Chapter Seventeen
Several days had passed since Luke and Stella made their relationship official. They’d seen each other every single day in the interim, meeting up for lunches, walks at the marina, and clamming at Blackberry Beach. Today was a beautiful day to celebrate the Fourth of July. Temperatures were set to soar into the high eighties today with no rain in the evening forecast. It boded well for a spectacular fireworks display. On several occasions when Luke was a kid the fireworks had been cancelled due to inclement weather. He still remembered the disappointment he and Nick felt every time the announcement had been made. Luke would bet not a single kid in Mistletoe would be let down this year.
He was in the middle of making a batch of cookies to bring over to Stella’s house. He wasn’t much of a baker, but it was almost impossible to mess up chocolate chip cookies. Or so Kara had always told him. Just making these brought her to mind—his beautiful, fun-loving, sarcastic sister-in-law. A true sister of the heart. Yet another devastating loss he’d endured. He wasn’t sure he’d ever fully processed it. Right after the funeral he’d flown back to Afghanistan and plunged himself into life-and-death missions. Just as he’d done with most of the emotions he hadn’t been able to face, Luke had stuffed them down into a big black hole. Problem was, they kept rearing up when he least expected it.
A knock sounded on the front door and Luke went to answer it. He didn’t have time for a social call, so he hoped it wasn’t anybody looking for him. Unfortunately, there were still a few women in town who hadn’t gotten the message that he wasn’t available. At least now he didn’t have to pretend to be coupled up. The reality of his newfound situation caused him to grin like he’d just won the lottery.
When he pulled the door open, a young girl—no more than ten or eleven years old—was standing at Nick’s doorstep. Her big brown eyes were the color of mahogany while her old-fashioned pigtails hung past her shoulder. She was adorable.
“Hey there, short stuff. Miles isn’t at home. He won’t be back for a half hour or so,” Luke said, glancing at his watch. “Maybe you can give him a call later.”
“I’m not here to see Miles,” the girl said, brushing past him to enter the house.
“Hey. Wait a minute,” he called out. This kid was pushy. “Where do you think you’re going?”
What was it with kids these days? The voice in his head sounded exactly like his father. It made Luke feel old. Pretty soon he’d be wearing comfortable shoes and suspenders.
The little girl turned toward him. “I’m Tess. Stella’s sister.” She stuck out her hand. Taken aback, Luke took a few moments to reach out and shake her hand. He’d heard all about Tess. But what was she doing here?
“I’m here to talk to you, Luke. But before we chat, I’d like to thank you for your service to this country, especially today of all days.” She bowed her head in his direction.
“Umm. You’re very welcome,” he stammered. He’d never had anyone bow to him, let alone a child. Tess was a bit unnerving. He couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so flummoxed by someone her age. Stella had told him stories about her precocious little sister. He was well aware that she wasn’t your average run-of-the-mill kid. At this very moment she might be plotting world domination.
“Can we sit down?” Tess asked. “I wouldn’t complain if you offered me a glass of ice-cold water.” He felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Tess was something else. He could easily imagine her being a CEO or a high-powered attorney. She was definitely going to run the world.
“Sure thing. Let’s head toward the kitchen,” Luke said, leading the way down the hall. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out what had brought Stella’s little sister in search of him.
“Make yourself comfortable,” he said, gesturing toward the kitchen table.
Once they were both seated and settled with ice-cold waters in front of them, Luke decided to get down to brass tacks. “So, Tess, what brings you here?”
“I wanted to talk to you about my sister.” She crossed her hands in front of her and met his gaze head-on. “What are your intentions?”
Luke sputtered on his water, sending liquid all over the table. “My what?” he asked, his voice incredulous. Was he being pranked? Maybe Stella was hiding outside in the bushes waiting to jump out at him and say “Gotcha.”
“Intentions.” Tess repeated the word for him. “Stella has already had her heart smashed to kingdom come by a good-looking, sweet-talking man like yourself.”
“Thanks. I think,” he muttered. He took a long swig of his water. Something told him he would need it to sustain himself.
“I’m here to warn you not to go down that road with Stella.” Tess’s tone was steely.
Luke frowned. “You’re warning me?”
“Yes,” Tess said, her chin quivering ever so slightly. He suddenly realized that she wasn’t quite as tough as she liked to project. At the end of the day, she was still ten years old. And at the moment she appeared quite vulnerable.Go easy on her, he reminded himself.She’s protecting Stella.
“If you’re not in this for the right reasons, then you should just walk away.” A sheen of tears glistened in Tess’s eyes. “My sister has a ginormous heart and she deserves to be happy. I think she likes you a lot. And I hope that you like her too.”
“I do, Tess. I really do.” It was a big step for him to say it out loud.
Tess looked up at him with hope etched on her face. “So you’re not going to do anything to hurt her, are you? Promise me.”
“I don’teverwant to do anything to hurt Stella.”
“So you’re not going to promise me?” His heart broke a little at the crestfallen expression stamped on her face.
“I can’t make a promise like that, Tess. No one can. It would be a lie. The last thing I want to do is lie to you.” He splayed his hands on the table, searching for the right words. “Sometimes things happen in relationships and even if two people want the very best it doesn’t work out in their favor.”
Tess buried her face in her glass as she took huge sips. When she finally lifted her head up and put her glass down, she said, “Stella is amazing and from what I’ve been hearing around town, so are you. She’s the type of big sister who doesn’t just tell me what I want to hear. Everything she tells me and does for me is for my own good. She gives to everyone in our family and never asks for anything in return. I want Stella to have the same happy ending that Lucy got.”
