“‘Kay. Well, I need to finish getting ready for church, but I love you and I’m here for you. Reach out if you need me, Luce Goose.”
“Love you, Hads. Thanks.” I hang up and toss the phone aside.
Finally feeling like I can breathe a little, I thank God for such a wonderful best friend. It’s funny that I can actively thank Him or pray to Him when it’s on someone else’s behalf. I make a mental note to see her as soon as I get back to Juniper Grove and tell her everything. Even if I don’t tell Lorelei I’m fake dating Stone, I can tell Hadley. She will understand me. I think.
She’s got her life together, now, Lucy. She’s not the troubled one in the friend group anymore. You are.
I dismiss the thoughts even as they continue to ring true and make perfect sense to me. Maybe I won’t tell her it was a ruse, after all. Besides, it’ll be over once we leave here. I can tell her I broke up with him because of the struggle I’m having. Yeah, that’s believable.
Shaking my entire body as if it will free me from the tingling energy coursing through me, I blow out a breath of air and stare at my disheveled hair and fired-up, puffy eyes in the stand-up mirror across from the bed. My chest aches with each breath, a constant reminder of the kind of man Stone actually is—one that saves lives. And forces me to go to the hospital even when I don’t want to. And takes care of me all evening long by turning on rom-coms and watching them with me, getting me food when I ask, and whipping up delicious hot chocolate simply because I spoke an off-hand thought stating I wanted it. “Okay. We are going to go to the bathroom and wash our face and put on our makeup andforget this dream—or yesterday—ever occurred, okay, Lucy girl? We’ve got this.”
Not even remotely confident in my self-talk, I trudge out into the hallway, lifting a silent, unbelieving prayer that I do not run into Stone until I’ve had time to cool myself down. The Lord must be listening because I get through my makeup routine, brush my teeth, fix my hair, and make it back to the bedroom without even a peep from Stone or sounds of movement from within his room across from the bathroom.
I descend the stairs after putting on my jewelry and join Marian and Brother Johnny at the breakfast table. “Where’s Stone?” I casually ask, willing my face not to heat.
“He’s getting ready in our bathroom,” Brother Johnny, who is dressed in a suit, says after he pours me a cup of black coffee. “Cream and sugar?”
“Yes, please.” It’s definitely a sweet coffee kind of day. I mix the cream and sugar into my coffee, watching as the blackness turns to a medium brown. It’s soothing, and I begin to feel my shoulders relax.
Right on cue, I hear a door open down the way from the kitchen, and then Stone appears with perfectly styled-back hair wearing those ridiculously hot khaki slim-fit pants with a fitted purple polo tucked in. The lavender color matches my sundress, and we truly look like we are a couple doing the absolute most to sport our coupleness.
“You two have to let me take your picture,” Marian pipes up, standing up from her chair and smoothing down her brown skirtwith shaky hands. “Actually, Johnny. Can you take it for me? I don’t want it to come out blurry.”
“Sure can, sweetie. Hand me your phone.”
Stone walks up to me wearing that stupid sensual smirk of his, and my body riots to be touched by him. He holds out his hand, which I have no choice but to take.Ah, the awfulness…The moment my skin touches his rough hands, the dream I’ve worked so hard all morning to repress comes back with a valiant roar. “You look beautiful, my little lion.”
Flashes of him whispering that nickname into my ear as he nibbled on my lobe guts me.
How?!
How do I go to church when these awful, horrid thoughts that stem from my imagination blended with a morsel of real life keep popping into my head as a reminder of how shameful I can be?
Jesus, please…. Help me take these thoughts captive. I’m trying. Where are You?
“Lucy, hon. Are you okay? You look sick.” Marian limps towards me, and I make a note to ask Stone about that later. I’m assuming it has to do with her rheumatoid arthritis. She places the back of her hand to my forehead. “Hm. You’re a little warm. Let’s take your temperature.”
“Oh, I’m fine, Marian. Please don’t worry yourself.”
Skepticism etches across her face. “Are you sure?”
I nod, and she relents. “Well, get their picture, honey.” She playfully elbows Brother Johnny as Stone casually slips his arm around my waist and tucks me into his side. As if the action issecond nature, I wrap my arm around his back, turn into him, and bring my left hand to rest flat against his chest.
Brother Johnny takes a few pictures, and when he shows them to me, I’m speechless.
We lookgoodtogether.
Like really good.
The perfect rom-com pairing type of good.
“Send those to me, will ya?” Stone says, patting Brother Johnny on his back. Then he sits down at the table, and we all have an innocent breakfast as if my thoughts don’t keep bouncing between imagining pleasurable sins and guilty shame at how hard it is to control my thoughts. Though as the time wears on, I slowly gain control, thinking of everything else under the sun.
I assist Marian in cleaning up the dishes from the table while Stone quickly washes them. When everything is put away, Brother Johnny asks if me and Stone will be riding with him and Marian.
Stone replies that he has other transportation plans for us then takes my hand and leads us outside.
He opens the back door of his truck, and I walk around to hop in the passenger seat, ready to get out of the humid morning heat, but he stops me.
