pulled her up with him. “I’m starved,” he said as he started tugging her towards the kitchen.
“Luke,” she squealed, “clothes first!” He just laughed even more.
After making some quick peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they retreated back to the warmth of the bed and talked. She was avoiding having the conversation and did everything she could to distract Luke from talking about the three words he’d mentioned less than an hour ago.
“You’re stalling,” he said, setting his plate aside. “You’re talking about everything but what needs to be said.”
He was right. She couldn’t deny her emotions any more. But then she found something that took his mind off the conversation completely.
“Oh,” she said, taking the last bite of her sandwich. “I’d almost forgotten. I’m supposed to invite you to Spring Haven for Thanksgiving this Thursday.” She smiled when she noticed his eyes go blank. “My Aunt Julie is the best cook in the county.”
“Thanksgiving?” He got a funny look on his face and she wondered if she’d made a mistake asking him.
“Yes, you don’t have to—”
“I’d love to.” His smile grew and he reached for her. Setting her plate aside, he slid them down until they fit tight together.
“You’ve mentioned your aunt and father, but haven’t spoken much of your mother. Mrs. Grayton?”
She sighed and was thankful the conversation had turned. “Elizabeth Grayton was the strongest woman I’ve ever known.” She rested her head back against his shoulder and enjoyed the feeling of his fingers combing her long hair away from her face. “When I first met her, her cancer was in remission. It took several years for it to come back and for her to pass from it.” She smiled slightly. “Never once in all that time did I see that woman complain or frown. She didn’t shed a tear or get angry at her circumstances.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, lightly.
She nodded. “That woman taught us more about suffering and patience than any other could. One of the reasons the Graytons took us all in was because of Elizabeth’s and Mark’s own childhoods. It’s the reason all of us devote as much as we can into the home that Roman has built, the reason he has continued on with our family’s dream.”
“Everyone sounds wonderful. Since I’ve already met Marcus and Cole, I can’t wait to meet everyone else.”
She laughed. “You’ll regret those words.”
Less than a week later, she was sitting around the large maple dining table, surrounded by a bunch of crazy people, and laughing harder than she had in a long time. Her brothers were a constant source of entertainment. She could hardly remember a time that the three of them had been together that they hadn’t had her smiling like a loon.
Of course, Luke was right there in the middle of it all. Not only did he look like he fit in, but he sounded and acted a lot like her brothers as they joked with her Aunt Julie and her father about one thing or another.
“You really didn’t do that, did you?” he asked, looking over at her. She’d lost track of their conversation minutes before when she’d been transfixed by the way Luke was smiling. He looked like he was really enjoying himself.
“What?” She felt her breathing quicken and quickly took a sip of her wine to cover the anxiety.
He leaned closer to her, his smile getting bigger. “Run from here to the middle of town, wearing nothing but a hula skirt and coconuts.”
She glared at her brothers then closed her eyes, remembering. “Yes, but it wasn’t my fault,” she said as everyone burst into laughter. “They locked me out of the house and bet me that they would do all my chores and be my own personal slaves for a whole month if I did it.” She tried not to laugh. She’d been thirteen and had just enough pride to not want to lose a bet. She smiled, remembering seeing her brothers do her every bidding. They’d been great sports about it, and since they and Marissa had followed her the entire way, they had a wonderful picture of the five of them standing in front of town hall, her brothers’ arms around her shoulders as she wore the hula skirt and coconuts from her school play.
The rest of the evening went very well. She tried not to stare at Luke and kept her heart hidden from her family, as usual.
As they were sitting around the fire in the living room, watching a football game, Luke’s cell phone rang. She watched him flip it out and frown down at it, and then he stood and excused himself.