Love Blooms

by Jo McNally

  He headed downstairs, whistling to himself. She thought he was irresistible. He frowned. She thought it could have been scripted. It wasn’t. Last night had nothing to do with that dumb app on his phone. But Be her hero was on the list. Intentional or not, that’s what he’d done. And it had worked. He had a hunch Lucy wouldn’t see that as a good thing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “GU-U-R-R-L...” PIPER SCANNED Lucy from head to toe. “Hot sex with your ex looks good on you.”

  Piper and Lucy were in the lobby of the Taggart Inn, waiting on Logan and Owen, who were checking on Piper’s kids one last time. Teenage Ethan was babysitting, and Logan wanted to make sure the boy knew there’d be consequences if any of his pals showed up to play video games.

  The two couples were headed up to Falls Legend Winery for a cookout. Lucy made a face, but she turned toward the big antique mirror anyway.

  “I don’t think I look any different than I did a few weeks ago. Just less pink.” Her hair was less choppy, too, thanks to a trip to Suzy’s Clip & Snip. It fell in soft layers to her shoulders. She’d lost a few stress pounds since her arrival in Rendezvous Falls, but they were beginning to come back now that she had Owen preparing meals every night. That had happened as naturally as the sun rising and setting. He’d spent every night at her house since the storm. It felt so...easy. Like when they first fell in love. They laughed. They talked about everything. Except the future.

  She studied her reflection. She was wearing a short yellow sundress and flat sandals. Nothing special. And yet...she did look different. More at peace. More confident. Like a woman in love.

  Piper’s reflection appeared in the mirror behind her. “I guess I technically can’t call it ‘hot sex with an ex’ if that ex is living with you. Pretty sure that means he’s no longer an ex.” Piper winked. “But still—hot sex looks good on you.”

  “Hell yeah it does.” Owen’s deep voice came from the doorway.

  Lucy covered her face with her hands with a squeal of horror.

  “Hey, mister—” Piper pointed a finger at him “—no eavesdropping! You men have big enough egos.”

  He walked over to Lucy, pulling her hands down from her face to give her a swift kiss. “Have you been telling your friends about our hot sex, baby? Do you want me to fill them in?”

  “No!” She swatted his shoulder. His rock-solid shoulder. Her skin began to heat. Damn if that didn’t happen every time the man got close. The chemistry wasn’t complicated. Match. Flint. Fire.

  In the past ten days that formula had proven to be very reliable. All he had to do was touch her. Or laugh at something. Or walk by on his way out the door to go for a run. Spontaneous combustion. They’d managed to christen every room in the house, except maybe the downstairs bathroom...no, that wasn’t true. He’d pulled her in there the other afternoon, while Connie, Cecile and Iris were sitting on the back deck after having lunch with them. The older ladies were laughing over tea while Owen had set her on the sink and dropped to his knees on the bathroom floor...

  His fingers brushed her cheeks. “Why are you blushing, Lucy?” His voice was teasing and suggestive.

  “Okay, that’s enough!” Piper pushed both of them toward the door. “Logan’s waiting in the car and we need to go.”

  * * *

  THE FIVE COUPLES—Luke and Whitney, Evie and Mark, Finn and Bridget, Logan and Piper and Owen and Lucy—gathered their chairs around the fire pit after an amazing meal of grilled steaks and potatoes baked in foil right on the coals of the grill. After they’d cleared the outdoor tables and shut down the grill, Whitney brought out slices of rum cake that her aunt, Helen, had made for them. The wine and beer had flowed as easily as the conversation had, but the drivers in the group were now sipping glasses of iced coffee or cider. Soft music played from a Bluetooth speaker on the porch behind them.

  Owen reached over and took her hand.

  “This is nice.”

  She nodded, her heart suddenly too full of emotion to speak. She glanced around at their friends, who were laughing and talking over each other as they shared stories and argued and gestured with their hands. It was chaos. And it was home. They were part of something—part of this circle of people.

  “We’ve never really had this.” She’d leaned toward him, her words low. His forehead wrinkled in confusion, so she explained. “Think about it. You had your Army pals, and once in a while we hung out with them, but they were yours. I had a few friends, and you knew them, but they were mine. We each had our families, for better or worse.” He nodded at that. “But these people are...ours.”

  He looked around the fire and nodded. “They’re good people.”

  She was quiet, her head almost hurting from the feeling of answers falling into place. Then she sat up abruptly, turning to face him.

  “We were always each other’s escape. Think about it—we both had so many obligations and people relying on us that we had to steal time together. When we spent a weekend at the beach, we were both so relieved to be away from our families and our jobs.”

  He was frowning again now. “Is that a bad thing?”

  “I don’t know, but I think...maybe? What we had in common was our desire to escape. Maybe that’s why we didn’t have a full connection with each other. Half our mind was always on what we were getting away from instead of being fully...us.”

  Before he could respond, Whitney called over to them. “Hey, hey, hey. No serious talk tonight. And no canoodling, either.”

  Evie laughed. “Definitely no canoodling at the firepit. That’s a rule, right?”

  Several glasses were raised in agreement. But Owen ignored them all, leaning closer and staring straight into her eyes.

  “You’re saying we’re fully us here? Now?”

  She nodded.

  “And it’s good? You like that?”

  She nodded again.

  “And you want it to continue...just like this?”

  She knew what he was asking. She still had doubts about trusting the future, but those doubts had suddenly taken a big step backward.

  “Yes. I love you, Owen.” Their friends had fallen silent, watching the conversation play out. “Let’s try to make this work.”

  He reached over to hold the back of her head as he kissed her. Their friends let out playful groans as if they were children.

  “Oh, gross—they’re kissing!”

  “Ew!”

  “My eyes! My eyes!”

  Owen smiled against her mouth before kissing her even harder.

  “Our new friends are jerks.”

  * * *

  “LUCE, YOU KNOW I have to go back to settle things.”

  He’d been trying to have this conversation with her ever since the cookout three days ago. He was right, of course. If their life was going to be in Rendezvous Falls, then things needed to be...dealt with. She slowly lowered her coffee mug to the table. Every time the topic came up, her panic threatened to overwhelm her. Owen’s voice softened.

  “Babe... I told them I’d be gone a month. This is week six. There’s a family business to be handled. I can’t just walk away like you...” He stopped, but not soon enough.

  “Like I did?” Lucy pushed her chair away from the table and stood, taking her breakfast bowl to the sink. “I get it—I’m the infamous Runaway Bride, and that’s probably how our family in North Carolina will always think of me. But...” She turned, unable to keep the panic from her voice. “But if you go back...”

  Owen started to roll his eyes, then caught himself as he pushed to his feet. Again...too late. She raised her finger to scold him, but he spoke first. “We’re past that now. It’s just that...there’s nothing inherently bad about the state of North Carolina or either one of our families. They’re not specters waiting to entrap us if we have contact with them.” His gaze caught hers. “But that’s how you’re ac
ting. As if I won’t be able to resist their evil powers or something. Are you really planning on staying away from there—from them—for the rest of your life?”

  She started to pout, but he had a point. Maybe that’s what annoyed her so much. “I never said I wouldn’t go back ever. But right now, Rendezvous Falls feels like where I need to be.” The way his gaze flickered away to some invisible spot over her shoulder confirmed her worst fears. Her heart fell. “Oh, my God. Did you still think I might move back to Greensboro with you?”

  Owen jammed his fingers through his hair, staring up at the ceiling for a long moment.

  “I can’t say it doesn’t cross my mind once in a while.” He looked back to her and held his hands up. “Before you get mad, I know it won’t happen. And that’s okay. But you have to admit it would be a lot less complicated logistically. I thought the wedding was a mess to clean up, but this...us...staying here...” His hands dropped to his sides. “This is going to blow up a lot of plans people have made. Big plans. Life plans. Business plans. I have to go back and deal with that, and you should, too. It’s the responsible thing to do.”

  She tried not to react to his implication that she had been irresponsible. She didn’t think that’s what he was saying intentionally, but that’s the message she’d received. He was her straight arrow plan follower, and she was trying hard to understand what he was saying. But she couldn’t shake her fear that once he left their little Rendezvous Falls bubble, things would change. She took a deep, steadying breath.

  “I know you need to deal with the business. I know you have a responsibility there, and I understand...or at least, I’m trying to. I’m just...” She tried to come up with the right word. “I’m scared.” Her voice was almost a whisper. They’d promised to be honest. “I’m afraid you’ll get back there and get sucked back into the life that was planned for you. That you’ll decide following the plan is more important than...us.”

  He walked to her, cupping her face in his hands tenderly, his nose almost touching hers. So close that looking into his eyes was like looking into a pot of molten gold. He was so sure and so much more confident that she could possibly be right now.

  “Lucy, I love you. Yes, I came here to convince you to come back home with me, but I can see how you’ve blossomed—pardon the pun—in Rendezvous Falls. Your happiness is everything to me.”

  “And if my happiness hinges on you doing something that might make you unhappy?”

  His hesitation was so brief...no more than a heartbeat. But that half second of silence made her shudder. He must have felt it, because he moved even closer, resting his forehead on hers and closing his eyes.

  “I can’t be unhappy as long as I’m with you. We’ll make this work.” His eyes opened again, darker than before. “I’ll call my parents and tell them I need one more week. But after that... I have a lot of decisions to deal with. The business. My employment options. The apartment. And yes, my family. I know I’ve asked you to wait for me too many times since we’ve met, and I know you don’t want to do it again, but haven’t I always come back to you?”

  It made sense. But then again, it had always made sense when someone wanted her to put her life on hold. That didn’t make it easy to swallow.

  “You have.” She rested her hands on his shoulders, then slid them behind his neck. “Maybe I’m being childish. Maybe I’m being paranoid. Maybe I need a shrink. But Owen, I’m so scared. I can’t even rationalize it to myself, much less to you, but this fear inside of me is...overwhelming.”

  He chewed his lower lip and looked away.

  Lucy narrowed her eyes. “What?”

  He blew out a breath, as if he needed to brace himself. Against her? He took her hands in his. “You know how you...uh...suggested I talk to someone at the VA?”

  She smiled, understanding his emphasis on suggested meant she’d done a lot more than suggest. And to his credit, he’d done it. And it seemed to have helped him shrug off the darkest of his nightmares. She nodded and he continued.

  “Well...have you thought about...about you talking to someone?”

  Her mouth fell open. “You mean...you think I do need a shrink?”

  “I don’t know if need is the right word...but maybe it would help?” He squeezed her hands and rushed ahead before she could speak. “Babe, you’ve been talking about how frustrated you’ve been, how ignored you felt before the wedding, how upset you are about your parents’ divorce, your resentment about being taken for granted...”

  She tugged her hands away, her spine stiffening. “And you think those feelings mean there’s something wrong with me instead of everyone who made me feel that way?”

  “No!” He spread his hands in innocence. “I’m saying that talking to someone professional might help you sort those feelings out and figure out how to deal with them. Babe, you’re carrying around all this...this stuff inside you. And you have to know it’s not North Carolina’s fault. Avoiding your home state forever isn’t the answer.”

  Tears suddenly burned Lucy’s eyes. Connie and Iris had said virtually the same thing. There’s a big difference between running away and moving forward... But a therapist? Would talking to some stranger really help? Shouldn’t she be able to sort this out on her own? She‘d always taken care of her own problems. Except...she hadn’t really taken care of anything, had she? She’d just left them behind.

  I thought the wedding was a mess to clean up...

  She swallowed hard, nodding as much to herself as to him. “Maybe you’re right. Not about going back...at least not for now. But about talking to someone. I don’t really want to be a runaway anything anymore. But can we...can we just...wait? A little longer?” She shook her head hard enough to send her hair back and forth across her face, as if that would help her think better. “Give me time to...just a little more time to...make decisions. I know I should have thought about it all before now, but I didn’t. And now that we’re together again, well...it complicates things, doesn’t it?”

  Owen’s forehead furrowed. “I’d like to argue with you on that, but you might be right. Instead of an ending and moving on, we have to start all over in a lot of ways.” He lifted one shoulder. “We can’t keep putting it off, but I think one more week will be fine. The business has been running along without me, just like it did when I was deployed.” He smiled. “And the idea of one more week of just us, without any family interference, is pretty damn tempting.”

  She knew they were just delaying the inevitable, but let him pull her into his arms. They’d switched roles. He was finally ready to face some hard facts, and she was trying to hold him back from doing it. He kissed her, sliding his hands under her knit top and up her back to unhook her bra.

  Those facts could wait a little bit longer.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CONNIE WAS JUST paying her bill at the Spot Diner when Father Joe Brennan came in. He waved at her in the booth, but chose to sit next to Owen at the counter.

  “Mind if I join you, lad?” The priest gave a bright smile to Evie behind the counter. “I know it’s after the breakfast rush, but could you spare a cup of coffee, darlin’?”

  Evie laughed as she reached for the pot. “Father Joe, it’s a diner. There’s always coffee brewing. Owen, you want another?” He nodded and she set them up with two coffees, then set a plate between them with a pile of chocolate chip cookies. “Free samples. We’re trying a new bakery. These have dark chocolate chunks and walnuts. Tell me what you think.” She looked at Connie. “Come up and try them—they’re amazing.” Evie gave Owen a pointed look. “You look like you need sugar as much as you do caffeine.”

  Connie sat on the other side of Owen, opposite Father Joe. Owen had just grunted in reply to Evie’s comment. Between him and Lucy keeping themselves busy at night, and him working so much at Connie’s place during the day, he probably wasn’t getting a lot of sleep.

  It was
good to stay busy. But as Connie kept telling Lucy, eventually the two of them were going to have to face the music. Of course, Lucy had just given her a pointed look and reminded her that it had taken over three years for Connie to start fixing things after her husband left.

  Lucy had a point. Connie had wallowed in her anger and loneliness for too long, allowing things to happen around her instead being a part of the action again. She wasn’t punishing Dan by being unhappy. She was only punishing herself. It had taken Lucy’s arrival to make her see she had options.

  When Connie, David and Susan had dinner together, they’d started planning a big Labor Day cookout at the house. It was a month away, so she had plenty of time to get the house ready. And she’d put Owen to work in the backyard and the waterfront, making sure the place would look as nice as it used to. David had taken one look at her old grill and said he’d buy her a new one and call it an early Christmas present. It felt good to have something to look forward to again.

  Owen grabbed a cookie and bit off half of it.

  “You’re attackin’ that wee cookie like it kicked your best friend.” Father Joe was watching Owen over the top of his coffee cup. “Anything you want to talk about?”

  Evie was wiping the counter near them and snorted. “I’m guessing he has a whole lot of things he should talk about, but he probably won’t.”

  Owen straightened. “What does that mean?”

  She set her hand, still gripping the damp rag, on her hip and stared straight at him. “Dude. You’re besotted with Lucy. She’s your kryptonite. And you have no freakin’ idea what to do with her.”

  Connie snorted, but Owen just shook his head with a bemused grin. “I spend every night at Lucy’s place and trust me—we have no problems knowing what to do...” He glanced at Connie, then at the priest sitting on his other side. “I mean...well...the point is, we’re together. We’re happy.”