Only You

by Rachel Lacey

  Two hours later—and with a somewhat-evenly shaved poodle at her side—Amy hit “publish” on her post titled “Fluff and Stuff.”

  And then, exhausted, she went to bed. As she lay tossing and turning in the hot, humid air, she tried very hard not to think about Luke Benson. He’d been her first real crush. Her first boyfriend. Her first everything.

  And they’d been so good together. So much in love.

  For one perfect year, they’d been inseparable. But Luke was older, a year ahead of her in school so when he got accepted into the pre-med program at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Amy tried to be a realist. He’d be living five hours away, a college student in a big city. And Amy, well, she’d just be the small town high school girl from back home.

  She knew how these things ended. Rather than waiting around for him to break her heart, she’d done the sensible thing and broken up with him before he left for college.

  Except it hadn’t been sensible. She’d been miserable without him, and she’d hoped—foolishly—that he’d been miserable without her too. So, she’d scraped together her courage and gone after him, but Luke—looking ridiculously cool and mature on his college campus—had told her it was too late. When he returned home the following summer, he brought his fiancée, Georgia, with him.

  A fiancée. At nineteen.

  Amy’s heart was broken all over again. He’d so willingly walked away from her to sow his wild oats in the big city, only to get engaged a few months later? Everyone speculated that he must have gotten Georgia pregnant, but no news of a baby ever came. And Luke married Georgia the following summer, staying in Baltimore with her after he graduated from medical school.

  Amy hadn’t been much of a believer in love and marriage after that. She and Daryl had been dating for two years when she got pregnant with Noah. And so she hadn’t married him, which in the end only made it that much easier for him to leave after their son was diagnosed with autism.

  No strings. No looking back.

  No more men in her life. Period.

  Noah was her priority now. She saw him onto the bus the next morning before hurrying to her shift at the Dogwood Diner. The pay at the diner was less than she’d made at her old job at Finnegan’s Irish Pub, but her hours more closely matched Noah’s school schedule, allowing her to spend so much more time with her son, and, for the time being, her income from the blog was covering the difference with even a little bit to spare.

  Her friend Amanda texted her at lunchtime. OMG total wedding disaster. There may not even *be* a wedding. Call me.

  Amy shook her head in disbelief. What in the world? Her friend wasn’t prone to dramatics. In fact, this had been the most drama-free wedding Amy had ever been a part of. What happened? she responded. I’ll be home from work at 2.

  Amanda was waiting in her driveway when she got home, eyes red and puffy. “You’ll never believe what’s happened.”

  Amy motioned for Amanda to follow her inside, only to be assaulted by a wall of impenetrable heat inside the house.

  “Holy cow,” Amanda said, waving a hand in front of her face.

  “I know. My AC is busted. I’ve got someone coming later today to look at it. Let’s take some iced tea out on the back patio.” Amy ushered Amanda into the kitchen, where she poured two glasses of tea—carefully avoiding the soft spot in the linoleum lest the ground open up and swallow her whole—then led the way out back. “Is it Joe? Did he…?”

  Amanda’s eyes rounded. “Oh God, no! Nothing like that.”

  Amy exhaled in relief as she plopped into a chair. “Okay then. Tell me everything.”

  Amanda sat in the rocking chair beside her. “The country club called this morning. A pipe burst, and there was all kinds of water damage. They’re closed for at least a month.”

  “Oh, crap.” This was lousy news, but so much less horrible than the things Amy had been imagining since she’d gotten Amanda’s text. No one had died, or cheated, or had anything horrible happen to them. There would still be a wedding, it just wouldn’t be at the country club.

  “The wedding is only twelve days away! Any place worth getting married at will have been booked months ago.” Amanda sniffled as she gulped from her iced tea.

  “It could be tricky,” Amy agreed.

  “My mom is calling every place in the area today anyway, just in case. We might have to elope, but we can’t postpone the wedding.” Amanda glanced at Amy. “We found out last week that I’m pregnant.”

  “Oh my God!” Amy lurched out of her chair to hug her friend. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” Amanda was beaming now. “We quit using birth control last month since we’re both in our thirties already. We knew we didn’t want to wait long, although I didn’t necessarily think it would happen this fast. But we’ve got to tie the knot while I can still wear my dress. It cost a fortune.”

  Well, at least this explained why her normally level-headed friend was such an emotional wreck this afternoon. “You could elope in Vegas. I’ve always thought that sounded fun.”

  Amanda laughed. “It does hold a certain appeal. But we love Dogwood, and we want our friends and family to be here to celebrate with us.”

  “I wonder if there are any local parks that would let you hold a wedding ceremony?”

  “That’s a thought.” Amanda gazed thoughtfully over the open field behind Amy’s little money pit of a house. “Something like your backyard would be perfect.”

  “My backyard, only better tended.” Amy looked at the overgrown field behind her house. It would be beautiful…someday. When she’d had time to tame it.

  Amanda tapped her fingers to her lips. “This might sound crazy, but what would you think if we had the wedding here?”

  “Here?” Amy choked on a mouthful of tea. “As in, at my house? I don’t even have a working air conditioner!”

  “Out here.” Amanda gestured around them, sounding excited now. “We could put an altar right over there.” She pointed toward a spot between two oak trees. “And rent a tent. There’s plenty of room out here to host everyone.”

  “Um.” It could work. The grounds behind the house were definitely the best part of the property. “It would mean a lot of work. No one has done anything with this land in years.”

  “I’ll call Joe and see what he thinks. If he got all his friends out here to help, they just might be able to pull it off.” She paused and turned to Amy, her eyes wide and sincere. “If it’s okay with you, of course. This is your house. You’ve barely moved in, and here I am planning my wedding in your backyard.”

  “Of course I don’t mind. It would be really special to have two of my favorite people get married here. My only concern is pulling this off in twelve days because the inside of the house is barely habitable right now, and the land is gorgeous but totally overgrown.”

  “Joe’s friend Max is a landscaper. If he has time, he could be a huge help. And you’d get a whole bunch of free labor—and hot guys—to help get your new house all fixed up.” Amanda smiled.

  “I’d definitely need help getting the place ready for an event in less than two weeks.” Amy twisted her fingers. “But I didn’t agree to this to get free work done on my house.”

  “Sweetie, I know that.” Amanda touched her arm. “But we’re getting a full refund from the country club, which means I’m saving oodles of money any way you look at it. I’m imposing on you. The least I can do is make sure my wedding disaster doesn’t cost you anything.”

  Amanda left soon after to talk to Joe and see who they could rally for the project. Amy stood in her living room, trying to swallow down a growing feeling of panic. This place was a total dump inside. How in the world could she ever get it ready for guests in just twelve days?

  Her phone pinged with an incoming text. It was from Amanda. I’ve got someone coming over to take a look around. Be nice to him. This was followed by an emoticon with wagging eyebrows.

  What in the world was that supposed to mean? Amy was rarely rude to
anyone.

  Ten minutes later, she heard a knock at her front door. She pulled it open to find Luke Benson standing on the other side, wearing khaki shorts, a blue T-shirt, and a panty-melting smile.

  Chapter Two

  Luke watched surprise flicker across Amy’s face. He’d assumed Joe and Amanda would have given her a heads up that he was coming over, but apparently they hadn’t. Officially, he was here as a favor for his friends, but unofficially? It was a chance to see Amy again.

  “Luke? What are you doing here?”

  “Joe told me about the problem at the country club and that they were thinking about having the wedding here. You probably remember my dad’s a general contractor.”

  She nodded, her expression unreadable.

  “So I’m pretty good at fixing things up. I offered to come take a look and see if this seems feasible, if it’s okay with you?”

  “Um, sure. Come in.” She stepped back and let the door swing open.

  “Thanks.” He stepped inside, and the temperature rose at least twenty degrees. “Still no AC?”

  She blew a strand of hair back from her face. “The repairman should be here in a few hours.”

  “Alright.” He looked around. The house was small but homey. Amy had filled the living room with cozy touches—photos of Noah and the rest of her family and lots of knickknacks. The gray walls looked recently painted.

  “My grandparents used to own this place,” she said. “My grandfather lived here alone for the last ten years, and he wasn’t in good health so he couldn’t keep the place up. It really needs a lot of work. Honestly, I have no idea how I could get it ready in time for the wedding.”

  “Well, sounds like we’d be outside mostly, although I guess you’d want to be able to have the wedding party get ready in here.” He surveyed the rest of the room, taking in the worn carpets and window screens patched with colorful pieces of paper.

  Amy stood by a table in the hallway, fiddling with her wireless router.

  “Internet not working either?” he asked.

  She huffed in irritation. “It went out this morning. This place is testing my last nerve right now.”

  He fought a smile. “Guess that’s one of the joys of inheriting an old house. Mind if I take a look?”

  “I guess not. Thanks. It’s always been kind of tricky, but usually after I reboot it a few times, I can get it working.”

  He walked over to the table. “Sometimes I have luck by letting the modem completely reset itself before I plug the wireless router back in.”

  “It wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but Noah has these YouTube videos he likes to watch.” She gave him a small smile. “It’s this guy who builds things with Legos. Weird, right?”

  “I can think of a lot worse things he could be watching.”

  “Yeah. Well, anyway, it’s his routine to watch a video after he finishes his homework in the afternoon, and he has a hard time when his routine gets disrupted.” She paused, giving him an assessing look. “He’s autistic.”

  “I figured.”

  She nodded, looking away.

  He restarted the modem, waited a few minutes until it had connected, then plugged the wireless router back in. “Try it now.”

  Amy walked to a laptop on the kitchen counter and tapped it to life. “It works! Oh my goodness. Thank you.”

  “No problem.” He walked to a corner of the living room where the carpet had peeled away from the wall and lifted it, then pulled it back a little farther. “Looks like you have hardwood floors under here.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. Shouldn’t be hard to rip this carpet right out if you’d like me to. Mind if I take a look outside?”

  She shook her head, lingering in the kitchen as he went out the back door. Ah, now he saw why Joe and Amanda wanted to have the wedding here. Behind the house was a big open field rimmed with trees and a stream along the back.

  It was wild and overgrown, but Luke didn’t see any reason they couldn’t have the place ready for the wedding in two weeks. And if it meant he got to spend some extra time here with Amy helping to get the place ready? All the better.

  She came out the back door carrying two glasses of what looked to be iced tea. From here, she could be the same Amy he’d fallen head over heels for back in high school. Only as she walked closer could he see the differences. The hesitation in her eyes. The rigid set of her shoulders, as if she carried the weight of the world on them.

  The little white dog followed her out the back door and dashed across the open field, chasing a butterfly.

  “That the same dog?” he asked, because it was sporting about half as much hair as it’d had yesterday at the pet store.

  “Yeah. He needed a haircut to survive the heat in there.”

  Their fingers brushed as she handed him a glass of iced tea. Amy’s face was flushed and glistening from the heat, and he wanted to kiss her something fierce. “Thanks.”

  She stared across the field at her dog, keeping her gaze everywhere but on him. “You’re welcome. Noah will be home from school soon.”

  “He seems like a great kid.”

  A soft smile touched her lips. “He is.”

  “And his father?”

  “Out of the picture.” Her eyes flashed, and her chin went up.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not. We’re better off without him.”

  He took a small step toward her. “Well, I am sorry for whatever you and Noah have been through because of him, but I’m not entirely sorry you’re single. You are single, right?”

  Amy sucked in a breath. Her eyes met his, and she nodded.

  He took another step closer. “As it happens, so am I. And I don’t know about you, but I never liked the way things ended between us.”

  He was standing close enough now to see her pulse hammering at her throat, the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Her eyes still locked on his.

  “That was a long time ago.” Her voice was raspy.

  Desire curled hot and strong inside him. “But I still remember exactly how good it was between us.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “And yet you moved on awfully fast.”

  Damn. “Amy—”

  A diesel engine rumbled from the direction of the road, followed by the squeal of brakes. She pushed past him, headed toward the house. “That’s the school bus.”

  ***

  Amy rushed through the house to the front door, grateful for the distraction but frustrated that Luke was still here as Noah got home. She opened the door and waved at Mr. Nichols, the bus driver, as Noah scampered down the steps and ran toward her. He ran right into her arms for a big hug, and she was never more grateful for the change to her schedule that made it possible for her to be here to greet him as he got off the bus. “Hey, bud. How was school?”

  “Whose car is that?” Noah was staring at Luke’s SUV.

  “Mr. Luke is here. He came to see our house because my friends Amanda and Joe might have their wedding here in our backyard. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

  Noah didn’t answer, still looking at the SUV.

  “Mr. Luke also helped fix our internet.”

  Noah backed out of her arms. “Now I can watch Brick Tricks after I finish my homework.”

  “Yes, you can.” She followed him into the house.

  “Hi, Noah,” Luke said, a friendly smile on his face. “Did you have a good day at school?”

  Noah nodded, eyeing the router in the hallway as he walked toward the kitchen, still wearing his backpack. “The top light’s green. That means it’s working.”

  “It seems to be. You want to test it out for me?” Luke asked.

  Noah shook his head as he sat at the kitchen table. “I have to do my homework first.”

  “Ah.” Luke met her eyes over Noah’s head and winked. “I wish I’d been so studious when I was your age. You must be a smart kid.”

  Noah unzipped his backpack and pulled out the folder containing
tonight’s homework. He was one of the smartest kids in his class, but that wasn’t why he came straight to the kitchen table after school every day to do his homework. That was just his need for structure and routine.

  Any variation from the routine made his anxiety and autistic stimming—the hand flapping and other repetitive movements—worse. Amy opened the back door and angled a fan in Noah’s direction to bring in some fresh air. Then she walked to the fridge and poured him a glass of ice water. She set it on the table beside him. “What’ve you got tonight?”

  “Math and spelling words.”

  “If it’s all right with your mom, do you mind if I hang out while you do your homework so that I can see some of that Lego video with you afterward?” Luke asked.

  Noah nodded, already hard at work on his first math sheet. Yoda lay sprawled on the floor at his feet.

  Amy motioned for Luke to follow her into the living room. “You really don’t need to stay. I appreciate you fixing the internet for us, but—”

  “I want to stay,” he said. “If it’s okay with you, of course.”

  She sighed. “This is silly. You know that, right? We don’t know each other anymore, Luke.”

  “I think you’re wrong.” He gave her a wicked smile, which proved his point because it set her heart racing. Then he proceeded to make small talk with her until Noah had finished his homework. When Noah hooked up her laptop and streamed the latest Brick Tricks video to the TV, Luke sat next to him on the couch and watched it with him.

  All thirty minutes of it.

  They talked about Legos, and, when the video ended, Noah took Luke to his bedroom to show him his Lego collection. When Amy peeked in fifteen minutes later to see what was taking them so long, she found Luke sitting on the floor beside Noah, building a Lego tree house like the one they’d just watched on YouTube.

  It made her feel all warm and mushy inside to see them sitting there like that. Noah rarely bonded with people so quickly, especially men. She’d often worried over how the lack of a father figure would impact his life. Granted, his Uncle T.J. provided him with a solid male role model, but was it enough?