Page 106 of 15 Summers Later

Luke’s words seemed to wrap around her, warm and sweet and somehow...healing.

She gazed at him, quite sure all the tenderness she had been fighting for him was clear in her eyes.

He looked down at her, then with a sigh, as if surrendering to the inevitable, he leaned down and kissed her.

Oh. She had been dreaming of this for weeks, since the last time he had kissed her. It was even better than she remembered. He tasted of blueberries and sugar and she wanted to taste every inch of his mouth.

She forgot where they were. The crowded park, the busy market. She forgot that both of them were supposed to be helping at the adoption event.

All that mattered was this, right now, being here in his arms, his mouth sliding over hers, tasting and exploring with a tenderness that took her breath away.

She was in love with Luke Gentry.

The truth of it seemed to wash over her as if someone had dumped the two gallons of water on her head.

She loved him. She had probably loved him since that afternoon he had risked his life for hers.

Even after he married someone else, had a child, lost his wife, some part of Madi’s heart had always belonged to Luke. What had begun years ago as friendship—with a healthy dose of hero worship mixed in—had shifted over the years to something else.

What was she supposed to do now? She had absolutely no experience with being in love. All she could think about was tightening her hold around his neck and not letting go.

“Hey, Dad, are you back here? Somebody has a question about the puppy who is deaf in one ear. Can you come talk to them...?”

The voice trailed off into a shocked silence and Madi wrenched her mouth away from Luke’s to find Sierra staring at them, jaw sagging and her eyes huge.

Madi quickly stepped away, almost stumbling because of her stupid leg. He reached to catch her.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Madi said quickly, then regretted the words instantly. It wasexactlywhat it looked like. She and Luke had been wrapped in an embrace, completely oblivious to the rest of the world.

“What is it, then?” Sierra shifted her bewildered gaze from one of them to the other.

“I... Your dad was just... The television reporter upset me and...”

“And you thought you somehow would feel better about a reporter trying to talk to you if you kissed my dad?”

She did feel better, actually. For that entirely too-brief moment, she had forgotten all about Ava’s book and the reporter and the past.

How could she focus on any of that when she had only now faced the stunning truth that she was in love with one of her dearest friends?

“Is something going on with you two?” Sierra pressed, the beginning of something else entering her expression, something that looked like hurt. “Are you two...dating?”

Oh, this was so complicated. Far too tangled to explain to a thirteen-year-old girl in the middle of a crowded farmers market.

“Nothing is going on,” Madi said quickly. She didn’t dare look at Luke. What was he thinking?

“I’m not a child. I thought you, of all people, would never treat me like one, Madi. I asked you outright a few weeks ago if you thought my dad was dating someone and you looked right at me and lied.”

“I didn’t lie. We’re not...dating.”

“Only kissing?”

“That’s enough,” Luke said. “We can talk about this later, Sierra. Let’s all just take a deep breath and return to the adoption event.”

She gazed at her father, then whirled around and practically ran back to the animal rescue tent.

Madi couldn’t look at Luke. She knew all her emotions would be clear in her expression. She often thought Ava completely lacked any sort of a poker face but she suspected hers wasn’t any better. Instead, she reached to pick up the water jugs.

He reached out and pulled them from her. “Madi. We have to talk about this thing between us.”

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