I let out an exasperated sigh and mumbled, “Good ol’ Dad.”
His smile faded, and he looked at his watch. “Listen, I wish I could stay and talk to you now, but I need to get going. Lunch around two?”
Ignoring the way my heart betrayed me with a little flutter of anticipation, I replied, “Sure. That works. I’ll meet you at the front desk.”
A brilliant smile appeared on his handsome face, and I couldn’t help but notice those dark eyes of his sparkling with something that looked like hope. “See you then, Bree.”
He slipped into the car, started it, then pulled away while I stayed rooted in the same spot until I could no longer see the car. All I could do now was pray that I wasn’t opening myself up for more hurt.
I braced myself as I headed back toward the house and slowly made my way up the front steps. Quietly, I opened the door and stepped in. I could hear my mother and father in the kitchen cleaning up, and I tried to decide if I should turn and leave or help them. MaryLou wasn’t here this morning, so I knew my mother needed the help.
“Chicken,” I whispered as I walked into the dining room, grabbed some things off the table, and headed into the kitchen.
“Do you need me to make anything for dinner tonight before I head out for a run?” I asked, keeping my back to them both while I walked over to the sink. When neither of them said anything, I slowly turned around.
Two sets of narrowed eyes stared back at me. My father had his arms folded across his chest, and my mother looked like she wanted to be excited, but wasn’t hatching her chickens quite yet.
“How about you tell us why you lied and told Luke you were dating Kyle?” my father said. “And while you’re at it, fill us in on how, exactly, you know Mr. Luke Walters.”
I swallowed hard and glanced at the doorway that led out of the kitchen.
Mom laughed. “Don’t even think of running, Brighton.”
With a defeated sigh, I said, “For starters, his name is Luke Morrison. And we dated for over a year.”
My mother clutched at her chest. “Ron, get the whiskey.”
He snapped his head around and looked at her. “It’s eight in the morning, Joanne.”
She sank down in a chair. “Trust me, I’m going to need it.”
Luke
“Why are you nervous?” I asked myself as I looked in the full-length mirror that hung on the wall in my room.
I ran my fingers through my hair, drew in a deep breath, and steeled myself for what Bree was going to say. The fact that she’d agreed to have lunch with me was huge. She could have told me to go fuck myself, which I had honestly expected her to do the moment she saw me.
Instead, I saw something in those beautiful light-brown eyes of hers. She might have acted upset to see me, but I was sure I saw a little spark of something there. And I saw it again this morning, when she came after me before I left. The Brighton Rogers I knew would never stand there and wring her hands nervously. I hated that I was the reason for that. That it was because of me she’d left her career and her life in Boston behind.
The alarm on my phone went off, alerting me that I had two minutes to get down to the desk to meet up with Bree. I grabbed my phone and gave myself another quick look, then shrugged. I had on jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt. Bree had sent me a text informing me to dress casually. I wasn’t sure how this would go, but I knew one thing: I wasn’t going to walk away from her again. No matter how many times she told me to. I loved Brighton Rogers, and I would do whatever it took to prove that to her.
When I reached for the doorknob, I noticed my hand shaking slightly. I closed my eyes, counted to ten, then opened the door.
As I made my way down the steps, I could hear Bree’s sweet voice floating up. She was speaking to a guest about popular hiking trails around the Boggy Creek Valley. I couldn’t ignore the way my heartbeat picked up the closer I drew to the bottom of the stairs.
“It’ll be a beautiful hike, I promise. Just make sure you stay on the trail and don’t wander off. It’s easy to get twisted around.”
“Thank you so much, Brighton!” the young woman said as she waved and bounced down the front steps behind two other girls.
Brighton shut the door, then turned around and saw me. She still had a smile on her face, and I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t fade away when she noticed me. Admittedly, it wasn’t as bright as when she’d first turned around, but at least she wasn’t shooting daggers at me with her eyes.