“Lucas made them for dessert,” I tell her. She starts to reach for the platter.
“Hands first,” I remind her, surprising myself by how naturally the words come.
Hazel grins and spins toward the sink. “You sound just like Sophia now!” She returns with clean hands and eyes the strawberries with undisguised longing.
“One,” I tell her, unable to resist that hopeful face. “The rest are for after dinner.”
She selects the largest one with careful deliberation. “Dad wants to know if the table should be set outside because it’s nice or inside because it might get cold.”
“Outside,” Sophia decides. “We’ll use the heaters if it gets too cool. Want to help Jess take these plates out?”
“Yes!” Hazel announces, with a smudge of chocolate already on her chin. “I’ll take the small plates. I’m not allowed to carry the big ones since ‘The Incident.’”
“The Incident?” I ask, gathering silverware.
“I may have done a twirl while carrying Dad’s favorite serving dish,” she explains with a dramatic sigh. “There were many pieces. Much sadness.”
I laugh, following her toward the patio. “I’ve broken my share of dishes, too.”
“Really?” Her eyes light up. “Did you get in trouble?”
“Well, not since I was about your age,” I admit.
She nods sagely. “Grown-ups get away with everything.”
As we step outside, Lucas looks up from his conversation with Grant, and his expression immediately softens when he sees me. He looks at me like I’m something precious he can’t quite believe is real, and it makes my stomachflip.
“Lucas!” Hazel announces. “Jess said you made these amazing strawberries, and I already ate one, and it was perfect!”
“My secret talents are revealed,” he says, coming over to help with the plates. Our fingers brush as he takes them from me, and even that small contact sends warmth up my arm.
“You guys look at each other like people in the movies,” Hazel observes, setting down forks with surprising precision. “Like when the music gets all swoopy and everything else goes blurry.”
Grant chokes on his beer while Sophia unsuccessfully tries to hide her smile.
“Out of the mouths of babes,” Grant murmurs.
Lucas and I exchange glances, embarrassed but amused.
“Kids,” I say with a dismissive laugh that doesn’t quite land.
“Say more things, Hazel,” Sophia encourages with a mischievous glint in her eye. “What else have you noticed about Lucas and Jess?”
“Sophia,” Hazel says, sighing with the exasperation only a seven-year-old can muster. “You’re being obvious again.”
This breaks the tension, and we all laugh as we settle around the table. Under the guise of reaching for the salt, Lucas’s hand finds mine and squeezes it briefly.
“Swoopy music, huh?” he whispers.
“Ridiculous,” I whisper back, but I can’t stop smiling.
thirty
. . .
Lucas
As the privateelevator to the owner’s box rises smoothly, my stomach does the opposite. Jess glances at me, and her lips quirk into a smile.
