“Sure, but working in the kitchen is hard on his back too. He’d never complain about it, but he sits down to rest whenever he can.”
“And then he gets back up and finishes?”
He nodded.
“So you’re looking out for him.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Of course. I hate to think of him hurting all the time.”
“I agree, but what if you think of it like he might be hurting in other ways besides just physical?”
“I can’t help his emotional pain, and he won’t see a therapist about it. I tried several times.”
“Your intentions are admirable.”
He raised his brows as if waiting for me to say more.
“Your goal is to help him, but what if cooking and caring for Addie are the purposes that keep him getting out of bed in the morning?”
“Maybe they are, but if he doesn’t take care of his physical body, he won’t be able to cook or look after Addie or get out of bed at all. Then where will we be?”
I took both his hands. “Luke, you’re a problem-solver. A fixer. Even back in high school, you wanted to help me find volunteer opportunities to show people I wasn’t so mean.”
He smiled. “Problem-solving is what I do. It’s how I’m wired.”
“And I love that about you. It’s a wonderful trait to have. But this thing with your dad, it’s not just about you, you know? Maybe this is one of the times when you have to reel yourself in and let him do what he needs to do. Cooking but not farming.”
“Maybe,” he said with a shrug.
“Will you think about it?” I asked.
He peered down at me, his eyes sparking with heat even as he said, “I’ll think about it.” Then he kissed me.
When we came up for air, I said, “Nice diversion tactic.”
“I thought so.” We kissed a few more times. Then he said, “How about if I follow your pretty little rear end to your apartment and divert you for hours? How’s that for problem solving?”
My body responded with a telling ache deep inside. “In my opinion, that’s the very best kind.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Magnolia
I guess you could say Luke and I had officially gone public with our relationship tonight.
“That was like a who’s who of Dragonfly Lake,” Luke said happily as we walked from Humble’s Pizza to my business.
“I’ve never seen it so crowded.” Ava, Cash, and Bronte were there with Holden, Chloe, and Sutton. Anna, Maeve, and Olivia had been sitting at the bar. Ben, Emerson, and their four kids had been in the large corner booth. We’d known more than half the customers, and we’d made it no secret that Luke and I were together.
“Buy-one-get-one pie night is a success, I’d say.” Luke’s arm was around me, his heat welcome in the cold December air.
He’d come over almost every night since Thanksgiving so we could spend a few hours together. He made a point of sleeping at home though, not wanting Addie to need him in the middle of the night and find him gone. He was burning the candle at both ends between tree season, the last projects on the barn, and spending time with his daughter. As much as I loved our time together, I’d told him I didn’t want him to feel obligated to come over. He’d said our hours together were his favorite part of the day. Based on the fact we spent almost all those hours in my bed, I tended to believe him. The sex between us was incomparable to anything in my past, and he claimed the same.
Our hours together weren’t just about the physical stuff. That was just where we started and often where we ended a night together. In between, we talked, we laughed, sometimes we cooked or baked a snack. He told me about his day-to-day. I shared what was going on in my business and life. So far we seemed to connect on a level I’d never known was possible. Did I worry that it was too good to be true? As much as I tried to just enjoy it, I couldn’t deny it was hard for me to believe this was my life, and I was this lucky.
“So what the hell do you think your mom wants?” he asked me as we passed Earthly Charm. Though they were closed, the lights in the back room were on, telling me Cambria was probably making more candles in preparation for their upcoming open house and Presley’s wedding.
“I’ve been asking myself that since she texted this morning. I have no idea. Maybe an update on her health?” I’d tried to get more information from her, but she’d told me she didn’t want to discuss it through texts.
