They’d covered everything from their families to their hometowns to their favorite sports, movies, books, TV shows, and it had been… easy. Fun. He’d immediately wanted to do it again and had thought she felt the same way, but watching her now with Landon, he could see that she had found a connection with him, too. Perhaps a stronger connection than she’d found with Lucas. If that was the case, there was nothing he could do about it. The choice was hers to make, and she’d clearly made it.
He stood, taking his grandfather by surprise. “Where you going, boy?”
“Gotta get home. I’ve got an early morning tomorrow.”
“Where you got to be?” Landon asked.
“I’m covering for Denny.” Lucas referred to one of the paramedics they worked with. “His wife has an ultrasound, and they’re going to find out what they’re having.”
“Oh, cool.”
“You didn’t open your presents,” Molly said.
“I told you guys no presents.”
“When do we ever do what we’re told?” Linc asked.
Lucas took the time to open the gifts from his parents—some new tools for the shop, a sleeping bag to replace the one he’d trashed after the last camping trip, a pair of the cargo shorts he wore in the summer, a book about Lewis and Clark that he’d been meaning to get and a watch with GPS capability.
“Thanks, Mom. I love it all.”
“You’re very welcome.”
He appreciated that she seemed to get that he wanted out of there. But he hoped she knew it wasn’t because he didn’t love the time with his family.
Tomorrow, he would do the shift for Denny during the day, and then he had three days off before his next shift at the firehouse. That was enough time to hit the road and get out of town for a couple of days. If his brother was going to be falling all over Amanda, he didn’t have to stick around for the show.
After he said his goodbyes to the others, his mother met him in the mudroom.
“You really shouldn’t have gotten presents, Mom.”
She shrugged off the statement. “It’s fun for me to find things I think you’d like.”
“Well, thank you. For the gifts, the pizza, the cake. For everything.”
“Are you all right, Luc? You aren’t yourself tonight.”
“I’m all right. Just fighting off a cold.”
“Are you sure that’s all it is?”
“Yep.” The last thing he’d ever do is confess to anyone that he was jealous of his brother. Such a stupid, pointless emotion, and one he’d felt rarely enough to be unfamiliar with how to deal with it. He kissed his mother’s forehead. “I’ve got a few days off, and I’m going to take a run over to Stowe tomorrow.” One of his best friends from Bowdoin College lived there, so no one would question why he was going. They didn’t need to know that he wouldn’t be seeing Craig this time around.
“Supposed to snow tomorrow. Be careful driving.”
“I will. Don’t worry.”
“You know better than to tell me not to worry.”
“I’ll be fine. If there’s one thing your children know how to do, it’s take care of themselves. You saw to that.”
“True. I’m very proud of that.”
“Then don’t worry. I have snow in my DNA.” He hugged her and headed out the door before he had to see Landon and Amanda again. Was he being ridiculous running from them? Yes, and he knew it, but so be it. He didn’t want to deal with it, especially on his freaking birthday.
He got in the truck, started it and cranked the heat, hoping it wouldn’t take long to warm up. It was bloody freezing, as per usual for the last week in March in Vermont, where winter tended to hang on until after the first buds of spring appeared on the trees. Keeping an eye on his parents’ dogs, George and Ringo, who’d followed him outside, he backed out of the driveway and glanced back at the house to see his mom still at the door, watching him go.
Lucas hoped she’d forgive him for leaving the party early, but he’d needed to get out of there before he gave away how he was feeling to the whole family. This was all new territory for him. He wasn’t one to have secrets. What you saw was what you got with Lucas Abbott, and he had no clue how to navigate this situation.
Keeping an eye out for rogue moose, he drove to the family’s Christmas tree farm that was shuttered until spring planting. Normally, he loved the isolation and the serenity of life at the farm, but, like everything else the last few days, it didn’t bring the usual comfort. He was edgy, out of sorts, off his game and feeling lost in a sea of familiar places and people.
His plan to get the hell out of there for a few days was looking better to him with every passing minute. Inside the loft apartment over the barn, he started a load of laundry and pulled a duffel bag with the Butler Volunteer Fire Department logo from under the bed.
He and Landon were both lieutenants in the department, charged with handling most of the administrative work that earned them small salaries. Lucas’s was enough to cover most of his expenses, which were minor thanks to the fact that he didn’t have to pay rent. He got to live at the farm in exchange for keeping an eye on the place in the off-season and acting as the caretaker on behalf of the family business. Between his fire department salary and the sale of the furniture and other wood items he crafted, he eked out a pretty decent living, but his needs were minimal.
Would a woman like Amanda be satisfied with the life that had always more than satisfied him, or would she find it lacking? And since when did he care what anyone else thought of his life?
Since the best first date in history, that’s when.
He had put his laundry in the dryer and opened a beer when the phone rang. Seeing his grandfather’s number on the caller ID, he took the call. “What’s up, Gramps?”
“I was thinking about you on the way home and decided to give you a ring. You weren’t yourself tonight, and I’m wondering if I know why.”
Amused as always by his grandfather, Lucas leaned back against the kitchen counter and smiled. “Knock yourself out.”
“I think you and your brother have set your sights on the same woman, and that’s got you all turned around.”
Lucas knew he shouldn’t be surprised that Elmer had figured out his dilemma.
“Am I warm?”
“Pretty warm.”
“Ah, thought so. It’s a heck of a thing to meet someone who really strikes your fancy. Happened to me once upon a time, and it was the worst feeling in the world.”
Lucas stood up straighter. “When did it happen to you?”
“With your grandmother. I met her when she was dating my cousin.”
“No way.”
“Yes way, and it was awful, I tell you.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing, and that was the hardest part. I loved my cousin. We were as close as brothers. I never would’ve done anything to hurt him.”
“Since I know how this story ends, I have to know how you ended up together.”
“She told him she fancied me.”
“Whoa! How did he take that?”
“Punched me in the mouth,” Elmer said with a low guffaw. “That’s how I knew she’d picked me.”