Chapter 21 Lucy #2
Lucy sighed and shrugged. “She’s never been able to tell us apart, even when we were children. I think she just doesn’t pay attention to people who don’t matter to her.”
“Good grief,” June breathed. “How could someone be that detached from reality and so caught up with themselves that they come across as clueless?”
“Spoiled,” Lucy offered. “She’s always been spoiled and pampered.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m already an hour late.”
“I hope you’re not going to take what she says to heart about keeping away from Tom,” June said, catching her arm gently. “Don’t let her come between you and Tom. She did that once before.”
Lucy smiled sadly. “I know. I think about it more than I should lately.”
“Don’t,” June advised firmly. “Leave the past behind and move forward. You and Tom deserve happiness.”
Lucy looked at her longtime friend with gentle understanding. “Maybe you should take your own advice.”
“I don’t think there’s anything for me to look forward to,” June said quietly. “You heard what the girls saw, and Victoria just confirmed it. She’s already marked Holt as her territory.”
“That’s just looking at it from one side,” Lucy pointed out. “Maybe you should give Holt a chance to show you what he actually wants.”
June nodded reluctantly. “Go on, get out of here. You’re already late enough.”
Lucy rushed toward Teacups and couldn’t stop her heart from jolting when she saw Tom, who was sitting at a table on the porch.
He saw her immediately, waved, stood, gathered his things, and walked toward her.
As they drove toward her family home on Point Drive, she couldn’t stop thinking about Victoria’s words and her own complicated history with Tom.
The memories came flooding back to the day Tom had broken up with her forty years ago, telling her he was going to marry Victoria.
She’d asked him if he loved Victoria, and he’d simply said there was more to marriage than love. Case closed.
By the time they reached the Hoops House, her family’s ancestral home that had been in her family for generations, Lucy had worked herself into an emotional state she hadn’t experienced in decades.
The house looked beautiful even in its current state of renovation, its Victorian architecture and wraparound porches facing the ocean with timeless elegance.
Tom pulled into the circular driveway and stopped in front of the garages.
As he switched off the engine and turned to smile at her, it took everything Lucy had not to blurt out the questions that had been haunting her for four decades: Why did you marry Victoria instead of me? Did you ever really love me at all?
Instead, she squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and put a smile on her face.
“I’m sorry I was so late,” Lucy blurted again. “I feel like I ruined your afternoon.”
“No problem,” Tom replied, his eyes warm as they met hers. “While I was sitting at Teacups, I realized how long it had been since I’d taken time off and just relaxed.”
Lucy gave a soft laugh. “Now that’s not really true.” She pointed out as she slid from the car. “You were sort of working by keeping an eye on Margo and looking for anyone who seemed suspicious.”
Tom laughed as he climbed from his car. “True,” he admitted. “The house is looking good.”
“It looks like a construction site,” Lucy said with a sigh.
Before she could say more, the front door opened, and John, the construction foreman, walked out to greet them.
For the next hour, they walked through the house together while John and his senior engineer explained the work that had been completed and what remained to be done.
Lucy loved being close to the inn and Margo, but she was eager to return to her childhood home.
Lacey stayed here too when she was in town, and the house held so many precious memories of their family.
“Another three weeks,” John and his engineer concluded as they finished the tour. “The electrical work took longer than expected, but we’re back on schedule now.”
After the contractors left, Lucy and Tom walked through the empty house together, their footsteps echoing in the rooms that would soon be filled with the furniture that was in storage, which would bring the house back to life again.
They paused in the living room, where the late afternoon sun streamed through the windows, casting long shadows across the hardwood floors.
“Tom,” Lucy said quietly, her heart pounding as she could no longer contain the question that had stayed with her since their relationship had ended the year she’d left for college. “Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything,” Tom replied, turning to face her fully.
Lucy took a deep breath, gathering the courage she’d been building for forty years. “Why didn’t you fight for us? Why didn’t you fight your parents and everyone else who tried to keep us apart?”
Tom was quiet for a long time, his jaw working as he stared out toward the ocean visible through the window.
“I did fight for you,” Tom said finally.
“What?” Lucy asked, confusion rushing through her. “You call dropping me and marrying Victoria fighting for me?” She was stunned by his reply.
Tom ran his hand through his hair, looking deeply uncomfortable. “My family and Victoria’s family had a lot of influence back then, Lucy. They made it very clear that I had two choices: end your career path or marry Victoria and unite our families.”
“I don’t understand,” Lucy said, her mind reeling. How did that even make sense?
“My father and Victoria’s father had connections at Harvard,” Tom explained, his voice heavy with old pain. “They were going to have your position pulled, your scholarship revoked. They had the power to do it.”
Lucy felt shockwaves course through her entire body. “You’re saying they threatened my future?”
“I was going to ask you to run away with me,” Tom continued, his eyes finally meeting hers.
“I was going to tell you we could get you into another university, find another path. But the day I broke up with you...” He swallowed hard, his voice becoming rough with emotion.
“You were so excited about your placement at Cambridge, being close to June and Lacey. You were glowing with happiness about your future.”
Understanding hit Lucy like a physical blow. “You broke up with me so I could have the future I’d planned,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Tom stepped toward her, taking her shoulders gently in his hands. “I loved you... No, let me correct that. I have always loved you, Lucy. More than my own happiness, more than my own dreams. It was always you, and it always will be you.”
“Tom,” Lucy breathed, overwhelmed by the magnitude of his sacrifice. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized he had given up everything, his happiness, his chance to study forensics and become an FBI agent, but mostly his chance at true love. He’d sacrificed it all to protect her dreams.
Before her brain fog cleared or the world made sense again, Lucy wasn’t sure who moved toward whom, but the next moment, they were in each other’s arms. His lips crashed against hers with forty years of suppressed longing and love.
The years melted away as if they’d never existed, and Lucy felt like she was twenty years old again, completely in love and utterly cherished.
When they finally broke apart, Lucy looked up at him with tears streaming down her face. “I love you too, Tom. I never stopped loving you.”
His head lowered, and his lips found hers again, but this time the kiss was interrupted by the shrill ringing of Lucy’s phone.
Dazed and breathless, Lucy fumbled for her phone and saw June’s name on the display.
“Lucy, we need you,” June’s voice was shaky and urgent. “It’s Lacey. There’s been an accident.”
“What?” Lucy’s blood turned to ice. “What kind of accident?”
“Her truck skidded off the road and went over the embankment near Miller’s Creek,” June said, her words coming in a rush. “The emergency vehicles just left for the scene...”
“I’m on my way,” Lucy managed to say, her hands already shaking as she ended the call.