“No, I mean…really?” she asked Luke.
“Yes, really,” he said quietly. “I know it’s a lot to take in, me coming here today and dropping all this on you, but I can’t leave for Atlanta without telling you how I feel. You were right to walk out on me the other day. What I proposed was selfish as hell and it’s not even what I want. I don’t want a part-time relationship. I want us to be together all the time.”
“Luke—”
“Please, don’t say no right now. Let me finish. I don’t want you to be at my house, waiting for me to get back from wherever I’ve been working. I’m giving the Alaska contract to another engineer in the firm. He’s single and he’s more than experienced and ready to take over if we open a Northwest office. I’m going to sell my condo and move to Whispering Bay and open up a Florida branch of Powers and Doyle. Take on smaller, local projects. It’s what Ethan has been doing for a while now so he can make more time with Julie. And that’s what I want, too. More time with my family.”
“Oh, Luke, that’s great,” she said softly. She could feel her eyes tear up. No crying, she chided herself. “I’m sure your mom is really happy.”
“She is.”
“Oh my God, I almost forgot! What are Mimi and Zeke having?”
He grinned. “A boy. And a girl.”
“What? No! Twins?”
They both laughed, and it felt so right, standing here in the parking lot next to him, talking about his family. About his life.
After a few seconds, he sobered. “Back to what I was trying to tell you. I want you to buy that food truck, and I still want you to think of the beach house as yours. I was going to bring you a set of keys, but then I realized you must still have your set. Sarah, it’s not you who’ll be at the house waiting for me to come back from a job. It’s me who’ll be there waiting for you because I love you. By the way, you’re the only woman I’ve ever said that to.” Then he bent down to kiss her on the cheek and walked away.
* * *
“Well, that was certainly something,” Mom said. After Luke’s grand announcement, they’d driven back to the house in near silence.
Sarah was still in a daze. Luke loved her. And if she hadn’t been such a complete idiot, she would have told him that she loved him too. Because she certainly felt it. But there was somethin
g holding her back and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly what it was. She needed advice from the one person who’d always been there for her.
“Mom, have you ever been in love?” After all these years of being not only mother and daughter, but also best friends, it was the first time she’d ever directly asked her mom that question. Mom had dated, Sarah knew that. She’d even met a couple of her mother’s boyfriends, but there had never been anyone special. At least, not anyone that Sarah had been aware of.
Mom sat down on the couch and sighed. For the first time in her life, she looked old enough to be Sarah’s mother. “Oh, honey, that’s such a complicated question.”
“Not really, mom. Either you have or you haven’t.”
“Are you asking this because you’re still confused about your feelings for Luke?”
“No. I think I’m pretty much on top of that situation. I love him, Mom.”
Olivia Jamison nodded. “I could see that. I’m happy for you, honey. I really am. And to answer your question, of course I’ve been in love. More than once. I loved your father, you know.”
Sarah shook her head. “I didn’t know that,” she said softly.
“Well, it’s not something I’m terribly proud of,” she said, laughing. Then she smiled sadly. “I loved Robert and I think he loved me, too, but I got pregnant with you before our relationship had gotten to the level where we both felt comfortable saying it. I didn’t want him to think that just because I was pregnant I expected anything from him, so instead of telling him how I really felt, I went all I-can-do-this-on-my-own on him. I never really gave him a chance, you see. And that’s my fault.”
“Oh, Mom.” The tears were streaming down her face now.
“It’s all right,” Mom said. “I’m happy where my life is right now. And he is, too. But, honey, don’t make the same mistake I did. When people come into your life, don’t let your pride turn them away. Invite them in.” She reached out and wiped the tears from Sarah’s face and hugged her. And in that instant, Sarah knew exactly what she had to do.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Hey, Dad, it’s me, your daughter Sarah.”
There was chuckling on the other end of the line. “Since you’re my only daughter I pretty much figured that out when you said, ‘Hey, Dad.’”
“Oh, yeah.” She was nervous, which he immediately picked up on.
“You okay, honey?”