Sweet Hill Temptation (Sweet Hill 0.50)

He took a deep breath, trying to ward off the defeat settling in his chest. There had to be a way to make this work. And he had one week to figure out how.

Chapter Seven

“Why the sour look?” Nana said, kneading piecrust. “For the last couple months, you’ve been happy as a pearl.”

“You mean clam, Nana.”

“No.” She shook her head. “My experience is it’s the pearl that is happy, not the clam.”

Annie decided not to argue with her on that.

“Something happen with Luke?”

Annie sighed and pulled the rack of blueberry muffins out of the oven.

“I’m an idiot.”

Nana frowned. “Why on earth would you say such a thing?”

Annie set down the muffins to cool on the rack on the counter and faced her grandmother. “Because I told him I loved him.”

“Oh.” She wiped her hands down her apron and walked over to Annie. “What did he say back?”

“Nothing. At first, I didn’t give him the opportunity, but this morning, things were quiet between us. We didn’t say more than two words to each other. I think I wrecked everything.”

“You told the truth. There’s nothing wrong with that. And you didn’t wreck a thing. If Luke Jacobs can’t handle the fact that he’s lucky enough for a woman like you to love him, then he’s dumber than that grandfather of his.”

Annie hung her head. Luke had gotten to her a long time ago, but it wasn’t until yesterday that she had admitted just how much.

She was in love with him.

There was no getting around it.

“You want an answer, Annie? Go get one. You’ve never waited for things to be handed to you. If you want him, go get him. At least to know where he stands.”

She nodded, knowing her grandmother was right. Only problem was, a new feeling was creeping up that she didn’t have a lot of experience with. Fear. Whatever answer she sought from Luke would change things, in one way or another. And that scared the shit out of her.

“Can you handle the cleanup?” she asked her grandmother.

“Of course, dear. You go on.”

“Thanks.” Grabbing her things, Annie hustled to her car and drove to Luke’s. As she suspected, he wasn’t home yet. So she let herself in like she had a hundred times over the past several weeks. Maybe a nice dinner would be good. To take the edge off her racing pulse.

While boiling water for pasta and cutting veggies for the sauce, she prepared for what she had to say to Luke. Because good or bad, he’d give her an answer. And then she’d know.

A low hum, then paper rustling sounded from the bedroom. She walked over to the small desk in Luke’s room and saw a bunch of papers pop up in the fax machine.

Not one to pry, she turned to go back to the kitchen, but two words caught her eye: Contract and New York.

With harvest drawing to a close, Luke skipped going to his grandfather’s tonight for his regular check-in. He was ready to get home. After a shower, he’d call Annie. When he pulled up, he realized she’d beat him to it. She was already at his place.

Entering through the kitchen, he saw veggies cut up on the counter and a pot of water on the stove, but the water wasn’t boiling.

“Annie?”

She walked out from his room. A mix of anger, shock, and sadness played on her face.

“Is there something you want to tell me, Luke?”