Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

“I’ve seen hundreds of flower shops, Paige.”

I shook my head, and a rush of sadness swept over me that I couldn’t stop, even if I had wanted to. Lucas and I had been living in a bubble the last four days, so much so that we still hadn’t talked. About anything. It had been easier to push it all aside and be in the moment.

“Was it in Paris? With Bianca?”

He looked away and over to Jen. I followed his gaze and saw my friend give him an expression that might have been a warning to tread lightly. She lifted her brows and took a few steps back. “I’m going to step outside, take a look at the exterior and see what your dad is thinking, Lucas.”

Lucas nodded, then met my hard stare.

“Yes, I think we saw the same flower shop,” he finally said.

I turned away and walked into the middle of the store. I knew I was feeling childish, but I couldn’t help it. No matter how happy we were in this moment, it still hurt knowing he had traveled to so many places with Bianca. Places he should have gone with me. I had wanted to experience those places with him. I couldn’t help but think of May. She had to have felt the same way when William never came after her.

“If I could go back in time, Paige, I’d be there with you. I wasn’t even with Bianca that day. She was at a photoshoot, and I was walking around Paris. I saw the shop and walked into it.”

I gasped and turned around. “Were you in a blue coat?”

With a befuddled expression, he asked, “What? When?”

“Were you in a blue coat? The day you walked around Paris? I saw the flower shop and stopped to admire the flowers. When I glanced into the shop, I thought I saw you. Dressed in a blue coat. I berated myself for thinking it could be you, but I knew you had gone to France before with Bianca. I went to step into the shop but was too nervous about how you would react if you saw me. Then I realized how stupid I was and went back the next day. I vowed I wasn’t going to do it, but I asked the shop owner if she remembered a man from the day before. She said yes, he was American, but that was all she could remember. It was you! Wasn’t it?”

“Honestly, Bianca always had me dressing in the stupidest of clothes, but it could have very well been me.”

I nodded, then looked away. I didn’t want the excitement of only a few moments ago to slip away, but it did.

Lucas wrapped his arms around me, holding my back tightly against his chest.

“We can’t change the past, but I promise I’ll do whatever I can to make your future—our future—beautiful.”

My eyes closed as I dropped my head against his sturdy body.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m sorry for reacting that way. It was childish, and I don’t know what came over me.”

He leaned his chin on the top of my head and let out a long breath of air.

“We need to talk, Paige. We’re playing pretend, and we need to talk about it. All of it.”

I let out my own exasperated sigh. “I know. Let’s go home.”

I turned in his arms, and Lucas lifted my chin until our eyes met. There was so much emotion in his look. Love, regret, anger, sadness. Both of us had a whirlwind inside and pretending like the past had never happened was only causing the whirlwind to turn into a hurricane.

He leaned down and kissed me gently. My arms instinctively wrapped around his neck, and he held me tighter, lifting me off the ground as he sucked on my tongue, then nipped at my bottom lip.

“I love you,” we said together.

We laughed and quickly stepped apart when Lucas’s dad cleared his throat.

“When did this happen?” he asked.

Lucas and I exchanged a look and then focused back on his father.

“A few days back,” Lucas answered.

Carl nodded. “Your granddad always said it was fate that the two of you would end up together. When he told me about leaving the house to both of you, I wasn’t so sure it would work. I would have rather he told you the truth.”

I swallowed hard and looked at him.

“What do you mean by that, Dad?”

With a laugh, Carl walked into the room. He glanced over his shoulder, making sure we were alone before he spoke.

“I know the truth. That William wasn’t my father by blood.”

My hand came up to my mouth as I tried to hide the quick intake of breath. “How do you know? Did he tell you?”

Carl glanced sadly down at the floor before looking back over to Lucas to give him a slight smile.