Catching Lucas Riley (21 page)

“Really?” Sealey said, smiling broadly at her. “That’s fantastic, Alex! So how do you think the interview went?”

“Good, I think,” Alex replied enthusiastically. “I met with Dr. Welch—she’s done all kinds of research in the childhood obesity field—and we really hit it off. We just talked like old friends. If she can get past the idea that I haven’t been to grad school and I’m probably horribly inexperienced compared to all the other candidates, I think I’m in.”

“I’m so proud of you,” Sealey said, putting his arm around her shoulders and squeezing her against him. “You really did it. You went out and found what you were looking for.”

“Well, I was mostly just lucky,” Alex admitted. “My boss put me up for it. But still, I can’t believe it’s all happening!”

“So, what does Luke think about it?”

The smile slid off of Alex’s face. “Well . . . ,” she began. She imparted her conversation with Lucas, highlighting the fact that he didn’t seem all that pleased about her plans.

“Well, at least you know he likes you enough to want to keep you around,” Sealey pointed out, with a slight grimace. “Sorry he wasn’t more excited for you, though.”

“Well, it’s more my fault than anything. I should have told him sooner. I can’t believe I didn’t. I’m not sure what I was thinking.”

Sealey looked as though he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Talking about Lucas reminded Alex that it had been awhile since they’d seen him.

“Hey, where do you think Lucas went, anyway?” Alex said, looking around to see if he’d been waylaid by old acquaintances. “His bedroom can’t be
that
far away.”

“Not sure. He might be in the house somewhere,” Sealey replied, also craning his neck for his friend. “Why don’t you go check the kitchen and I’ll check over by the ball court. Maybe he headed over already and we missed him.”

“Okay,” Alex agreed, and she moved toward the house. She stepped through the patio doors into the kitchen and found that it was deserted. She could hear voices coming from down the hall, however, so she went in search of them. The voices were emanating from the den right off the front entryway. The door was partially closed, which indicated that the inhabitants were looking for privacy, so Alex turned to continue her search for Lucas somewhere else. But the sound of her name made her pause.

“I’m sure Alex is a very nice girl,” said the deep, calm voice. Marcus. “And I’m sure she would do everything she could to make you happy. But I need you to think about just one thing.”

“Olivia,” broke in a higher, sterner voice. Candie. “You’ve known her your entire life, Lucas. You’ve loved her your entire life. Why would you throw all of that away now? She’ll be home in two weeks!”

“Why do you think she’ll even want me?” Lucas’s voice came fast and hard. “People change on missions, Mom! She’s been gone for a year and a half, she’ll want completely different things when she gets home. She’ll be a completely different person. And Alex is . . . well, she’s amazing. I love being with her.”

“I’m not saying Alex isn’t a delightful girl, Lucas, but why?
Why
would you give up a girl you’ve known and
loved your entire life for a girl you’ve only known for a couple of months?” Candie’s voice pressed hard against Alex’s eardrums. She could almost feel the pressure of the words as they weighed down on her shoulders. “All I’m asking is that you hold off on making any promises or doing something you may regret later until Olivia gets home and you have the chance to see where things stand with her. For all you know, she expects you to be waiting for her.”

“She doesn’t,” Lucas’s voice returned immediately. “She made it very clear when she left that she didn’t want me to wait. What does that tell you, Mom? I don’t think she expects us to end up together.”

“Or maybe she was just being the sweet, angelic girl that she is,” Marcus replied. “You know her, Luke. She would never expect you to put yourself on ice for her. One of Olivia’s defining characteristics is her tendency to put everyone else before herself. She’d sacrifice almost anything if she thought it would help someone else.”

“I know,” Lucas said, and his voice was gentle, as though he was thinking of past experiences with Olivia. “I’m not saying I don’t want her anymore. I’m just saying that I don’t know. Alex is—”

“Practically a stranger,” Marcus cut in. “That’s the long and the short of it. I mean, what do I know? Maybe she’ll end up being the one for you. But we don’t want you to be too hasty about this decision. At least give Olivia a chance to let you know what she wants before you decide for her.”

“Why are you guys acting like I’ve already proposed to Alex?” Lucas demanded, and Alex couldn’t help nodding her head in agreement. As much as she wanted things to work out between her and Lucas, this conversation seemed rather premature. “I just brought her to a birthday party!”

“No, you brought her to a
family
birthday party,” Marcus emphasized. “The only girl you’ve ever brought to a family function before is Olivia. And you give us too little credit for being able to read you, Lucas. You forget, we
created
you. We know when you’re getting excited and ready to leap into something.”

Lucas made a huffy noise, but he didn’t argue.

“I’m sorry, I just need to say this,” said Candie suddenly. “I can’t help but think that this Alex is just a mistake all around. Again, she’s a nice girl, but she doesn’t feel like a good fit. I mean, didn’t she say she was leaving to take a traveling job for a few months? And she didn’t even tell you about it? Is that really the kind of life you want?”

Alex bit her lip, hard. She’d known right from the moment of meeting her that Candie hadn’t particularly liked her. This was what she’d been afraid of all along. Suddenly, a large hand grabbed her shoulder. Alex jumped a mile and narrowly escaped issuing a terrified squeak that surely would have alerted everyone to her presence. She turned to see Sealey standing behind her. He opened his mouth to say something, but Candie’s voice rang again from the den, stopping him.

“Alex is certainly attractive, and I know you have a bit of a weakness for the tall, leggy types, Lucas, but don’t you think your wife should have more substance? She’ll be the most important part of your life. I can’t help thinking that you’ll regret it for as long as you live if you give up a girl like Olivia for a girl like Alex.”

Sealey’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the partially open door. He reached out and grasped Alex’s arm, pulling her down the hall and away from the room.

“S
EALEY, I—” ALEX
began, but he rode right over her.

“Trust me, you don’t need to listen to any more of that,” Sealey muttered as he led her through the Rileys’ kitchen.

Instead of guiding her out the back door onto the patio as she expected, he led her to a side door that emerged into a side yard, densely populated with trees and wild-looking shrubbery. They walked in silence until they arrived at a decorative wooden arbor with a bench underneath. Sealey sat and pulled her down next to him.

“Look,” he began. “Despite what that sounded like, Marcus and Candie are really great people. They’re like second parents to me. I wouldn’t want you to judge them too harshly based on what you just heard.”

“I’m sure they’re wonderful people,” Alex said quietly. She kept her eyes focused on her hands, playing with the ends of her tan sweater. “Look, I don’t blame them,” she said honestly, looking up at Sealey. “I mean, it’s not a picnic to hear yourself spoken about like that, but I’m not stupid. I know they don’t know me at all. And I know they’ve hoped for Lucas and Olivia to end up together for probably most of Lucas’s life. I get that. I must be a major disappointment after so many years of hoping for something different.”

“You are taking this surprisingly well,” Sealey said, looking at her skeptically. “After our conversation last weekend, I would’ve thought something like this would devastate you.”

“Well, luckily, I’ve had a week to reflect on what you said,” Alex replied. “Don’t get me wrong—I’m not going to just roll over and give up on me and Lucas, but I think you’re right that the time for scheming is over. Now that Lucas actually knows me and has chosen to keep me around anyway, I think Olivia and I are as close to equal footing as we’re going to get.” She bit her lip and then glanced up at Sealey. “And I should probably take this opportunity to apologize for the things I said to you. I was just scared about having to take responsibility for my chances with Lucas, and I took it out on you.”

Sealey shrugged. “I get that. And I wasn’t exactly a charmer either, so, you know . . . I’m sorry too.”

Alex waved his apology away, not feeling like she deserved it. She had definitely been the antagonist in that particular conversation. “You know, the fact that Lucas was actually defending me to his parents in there makes me feel a bit better about my chances. Is that stupid?”

Sealey smiled softly. “There’s nothing wrong with that.” He reached out and laid a tentative hand on top of Alex’s.

“But doesn’t it make you nervous at all?” Alex asked. She turned to face him more fully, wanting to be able to read his expression. “What if Olivia comes home, and Lucas decides he wants her instead of me? What if we lose?”

“Well,” Sealey replied, pulling his hand back and folding his arms across his chest. “In that case, I guess I just have to trust in your ability to keep Lucas’s attention.”

Alex stared at him. “What?” she gasped. “You’re really going to pin all of your hopes for a happily ever after with Olivia on me? You can’t do that!” She wanted to reach out, grab his T-shirt with both of her hands, and shake some sense into him. “Sealey, I can’t take that much pressure! It’s hard enough having my own happiness resting on my ability to keep Lucas’s interest, but I can’t be responsible for yours too!”

“Well, unfortunately, you are,” Sealey said, shrugging. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Why wasn’t he more anxious?
Alex wondered. It was infuriating!

“I really don’t know what else to tell you,” Sealey continued when he saw her disgruntled expression. “Nobody has more power over my fate right now than you do. But don’t let it worry you. Like you said, Lucas
was defending you in there. I think he’s probably more attached to you than you think.”

This really didn’t make her feel any better. Sure, she liked to think that her chances with Lucas were relatively good overall, but she’d assumed that she’d at least have Sealey’s advice per usual to help her through the rough patches. Particularly when Olivia returned home and everything got even more complicated. Now he was effectively saying that even from a consultation perspective, he was out.

Alex studied him as he smiled serenely at her. She sighed as she felt herself accept his words. He was right. It was her turn. It was thanks to him that she’d even made it this far, but her relationship with Lucas was now beyond his help. Could she do it? Was she confident enough in her knowledge of Lucas and of herself to defeat a relationship that had infinitely more history?

Looking over at Sealey and knowing that she shared some responsibility for what happened to him, she really hoped so.

Lucas was very quiet on the drive home that night. The rest of the day had been relatively uneventful and his parents had been kind and generous to Alex. They, of course, had no reason to suspect that she had overheard their conversation with their son. And she didn’t give anything away either. She meant what she’d said about not resenting them.

“You okay?” Alex finally asked, squeezing Lucas’s hand. He’d been silent for nearly half an hour, and she was a little concerned that he might be taking what his parents had said a little bit too much to heart. If that were the case, she really wanted to know about it sooner rather than later.

“Fine,” Lucas said, forcing his voice to be cheery. But Alex could hear the difference. “I’m sorry about my parents.”

“Um, what do you mean?” Alex asked. For a second she panicked, thinking that maybe he had known all along that she had overheard his conversation with Marcus and Candie. “They were perfectly friendly to me.”

“Yes, they were friendly,” Lucas agreed. “But they weren’t warm. I don’t know, maybe you didn’t notice the difference. You don’t really know them. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”