Chapter 15 #2
“Luke,” she called out, breaking through his thoughts. She strode toward him, her basket nearly empty. Her smile was a little sad. Or maybe she was just exhausted.
“You’re making this too easy,” she teased, nodding toward the church sign. “This is supposed to be a challenge.”
He nudged his beanie off his forehead and scratched his head. “What can I say? I’ve got a soft spot for these little tykes.”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide the flicker of amusement there. That look had always been his weakness. Like muscle memory, it pulled him back to the days when he’d teased her just to see that exact expression.
“Well, don’t make it too easy,” she said. “Here, take these. I’m going to check in with Lainey and Chloe and make sure everything’s ready inside.”
She handed him her basket, their fingers brushing. The fleeting contact sent a jolt through him. A spark, electric and undeniable. He tightened his grip around the basket handle, but his mind stayed locked in on that brief touch.
Her lips parted slightly as if she’d felt it too.
He cleared his throat, forced himself to look away before his thoughts ran too far ahead—or before somebody caught him staring.
“You know,” he said, crouching to carve out a basin in the snow to hide an egg. “I feel like something’s different about you. Is it because you reconnected with Gavin?”
She paused, glancing over her shoulder at him.
Her brow furrowed, but then her expression softened, and for just a second, she looked like the girl he remembered.
The one who used to sit with him, talking about their dreams, their futures.
Futures that had never quite turned out the way they’d planned.
Well, at least not for him.
“It’s been a long week,” she admitted, her voice quieter now. “But this helps. Being here, doing something for the kids reminds me that there’s still good in the world. That I still have a purpose.”
Luke straightened, both baskets of eggs in his arms. “There’s always good, Emma,” he said. “Even when it feels as though the bad guys are winning. And you absolutely have a purpose. God put you here for a reason.”
Emma hesitated, then drew a breath. “Nathan and I…we ended things. It wasn’t pretty.”
His pulse kicked up. He wanted to shout “Hallelujah!” but that hardly seemed appropriate. “Ouch. That has to be hard.”
She glanced down, fiddling with the zipper pull on her jacket. The silence stretched between them, thick and buzzing. Had he said the wrong thing? But then she smiled again. Softer this time. And a weight lifted from his chest.
“You’ve always had a way of making me feel better.”
Oh, sweetheart, if you only knew.
Part of him wanted to tell her that he’d always be there to do just that. But he held back. This wasn’t the right time. Instead, he returned her smile, easy and warm. “Anytime.”
“I’ll hide these on my way inside.” She snagged two more eggs from the basket he held, then walked away, her curls bouncing against her puffy jacket, dark-wash jeans tucked into Sorel lace-up boots.
Funny how quickly she’d ditched those Boston stilettos for something more practical.
Every day, she looked a little less like the city girl who’d built a life in Boston and more like the Alaskan girl he’d never stopped loving.
And frankly that scared him.
He crossed the parking lot, tucking eggs into hiding spots, some clever, some downright obvious.
“Hey, Luke,” Emma called. She crouched near the front steps of the church, holding up a bright green plastic egg. “Too easy if I leave it here?”
“Borderline, but I think it’s passable. Just don’t let Lainey see you. She’ll accuse you of going soft.”
Emma laughed, the sound light and musical and oh, so familiar. His heart twisted. He’d missed this. Missed her. And now, spending time with her day in and day out, it was all he could do to keep from confessing everything he’d held back for two decades.
He moved closer, standing under the portico as she studied him, her expression earnest. “You’ve been really great through all of this,” she said, her voice soft. Almost shy. “I don’t think I’ve thanked you enough, and honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” he said, his voice lower than he intended. “You’ve always been important to me. That’s never changed.”
Her gaze softened, and for a moment, the entire world narrowed down to just the two of them. He leaned in slightly, his heart thudding in his chest.
Then the church door opened, and Lainey popped her head out.
“Hey, you two!” Lainey waved them over. “Can you come in and help us with last-minute prep?”
“We still have eggs to hide.” Luke lifted his basket in protest.
“We’re going to have you hide some of those inside.” Lainey leaned against the door, pushing it wider for them to pass through. “There are little ones who probably won’t hunt outdoors.”
“Got it,” Luke said, following Emma into the church. The atrium had been transformed into a spring wonderland, complete with twinkle lights, succulents, and pastel-draped tables. He tried not to notice how effortlessly Emma fit into it all, like she belonged here, like they belonged here.
Off to the side, a photographer adjusted a camera on a tripod. A colorful Hoppy Spring balloon banner stretched across a floral backdrop with a faux grass mat below.
“Ta-da!” Lainey handed him a pair of oversize bunny ears. “Luke, these are for you.”
He frowned. “Really?”
“Just try it,” Lainey insisted, her grin mischievous.
“Fine.” Luke reluctantly plopped the bunny ears on his head. He turned to Emma. “Go ahead. Say what you’re thinking. I know you want to.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” she teased, her voice sweet and her eyes sparkling.
“I don’t believe you,” he said, narrowing his eyes.
She shrugged, crouching to tuck a pink plastic egg into the base of a potted fiddle-leaf fig. “You look adorable. Like a rugged, reluctant bunny.”
“Emma, put on the duck bill and you guys can pose together,” Chloe said, holding up an oversized plastic orange prop with a rubber band.
“No, no photographic evidence of this,” he groaned. “I knew I should’ve stayed in the parking lot.”
“Adorable and grumpy.” Emma nudged his shoulder with hers. “It’s a good look for you.”
The playful touch sent another jolt through him, one that zipped up his arm and spread warmth through his chest. He wanted to make her smile like this every day, to tease her and be teased right back.
But now wasn’t the moment to say anything.
Timing had never been his strong suit, but he wasn’t stupid. This was not the minute to make a move.
“How did you talk me into this, anyway?” Luke stepped carefully onto the faux green grass mat, then faced the camera.
“Because you’re a nice guy,” Lainey said, grinning.
“And because you were cornered by a volunteer with big sad eyes who told you half her help backed out.” Chloe stood beside the photographer and feigned a pathetic face.
He shook his head. “I really am a sucker for someone lacking volunteers.”
“The biggest,” Emma agreed, taking her place beside him as she wrangled the band on the duck bill over her head. “But it’s noble. Like a knight in slightly dusty Carhartts.”
He smirked. “Knights don’t wear bunny ears.”
“You don’t know that,” she shot back, her voice muffled behind the ridiculous prop she’d slid onto her face.
He wanted to argue, but she was standing so close, smelling like vanilla and something floral as she slid her arm around his waist. For one reckless second, he considered planting a kiss on her cheek right there for the camera to capture.
“Look here and say, ‘Hoppy spring,’” the photographer called out.
“Hoppy spring,” Luke and Emma said, and he added a cheesy grin for full effect.
Lainey and Chloe burst into laughter nearby, and the moment slipped away.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out, grateful for the distraction. A new text popped up from the owner of the lodge in Petersburg.
Unknown number
We’ve narrowed our list of applicants to the final three. Next interview on Tuesday, if you’re still interested.
He stared at the message, his chest tightening.
This was it. A solid step toward leaving Redemption.
Toward a fresh start over a thousand miles away, on an island in southeastern Alaska.
Away from his family’s resort business and all the family baggage that came with it.
It was everything he’d thought he wanted.
But now, the thought of leaving didn’t sit right. Not when Emma was here.
“You okay?” Emma’s voice broke through his thoughts, soft and full of concern. She tilted her head slightly, studying him with those green eyes that could see right through people if they let her.
“Yeah,” he said, pulling off the bunny ears and tossing them back onto the prop pile. “Just wondering if this egg hunt is going to get super competitive. I hear five-year-olds take no prisoners.”
She took off the duck bill, then smoothed down her curls with one hand. “What’s your plan for the final egg? Rumor has it there’s quite the prize inside.”
He glanced at the oversize plastic purple egg sitting in the bottom of the basket nearby. “I’m taking the prize, giving it to one of Ethan’s kids, and then I’ll leave the empty egg on the pulpit in the sanctuary.”
Emma feigned a dramatic gasp. “Luke McGuire, you’re diabolical.”
“I have to do what I can to maintain favorite-uncle status.” He shrugged. “By the way, that wasn’t a no.”
“It was an ‘I’m impressed but I’m also judging you,’” she said, her tone light but her eyes still searching his face.
“You’ve always had a great sense of humor, Emma. People still talk about the practical jokes you got away with in middle school.”
She laughed then, warm and unguarded, and it was like a punch to his chest. He wanted to tell her she was the reason it was so hard to think about leaving.
That the thought of walking away from Redemption had never felt more like a mistake than it did right now.
But the words wouldn’t come. They stuck in his throat, heavy and impossible.
“You ever think about staying?”
Her smile faltered, and something flashed across her face—equal parts fragile and hopeful. But then it was gone, replaced by the guarded look she always wore when he got too close.
She bent to pick up her basket, her fingers tightening around the handle. “I should probably finish hiding these eggs.”
“Wait.” He stepped closer. “You didn’t answer my question.”
She straightened slowly, her lips pressing into a thin line. “I don’t know, Luke. My job, my friends, my whole life—it’s in Boston.” She hesitated, her gaze darting to the floor before meeting his again. “But things are super complicated now.”
Complicated. He hated that word. It said everything and nothing all at once.
“Well,” he said, forcing a casual tone he didn’t feel, “you’re pretty good at helping with community events. Maybe you should stick around. I hear it’s standing room only at your water-aerobics class.”
Her lips twitched, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Tempting.”
He wanted to push, to ask her what was so complicated, to tell her that she was one of the reasons he didn’t want to leave. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t ask her to choose him—not when she wouldn’t even commit to staying. So instead, he grabbed an egg from her basket and tossed it her way.
She caught it midair, her brows lifting. “What was that?”
“Just making sure you’re ready for some competition,” he said with a grin that felt hollow. “Not sure if you’re aware, but there’s a scavenger hunt for grown-ups too.”
“Of course I’m aware. Don’t be ridiculous. I fully intend to win the whole thing.”
“Good luck, because I won’t go down without a fight.”
She held his gaze for a long moment, saying nothing. And for now, that silence was all he was going to get.
Luke’s phone buzzed again in his pocket. Probably a follow-up to the other message, waiting for a reply. Waiting for him to make a decision.
He ignored the text, mostly because he needed time to think.
Now that he knew Emma and Nathan had broken up, everything shifted.
She might still leave Alaska. She might still leave him.
But if he had a sliver of a chance, why walk away?
Or would staying in Redemption be a mistake he’d regret?
The questions gnawed at him, impossible to answer.