Page 109 of Honeymoon Phase
Dakota:You know Calder is going to ask for his cat to have a job now, right?
Me:LOL. I’ll have to give that one more thought. Do you guys think Everly would walk Jo down the aisle? I don’t want her to walk alone?
Trista:??
Cozy:That is the perfect job for our Everly.
Dakota:This group chat needs more hilarious TikToks and less crying emojis. I’m at work for God’s sake!
I swipe at my happy tears as I put my phone away and look up at Luke, standing in the middle of a dance studio with his mother and an instructor who’s in the process of teaching them how to waltz.
Johanna set up this dance lesson for us, but Luke told me that Jo always wanted Steven to learn how to waltz and they never got around to it, so he asked if he could include his mom in the lesson as well.
I said a thousand times yes and have been sitting here with the dopiest smile on my face watching them work through the choreography. Leave it to my husband to make his mother’s dream come true on his wedding day.
God, he really is one of the good ones.
I watch them in awe as they work together, laughing and teasing and figuring out the moves with more ease than I probably would have myself. It’s an unusual thing watching Luke with his mom. There’s such an effortless love between them, I can’t help but wonder what gene my mom was missing. And would I be missing the same gene?
These are questions I’ve asked myself for years, and it’s strange to me to be suddenly considering a relationship with Luke and doubting everything I thought I knew about myself. I guess that’s what caring about someone does to you though. It gives you permission to dream again.
The music shifts into an old familiar song, “Feels like Home,” and I see Luke lean in and whisper something to his mom. She nods and steps back, holding her hands over her mouth as she whispers something to the dance instructor.
I frown as Luke stalks toward me. He holds his hand out with a sexy smile, but I wave him off. “I’m okay. Keep dancing with your mom. You guys are so cute.”
“She’s ready for a break,” he says with a smirk, bending over to grab my hand and pull me out onto the dance floor. “I missed you.”
“Missed me? We literally live together, Fletcher.” I laugh as he pulls me into him, moving us around the dance floor with ease, clearly picking up the dance moves much better than me.
He doesn’t let my joking deter him as he folds our hands between our chests, his other sliding around my waist, resting unabashedly at the top of my ass. I tease my fingers through his hair as he presses his bearded cheek to me and hums the song in my ear, causing goose bumps to erupt all over my body. His warmth, his touch, his breath like the best kind of comfort.
I close my eyes and turn my face into his neck, breathing him in like a drug I can never get enough of. I lose myself to the movements, letting Luke take me wherever he wants. He could be leading me out into a street, and I wouldn’t care. I’d go anywhere with this man.
“You’re so sweet to your mom.” I glance over to where Johanna stands watching us with a big tearful smile on her face.
“She makes it easy,” he replies and then looks down at me with a frown. “Sorry, that was probably insensitive of me to say.”
“No, it wasn’t.” I move my arm from his neck to his chest, tucking myself into his embrace. “It’s nice. You should be proud of your mom. I’m proud of how you are with your mom.”
Luke presses a kiss to my forehead and dips to whisper in my ear. “She’ll love you to pieces if you let her.”
My chest trembles as I let those words sink in. Johanna Fletcher is a woman who lost the love of her life and still has love to give. Luke too. He went through a horrific trauma with his dad, buried him, and still, he stands here comforting me.How did I land myself smack-dab in the middle of such an incredible family?
“Your loss is so much more recent than mine,” I say, glancing up at Luke. “How are you all so okay and I’m still such a mess?”
“We can’t compare grief,” he says firmly, tilting his head to look at me. “It’s a sliding scale that everyone deals with differently. My mom has her good days and her bad days. As do I. We’re all just doing the best we can.”
His eyes are thoughtful, and kind, and I feel so damn lucky to be in his arms right now. I reach up and pull Luke’s lips down to mine. Kissing the goodness right off him and hoping I can take some of it for myself. Maybe if I can, we have a shot of making this whole marriage fact and not fiction. If that’s even what I want.
The sound of the studio door opens and we pull our lips apart as we turn our heads to see a tall blonde girl running in a dead sprint toward Luke’s mom.
“Everly!” Jo squeals and opens her arms, catching her granddaughter in a big hug.
Everly has to crouch down for the hug, her tall, slender frame looking like a baby giraffe in that awkward pose. Luke and I pause our dancing, and I see him eyeing his niece with a knowing smirk.
“Who let you back in the country?” he drawls, narrowing his eyes playfully.
Everly turns to scowl at her uncle, her blue eyes bright and piercing as she props her hands on her hips. “Well, the party can’t start until I arrive, so you better be thanking me for gracing you with my presence.”
