Lucky Break (Lucky 3)

Lauren wrapped her arm around him. “It’s a step, Jason.”

He didn’t reply.

How big a step remained to be seen, Clara thought. Not just for his uncle but for himself, Lauren and the fate of their families.

Because what they didn’t know yet, what they couldn’t know, was that Jason and Lauren held more power together than alone. A Perkins and a Corwin in love would go a long way to defeating the centuries-old spell. Fate would dictate the outcome…and there was no predicting the ways of the heart.

IN THE WEEK since their visit to Clara’s shop, Lauren hadn’t mentioned going to see her sister. Jason wondered if she still wanted to keep him separate from her family or whether they’d just been too damn busy to focus on anything but the house.

In the week since the fire, they’d gone to work with a determination that impressed him. From his crew, who pulled extra hours, to Amber and Gabrielle, who’d come in when they could to help, everyone had stepped up. Of course until the already delayed insurance adjuster showed up tomorrow, nobody could touch the fire-ravaged area, but there had been progress with the rest of the house.

Lauren hadn’t told the buyers about the fire, hoping the repair would be under control by closing on December first. She intended to disclose the truth but she wanted to finish the job before she did. Jason suggested she level with the buyers now. After all, when they’d gone to contract and agreed on the renovation prior to sale, nobody had anticipated a fire destroying a part of the house. He thought maybe the buyers would close regardless of whether they could fix the fire damage in time as long as they agreed on a new completion date. But Lauren was determined to stick to the terms of the contract. Move-in condition. Unless she had no choice, she intended to live up to that clause.

Jason respected her spirit and determination, and he’d been doing everything he could to help her meet her goals, pushing aside the niggling thought that at least one of them had something meaningful to work toward. He buried his personal frustration and headed into town to run errands.

Lauren had asked him to pick up food for Trouble and some other items at both the grocery and pharmacy. On a whim, he also found himself buying an oversize kitty condo for the cat and flowers for Lauren, spontaneous purchases he hadn’t been able to resist.

He’d also purchased a cleaner for his car, since Trouble tended to leave paw marks on the hood every time he slept there, which tended to be most of the day. At night he ended up in their bed, snoring.

Jason wondered if they made nose plugs to prevent the godawful noises they heard each night. He was even tempted to take Trouble to the vet to make sure there wasn’t anything seriously wrong with a cat who sounded like a running freight train. Even more unbelievable, Jason was contemplating keeping the cat after Lauren was gone. But he refused to let his mind go there until he had to.

When he pulled his car into the driveway, he immediately noticed something was off. Lauren’s Porsche wasn’t in its usual spot. He figured she must have gone to town to run errands, when a different thought struck him: Why wouldn’t she have just called him and asked him to pick up whatever it was she needed?

He checked his cell, but Lauren hadn’t called. He hoped her sister hadn’t had another incident, sending her running for the prison. Though she’d been visiting that place alone for a long time, Jason hated the idea of her being on her own. He’d been kicking himself for not accompanying her on her last visit.

His family’s reaction would be explosive and he had no real desire to make the trip, but he did want to be there for her. Maybe that was why she’d sent him on the cat food run. So she could leave without him pushing to join her.

He hoped like hell that hadn’t been her plan. He grabbed the shopping bag and the flowers in one hand, put the kitty condo under his other arm, and headed for the house.

He was braced to find a note. Instead he found Lauren curled up in the den with a box of tissues by her side.

Jason dropped his gifts onto the couch and sat down beside her. “What’s wrong?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her.

Her eyes were damp. “I thought I could do this and not look back, but I can’t.” She blew her nose and tossed the tissue into a wastebasket beside her.

A distinct sense of unease crawled up his spine. “You thought you could do what?”

She straightened her shoulders and stiffened her posture, definitely a bad sign. “I sold my car,” she said as she pulled out a fresh tissue. “I needed a minute but now I’m fine. Ready to get back to work.” She started to head past him.

As if he’d just let this go. “You sold your car,” he repeated, needing to say the words in order to make them real.

She raised her chin. “Yep.”

“The Porsche.”

She nodded.

“Your symbol of success.”

She drew a deep breath. “Exactly. It’s just a symbol. Success will still come. Or not. Either way, I’m okay. It was silly to cry over a car.” She walked back to the couch where he’d deposited his purchases. “What is all this?”

“Don’t change the subject.” He grasped her arm, turning her back around. “You aren’t crying over the car, you’re crying over resentment. Understandable resentment at your sister and your parents for putting you in this position to begin with.”

And if he could get any one of them in front of him for five minutes, he’d give them a good piece of his mind. None of them would ever forget what Lauren had done for them or how grateful they should be.

“You’re dead wrong. I was crying because I had some stupid sentimental moment. As for my family, I do not resent them! I’m doing what has to be done because that’s what family members do for each other!” she yelled at him, as if trying to convince herself more than him.

He knew better than to point that out. Instead he asked her a question. “Would any of them do the same for you?”