Page 11 of Reuniting with Lucy

“Sounds good. I’ll be here all day,” Jack said. “I was just working out a time with Lucy to meet about choosing the interior supplies.” He turned back to her. “So, tomorrow after six, here?”

“All right,” Lucy said. “That’ll work.”

CHAPTER SIX

Lucy had been dreading six o’clock all day. Being trapped in that little trailer with Jack sounded like a recipe for an awkward sandwich. Should she bring up the past? Confront him about what happened? Or just keep acting as though they’d never met? She’d begged Adam to come with her, but he’d promised Kate he’d help at an open house that evening, so she was on her own.

After working a few hours at The Drip in the morning, she’d gone home, taken a nap, and then perused some of the websites Jack had emailed her. There were so many choices. It seemed impossible to decide on anything. The options for flooring alone made her head ache. There were hundreds of wallpaper and paint samples, different types of wood for the bar, and light fixtures—so many light fixtures.

A little before six, she arrived and parked next to Jack’s pickup. She took a deep breath and braced herself for being cooped up alone in a small room with him. She could do this. She had to do this.

Jack was just finishing his takeout dinner when she entered. He threw away his trash and tipped his head at the chair next to his as an invitation to sit. At least a dozen massive binders of samples sat stacked on a long fold-out table.

“Oh my gosh. I can’t possibly go through all that,” she said.

“You shouldn’t have to,” he said. “Since you’ve got a pretty good idea of what you want, we can narrow the search considerably. Wanna start with flooring?” He grabbed a binder near her and opened it.

“Sure.” She sat in the chair he offered and scooted it away from him an inch. Every little bit of distance would help. He smelled like sawdust and Kung Pao chicken, and heat emanated from him. She was already having trouble focusing.

“I was looking at this for the main floor,” he said, pointing to one of the wood samples. “We can do something similar but cheaper for the back rooms to save some money. They don’t need to be as durable since they won’t see as much traffic.”

“I thought Adam was paying for everything,” she said.

“Oh, he is. And he gave me a pretty nice budget, but if we save a little here, you could spend more on something else if you wanted.”

She didn’t make it ten minutes before the elephant in the room became too big to think around. Not knowing exactly what happened that night was killing her. It was time to put it out there, deal with it, so they could move on.

“You may not remember this,” she said. “But we’ve met. In college?”

“I know.”

Her head snapped up, eyes meeting his. “Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked.

“I couldn’t very well bring it up in front of everyone,” he said. “Plus, I wasn’t sure you remembered me. When you acted like you didn’t know me, I took your lead and played along.”

“Oh.”

“I think I owe you an apology,” Jack said, pushing the book away and turning toward her. “I was so excited about our date, but when I showed up and saw you kissing some guy in the lobby, I turned around, left, and never came back.”

“Lizzie,” she said simply.

“Yeah. I put two and two together on that. I didn’t know you had a twin.”

“How could you? We barely talked for five minutes. It sucks you just assumed the worst and left though.”

“I was young and dumb. Stubborn and proud. I thought you’d played me and was embarrassed. I didn’t want to be that desperate guy that came after you when it was obvious you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Except I did want something to do with you,” she said. “I felt something so bizarre the moment we met. A connection. I guess you didn’t feel it.”

“I felt it, Lucy,” he said, looking at her so earnestly she had to fight back tears. “It’s haunted me all this time, and now that I know the truth about what happened, that it was all a misunderstanding, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around what could have been. What we potentially missed out on all these years because I was stupid.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” She sighed. “I’m sure I would have done the same thing had I been in your shoes.”

“You’ve spent the last ten years thinking I stood you up.” He ran a hand through his hair. “In reality, I was counting the seconds to see you again. I told my friends I’d found my future wife. When they laughed at me, I let them think I was joking, but I wasn’t. I’ve never felt anything so strong. Before or since that day.”

“I waited for you, Jack. I waited all night and all the next week, hoping you’d find me and have a reasonable explanation for why you never showed.” A tear slid down her cheek, and he used his thumb to catch it.

“Oh, Lucy. Please don’t cry.”