Page 14 of Luke

My mother furrows her brow. Maybe she’s more aware than I originally thought. Oh, well. I can’t stop now. I don’t want to. I’ve held this inside for years. It needs to come out. If I can tell my mother without a hitch, then I can tell Luke. I just need a rehearsal, that’s all.

“I couldn’t stand the thought of watching Luke get married and raise a family with Emmaline. I knew he would do it because it’s the right thing to do. I also knew that he’d be miserable if he knew he was causing me pain. I did the onlything I could do, for all of our sakes. I removed myself from the equation.”

My mother nods faintly.

“It was stupid and selfish, but I’ve loved him so much for so long. I didn’t think my heart could take it. I never thought he’d love me that way, ever. Then, something happened last night. I won’t go into details but it was amazing. I’ve never felt so great.”

My mother narrows her eyes just slightly.

“I’m sorry to feel so great when you’re so miserable,” I say as if I can read her mind. “If it makes you feel better, I had an anxiety attack that lasted twelve hours.”

Laughter twinkles in her eyes as her gaze slides behind me. I look over my shoulder expecting a doctor, but instead, Luke stands in the doorway.

“Oh!” I leap to my feet, sending the magazine onto the floor. “Hi. Um, how long have you been there?”

“I came in at ‘she used to put ham in my locker’,” he smiles.

“Ah.” My face heats up before I can control it. “And you heard the rest?”

“All the rest.” His smile grows bigger. “I now feel like the biggest idiot on the planet.”

My stomach flutters in a way that feels more like a knife. “You do?”

“I’ve been in love with you for years and I was too stupid to see that you loved me too.”

At first, I think I’ve hallucinated his words. Then, he closes the distance between us and wraps me in his arms.

“Is there any chance you still love me, even though I’ve been an oblivious moron?” He asks.

“A chance?” I nearly choke on my words. “Of course, there’s a chance. I’ve loved you for over a decade. I’m going to keep loving you through all of the decades to come.”

When he kisses me, I feel like I’m going to dissolve into a cloud of sparkles and flower petals.

“You know,” he murmurs when we break apart, “that means you can’t run off to New Orleans for another six years, right?”

“I’m only going to run off if I can run off with you.”

Epilogue

Marie

“I can’t believe you’re going to live in a box,” my mother huffs.

“It’s not a box,” I laugh. “It’s a very nice three-bedroom home.”

“Three-bedroom box,” she corrects as she looks around the vast empty space that will soon become my living room. “Why don’t you and Luke buy that abandoned brewery? It’s small, but the space is so unique.”

“You’re insane,” I say. “We can’t raise our future children in a renovated brewery.”

“I raised you in a renovated bakery,” she points out.

In the past six months, she’s made incredible strides. She officially had her last round of chemo last month and her hair has started to grow back. Her doctors are confident the cancer is gone for good.

“My bathroom only had three walls,” I retort. “Don’t worry if this place doesn’t have character right now. Luke and I are going to add character, personality,andmemories.”

“You better or else we’re having Christmas at my house until the end of time.”

“I already assumed we’d do Christmas at yours,” I say.

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