Secrets, Scandals and Baby Shoes (Inherited Hearts #5)

1. Lucy

LUCY

L ucy Winter stepped out of the orientation hall, her hands threaded through the straps of her backpack and her blue eyes scanning the students on the quad.

The whole Eastwick College campus seemed to be buzzing with activity.

Students roamed the pathways in small groups, talking and laughing and nudging each other as though they’d been friends for years — and perhaps they had.

A few older people, perhaps professors or college staff, crossed the quad as well, with briefcases or bags in hand.

Yet the person Lucy was looking for was nowhere to be seen.

She bit her lip and looked around for a place to wait.

There was a low brick wall near the exit of the lecture hall, so Lucy leaned against it and kept looking for her brother.

As she did so, she reflected on the orientation she’d just completed.

Over the last three days, only the freshmen had been on campus, and they’d listened to a never-ending agenda of presentations.

There had been a presentation about the importance of self-care at college.

Another had talked about avoiding drugs and alcohol.

A third offered study tips, and a fourth set out the college community guidelines.

One had just seemed to talk for nearly an hour about shower etiquette in shared bathrooms, which Lucy felt was mostly self-explanatory.

Otherwise, it all seemed like important information, but there’d been so much of it that Lucy was certain she’d forget almost everything within a few days.

At least the weather was beautiful. It was a sunny September day with hardly a cloud in the sky — one of those perfect Massachusetts days that made Lucy glad she lived on the East Coast. The Eastwick campus was beautiful, too, all old brick buildings and climbing ivy and bright green lawns.

“Lucy Goose!”

Lucy spun to see her brother hurrying across the quad.

He was dressed as he always was, in a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt with a rock band logo across the chest. This one was AC/DC.

His dark brown hair, the exact same shade as Lucy’s own, was cut short and neat for the return to school, and he was grinning broadly.

“Dominic.” Lucy grinned back, her heart lifting. She pushed off the wall in time for Dominic to catch her in his arms and spin her around like he had when they were little.

“I can’t believe my little sister is finally a college student.” Dominic beamed down at her and then ruffled her hair. Lucy wrinkled her nose and immediately tried to smooth her long, wavy hair back into place. She usually wore it in a ponytail but had left it down today for orientation.

“Well, here I am.” Her hair fixed, she spread her arms to the sides and gave a little curtsey. “Are you sure you can afford to hang out with a lowly freshman, though?”

“Hey, I’m the coolest of the seniors, so no one will say anything.” Dominic winked and slung an arm around Lucy’s shoulders. He pointed across the quad to a small group of guys who were walking towards them. “I hope you don’t mind, but I invited a few friends for our little tour.”

“No problem.” Lucy felt a flutter of butterflies in her stomach, though.

Around her friends and family, she was outgoing and friendly, but she often felt nervous when meeting new people.

And the last three days had been all about meeting new people.

From her new roommate, Karin, to her hallmates and future classmates, she’d been continuously trying to match new faces to new names.

In the small town where she and Dominic had grown up, she’d only had to learn names once, in kindergarten, and had been with more or less the same kids since. Until now.

“So,” Dominic continued as the little gang grew closer.

“This is Sunil Patel.” He pointed to the first of the guys, a shorter man with a muscular build, dark brown hair, and a fashionable outfit of shorts and a button-down top, who nodded.

“This is Mike Harris.” The second guy, this one taller and slender with light brown hair, glasses, and a backpack, waved. “And this is Elliot Cobb.”

The third guy stepped forward, and Lucy’s heart skipped a beat.

Elliot was by far the most handsome of Dominic’s friends.

He had sandy blond hair and brown eyes that looked like twin pools of melted chocolate.

He was about a head taller than Lucy and had the easily athletic build of someone who’d played sports all his life.

One of his broad hands shot out, palm open, and Lucy shook it. Shaking hands felt very college.

“How lovely to meet you, Lucy.” Elliot grinned, still holding Lucy’s hand in his own. “Dom hasn’t stopped talking about you since you decided to come here last year.”

“Or before that,” Sunil added.

“Yup. You’re quite famous.” Dominic put his arm around Lucy’s shoulders again, turning her away from Elliot and towards the library. “Are you ready for your unofficial tour?”

“I think so. Although, honestly, I learned so much in orientation that I’m not sure I can remember anything else.”

“Don’t worry about what you learned in orientation,” Elliot said. He fell into step on Lucy’s other side. “Most of it isn’t that useful.”

“Whereas what we’re going to show you, you’ll need every day,” Dominic continued without missing a beat. “Forget everything they’ve told you so far and pretend that you just arrived today.”

“All right. I’ll try.”

Dominic brought them to a stop in front of the library.

The building was one of the largest on campus and was built mostly from brick, with a few wide stained-glass windows looking out over the lawn.

Ivy climbed across the front in an elaborate pattern, and the double doors were at least twice as tall as Lucy was.

“This is the library,” Dominic explained. “You can avoid it for your first few months, but come exam time, it’ll be your new home.”

“The trick is that if you’re there between ten p.m. and midnight, you can get free cookies, milk, and juice boxes in the lobby,” Elliot told her. “The chocolate chip cookies are to die for. The oatmeal raisin ones are not.”

“Well, that’s true of all oatmeal raisin cookies,” Mike pointed out.

“Hey, I like oatmeal raisin,” Dominic protested. “And so do you. Don’t you remember eating five oatmeal raisin cookies in a row when we were sophomores? Without even pausing for breath?”

“I had skipped lunch,” Mike said, shaking his head. “And dinner. And yet I’ll never live that down, will I?”

“Nope.”

Lucy grinned as she listened to the guys’ banter.

Dominic had often talked about his group of friends from college, so Lucy knew that the four of them spent a lot of time together.

She also knew that Elliot, with those beautiful brown eyes and warm, broad hands, was Dominic’s best friend.

Dominic had even brought Elliot home for spring break once, a year ago, but Lucy had gone on a trip with a friend’s family to Florida and hadn’t met him. Now, she wished she had.

The tour moved on from the library to the dining hall, where Dominic offered more tips and tricks — “Always get the middle slice of the square pizza,” he told Lucy sternly, as though this were essential information — then to the sports complex.

“Do you do any sports?” Elliot asked Lucy as they stopped in front of the large, modern building.

Dominic was goofing off with Sunil and Mike as they showcased the statues of people engaged in various sports that lined the walk-in front of the complex.

They stopped in front of each statue, mimicking the pose and grinning at her.

“I swim,” Lucy said, then immediately wished she’d said something more engaging. “I mean, I was on the swim team in high school.”

“Really? Eastwick has a great swim team if you’re interested in joining.”

“Probably not.” Lucy threaded her hands through her backpack straps again. “I think I’ll need to focus on studying. And I’m not that good at swimming.”

“Oh, I doubt that.” Elliot flashed her a friendly grin. “They let me on the basketball team, and I’m not that great.”

Lucy smiled back. “You’re on the basketball team?”

“I am. Since we’re an academic school, none of our sports teams are legendary, but they’re not bad. Speaking of academics, what are you planning to study?”

“I’m torn between creative writing and graphic design,” Lucy admitted. “I loved both in high school. I know you study business, right?”

“Yep. We all do.” Elliot gestured to the other three guys, who were still horsing around in front of the building.

Lucy was very glad that Elliot had decided to stand with her.

She might have felt left out otherwise. And she enjoyed his friendly banter.

And his good looks. Lucy tried to forget that last part.

It was way too early for a college crush.

“Do you have plans for after college?” Lucy asked.

“Not yet.” Elliot shrugged. “I’ll just see where life takes me.”

It was a very laissez-faire attitude, in Lucy’s opinion.

Her and Dominic’s family wasn’t poor by any means, but they weren’t rich, either.

She and Dominic had started planning their future careers from the moment they set foot in high school.

Lucy suspected, both from Elliot’s comment and from what Dominic had told her before, that Elliot’s family was wealthy.

Not making plans would probably work out for him.

“I know, I know,” Elliot continued. “If you’re anything like your brother, you’ll start telling me to ‘plan for my future.’” The last part was said in a commanding voice that was, perhaps, supposed to resemble Dominic’s. Then Elliot leaned closer and winked. “But don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure.” Lucy’s stomach fluttered at that wink. Just then, Dominic and the other guys rejoined them. Dominic looked from her to Elliot before slinging his arm around Lucy’s shoulders and leading her away again.