Page 49 of I Think He Knows
What?
“There is achildpresent,” Mr. Donovan Senior hisses at Lana, as if this is somehow her fault. I wrestle the urge to stand in front of her like a shield.
Allegra looks up at her grandfather with big, innocent eyes and a wide smile. “Don’t worry, Grandad. I know what butts are.”
Liam snorts. Luke full-on laughs. Their dad’s face turns red as a tomato.
“Who wants a slice?” Annie interrupts hurriedly, grabbing the platter from Mindy’s hands. I don’t know Lana’s sisters-in-law super well—especially Annie, who’s the most recent addition to the family—but she is clearly the resident peacemaker. The one to try to calm situations before they escalate. “I can take this to the kitchen and cut it up.”
“I will very much pass.” Constance sniffs. She should probably have some; might sweeten her up a little.
“Now, tell us more about how this happened.” Mr. Donovan glares at me.Upat me, to be exact. He’s a big guy, but I have a couple inches on him. Which I’m pretty happy for at this moment.
“I realized I’d been in love with Lana Mae for a long time. Maybe for as long as I’ve known her,” I say, grabbing Lana’s hand and interlacing our fingers. “She’s incredible.”
“Aw.” Lana’s cheeks pinken and she smiles bashfully.
But her dad scowls. “I didn’t get a phone call asking for my blessing.”
I want to echo Luke’s earlier sentiments and tell the man that I don’t care what he thinks. But he is Lana’s only living parent, and as much as my own parents and I no longer have any kind of close relationship, I know that Lana tries to foster a civil relationship with her dad. Mainly for Allegra’s sake.
I open my mouth to say something along the lines of “I guess I just couldn’t wait another moment to propose” when Luke inserts himself into the conversation. “Oh, he couldn’t get ahold of you, so he called me. I gave him my blessing to marry my one and only sister.”
Gave his blessing to marry off his sister?Aside from sounding like we’ve stumbled into an episode of the Sopranos (like, I wouldn’t be overly surprised if Luke whipped out a huge cigar right around now), I’m more than a little shocked by Luke’s quick and casual lie. I look at him with wide eyes, but he just winks at me. I pivot my eyes to Lana Mae, but her expression of surprise looks exactly like the one I imagine I’m currently wearing.
Needless to say, Donovan Senior also looks rattled at this revelation. “You had no place to do that.”
“Sure I did.” Luke nods confidently. “No man was ever going to be worthy of my little sister, obviously. But this guy here…” Luke reaches out to sling an arm over my shoulder and shoots me a little wink. “Well, he’s the closest we’re ever going to get.”
I’m not sure why he says this. Or why he’s not a professional actor himself seeing as he’s clearly mastered the craft. I also have no idea why he’s covering for me when I clearly didn’t call him and ask for his blessing to wed his sister. But no matter what Luke’s playing at right now, his words create a small, very uncalled-for lump in my throat.
“I don’t know about that,” I reply. Mr. Donovan looks at me darkly, and I swallow the pesky lump and keep my voice steady. Because for someone who’s always been good at pretending, I don’t have to act in the slightest with what I say next. “I do know this, though: I will try my damndest to make this woman feel safe, loved, and happy for the rest of my life.”
The flicker in Lana Mae’s eyes is everything.
* * *
I finally get a moment alone with Luke and Liam on the premise of steak.
Namely, when I see a billowing plume of black smoke coming from the barbecue and remember the existence of said steak.
I sprint over, throw open the lid and frantically wave the smoke away, but I can already tell it’s too late. RIP filet mignon.
With a sigh, I poke the blackened, shriveled lumps with a pair of tongs. Behind me, Luke clicks his tongue sarcastically. “It makes me suspicious when a man doesn’t know his way around a grill. I may have to rescind my blessing.”
“Yourblessingwas what distracted me in the first place,” I shoot back with a grin. “What was that about anyway? I definitely didn’t call you, dude.”
“Um, I was saving your ass from my father’s weird wrath. You’re welcome, by the way.”
I poke the coal-steaks again. “But why?”
I’ve hung out with Luke and Liam a bunch when I’ve been home over the years, but I’ve never spent too much extended time with them. I like the guys, and I know they like me, but Luke jumping to my defense with his dad so fiercely was a surprise to me. Especially now, when so many… less than ideal stories about me are floating around.
Luke pops the top off a beer and takes a swig, about to answer, but Liam beats him to it. “Because all we want is for Lana to be happy, and you make her happy. We all saw this coming a mile off.”
Oh, jeez.
Liam’s not a talker at the best of times, and it’s very unlike him to start a sentimental conversation. I’m also sure he won’t take kindly to being lied to. But there’s no time like the present to bite the bullet. Lana’s brothers need to know the truth before this web gets any bigger.