Page 34 of In Love with Lewis Prescott
“It looks so good already!”
I spot Lewis smiling to himself.
“The contractor you hired is doing a good job, then?” Mom asks.
“Yes. He’s knocking it out of the park.” I glance over at Lewis, who’s still loosening floorboards. “I should get going, though. I’m helping him with a project right now.”
“See? Always working so hard. What I did I tell you?” Uncle Pedro chuckles.
“It’s cheaper if I help with some of the labor. Luckily the contractor I found was okay with that.”
“So smart and practical. Good on you,anak.”
“That’s our girl!” Mom cheers.
I chuckle at how ridiculously supportive my family is.
We exchangeI love yous and I promise to come down for dinner sometime in the next couple of weeks. When we hang up, I glance up at Lewis, who’s still kneeling on the floor.
“Sorry about that.”
“About what? Your family sounds really great. And really proud of you.”
I wave a hand. “They’d be proud of me for opening a lemonade stand. It’s amazing, but also kind of over-the-top.”
Lewis goes quiet instantly, and I notice the expression on his face, a mix of wistful and sad.
“Sounds like the best kind of family,” he says before firing up the recip saw and running it along the bottom of the hardwood floorboards.
As I get back to work helping him, I quietly wonder what prompted that look and those words. But as much as I want to ask, I remember our agreement. Total privacy is what I promised him, and so that’s what he’ll get.
Chapter Nine
Harper
“We’re still on for wedding dress shopping on Friday, right?” I ask Naomi over the phone.
“Absolutely. I honestly can’t wait! I know I haven’t been the typical bride in a lot of ways, but something about picking out a dress has me all giddy.”
“Maybe it’s because you know you’re gonna look freaking gorgeous in whatever you try on and Simon is gonna pass out at the altar at the sight of you.”
Naomi chuckles. I pace slowly around the bedroom of an apartment I’m touring with one of the clients at Glad You’re Here. I peer into the kitchen, where the client, Mina, is being shown all the amenities by the leasing agent. She turns and flashes a thumbs-up at me.
“I’m still sad that Maren can’t come,” Naomi says.
“Me too. You know how those hospital shifts are, though. It’s almost impossible to swap a busy day shift at a trauma hospital in San Francisco.”
“I know. It’s just been so long since the three of us hung out.”
Last month was the last time we saw Maren, our friend from college. The three of us have been friends since freshman year, when Maren was my roommate. She worked as a travel nurse for the majority of her career before getting an ER position at a hospital in San Francisco a handful of months ago to be closer to her family.
“At the very least we’ll all get to hang out at your bachelorette party,” I remind her.
“So how’s the cohabitation going with the hunky TV star–turned–contractor?”
“Fine.”
“Fine? That’s all you’re giving me?”
