Ready to Run (I Do, I Don't 1)

Home wasn’t New York.

Home was…with him?

The thought felt both ridiculous—he’d just met her—and yet not ridiculous at all.

“You’re so dumb,” Isobel muttered, shoving in a mouthful of lettuce.

Stacey gave her a chastising look, then turned a gentle gaze toward Luke. “Lukey—”

He held up a hand to stop his ex, his attention fixed on the ever-practical Isobel. “What would you do?”

She paused in her chewing, startled since she usually left the talking to the more-chatty Stacey. “What?”

“If you’d blown things with Stacey, if she’d left town. What would you do?”

“Oh boy,” Stacey muttered under her breath.

Isobel leaned back in her chair, wiped her mouth with a napkin as she studied Luke. “Well, it depends. How’d you leave things with her?”

Luke swallowed. “An argument. I may or may not have accused her of sleeping with me so that I’d be less pissed about the Eva thing.”

“Oh, Isobel’s right,” Stacey breathed. “You are so dumb.”

Isobel and Luke both ignored her.

“Okay, so after all of that, is there any possible reason she’d stay in Lucky Hollow?” Isobel asked calmly.

Luke nodded, but Isobel was already shaking her head. “Not good enough. Say it out loud.”

He rolled his eyes to cover the fact that his hands felt slightly clammy. “Yes, she had a reason to stay in town.”

“Which was…” Isobel said, rolling her finger for him to continue.

Luke swallowed. “I wanted her to.”

“Why?”

He glared at her, but she merely stared back. Took a sip of wine and waited.

“I care about her,” Luke said, his voice a little rough. “I feel like there might have been something important there.”

“Eh.” Isobel picked up her fork. “It’s not great, but it’s a start.”

Luke stared at her. “That’s it? That’s your big advice?”

“Nah.” Isobel ate a piece of cucumber. “My advice is to practice that speech. It needs to be a hell of a lot better if you want her back. Now eat your damn salad.”

Luke picked up his fork, though he wasn’t at all hungry.

Isobel was right. He did need to get a better speech if he wanted to have a chance with Jordan.

But the far more important factor…

He had to find her first.

Chapter 27

Keaton, Kansas, had changed.