Her smile was radiant. “I’m so glad you did. Still, there are several things here that belonged to your mother, Lucas, and a few of Dad’s personal belongings. If any of them have any sentimental value for you, you’re welcome to whatever you want.”
Her generosity touched him. She didn’t owe him anything. She had every reason to be angry with him. But if she was, she hid it well.
“I don’t want anything,” he said quietly. “Knowing you’re well and happy is all I’d hoped to gain.”
“I’m happy,” she assured him again.
He quickly changed the subject, finding talk of inheritances uncomfortable. “So, when are you two getting married?”
“We had hoped to be married before Christmas, but Wade’s been so busy as police chief that we had to put it off until New Year’s Eve. Now I think we were meant to wait for you. Please say you can stay for my wedding, Lucas.”
Lucas frowned at the news that Wade Davenport was Honoria’s chief of police. He’d assumed the guy was just a cop. “I wasn’t really planning to stay that long.”
He saw disappointment darken her eyes, but she managed to hold on to her smile. “All right, I won’t press. But if you decide to stay, Wade and I would love for you to be there.”
Lucas thought she might well change he
r mind about that once she’d had a chance to think about it. Why would she want him at the wedding, where the guests would more likely be staring at him than at the bride? He hadn’t forgotten the way the people of this town had looked at him. The way they’d condemned him with disdainful glances and vicious whispers.
He had not returned to Honoria to ruin his sister’s wedding. He would hang around a day or two to make sure everything really was okay, and then he’d take off again.
“You’ll at least stay for Christmas, won’t you?” Emily’s expression had turned pleading. “It would mean so much to me, Lucas. I’ve missed you.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me,” he said, more gruffly than he’d intended. “I left you to deal with all the baggage I left behind.”
She met his gaze steadily. “I’ve been angry with you at times—maybe I still am, a little—but I’ve never hated you, Lucas. Even at eleven, I understood why you had to go. I didn’t really blame you then, and I don’t now. But I don’t want to lose you again so soon, now that you’ve come back. Please say you’ll stay for Christmas. It’s only a few days away.”
Hell. If it meant that much to her, he guessed he would have to stay. He supposed he owed her that much, at least.
“I’ll stay for Christmas,” he said. “If you’re sure you want me to.”
She beamed at the victory. “Oh, this is wonderful. I have my brother home for Christmas, and I’m only two weeks away from marrying the man I love. I’ve never been happier.”
The two men responsible for her elation gave each other long, measuring looks.
After a moment, Wade glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late. Clay and I have to get going. Er...where were you planning to stay, Lucas?”
“I’ll probably get a room in one of those new motels west of town.”
“You’ll do no such thing.” Emily spoke with a new determination. “You’ll stay here, in the house where you grew up. This is still your home, too, Lucas.”
Wade cleared his throat. “Um, technically....”
She rounded on him. “Don’t even try to make me rescind my invitation. He’s my brother, Wade. Would you make your sister stay in a tacky motel?”
“You haven’t seen your brother since you were a child,” Wade retorted. “I’m just saying I think it would be better if...”
“You might have noticed that on this particular point, I didn’t ask what you think.”
Lucas grimaced. Great. Now he’d caused a quarrel between his sister and her fiancé. He really should have just ignored that inexplicable impulse to return to Honoria. “I’ll stay in the motel. I really don’t mind.”
Emily glared at him. “I mind. What kind of Southern hospitality is it when family has to stay in a motel? And at Christmas, too!”
She was just getting warmed up. “Grandmother McBride would be spinning in her grave. Aunt Bobbie and Uncle Caleb would probably come after you and insist that you stay with them if your own sister turned you out on the streets. As big as this house is, with all these empty bedrooms just waiting to be used, why in the world would I send my brother to a cold, impersonal motel room?”
Both Lucas and Wade were smiling ruefully by the time Emily ran out of breath. Clay was watching in wide-eyed fascination.
Lucas looked at Wade and spoke before she started again. “I think I’ve gotta stay here.”