“So, your mom won’t be too happy about this. I mean, she and Viola went to a lot of trouble to get you and Jenna out on this date.”
“As far as my love life goes, my mom is used to being disappointed.”
Ah, so it was back to Victoria.
“She can’t expect you to marry someone you’re not in love with.”
He glanced at her sharply. “How do you know I wasn’t in love with Victoria?”
“You said she gave you an ultimatum but you were still willing to let her go. I don’t know, it seems like if you were in love with her, then you’d have manned up and married her rather than lose her.”
“I almost forgot how you always say what you think.”
Not always, Luke. Because if he only knew what she was thinking now! Specifically, how she’d like to jump him.
“You’re right,” he added, “I wasn’t in love with her. I don’t think…” he shook his head. “I just don’t think I’m that guy.”
Funny, she didn’t have to ask what he meant by that cryptic statement. There was a hint of gentle warning in his gaze that made his words more than obvious. Luke had just basically told her that not only wasn’t he the marrying kind, he wasn’t the falling in love kind either. Good to know, really. But then, neither was she, so it was all good here.
She sighed. “At least you’ve got the niece and nephew. I wouldn’t mind being an aunt.”
“Being an uncle isn’t as easy as it looks.”
“You mean because Toby got lost? Are you still beating yourself up about that? Because that could have happened to anyone.”
He poured her more of the champagne. She noticed he’d only had one glass. Probably since he was driving the boat. She downed the cold bubbly and put her flute out for more. No sense in letting good champagne go to waste.
“Cameron told me something in private the day of the fishing trip,” he said. “Something, that I think Zeke and Mimi should know.”
Sarah noted the seriousness in his voice. “Go on.”
He told her how Cameron wanted to quit the soccer club but that he didn’t want to let everyone down. He told her other things, too, like how he’d found out that Mimi and Zeke had been separated and how he’d only discovered that because Cameron had told him.
“Poor kid.” And poor Luke. “That’s a tough spot you’re in,” she acknowledged.
“You think I should tell them?” he asked. “Or should I keep Cameron’s secret?”
Sarah had to admit, she was incredibly flattered that he wanted her opinion. She got the impression while he’d been talking that he hadn’t confided this to anyone else. “Have you talked to him about this, since the day of the fishing trip?”
He shook his head.
“Then maybe you should. If I were you I’d keep his secret, otherwise he might not trust you again, but I’d definitely encourage him to tell his parents on his own. You don’t want him to go through life always doing what other people expect of him, not if it makes him as unhappy as you said he seemed.”
“Yeah, I suppose I should do that,” he said pensively.
“Thirteen is a rough age.” He didn’t say anything. Maybe it was time to lighten the conversation again. “What were you like at thirteen?” she asked.
“I was a pretty typical kid.”
Typical was the last word she’d use to describe Luke. “Let me guess. You were a straight-A student who all the teachers loved and you excelled at sports and everything else you did and you always made mommy and daddy incredibly proud.”
“Wrong.”
She raised a brow.
“I lost the fifth grade spelling bee,” he said in a deadpan voice.
“Horrors!”