Then, suspiciously, “How do I know it’s you?”
I smiled to myself. Nyah was doing something right. “Who else knows your favourite restaurant is Uncle Lucy’s Diner?”
Lucas giggled. “Everybody knows that.”
“Okay,” I said. “Then ask me how I like my eggs.”
“How do you like your eggs?”
“Fried. With lots of bacon. And hash browns.”
The door opened.
Lucas beamed up at me. “But only if somebody else is cooking, right?”
“Right,” I said, ruffling his hair. “Good work checking who’s at the door. Can I come in?”
He stepped aside, eyeing the bag in my hand. “What’s for dinner?”
“This is going to sound serendipitous,” I said, walking into the kitchen and setting the bag down, “but it’s chicken Caesar salad.”
His face fell instantly. “Salad?”
“Yeah,” I said quickly. “But it has bacon and eggs in it. And cheese. And croutons?—”
“And chicken?”
“Yes,” I said. “And chicken.” I peeled the lid off the container and tilted it so he could see. “Looks good, don’t you think?”
He rose on his toes, still skeptical, eyes narrowed at the sea of green. “What’s the white stuff?”
“That’s the dressing. Do you like ranch?”
His whole face lit up. “I love ranch.”
“It’s like that,” I said. “Except better. Want to get out some bowls?”
Lucas grabbed three. “We’d better leave some for Mama,” he said seriously. “She loves ranch more than me.”
I smiled, but my eyes drifted to the clock.
It was after seven.
I wondered how long Nyah had been asleep.
Lunch with Harper and Daria had clearly taken a toll on her. I’d seen it in her eyes when we returned to the office. And something had been bothering her even before that.
A nap probably helped. At least I hoped it had.
I had hoped she would accept my offer of a walk along the waterfront that afternoon. The idea had come to me while Daria was enthusiastically preaching about marriage. After Nyah saw her ex—after she got whatever closure she needed—I wanted to finally tell her how I felt.
Tell her again, technically.
I had already said it at lunch… or at least pretended to. Or pretended to pretend.
Somewhere along the way, spending time with her and Lucas hadstarted to feel essential to me. Being with them filled something in me I hadn’t even realized was missing.
I loved Lucas. That much was undeniable.
