Chapter 34 Lucy
THIRTY-FOUR
Lucy
Breakfast is a quieter event than dinner, and turns out, it’s actually fun to cook outside. The smell of bacon and eggs is almost a stronger hit than the coffee.
Luckily, Andrew is a coffee fiend. He hands me a cup the second I walk over to the picnic tables, and then he sits quietly next to us while Miles and I cook breakfast.
Ben and Kelly emerge from the tent. Kelly’s carrying the baby, who looks wide awake, as though she’s been that way for hours.
Miles chuckles as they stumble toward us, and he reaches for the baby, who’s busy grinning at him with a two-tooth smile.
“Thank you,” Kelly rasps out.
Miles adjusts his hold so he has the baby in one arm and then comes back to the grill to help stir the scrambled eggs as I flip the bacon.
He looks good holding the baby. And he looks so happy as Penny has a fistful of his T-shirt that she’s trying to eat.
Ben and Kelly sit at the table next to Andrew and pour themselves some coffee.
Miles passes me Penny so that he can grab a pan to scoop the eggs in.
I wrap both arms around the baby and stare at it. She looks back at me with wide eyes. She wiggles, and I gasp as I try to adjust my hold so I don’t drop her.
“You’ve held a baby before, right?” Miles whispers as he finishes scraping the food off the griddle.
“No.”
“What?” He nearly drops the spatula.
“When would I have held a baby?” I whisper back furiously. “Can you take it back?”
Miles looks at me with wide eyes. “Think about it like holding a tiny puppy.”
“Oh.”
I stare back at the baby, then carefully adjust my arms to keep a steady hold of her while letting her lean back. She looks up at me in surprise and sticks a fist in her mouth.
“Hi. I’m Lucy. You and I are going to have to figure this out while Miles finishes breakfast.”
Penny seems to be paying attention to the whispered words, and her big, blinking eyes start to drift closed. I don’t know when I started swaying, but she seems to like it, so I don’t stop.
Less than a minute later, she’s asleep.
Kelly stands up and walks over to me as more family members filter toward the table with coffee, and now food, on it.
“I’ve never seen her sleep on anyone except Ben and me.
She must feel safe with you,” Kelly says with a smile.
“Thank you. She was too excited to go back to sleep this morning, and she was exhausted.”
“You’re probably tired too,” I comment.
Kelly nods. “Maybe it wasn’t the greatest idea to try camping with a baby…but we love spending time with family.”
A car pulls in next to the campsite, and someone lays on the horn, startling the baby awake.
Kelly immediately reaches for her as she’s scared into crying. “Dammit, Preston.” She glares at the car that has tinted windows. “Of course he would wake her up.”
A man climbs out of the car, followed by a beautiful woman, who’s wearing a cute sundress and wedge heels. I glance down at my oversize sweatsuit that’s barely keeping me warm. She’s going to freeze her knobby knees—poor thing.
“I’m here! The party can start!” Preston calls loudly as he makes his way toward us.
I catch Miles’s eye and mouth, I already hate him.
Miles’s concerned look turns into a grin, and he reaches for my hand, pulling me to his side.
“Oh, you’re who he married?” Preston demands as he stops in front of me. He stares at me—from my tennis shoes up to the mess of wavy hair on the top of my head. “You’re kind of below his league, aren’t you?”
“Completely. But far above yours.” I smile sweetly at him and watch Andrew spit coffee out of the corner of my eye. I can feel Miles shaking beside me. “Who are you?” I ask as I hold out a hand to shake his.
Preston’s missing the smug look, and I know I’ve made an enemy with a few simple words. My job here is done. I’m not about to let him try to belittle Miles or me.
He ignores my question—and my hand—and turns to everyone at the table. “Grandma said that whoever won the bet had to be married for six months. They won’t last. Carly and I will still win.” It’s his first acknowledgment of the beautiful woman with him, and I can’t help but feel sorry for her.
No one graces that with a response. There are some aunts and uncles—honestly, I can’t remember their names—sitting around, hugging coffee cups and Diet Cokes and not looking impressed that their nephew is making such a ruckus before noon.
“No wonder you can’t stand the guy,” I whisper to Miles.
He leans down and kisses the top of my head. “You’re the best wife I’ve ever had.”
I’ve lost Miles. And it’s making me a little panicky. Some of the cousins have gone on a hike that requires driving to a mountain. I’m trying to avoid Preston and his girlfriend, and I’m also doing my best to hide from Miles’s mom.
Not to mention Goldie.
The woman is a bloodhound. I’m afraid she’ll ask me for our five-year plan—again.
I can’t find Miles anywhere, so I take a walk down a narrow path that hopefully leads toward the lake. It was the closest available escape route when I saw Preston start heading for me across the grassy area.
A branch snaps behind me, and I start running.
I turn a sharp corner and run right into Felix.
I yelp and grab his elbows, scared that I’m going to knock him over, but he does more to keep us upright than I do. It’s a good thing he’s so fit.
“Sorry about that. I should stop staring at my feet when I walk.” He chuckles.
“I was the one running where I couldn’t see.” I place a hand against my chest as I glance over my shoulder.
“You running from someone?” Felix asks quietly.
I glance back at him and see exactly where Miles got those kind, sparkling eyes. “Yes.”
I hear a branch snapping and a man’s voice calling my name.
Felix crooks a finger and motions for me to follow him. We step off the trail and go far enough into the brush that we’re not visible from the trail.
Sure enough, Preston walks by, calling, “Lucy?”
Anything that guy has to say to me, I don’t want to hear it.
I glance down and realize I’m still clutching Felix’s arm. I mouth, Sorry, and he just shrugs with a grin.
We wait for Preston to walk around the corner before we walk back out onto the trail.
We stand there, staring down the path that Preston took.
“Not one for talk?” Felix finally asks.
“Depends on who wants to talk,” I say cautiously.
Preston is his grandson, after all.
“If you want a good view of the lake, you can come down this trail.” Felix takes a side trail and walks away.
I don’t know if that was an invitation or just general information, but I follow him anyway.
The trail opens up right at the lake’s edge. There’s a log bench that Felix is sitting on, holding a fishing pole. He must have stashed his stuff here earlier.
He glances back at me after casting and tilts his head toward the other end of the log. “Plenty of room if you want to hide a while longer.”
I sit down carefully, trying not to jar the log into rolling beneath us. I don’t say anything because I’ve never been fishing before, and it makes sense that talking could scare the fish away.
“You come from a small family?” Felix starts reeling in his line.
Apparently, talking is okay. “Yes. Is it obvious?”
“You looked a little surprised at dinner last night.”
“Everyone—well, almost everyone—is so nice. But I don’t know how to keep people straight.”
Felix chuckles. “Some of them aren’t actually related. Just some friends we’ve picked up along the way.”
“Oh, wow. Okay, that makes sense. I was trying to figure out how you had twenty-seven children,” I tease.
“I heard about this morning,” he says.
“You mean how the bacon got gobbled up so quickly?” I ask innocently.
“I heard you held your own with Preston.”
I clear my throat. “I know he’s your grandson…but he’s rude to Miles, and I don’t like that.”
“I love all of my grandkids, but some of them still have some growing up to do,” he admits as he casts the fishing line again. “I like that you’re loyal to Miles. That’s a good quality. I think you guys will last fifty years. Loyalty will see you further than feelings.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. He thinks we’re going to be married for fifty years.
I could be silent.
But this man helped me hide behind a shrub.
I try to open my mouth. Then snap it closed.
There’s a lot of money on the line.
But I have to tell him.
“I don’t know about that,” I say.
“Oh?” This time, Felix actually looks at me with raised eyebrows.
“We got married so that he could beat Preston at the bet. Ainsley’s the one who proposed. Miles doesn’t want to be married to me. It’s not real.” I don’t take a breath as I blurt out the truth.
Felix nods, the soft breeze blowing through his white hair. “I know.”
“What?” I gasp.
He shakes his head. “I’ve been watching you two. Miles is careful where he places his hands on you.” He chuckles. “After Goldie and I got married…we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves.”
I blush at that, because I’m attracted to Miles so much that I wish our marriage was that way too.
“Please don’t be mad at Miles. He did it for me.”
“And to get even with Preston,” Felix adds as he reels in the line again.
“I have a student loan, so he was going to make sure that got paid if we did this. He’s a good man.”
“He is.”
“He’s my best friend, and I want him to be happy. I don’t want his family to be mad at him.”
Felix stares at his hands wrapped around the fishing rod. “Did you get married legally?”
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Well then, as far as I’m concerned, you two are married. It’s none of my business what you do or don’t do behind closed doors.” He lifts his head and grins at me.
“Wha-a-a-t?” I nearly choke on the word.
“You seem to like that word a lot.”
“I guess I’m just a little confused.” Understatement of the year. Why isn’t he angry at me?
“I like you. And sometimes, it’s good for the family to get shaken up a little bit.”
I let a long breath out and rest my elbows on my knees. My blurting out the truth isn’t going to hurt Miles. And strangely, I feel better that Felix knows.
“Marriages have started for stranger reasons than this, you know,” Felix says thoughtfully.
“I don’t think Miles really wants to be married.”
“Personally, I think Miles is just now figuring out what he wants in life. And I hope you’ll be at next year’s camping trip.” He reaches behind him and produces another fishing pole, passing it to me.
“Um, I’ve never fished before.”
“Then it’s about time you learn.”