Stella stood back as Lucy and Dante shared a tender reunion.
This is what she hoped to find one day. A man who would love her like nobody’s business. Dante regularly traveled from his home in Los Angeles to Maine in order to see Lucy and help out with their wedding plans. It was achingly romantic to see Lucy swept up in Dante’s arms. She couldn’t think of a single person who deserved a happy ending more than Lucy. Even though she was a bit worried that her sister would no longer have time for their impromptu meetups, movie nights, and road trips once she was Mrs. Dante West, Stella had been cheering the duo on since their Christmas engagement. The moment Stella knew for certain Dante was serious about a future with Lucy, Stella had been all in.
For the first time it hit her that she hadn’t had this with Rafe. He’d never looked at her the way Dante was staring at Lucy. And she wasn’t sure she’d ever lit up in Rafe’s presence as Lucy did right now. Once she was able to process the thought, it felt like she’d been kicked in the gut. All this time she’d been mourning the loss of something that hadn’t even existed. She started taking slow, soothing breaths to calm herself down.
Finally, she was taking steps to move on. Entering into a fake relationship with Luke would give Stella time to center herself without being pushed and prodded to date someone she wasn’t interested in. And it would keep all the town matchmakers from trying to work their magic by fixing her up with a random dude who didn’t make her weak in the knees. Sure, there would be wagging tongues about her and Luke, but unlike before, this time she could take the heat. Her feelings weren’t on the line with Luke. She wasn’t reeling from a fiancé’s betrayal.
Stella was stronger now, and she was determined to take her life into her own hands. That was the only way to successfully step into her future and put the past in her rearview mirror.
Chapter Eleven
No pain, no gain.Whoever had come up with that stupid motto must’ve been a masochist, Luke reckoned. If his leg pain was any indication, he was gaining at a rapid pace that just might kill him. Problem was, his body was now refusing to cooperate. He felt his leg buckle underneath him right before he fell to the sand. He let out a strangled cry. Luke pressed his eyes closed as waves of pain crashed over him. Now he knew what it felt like to be seeing stars. Panic set in when he realized his leg had locked up on him.
“Luke. You’re hurt.” He wasn’t sure if the throbbing sensations were messing with him, but he heard Stella’s honeyed voice saying his name. When he opened his eyes, she was standing over him with Coco Chanel at her side. Coco Chanel began enthusiastically licking his face, which under the circumstances actually felt comforting. “What happened? Can you get up?” Stella asked as she reined Coco Chanel in on her leash.
“I might need a little help,” he admitted. Luke couldn’t believe he was in this situation. He’d always been in excellent physical shape, so it was a bit humiliating to find himself unable to stand up on his own accord. Anger flowed in his veins. His injury made him feel incredibly helpless, which was the same way he’d felt after the explosion. All of the training and discipline hadn’t mattered in the end. His body had still failed him.
Stella moved toward him, reaching for his arm as he tried to stand. Luke saw her eyes widen the moment she spotted the long, jagged scar on his leg where his bone and soft tissue injuries had been operated on. Clearly she hadn’t seen it the day he’d rescued Coco Chanel on the beach. He was able to make it to his feet by placing most of his weight on his good leg. Worry flared in her eyes, as well as a host of questions.
“It’s just a muscle spasm. It happens sometimes when I’m running.” At least that’s what he’d been telling anyone who asked. He let out an involuntary groan and bent over at the waist. “It flares up every now and again. I just need to walk it off,” he said, knowing full well he wasn’t telling the truth. The searing pain he was experiencing was from overuse, which his doctor had repeatedly warned him about. Like an idiot, he hadn’t listened. For so long he’d been trained to push through…to endure pain and hardships. It was extremely difficult to ignore the loud voice in his head telling him to keep pushing.
Stella made a face. “I’m no doctor, but I don’t think that’s going to work. You can’t make it back to Nick’s house on your own.”
“You’re probably right,” he begrudgingly admitted. “I’m going to have to call Nick and get a lecture about how I shouldn’t have been running in the first place.” Nick had questioned him about putting too much strain on his bad leg. Luke had been intent on proving that he was still in impeccable shape despite the injury that had led to his early retirement. The sad part was, he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else. His pride had landed him in this predicament.
“Or you could just come to my place and rest your leg for a bit. Maybe put some ice on it and take some Tylenol,” she suggested.
At the moment Stella’s suggestion sounded like heaven. Relief from this agony would be a lifesaver. When he didn’t respond right away, Stella leaned in and playfully hit him in the bicep. “Come on. I’m sure Patsy will be using her binoculars to spy on us. This will give us some street cred as a couple in Mistletoe.”
Luke nodded his head in a gesture of surrender. He was in no position to argue with Stella. It was either go back to her beach house or call for an ambulance. His pride wouldn’t accept ending up at the ER due to his own foolishness. Navy SEALs were nothing if not proud.
By the time they reached Stella’s place, Luke was exhausted and numb from pain. He had leaned on Stella the entire way and hopped on his good leg. It was as if his limb had reached its tolerance level and was now frozen. She quickly led him to a couch in her living room. With an abundance of gentleness, Stella helped him swing his legs onto the couch and placed a pillow under his right leg to elevate it. Luke could tell she sensed his agony because her movements were efficient and tender. Although Luke knew Stella was an amazing teacher due to his nephew constantly singing her praises, her Florence Nightingale skills showcased her nurturing side.
As she leaned over, her dark tresses brushed against the side of his face, filling his nostrils with the scent of roses. Her nearness caused butterflies to fly around in his stomach.Chill out, he warned himself. Stella was in the friend zone, courtesy of their arrangement. He needed to simply play his role and not catch any romantic feelings for her.
Once he was settled, Stella said, “Let me get you something cold to drink along with an ice bag. I’ll also scrounge up some pain relief pills. Not sure what I have in my medicine closet, but I know I’ve got something.”
“I’m not picky at the moment,” Luke said through clenched teeth. The pain was coming back now, and he reached out to massage his leg. The level of pain he was dealing with was off the charts.
“I’ll be right back,” Stella said, walking quickly out of the room and down the hall. He could hear the clinking of ice emanating from the kitchen as well as sounds of drawers opening and closing. He closed his eyes and tried to visualize something wonderful. An azure blue sea with pelican-pink sand. Chilling out in a hammock while an ocean breeze swept over him. A big juicy cheeseburger with all the trimmings. A smoldering kiss with a beautiful woman with mocha-colored skin and brown eyes he could get lost in.Stella.His eyes fluttered open. Whoa. He’d been fantasizing about his pretend girlfriend.
Stella was standing beside the couch, looking at him with her brows knitted together. She’d placed a tall glass of lemonade on the coffee table next to him. His mouth watered just looking at it. Beside it was a bottle of Tylenol and an ice pack.
“Here you go.” She handed him the drink and two pills. Luke took the pills and gulped them down with a large swig of lemonade. It felt cool and refreshing going down his throat. More and more, Stella was beginning to look like an angel. He took the ice pack from her and placed it on his leg, wincing from the cold. After a little bit he found he could tolerate the freeze of the ice pack because it was numbing his pain. A good tradeoff, he reckoned.
Stella sat down in a big comfy love seat. She was sipping on her own glass of lemonade as she gazed at him. “I don’t mean to pry, but that’s a pretty gnarly scar on your leg. Is that the source of your pain?”
“Yeah,” he said, pausing to take a long sip of his lemonade. He slowly placed the glass back down on the table, stalling a little bit so he could figure out what to say. It was still almost impossible for him to talk about the most nightmarish day of his life. He didn’t need a therapist to tell him he was still stuck in that horrific place in time when his world had imploded. But for some reason, he didn’t want to keep Stella in the dark. She’d been amazing during this crisis, and he felt an odd desire to answer her question.
“I know you’ve been through a lot, Luke. Nick didn’t go into detail, but I know you were injured in Afghanistan and that you received the Medal of Honor for your heroism.”
He cringed at the mention of the Medal of Honor. He wasn’t mad at Stella for bringing it up, but for some reason it was the one thing people seemed to remember or wanted to talk about. The medal had come about at a devastating cost—the loss of Kenneth and Aaron. He would trade it in a heartbeat to have his two friends back. If anyone asked he would tell them he was nobody’s hero. All he’d ever tried to do was uphold the creed of the Navy SEALs. With honor.
He looked off into the distance, focusing on the miles of beautiful blue ocean that stretched out as far as the eye could see. “My SEAL team was doing a routine mission which we’d performed hundreds of times. We came under attack unexpectedly. All of my intel as a team leader was wrong that day.” He ran a weary hand over his face. “To be honest, I don’t remember much after the blast. It pretty much knocked me out. When I came to there was fire and smoke and this awful burning smell. There are so many things I can’t recall about that day, but if I live to be one hundred, I’ll never forget that smell. And the screams…so many wounded, others well beyond help. I later found out that two of my men were killed in the blast.”
Stella gasped. “Oh, Luke. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that.”
He bowed his head so he didn’t have to make eye contact. It was easier this way to get out the words he wanted to say. “When I woke up in the hospital, I discovered I’d been operated on due to a bone injury in my leg. I’d lost a lot of blood, and if it hadn’t been for my fast arrival at the hospital, I might have lost my leg.” He let out a brittle laugh. “At times I begged for them to take it because the pain was excruciating. It wasn’t until I arrived stateside at Walter Reed that I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I spent months learning to walk again, being operated on, and healing my bone injury.”
