Chapter 13
The engagement party should have felt like a turning point. In some ways, it did.
Luke drove Grace home with his hand resting on her thigh for most of the trip.
They stopped for milkshakes because neither of them had eaten much despite the mountain of catered food.
By the time they pulled into her driveway, they were laughing about one of his uncles insisting on giving them unsolicited advice about joint checking accounts.
For almost an hour, Brooklyn had disappeared.
Grace had almost convinced herself that perhaps the conversation in the sunroom had truly changed something.
Luke walked her to the front door, kissed her beneath the porch light, and smiled against her mouth. "I think we survived."
Grace laughed. "I think we did."
"I'll call you tomorrow." He brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Grace watched his truck disappear down the street before she went inside. She fell asleep believing the worst might finally be behind them. She was wrong.
Monday morning began with an email from Natalie, their photographer.
Your gallery is ready!
Grace abandoned the proposal she'd been working on and clicked immediately. The photographs were beautiful. Better than she'd imagined.
There were candid shots of Luke whispering something that made her laugh until tears filled her eyes.
One of them walking hand in hand beneath flowering trees.
Another where they'd forgotten the camera entirely, their foreheads touching while the late afternoon sun filtered through the leaves behind them. She smiled so broadly her cheeks hurt.
Without thinking, she copied the gallery link and texted it to Luke.
They're perfect.
His reply came almost immediately.
Looking now.
Five minutes later her phone rang.
"Have you seen number forty-three?" he asked instead of saying hello.
Grace scrolled.
Luke was looking at her as though she'd hung the moon. The world around them had disappeared. She felt herself blush even though she was alone.
"I have now."
"I want that one framed."
"So do I."
"I was thinking..."
Luke hesitated.
"What?"
"I want to put it in our bedroom."
"Our bedroom."
He smiled.
"Our bedroom." Grace closed her eyes for a second. That tiny phrase made everything feel real again.
Around noon, Paige texted.
Did you post your pictures yet?
Grace frowned.
Not yet. Why?
Three dots appeared. Then another message.
Don't panic. Just...look at Brooklyn's Instagram.
Grace's stomach tightened. She opened the app. Brooklyn had posted a story.
Not one of Grace and Luke's photographs. A behind-the-scenes picture. Luke laughing between poses while talking to Natalie. Grace wasn't in the frame.
The caption read:
So happy these two found each other. Can't wait to celebrate them.
Grace stared. There was nothing wrong with it, objectively. Grace looked more closely.
The angle...
It had been taken from across the gardens. Near the walking path. Where Brooklyn had been running. A cold feeling settled low in her stomach. She hadn't interrupted the photo session. She hadn't inserted herself. She had simply… Taken a picture.
Grace enlarged it. Luke's smile. Natalie holding the camera. The edge of Grace's dress barely visible in one corner. It suddenly occurred to her that Brooklyn hadn't accidentally wandered into the gardens.
She had stayed.
Long enough to photograph them. Grace immediately hated herself for the thought. Who took pictures at public gardens?
Everyone.
Who posted congratulatory stories about engaged friends?
Everyone.
She locked her phone.
She was doing it again.
Reading motives into ordinary behavior.
She felt crazy.
Luke came by after work carrying pizza. Grace hadn't mentioned the photograph, she wasn't going to.
They spread the engagement gallery across her television screen, laughing over awkward poses and debating which pictures belonged in frames.
"This one," Luke said.
Grace wrinkled her nose. "My smile looks weird."
"It looks happy."
"It looks like I'm about to sneeze."
He laughed. "No."
She reached for the remote. "Next."
Luke caught her wrist before she could click.
"You know..." He studied the image thoughtfully. "I don't think I've ever seen myself look this happy."
Grace looked at him instead of the screen.
"You've made me happy." The simple sincerity in his voice dissolved whatever lingering anxiety she'd been carrying all day.
She crossed the room and climbed onto the sofa beside him. He slipped an arm around her shoulders automatically. "I've been thinking about houses," he admitted.
She smiled. "Again?"
"I can't help it."
"What kind this time?"
"Front porch."
She laughed. "Specific."
"I want somewhere we drink coffee every Saturday morning."
"I hate getting up early."
"We'll drink it at ten."
"Better." He kissed the top of her head.
"And a big backyard."
"For kids?"
Luke hesitated. "For whatever we end up having."
Grace turned toward him. "What does that mean?"
He smiled. "It means maybe kids."
"Maybe."
"Maybe dogs."
She nodded solemnly. "Definitely dogs."
"Definitely."
He grew quiet. "I've never looked this far ahead before."
"Not even with Marissa?"
He shook his head. "We were always trying to fix what wasn't working." His thumb traced absent circles against her shoulder. "You and I..." He looked around her little living room. "...we keep planning ordinary things."
Grace felt tears prick unexpectedly.
"The guest room."
"The paint."
"The coffee porch."
"The dogs."
Luke smiled.
"The boring stuff."
"The important stuff."
He nodded. "Exactly."
His phone buzzed. Neither of them moved. It buzzed again. Then a third time. Luke frowned. "I should probably make sure nobody's dead."
He picked it up. His expression changed almost immediately.
"What?"
He looked uncertain.
"It's Brooklyn."
Grace felt herself go very still. "What happened?"
He read the message again before answering. "She says she's outside."
Grace blinked. "Outside where?"
"My apartment." Silence filled the room.
Luke looked genuinely confused. "She says..." He frowned. "'Can you come down for five minutes? I really need to talk to someone.'"
Grace stared at him.
Neither of them spoke.
Finally Luke looked up. "I have no idea why she's at my building."
Grace believed him.
Completely.
His surprise was genuine.
"So..." He didn't finish.
Grace understood the question anyway.
Would she tell him to go?
Would she ask him to stay?
She suddenly realized that, for the first time since they'd become engaged, the decision actually belonged to Luke. She said nothing.
Luke looked down at the message one more time. Then he slowly set his phone face down on the coffee table. "No."
Grace looked at him. "No?"
He shook his head. "If something's wrong, she can call one of her girlfriends."
He reached for her hand. "I'm with my fiancée."
The phone buzzed again. Luke didn't pick it up.
Neither of them knew that six floors below Luke's apartment, Brooklyn sat alone in her car. She watched the lights in his living room through the windshield. After five minutes, she smiled faintly, started the engine, and drove away.
She had learned something important. The old Luke would have come downstairs immediately.
This Luke hadn't.
Which meant the next move would have to be different.