Decidedly with Luck (By The Bay Book 6)

by Stina Lindenblatt

  “Why didn’t you tell me you felt that way when we first became friends?” I asked.

  “I could ask you the same.”

  I lifted a shoulder. What could I say? I was a coward when it came to telling guys that I crushed on them.

  But instead of saying that, I went for the easy cop-out. “I should go. My mom and Stephen’s mom are expecting me to show up for dinner so I can give them the envelope.”

  It was the truth, at least.

  Logan and I had just admitted to having wanted to kiss each other when we first met. The last thing I needed was for him to jokingly ask me how I felt about him now.

  Why?

  Because I was the world’s worst liar—even if I did seem to be getting in a lot of practice lately.

  And because things were complicated.

  For Logan.

  For me.

  23

  Kiera

  “Stacy told me you want to start gardening,” Tony said as we walked into the gardening center. It was early Sunday afternoon, and I had to keep him preoccupied for the next…

  I glanced at my phone.

  Right, I had to keep him busy for the next hour and thirty-five minutes.

  Which also included the time required to drive him home—unless Stacy alerted me via text that she needed more time to set up.

  Hopefully that wouldn’t happen, because if I was supposed to make an appearance at his party, it wouldn’t leave me much time to get to Kiera’s gender reveal afterward.

  Was I curious if she was having a boy or girl?

  Not really. I’d been more focused on the kiss we had shared.

  Probably the only time I hadn’t dwelled on the kiss was during the games versus the Oilers on Thursday and Saturday—we won Thursday’s game, in case you were wondering—and during practice.

  The rest of the time had been free rein when it came to remembering the feel of her mouth against mine, her sweet taste.

  The kiss was just as I remembered from the night of the ball.

  Was it any wonder I’d been craving to kiss her again for the past four months?

  “That’s right,” I said. “I’m growing an herb garden…on my balcony.”

  “An herb garden?” Yep, definitely disbelief in his tone, although I had no idea why.

  “That’s all I have room for.”

  “Right. Sorry, I forgot you don’t live in a house. Guess you won’t be needing a leaf blower then.”

  I laughed. “I don’t get too many leaves on the twentieth floor. But if you want to check them out, go ahead.” He had that look a man gets when he wants to investigate a new toy—whether it be a sports car, power tool, a leaf blower, or a ride-on lawnmower.

  He practically drooled as we walked down the leaf-blower aisle. Unfortunately for him, Stacy wasn’t the kind of woman who would give her husband a leaf blower for his birthday.

  But at least the aisle kept him busy, so that made my life a little easier when it came to killing time.

  The store didn’t have a large selection of leaf blowers—or maybe there weren’t that many models available in the world, period. I honestly didn’t see the appeal to them, but they certainly got Tony excited.

  I would’ve understood it better if he got hard-ons over a chainsaw. Something with power. Something that at least cut wood in half.

  After Tony spent ten minutes checking over the leaf-blower product specs, we strolled to the plant section.

  “What kind of herbs do you want?” he asked.

  “No idea. I just know I need an herb garden.” Because Stacy told me I did.

  “Are there certain herbs you like to cook with?”

  I randomly listed a few I used. The ones that came to mind.

  “Okay, well, that’s a start.”

  He rounded up several plants and lowered them into the shopping cart.

  When he wasn’t looking in my direction, I quickly glanced at my phone. I still had to keep him busy for seventy-eight more minutes.

  “Are you and Stacy going to throw a gender reveal party?” I asked as I pretended to deliberate the various style of plant pots on the shelves.

  Tony gave me a puzzled look. “Funny, you don’t come off as the kind of guy who knows what that is.”

  He was right about that. Usually, I wouldn’t, but I was more enlightened about the topic now, thanks to the conversation during Kiera’s ultrasound.

  “I take it you know what it is?” I said.

  “I’ve never been to one, but a few of Stacy’s friends have thrown them.”

  “Are you guys planning to have one?”

  “Nope. Stacy and I decided to wait until the baby is born to find out the gender.”

  Okay, so much for my plan to kill time with that topic.

  We were silent for several more minutes while I continued to deliberate which pots to buy.

  “So, how do you know what gender reveal parties are?” Tony’s gaze wandered down the row of pots, and I caught the slight shake of his head.

  Exasperation because I was taking too long to pick out some goddamn pots?

  Perhaps.

  “A friend of mine is having one this afternoon.”

  A friend of mine who I kissed after I drove her to her prenatal ultrasound. The friend who I hadn’t planned to kiss, but when she went to kiss me on the cheek, my body said the hell with that, and I captured her mouth with my own.

  But Tony didn’t need to know about that.

  “I wasn’t sure if I should bring a plant with me.” All right, that was pretty random—but desperate times call for desperate made-up excuses for why we couldn’t leave the store yet.

  Plus, I was getting fucking bored, pretending to figure out what pots to buy.

  “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Tony said.

  I grabbed whatever pots were closest to me and lowered them into the shopping cart.

  “Do you have any shelves to put them on? Or are you lining them up along the wall? That would work, too.”

  “Maybe I should get some shelves.” Especially if that killed time.

  My phone pinged in my jeans pocket. I pulled it out and checked the screen.

  Stacy: Had some technical delays. Please don’t return until 3:30pm.

  Shit. That was when Kiera’s party began.

  Me: Okay.

  “Is everything all right?” Tony asked.

  I stretched my mouth into a broad grin. “Yeah, everything’s great. Just one of my teammates.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “That it was one of my teammates? Yep. Positive.”

  “So, it wasn’t Stacy telling you she needs more time to finish decorating for my surprise party?”

  He laughed at what was no doubt my “Busted!” expression.

  “How di—”

  “If you ever want to keep a secret, never tell it to Livi.”

  I chuckled. So true. I couldn’t believe Stacy didn’t know that cardinal rule. “So, all this time, you knew we weren’t here because I suddenly couldn’t live without an herb garden?”

  “Yep.” He surveyed the contents of the shopping cart. “Should we put these back, or do you actually want them?”

  “It probably wouldn’t hurt me to grow some herbs.”

  “You’ll want some soil, too.” He nodded toward where it was stocked. “So how much longer do you need to stall me for?”

  “Until three thirty.”

  “Perfect. Let’s get you that soil; then I can check out the hedge trimmers I don’t need but want to look at anyhow. What time’s your friend’s party?”

  I told him. Luckily, the address where it was being held wasn’t too far from where Tony and Stacy lived. I would’ve been screwed if it was across town.

  But either way, I was still going to be unfashionably late—assuming I could get away from Tony’s party.

  “Does Stacy know about it?”

  “Are you kidding? She almost had a heart attack when she found me reading What to
Expect When You’re Expecting. I’m sure if I told her I’m going to the gender reveal party for my dead best friend’s Popsicle-sperm baby, that would push Stacy over the edge.”

  Tony stared at me for a moment, digesting what I just told him, and burst out laughing. “Wow, you hockey players lead an interesting life.”

  He didn’t even know the half of it.

  “Daddy!” Livi ran across the backyard and flung her arms around my waist. She was wearing a light-green party dress with white butterflies. “I missed you.”

  I gathered her up in my arms and hugged her. “I missed you too, baby girl.”

  Now that it was the playoffs, I had even less time to spend with her than before. We still FaceTimed daily, but I hadn’t seen her in person for three days.

  “I love your dress,” I told her. “You look very pretty.” It went with the tea-party theme Stacy had organized for the event.

  Livi grinned. “Thank you, Daddy. Let me introduce you to everyone.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. She sounded like her Martha-Stewartesque mother. “Sounds like a plan.”

  I lowered her to the ground. She grabbed my hand and tugged me this way and that way, through the crowd, introducing me to Tony’s and Stacy’s friends.

  And damn, there were a lot of them.

  Some were eager to talk about the playoffs—something I hadn’t really wanted to do while I was here. I politely answered their questions, then found an excuse for why I couldn’t stick around.

  Luckily, I didn’t need much of one with Livi playing host.

  It wasn’t as if she wanted to spend time standing around chatting with the adults.

  “You have to see the birthday cake,” she stage-whispered to me at one point. “Tony isn’t allowed to see it yet, but Mommy won’t mind if you do.”

  That was probably not true. Stacy, no doubt, wanted everyone to be surprised when they saw it.

  “Where is it?”

  “In the kitchen.” Her voice held a “no-duh” note that made me chuckle.

  We entered the house without anyone else asking me what I thought of the team’s chances of winning the playoffs.

  As much as I wanted the Rock to win, I didn’t want to jinx the team with any predictions.

  Yes, hockey players were a superstitious bunch.

  For good reason.

  Livi pointed to the cake on the kitchen table, not that I could have missed it. The elaborate cake resembled a backyard, complete with a little man (Tony?) gardening. There was even a miniature wheelbarrow and leaf blower.

  It wasn’t the kind of cake you found at the local grocery store. It was the type you specialty ordered from someone other than the supermarket.

  “Wow, that’s really nice,” I told Livi, who was beaming proudly at it. “Did you make it?”

  She giggled. “No, silly. One of Mommy’s friends did. Do you like the garden gnome?” She pointed to a tiny gnome with a tall red cap perched on his bearded head.

  “He looks yummy.”

  Her face paled and twisted into a horrified expression. “You can’t eat him, Daddy. He’s mine. I asked for a garden gnome on the cake.”

  I’d figured that. Some girls loved fairies. Livi was all about garden gnomes. Which was why Travis would be painting a mural on her bedroom wall with lots of gnomes on it once the playoffs were over.

  A quick glance at the microwave clock warned me it was four thirty. If I didn’t leave soon, I’d be beyond fashionably late for Kiera’s party.

  I couldn’t explain the compulsion to be there. She had already told me it would be boring and that it was just as well I had other plans.

  But something about the way she’d said it—well, more like the emotion in her eyes—told me she needed me to be there for a reason that was beyond me.

  Livi and I returned outside to the party. Tony approached us and told Livi one of her friends—who was also at the party—was looking for her. She hugged me again and skipped off to join a small group of young children playing miniature golf.

  “You ready to bail this party and go to your friend’s gender reveal?” Tony’s gaze scanned the yard like a man looking for a quick escape route.

  I was torn by what I wanted to do.

  I’d only been here an hour. If Livi wasn’t here? Yes, it would be a no-brainer. I would have left thirty minutes ago.

  But the party was my chance to spend time with my daughter, who I wouldn’t get to see much during the playoffs.

  “You can always come back after you’re finished with the other party.” Apparently, Tony had recently acquired the ability to read my mind. “Then you and Livi can have a quiet evening together—assuming this party is over by then.”

  I was about to tell him okay, right after I checked with Livi first, but Stacy prevented me from doing that.

  “Logan,” she said, approaching us. “Can you help me with something?”

  “Will it take long? There’s—”

  Tony was standing behind her, shaking his head and waving his arms and mouthing, Don’t say it.

  He looked so comical, it was a miracle I didn’t burst out laughing.

  That didn’t mean, though, I was capable of keeping the corners of my mouth from twitching.

  Stacy spun around, possibly searching to see what had me so amused.

  But all she found was Tony, wearing an innocent Can-I-help-you? grin.

  Shaking her head, more to herself than for our benefit, she turned back to me with the expectant look I was more than familiar with from our marriage.

  “What do you need help with?” I asked.

  “One of the balloons on the arch deflated, and I need your help changing it.”

  “I can do that,” Tony said.

  She swiveled to him. “No, you can’t. You’re the birthday boy.”

  That got a snicker out of me, and an eye roll from Tony.

  “The last I looked. I’m hardly a boy.”

  This time I couldn’t keep from bursting out laughing. “All right,” I managed to say, realizing with a hard kick to the gut that there was no way I’d be escaping the party to get to Kiera’s. “Where’s the replacement balloon?”

  The smile that flashed on Tony’s face, too quick to be caught by his wife?

  It was his I’ve-got-your-back sly grin. “Stacy, Livi needs you.”

  She glanced over her shoulder to our daughter, who was still busy playing with the other kids. “She does?”

  “Yes, she just waved that she needs you.”

  If anything, that was the last thing Livi looked like she needed.

  “You should probably see what she wants, first,” he told Stacy.

  “Oh, okay.”

  No sooner had she gone, than he got down to business.

  “The best escape route is to the side of the house.” His voice was low, like a highly entertained 007, and he jerked his head in that direction. “You don’t have enough time to make it to the house before she realizes I lied about Livi needing her. Now, go. And good luck.” He smacked me on the arm, half shoving me into action.

  And like when a player gains control of the puck during the other team’s power play, I broke away from the party and hightailed it to the side gate.

  24

  Kiera

  I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

  I parked my car in an empty spot along the street and eased out a long breath. My parents’ home was several houses behind me, an archway of light blue and pink balloons decorating the entrance.

  If this was what the front looked like, I was afraid to see the backyard.

  Remember, you’re doing this because it’s making Judith happy.

  I’d been reminding myself of this ever since I dropped off the envelope with Love Bug’s gender inside on Wednesday.

  It wasn’t the reveal that was the issue. It was the guilt bouncing inside me like a rabid bunny.

  But the guilt of breaking her heart would be a hundredfold worse than me lying to her, so
I just had to suck it up. For now.

  Had Mom or Judith told me their plans for the party? Or at least hinted what was in store for me?

  Not at all. They’d clammed up tighter than an oyster at a clambake as soon as they heard me enter the house. By the time I’d walked into the kitchen, Mom had covered everything on the table with a tablecloth.

  I had tried not to dwell on what the two women had planned, which I’d been slightly more successful at than not thinking about Logan’s kiss.

  I had tried not to dwell on the kiss while in bed.

  I had tried not to dwell on it while coping with bouts of horniness (which happened more frequently than I cared to admit).

  I had tried not to dwell on it while standing in front of my class, teaching addition.

  Or spelling.

  Or reading.

  I had tried not to dwell on it while watching the Rock versus Oilers games on Thursday and Saturday night. This might’ve been easier to do if Logan hadn’t been nabbed to do an interview during the second intermission last night.

  The more I’d tried not to think about the kiss, the more the soft feel of his lips against mine played out in my mind.

  That wasn’t the only thing I’d thought about during the past few days. His confession had played in repeat mode. I hadn’t been the only one who’d had those feelings while we were in college.

  Or at least it had been that way until Stephen came into my life and bulldozed me off my feet.

  I know that doesn’t sound romantic, but the truth is what it is. Stephen hadn’t taken his time to woo me. He’d seen what he wanted and gone after it.

  In the best possible way.

  Maybe if Logan had been like that, things would’ve been different between us. Instead of me dating Stephen, I could have ended up with Logan…and ended up in the same place his ex-wife had found herself.

  A car drove past my vehicle, loud rock music jarring me from my thoughts.

  “Okay, time to get inside before the guests arrive,” I muttered to myself. Cradling my hand against my stomach, I smiled at my protruding belly. Despite all the craziness that was currently my life, this, with Love Bug, felt oddly right.

  I removed the key from the ignition, grabbed my purse, and climbed out of the car. The warm afternoon air clung to my bare arms and legs. I’d worn my favorite floral maternity sundress, which emphasized the swell of my belly.