Chapter 16 #2
“Well, at least Twilight came out after you were born.” Luke grinned.
“I’m actually named after Luke Skywalker from Star Wars.
My parents are both huge Star Wars fans — they met at a convention.
Their first date was at a showing of The Empire Strikes Back.
And at their wedding, the place cards looked like little spaceships, and my mom did her hair like Leia.
I’m just lucky they named me Luke instead of Anakin or Han or Chewbacca. ”
“Chewbacca!” Bella burst into laughter. “I can’t believe I didn’t know this about you. I love it.”
“It’s not so funny when all your childhood pictures feature you dressed up as Darth Vader or an Ewok.”
Bella laughed so hard she doubled over. “I want to see those pictures. Immediately,” she choked out between giggles.
“I’ll ask my mom to send some over.” Luke glanced at her, grinning. “I bet she’d also send the baby Ewok costume if you want to dress our son up, too.”
“Oh, absolutely! I think it’s a family tradition for you now.” Bella was still giggling. “I actually love that, though. That your parents liked something so much that they really doubled down on it.”
“Then you’ll like them,” Luke said. “They’re a bit more chill about Star Wars now, but they still have a bunch of decorations around the house. And they can’t wait to meet you.”
“They know about me?” Bella’s laughter faded, and she sat up a little straighter.
“Of course. I don’t tell them everything, but I do tell them the important things.”
“What did you tell them about me?” Bella looked away.
“That you’re someone special to me and that we’re having a baby together.”
The description was innocent enough, but Bella’s heart skipped a beat. You’re someone special to me. It sounded like they were dating, instead of… whatever they were.
Bella glanced at Luke and bit her lip. Part of her wanted to follow up. She wanted to ask what Luke thought of their relationship and how he thought their future should look, but she didn’t want to ruin what they had. So, she steered the conversation back to names.
“No names from movies,” she summarized. “But you still haven’t told me what names you do like.”
“Well, I always thought it would be nice to name my kid after someone in my family,” Luke said. “But I think Norman is not the kindest name to give a child.”
“It is a great name for an old man, though, so it depends how far down the line we’re looking,” Bella joked.
“True. I think Miles is a nice name. And Oscar.”
“Oh, not Oscar. Oscar was my boss at my first job after college, and he was a real jerk.”
Luke grinned. “Tell me about it.”
“It was a big corporate job, though I prefer not to name the exact company, or you’ll judge me.
I got it right out of college and worked there until I started The Cherry on Top.
It paid good money, but it sucked away my soul and my will to live.
And Oscar was the main reason why. He had such unreasonable deadlines all the time, he never gave helpful feedback in real time but would slam me in the quarterly reviews, and he made me work weekends a bunch because of his own poor planning. ” Bella shook her head. “Not Oscar.”
“Not Oscar,” Luke agreed. “So, when you left that job, you started your catering business?”
“Exactly. It was a struggle for a little while, but it felt good to do something I cared about and to work on my own terms.” Bella glanced at Luke. “Have you ever had any really bad bosses whose names we should avoid?”
“Not really,” Luke admitted. “I’ve mostly gotten lucky. The current chief of surgery, Marco, is a bit annoying, but he’s a good guy. I had a very strict attending during my residency, Paul, but he ended up being great for my career because he always pushed me to do my best.”
“You’ve gotten lucky,” Bella said. “I hardly know anyone who’s only had good bosses.”
“Professionally, I’ve always had good luck.”
Bella hesitated. She wanted to ask about his personal luck — after all, she knew he had an ex-wife, though he’d never mentioned her beyond that one day. Bella was desperate to know more about who she’d been and where she was now, but she didn’t want to seem jealous or nosy. She didn’t ask.
“How about Evan?” she suggested.
“It’s not bad, but it sounds a little like the bottled-water company.” Luke got up and held out his hand to help Bella up. “How about Jacob?”
“Hmm… I don’t know why, but I’m not a fan. And we probably don’t want any Twilight names beyond mine.”
“Maybe Edward then?”
Bella punched him in the arm. “Or maybe Kylo, or Finn, or Chewbacca?”
“Okay, okay. Let’s move on.”
They continued their stroll. The trees overhead were laden with blossoms and spring leaves, and the air smelled fresh and clean.
For the first time in months, Bella wasn’t worried about The Cherry on Top.
Her business was in good hands. And she wasn’t worried about the as-yet-unnamed baby, either.
In fact, for the first time in a very long time, Bella Nolan was content.
As they bounced baby names back and forth and slowly walked, Bella’s arm threaded through Luke’s for balance, it was all too easy to imagine that they were a couple in love, expecting a baby. And right now, that was a wonderful thing to imagine.
There were a lot of things about Luke that Bella didn’t know. She suspected there was some kind of tragedy in his past that kept him closed off. That was okay. She’d had her own hurts in the past, and she was happy to keep a little distance between them. At least for now.
And if her feelings for Luke went beyond friendship or admiration, she wouldn’t let herself think about that. The relationship they had now was enough. In fact, it was more than she’d ever hoped for.