‘I don’t know why you girls are always attracted to the bad boys. Rachel keeps telling me it’s a typical romance trope. What is it about them? Do you really think they will change for you?’
‘You can’t simplify it like that, Luc. Life isn’t like one of Rachel’s crappy books. We love who we love.’
‘Yeah, well I don’t understand it.’
‘Maybe if you stopped walking around looking like someone has peed in your coffee, you might be able to open your mind to other people’s opinions.’
He opened his mouth, shocked by Mia’s outburst. He wanted to say something sharp and cruel about the man who dared hurt his sister, but then he saw Mia’s face. It was so pale and vulnerable. The last thing she needed was more negativity from him. He realized, perhaps a bit too late, that he had once again gone too far.
‘Come here,’ he said instead.
Mia folded into his arms. Lucas tried to remember the last time he had held his little sister this close. It had probably been the night their mom had died. They had clung to each other for hours then.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t have gone on like that. I was just angry that idiot had done that to you.’
‘I’m sorry too,’ Mia muttered back. ‘But it is true. You do look like someone has peed in your coffee.’
‘Maybe I need a new coffee brand,’ he said back, smiling into her hair.
‘Maybe you need to drink matcha instead,’ she teased.
He squeezed her. He knew she was pushing him a little, but he didn’t mind. That was Mia’s way. She loved to give him a hard time.
‘It’ll be OK,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m glad you came home. I kind of need you here.’
‘I’m glad too,’ she whispered back. ‘We can look after each other.’
Later, just before opening again, Janice arrived and asked to see Lucas’s recipes for Saturday’s planned celebration of life on the second anniversary of Mel’s death. Lucas had them out already for her. Mia sat with them as they went through them together.
‘I want to serve Mom’s Easter meatloaf,’ he said. ‘It was always popular and this is her special dish. I found her recipe in the apartment.’
Mia picked up the old, beaten-up cookbook and read the marked page. ‘The words are worn; she used it so much. I loved this dish. It had so much flavor.’
‘I only hope I do it justice,’ Lucas muttered. ‘I’ve been avoiding doing the dishes she was known for.’
Janice gently squeezed his hand. ‘You’re a wonderful cook, Lucas. You need to have more faith in yourself.’
‘And I can’t wait to try Mom’s blueberry cheesecake again.’ Mia smiled. ‘Just thinking about it is making my mouth water.’
‘Are you going to tell Willow about it?’ Janice asked. ‘Maybe she can help promote the day alongside her matcha wagon.’
Lucas thought about how badly things had ended up with Willow earlier that day. Willow had made it clear she would be calling Jake later. It was obvious he didn’t really matter to her.
What he needed was distance and lots of it.
‘I don’t need her help,’ he said firmly. ‘I need to do this on my own.’
Chapter 23
Willow
The days had passed quickly, and Willow knew she needed to focus on her business, but her mind was on two things. The first – Lucas – was very self-explanatory. Things between them had gotten pretty hot, but yet again, he seemed to be ignoring her. She had popped into The Diner a few times, hoping to have a chat, but each time Lucas was too busy or distracted and he couldn’t maintain eye contact with her.
He clearly regretted what had happened between them and he just couldn’t bring himself to tell her. All she wanted to do was talk things over with him, but he obviously didn’t want to be anywhere near her and was doing everything he could to avoid her.
She was getting really sick of this hot-and-cold treatment!
On top of that, Jake had called last night with his latest news.
