A Walk Along the Beach(19)

“To Toppenish. It’s just one day. I’ll be leaving soon afterward for Bolivia, and this might be the only time we have together for the next few weeks. Do you think you could take time away from work?”

My head was spinning. Shirley and Alice had filled in for me last Saturday when Lucas was in town. Everything had gone smoothly at the café. Shirley was great, and if Alice wasn’t available, then maybe Harper could fill in. She’d done it before and was great with the customers. The thing was, I wanted this day with Sean. I wanted it badly.

“I’ll make it work,” I said.

Sean beamed me a huge smile. “Great. We leave early Thursday morning.”

“I’ll be ready whenever you say.” Harper might want to be wined and dined. I was completely happy spending time with Sean, driving to the other side of the state for a photo shoot.





CHAPTER 8





Willa


When I arrived home, I found Harper sitting with Snowball on her lap and her phone to her ear. She glanced up when I entered the apartment and excitedly waved her hand at me, indicating I should sit down next to her.

“Hold on, Lucas, Willa’s here.”

“It’s Lucas?” This was a surprise.

Harper nodded. “He wants me to put the phone on speaker.”

Having recently spent time with our brother, I hadn’t expected to hear from him this soon. “What’s up?” I asked, sitting down next to my sister.

“I don’t know,” Harper said, as she set the phone down on the coffee table. “He said he had something to tell us but would wait until you could be here, too.”

“Is it about Dad?” I fretted that he might have gotten drunk on the job and been fired. Or, worse, that he’d been arrested for driving while intoxicated.

    “Nothing like that,” Lucas’s voice came through the phone. “Both of you better sit down.”

I drew in a deep breath, wondering from the seriousness of his tone what this could be about. “Okay, I’m ready. What is it?” I couldn’t help being nervous. “What’s going on?”

“I wanted to mention it last weekend but promised I wouldn’t,” he started.

“Mention what?” Both Harper and I said at the same time. We shared a worried look, fearing the worst.

“Chantelle and me.”

I leaped to my feet and braced my fists against my hips. “Lucas Lakey, if you tell me you’ve broken up with Chantelle, I don’t know that I’ll ever forgive you.”

“Hold on, sis, we didn’t break up. We’re getting married.”

Harper and I both gasped with delight.

“You’re getting married!” Harper nearly tossed Snowball from her lap.

“When?” I asked.

“December fifth.”

“You’ve already set the date?” Harper cried.

It was clear that the wedding plans had been in the works for some time and that we’d been kept in the dark.

“You’d already proposed when you were here last Friday, hadn’t you?” I said, voicing my suspicions.

“Yes, he had.” It was Chantelle who spoke. “And my ring is everything I hoped it would be.”

“Why keep it a secret?” Harper asked before I had a chance.

“The ring was being sized and wasn’t on her finger yet,” Lucas explained. “Besides, we hadn’t told Chantelle’s family.”

“That’s no excuse,” Harper complained. It wasn’t like either of us were in contact with Chantelle’s family or would spoil their announcement.

    Once more Harper said the same thing that was on my mind. It happened often, I suppose because we were that close, we shared each other’s thoughts.

“No wonder you were upset when we started bugging you about marrying Chantelle,” I said. His frown had been fierce enough to melt concrete.

“It’s my fault,” Chantelle was quick to chime in. “I wanted a ring on my finger before we told my parents. Lucas said he wouldn’t tell his family then, either, and so we didn’t. I’ll admit it was hard to keep it to myself, especially when we were with you and your dad.”

“So tell us about the ring!” Harper relaxed against the back of the sofa, looking smug. “A diamond, I presume. How many carats did he spring for?”

“Harper!” The fact that our brother was marrying the love of his life was far more important than the size of the diamond.

“Two carats, and it’s stunning.”

I could envision Chantelle holding out her hand and examining her engagement ring.

“Congratulations, you two,” I said, genuinely pleased for Lucas, although it had taken him long enough to make the leap. Chantelle was exactly the right person for my brother. I couldn’t help wondering why he didn’t recognize it when I did.

“I want both of you to be bridesmaids,” Chantelle said. “My sister will be the maid of honor.”

“Bill and Ted will serve as ushers,” Lucas added.

I recognized the names of two friends Lucas had while serving in the Army. Both had remained in the military and had stayed in touch with our brother.

“Charlie has agreed to be my best man.”