Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

“I had no idea he was sick, or I would have come to visit,” I stated. “It’s been months since I’ve seen him.”

She shook her head. “Don’t you even, young lady. You talked to him every week. You stopped by last Christmas and played dominoes with him and helped him decorate the tree outside the old house. He went on for days about how you decorated that tree.”

I smiled warmly at Lynn, but I couldn’t ignore the way my chest ached. I had planned on coming home to see my father, brother Tom, and William. I’d used the excuse that I was so busy with work and never made the journey. Coming home to Johnson City always brought with it a blanket of sadness. The memories and lost dreams often made it hard to breathe.

Lynn gazed at me with a loving look. I’d always adored her, and it had nothing to do with the fact that her son, Lucas, had been one of my best friends growing up, along with Milo Elliott and Jen Adams. I had dated Lucas all through high school. He had been my first love. My first real French kiss. Hell, my first with every sexual encounter—until I left Arkansas eleven years ago when I was eighteen.

“I’m going to miss him.” I glanced around, looking for her son. I hadn’t seen him in a few years. Each time I was in town, he wasn’t. And even though we both lived in Austin, we never once ran into each other.

That was a lie. I had stumbled across him a few times, but always managed to slip away before he could see me. Of course, we ran in different circles now. He never did forgive me for going to Arkansas and not to the University of Texas. I had dreams of opening my own business, and Lucas had dreams of staying in Johnson City and taking over his family’s business. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my hometown; I did. But I was young and wanted to see what else was out there besides small-town Texas.

This was the whole reason I chose an international business degree and minored in French. The idea of living in France had always been a dream, one I shared with Lucas a lifetime ago. He had been all for it, but when he found out I didn’t want the simple business degree Texas offered, he got upset. A part of me thought maybe he wanted a break; we had dated all through high school, after all. But he gave me an ultimatum and that was the breaking point. If I didn’t go to UT with him, we would have to break up because he couldn’t do a long-distance relationship. The truth was, he obviously didn’t trust me, and that broke my heart in two.

“Paige, before you leave to head back to Austin, would you mind stopping by Lou Howard’s office tomorrow? You were named in William’s will.”

“Me?” I asked, my voice sounding as stunned as I felt.

“You know he loved you. He’d hoped you and Lucas would have found your way back to each other by now.”

I forced a smile. A part of me had thought maybe we would, as well. I’d never had feelings for any other man like I had for Lucas. It took me nearly my whole freshman year of college to get over him, and even to this day, my brain tells me he’s old news, and my heart argues back.

“Where is Lucas?” I asked, trying to be nonchalant.

Lynn’s face went into a scowl. “Fiji.”

My eyes widened. “I’m sorry, did you say Fiji?”

For a moment, I thought a growl came from Lynn. She rolled her eyes. “I should say he is on his way back. Once things turned for the worse, and I realized William was not going to get any better, I called Lucas. Bless his soul, no matter how hard he tried to get back in time for the funeral today, it wasn’t going to happen. They somehow missed their flight.”

Lynn looked around, took my arm and led us both out to the back porch. Fewer people were gathered out there and we could speak more openly. Once we were outside, she leaned in close to me and whispered, “Bianca conveniently couldn’t find her passport.”

I raised a brow.

“Yes. On purpose! Lucas should have left her selfish ass on that island.”

The back door flew open and Linda May Hacker strolled out. “Oh Lynn, darling, I’m so sorry to hear about William, and that Lucas couldn’t make it back in time.”

I covered my smile at Lynn calling her son’s girlfriend out like that. I watched as she plastered on a smile and turned to Linda May. I was positive she was still the go-to person in Johnson City for gossip.