Puppy Love at Mistletoe Junction

Chapter Eleven Mistletoe Junction

Theo was beyond busy at the bakery all day. Once he finished with his three custom cakes, he helped his dad with the pumpkin pie orders. Usually by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, he was pumpkin-pied out after making them, and never got around to eating any.

This year, his opinion was different. Maybe it had to do with how all those spices now very much reminded him of a certain curvy brunette with a penchant for all things fall. Since the crust on one of the pies got messed up in the oven, Theo brought it home to his parents for dinner.

Family dinner night was usually on Tuesdays, but it had gotten bumped up a night as his sister Naomi was in town for the Thanksgiving break from college. She’d had to work the weekend and Monday morning, so she hadn’t been able to drive back until this evening.

When he walked into his parents’ house, he heard the usual commotion of music, laughing, and clanking dishes coming from the kitchen. The closer he got, the stronger the garlic scent became. It was something his father never skimped on. As they were having spaghetti and meatballs—Naomi’s favorite—he was pretty sure that garlic scent was coming from the Italian bread baking in the oven.

Theo set the pie down on the counter, and the second he had his hands free, Naomi was coming in for a hug.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,”

he told her.

Of the four Taylor children, she was the only one who’d gotten their mother’s blond hair and their father’s green eyes. Everyone else had gotten Isaac’s dark brown hair and Juliet’s blue eyes. But Naomi always did like to be different.

Speaking of which.

“What is this?”

Theo asked as he tapped her nose, just to the side of where a little sparkling diamond stud sat. “You got your nose pierced?!”

Naomi pushed him off. “Mom thinks it’s cute. Leave me alone.”

“What does Dad think?”

Theo looked over at Isaac.

He was cooking the meatballs, but he turned long enough to clap the pair of tongs in his hand toward his daughter. “I offered to pull it out with a pair of pliers.”

“Like Operation?”

Theo’s eyes went wide with excitement. “That would be a fun after-dinner game.”

“We’d need tweezers for that,”

Gia said as she walked into the kitchen. “Where’s Bear?”

“With Lucy.”

“Ugh! Why didn’t you bring her?”

Gia asked as she dramatically sat down on one of the barstools.

“Because Lucy took Bear to her girls’ night. She wanted Caro and Lilah to meet her.”

“Who’s Bear?”

Naomi asked as she took the seat next to Gia.

“The dog Theo and Lucy rescued. Want to see the video I’ve edited together?”

Gia grabbed her laptop. “I should have it finished tonight to post. I’ve been working on it all day.”

“Hopefully after you turned in your history paper?”

“I turned it in this morning.”

Gia rolled her eyes. “Jeez, I already have Mom and Dad hounding me about homework, do I really need to deal with you too? It’s bad enough you’re now dating one of my teachers.”

“Hold up.”

Naomi waved her hands in the air. “Who are you dating?”

“Lucy.”

Gia said the name with a little too much glee.

“Noooo.”

Naomi looked from her sister to her brother before punching him in the shoulder. “How did you not tell me this?!”

“Ow.”

Theo rubbed the spot. “It just happened like three days ago and we aren’t dating. We’re just . . . seeing each other regularly.”

“Isn’t that dating?”

Juliet asked as she put the noodles into the boiling water.

“No, Mom, it’s code for they’re just having sex,”

Naomi answered.

“Naomi Danielle!”

Juliet all but shouted her daughter’s name.

Theo glared at his sister. “I’m going to go find those pliers for Dad.”

“I’ll stop, I’ll stop.”

Naomi held her hands in the air in surrender.

“I’m surprised Gia didn’t tell Naomi the second she walked in the door,”

Isaac said.

“I wanted to see her expression when she found out.”

Gia grinned. “And I wanted Theo to be here for it. This is so much more fun.”

“I’m going to remember this next time you ask me for a favor.”

Gia was unfazed by the threat, making a kissy face at him before she started to click buttons on her computer. “Do you guys want to see the video too?”

she asked her parents.

“Yes,”

they said in unison. Juliet pushed the last of the pasta under the boiling water while Isaac turned off the burner and moved the pan of browned meatballs toward the back of the stove.

Gia paused the music playing in the kitchen before she turned the screen toward them and pressed play. Slow keys of a piano started to play, and while Theo didn’t immediately know the song, he knew he’d heard it before. And then he heard Lucy’s voice starting to sing.

His skin immediately broke out into goose bumps. Something that always happened when he heard her sing.

On the screen, Lucy lured in a scared and dirty Bear in the bakery’s alleyway; he could just hear her talking about the ins and outs of sourdough bread and grilled cheese over the sound of the music. The camera panned to Theo every once in a while as he interjected his own comments. He was sitting on the crate and watching intently, a worried expression on his face.

The video cut to Bear moving in closer and Lucy getting the leash on her, and then cut again as they made their way through downtown Cruickshank toward the vet clinic. Gia had a montage of moments from the bath, Bear looking transformed as they washed the mud off her. There was that moment when Bear had closed her eyes, her head tilted back as they scrubbed her chest. She had indeed looked like she was in heaven, her tail moving rapidly through the water.

But Bear wasn’t the only interesting part of the video; there were so many moments in which Gia had caught Theo looking at Lucy . . . and Lucy looking at Theo. There was something in the way that they watched each other that caught him entirely off guard.

Was it something that was only apparent to him?

The video continued with more of the footage that Lucy and Theo had recorded before sending it along to Gia, and it finally ended with a clip of Bear curled up and sleeping. She looked all warm and snuggly at the end of Lucy’s bed.

When the screen went black, everyone turned to Theo—all of them looking a bit speculative—but it was Naomi who said, “You two are cute together.”

“Pliers,”

he repeated to her.

“What? You are!”

“Stop harassing your brother and set the table.”

Juliet looked at all of her children.

“Thanks, Mom.”

He kissed her on the cheek before she moved back to the stove.

“Fine.”

Naomi crossed to the cabinet and pulled out some plates. “I’ll stop with Lucy. Tell me more about Bear.”

“Well, she’s pregnant.”

Theo pulled open the silverware drawer. “And Oscar thinks she’s going to have eight or more puppies.”

Naomi let out a long whistle. “That’s a lot of dogs. What are you going to do if she isn’t claimed?”

“She won’t be claimed.”

Theo launched into the story that Lucy had told him earlier. She’d called him as soon as she’d gotten off the phone with Lorraine.

“What assholes,”

Gia all but shouted when Theo finished.

“Gianna Jacqueline! Language!”

Juliet waved the wooden spatula at Gia before she turned back to Theo. “Though she’s not wrong. Those people are assholes.”

“They are that,”

Theo agreed. “So, Lucy decided to keep her.”

“Oh, she did, did she?”

Isaac’s eyebrows rose high.

“Yessss!”

Gia made a fist, pulling her arm in close to her side. She then immediately turned to her parents. “Can we get one of the puppies? Please?”

Juliet and Isaac looked at each other. They’d recently lost their dog Bailey, a Lab mix that they’d brought home as a puppy fifteen years ago. They’d had to put her to sleep last spring, and Gia had been begging them to get another dog for a couple of months now.

“We’ll think about it?”

Isaac asked his wife. Juliet nodded.

“That’s better than no,”

Gia said happily.

“So, if Lucy is keeping Bear, does that mean she’s staying in Cruickshank?”

Naomi asked. “Last I talked to her, this was only temporary.”

“I don’t know . . .”

Theo trailed off. He had no idea what Lucy’s plans for the future were. She’d told him she had no plans of staying that first night they’d had sex. He didn’t think her decision to keep Bear was going to change those plans.

“Well, I’ve certainly come home to some very interesting developments,”

Naomi said.

“You can say that again.”

Gia grinned. “Wait until you see the clips Lucy sent me from yesterday. Bear meeting Lucy’s cat, Estee, is gold, but there’s a whole scene with Theo making Bear eggs that is—”

She made the chef’s kiss motion. “Who knew our brother was such a teddy bear?”

“I am not a teddy bear.”

“Sure, you aren’t.”

Naomi patted her brother on the shoulder. “Whatever makes you feel better.”

* * *

The next couple of days went by in a whirlwind for Theo. Usually he liked to be busy, liked the frenzy and fast-paced days at the bakery, especially during the holidays. But due to recent developments, he wanted more quiet time with Lucy. He looked forward to the evenings the most, when’d they curl up on her sofa and watch something . . . or make out. He especially loved the part when they’d end up in bed and he’d get to explore her body.

The mornings always came too quick, and way too early.

Theo spent the days at the bakery, where it was all hands on deck. His grandparents, parents, Naomi, and he were in the kitchen, while Gia, Chloe, and their part-timers were up front. There wasn’t a point in the day when they didn’t have a line.

Lucy might’ve had the week off from school, but she wasn’t getting any sort of vacation. When he went to Browned Butter, she headed for Caro and Max’s, where Thanksgiving prep had already started. As the kitchen in the old Victorian was the largest of all the families’, it made the most sense to do it there. Anyone who had free time was over there helping, coming and going all day long.

But that wasn’t the only chaos Theo and Lucy were contending with. Nope, their phones were blowing up with so many notifications they’d had to silence the app where Gia had posted the rescue video. She’d done it on Monday evening, and by Tuesday morning it had more than ten thousand views. By Tuesday evening, it had tripled. And the numbers just kept climbing, especially as Gia had posted two more videos.

The second one had been of Bear meeting and playing with Estee, and how their friendship had progressed over those first few days. The third was of the car ride back from Tennessee. By the time they got back to Cruickshank, it had warmed up a little bit. Lucy and Wes had rolled down the windows and Bear had happily just sat in the back seat, almost smiling as the wind blew her white and brown fur back like she was in a shampoo commercial or something.

In the original video, “The Chain”

by Fleetwood Mac was playing in the background, so Gia redid it so the song was a lot clearer—not to mention the lyrics were perfectly synced with the wind—and there was no other sound interference.

Bear had her own account, and with just those three videos, she had close to twenty thousand followers. Apparently, people were invested in the dog’s story, and what with the coming puppies, that follower count was sure to grow.

But it wasn’t just Bear who had a growing follower count.

Gia had tagged Lucy as the singer in that first video, which had prompted a number of people to click over to her page and follow. The last video she’d posted of herself singing had been back in March, and the likes and comments had exploded with the new post.

Browned Butter had also been tagged, people jumping over to that page to check out the videos of Theo decorating cakes. Those videos usually saw upward of a few thousand views. Now they were over ten thousand.

“They keep calling you ‘the hot baker.’”

Gia grinned as she showed him the screen on Thursday afternoon. “Do you think we should change the handle on the bakery’s page?”

“Ha. Ha,”

Theo deadpanned.

“Let me see.”

Naomi held out her hand for the phone. Gia passed it over, giving Theo a massive smirk while she did it.

“I want to see too.”

Harlow Belmont moved in behind Naomi, looking over her shoulder. Oscar and Sasha’s baby sister had come back from Charlotte for the holiday, getting a break from cosmetology school. As she was best friends with Naomi, they’d been pretty much joined at the hip all day.

“Yes, please, let’s show everyone.”

Theo shook his head before taking a sip of his beer and looking around for Lucy.

As it was Thanksgiving Day, he was currently at Quigley’s, the crowd around him increasing as everyone was trickling in for the celebration. Irish pub music was playing, the fiddle clear among the chatter. It was another chilly day, below thirty even with the sun shining. The fire was going strong, Desmond making sure to add logs as needed. Christmas decorations had been put up: garland and lights strung across the mantels, mistletoe hung from a number of places around the room, and a tree was glowing in the corner, covered in decorations.

Theo and Lucy had gotten there about an hour ago, stopping by the bakery first to get all of the desserts. She was now helping Lorraine and his mother organize the dishes that everyone had brought in to contribute to the feast. They’d lined up tables on the back wall, allowing for people to move down either side when the time came to eat.

Lucy was wearing a crimson sweater, and a long plaid skirt with a pattern of golds, reds, and browns. Her hair was down and around her shoulders, curled at the ends. As she brushed her hair back, he spotted the little gold earrings he’d watched her put in that morning. He’d never known he could be so fascinated with the simplest of things, but there’d been something about the way she’d tilted her head to the side, and how it exposed the slope of her neck.

And he couldn’t help but be distracted by Lucy now. Every time she laughed he’d look her way. Every time she smiled his gaze would get caught on her mouth. A second later Lucy looked up—as if she’d sensed he was looking at her—and he watched as her mouth curved to the side in that smile he’d wanted to see. The secret one he was coming to know more and more. The one he was pretty sure she only shared with him.

She was starting to share a lot of things with him. It had started that second night they’d spent together, when she’d told him about what had happened in California . . . and before. He hated that she’d battled with bulimia, and he’d done his best to show her how much he enjoyed her body since then . . . every part of it. To him, she was perfect, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life.

But it wasn’t just her beauty that he enjoyed. It was her mind, her heart, her presence. It was absolutely everything about her.

Something filled Theo’s chest . . . a feeling he was becoming more acquainted with. Something that felt a lot like a certain four-letter word. A dangerous four-letter word. The only time he’d ever thought about that word had been with Lucy . . . but that had been years ago. He wasn’t anywhere close to where he’d been then . . .

Was he?

No, no, he was fine . . . he wasn’t in danger.

* * *

Dinner took hours, people taking their time between courses. They spent their breaks between eating by watching the football games on the TVs behind the bar, playing a round of pool or darts, and even getting involved in a pretty intense game of dominos.

Lucy was off in a corner with Caro, Lilah, Sasha, Harlow, and Naomi playing rummy and working through glasses of apple and cranberry sangria.

“So,”

Lilah started as she grabbed the four of clubs that Naomi had just discarded. “Are we going to discuss the elephant in the room?”

“If it’s about me and Theo, I think we’ve about discussed it to death.”

Lucy shook her head.

“That wasn’t who I was referring to.”

Lilah grinned, throwing the queen of hearts down. “I was talking about Wes and Lorraine.”

She nodded to a spot across the room where the two were playing checkers. They were both leaning in close, smiling like idiots.

“Yeah.”

Sasha nodded, grabbing the queen. “Lucy and I noticed something the other day at the café. They were almost flirting with each other. And he’s been coming into the café every day for coffee too.”

“Seriously?”

Harlow lightly slapped her sister’s shoulder with the back of her hand. “How did you not tell me?”

“I didn’t know if it was anything, and I just noticed the flirting.”

“You know, it wouldn’t surprise me,”

Caro said. “Dad has been helping the animal rescue at the Cruickshank Saturday Market every week for the last two months. He’s been there every once in a while in the past, but not this often.”

“You’re awfully quiet over there.”

Naomi pointed in Lucy’s direction. “I thought Sasha said you guys both noticed something.”

“We, uh, did,”

Lucy mumbled as she reached for her wineglass and took a sip of sangria.

“What else do you know?”

Lilah’s eyes narrowed on Lucy.

“I mean . . . it . . . kind of got brought up on the car ride to Tennessee.”

“And you didn’t tell us?”

Sasha asked, scandalized.

“Dad told me not to interfere. Those were his exact words. And I didn’t want to say or do anything that would scare him off. So, I just told him that all we’d want”—she indicated herself and Caro before pointing to Jeremy, who was playing pool with the guys—“is for him to be happy.”

“That’s accurate.”

Caro nodded before leaning in closer and whispering to the group, “But he confirmed he has feelings for Lorraine?”

“Yes.”

“Does she have feelings back?”

Naomi asked.

“He said that they haven’t talked about it.”

Lucy shook her head. “I think he’s nervous.”

“Hmmm.”

Lilah looked over her shoulder to where Wes and Lorraine were now laughing, Lorraine’s hand on his forearm.

“Oh, no, you don’t.”

Lucy pointed at Lilah. “We are not getting involved in that. We can’t spook them.”

“They need something to get going. I bet we can figure it out,”

Harlow said conspiratorially.

“Just think, Lucy, if they get married, we’d be sisters.”

“Hey, that’s what I told Dad too!”

Lucy laughed.

“Now, this is becoming ridiculous.”

Naomi shook her head. “You guys are connected by marriage”—she indicated Lucy, Caro, and Lilah—“and if your parents get married, then you guys would be connected.”

She pointed to Lucy, Caro, Sasha, and Harlow. “At least when Lucy and Theo get married, I’ll be connected to the Buchanans.”

Lucy choked on her wine. “Excuse me? I am not marrying Theo. I’m not even staying in Cruickshank.”

“Oh, right, it’s just sex, or whatever”—Naomi very dramatically made air quotes—“until you leave.”

“Well, I think the next step is for Sasha and Gavin to get together,”

Lilah said.

Now it was Sasha choking on her drink. “What?”

“Oh, come on, my brother’s a catch. He’s handsome, has a job, doesn’t have his mother do his laundry. You two would be great.”

“Gavin and I are just friends. Nothing is going to happen.”

Lilah’s expression became stern. “What’s wrong with my brother?”

“Nothing! I love Gavin.”

“See, you two are perfect.”

“I love him, I’m not in love with him. There’s a difference.”

“We’ll see.”

Lilah shrugged.

“We will not see.”

“Well,”

Naomi interrupted the back-and-forth between Lilah and Sasha, “that just leaves the two of us with no possibilities for a marriage connection.”

She looked to Harlow. “Unless your brother starts playing for the other team.”

They all looked over to where Oscar and Edward were talking by the bar. Edward pointed up and Oscar followed the gesture, spotting the sprig of mistletoe above them. Oscar didn’t even hesitate before he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Edward’s mouth.

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say that isn’t going to happen.”

Harlow shook her head.

“Hey.”

Lilah put her cards face down, lightly slapping the table as she leaned in. “I have an idea on how to help Wes and Lorraine.”

“What part of he doesn’t want us to interfere did you miss?”

Lucy asked.

Caro turned and looked at her sister. “Are you helping or not?”

Lucy sighed, knowing she had no choice. “Helping.”

* * *

It was a little after six when all of the food was packed up—everyone getting their own set of to-go boxes—and dessert was brought out. Theo was in charge of unboxing and organizing the table, but he’d enlisted the help of Gia and Chloe. Though Chloe’s father and uncles were more than happy to help.

Theo liked the Savage brothers. There was Harrison—or Captain Savage—Cameron, and Weston. Weston and Cameron were the younger of the trio. The pair had moved to Cruickshank from Charlotte a few years ago, opening Hamish’s Fine Furnishings—a shop named after their grandfather—which was located just a street over from the pub. They specialized in handmade furniture and wood features.

After Harrison’s divorce, he moved from Charlotte too, joining his brothers in Cruickshank for a fresh start. Plus, he needed help with his daughters. The brothers didn’t live together, but they had a bit of a Full House situation going on.

“Where does this one go?”

Chloe’s uncle Weston asked as he pulled the lid off a cake box.

Theo looked inside to see the bourbon toffee apple cake he’d made for Lucy. “Oh, could you go and put that one on the table over there?”

he asked as he pointed to where Lucy was sitting with all the girls.

They’d been playing rummy earlier, but all of their cards were now face down on the table and they were leaning in close like they were conspiring about something.

Weston nodded, not asking any questions as he walked over. The women all looked up as he set the cake in the middle of the table. Lucy immediately looked over at Theo, her mouth dropping open in shock.

She then pushed her chair back from the table before crossing over to him. “I thought we scratched the previous bets when we changed the terms the first night.”

“We did. But I made it for you anyway.”

“Thank you.”

She leaned in, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Why did those two words do such funny things to his chest?

Shit. He really needed to get a grip.

“What are you guys talking about over there? It looks like you’re plotting something.”

He reached up, brushing the hair back from the side of her face and pushing it behind her ear.

“Oh, we are, and you’re going to be a part of it.”

“I am?”

“Yeah.”

She patted him on the chest.

“What is it that I’ll need to be doing?”

“Dancing with me. You up for it?”

She looked up at him, her long eyelashes fluttering. Just another thing for him to get distracted by.

“I think I am.”

He nodded. “Am I allowed to know what we’re doing?”

“Nope. Plausible deniability is going to be your best bet.”

“Nobody is getting murdered, are they? Sasha is part of the plan, and you never know when it comes to her.”

“This is true, but no one is dying. I promise.”

She stretched up, this time pressing a kiss to his mouth. “I’m going to go get some of my cake now.”

“Save me a piece.”

“Will do.”

She grinned before she turned and headed back to the table. And for what felt like the hundredth time, Theo again got distracted, this time by the way her skirt was draped over her ass.

* * *

As was Thanksgiving tradition, after everyone had their dessert, the tables were all pushed to the sides of the room, making way for the floor to be clear enough for people to dance. Desmond and his father, Finn, moved to the little area in the corner where a piano and microphone sat. Desmond pulled out his fiddle, while Finn grabbed his accordion.

Finn Quigley might not work behind the bar of the pub anymore, but he did often come and play when they had parties like this. Nari took her usual place at the piano while the pub’s two cooks manned the drums and guitar.

Theo found Lucy, his hands landing on her waist as he pulled her out onto the dance floor. She laughed as they started to move, their feet picking up pace with the music. They weren’t the only ones spinning around either. The couples were keeping up with the beat as the people on the sides of the room clapped their hands, adding their own contribution to the song.

One of Lucy’s hands was on Theo’s waist, and her fingers tightened in his shirt, holding on. He held her other hand in his, and he moved their fingers so that they were twined together. She looked up at him, that secret smile of hers turning up her mouth.

“What?”

he asked as he pulled her in closer.

“Nothing. Just don’t let go, okay?”

“I won’t.”

Theo shook his head. The second he said the words, he knew he meant more than just this dance.

She opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off as Lilah and Jeremy danced up to them. “You ready?”

Lilah asked.

“Yes.”

The song came to an end and Desmond held his fiddle to the side as he leaned into the mic. “This next is a Christmas tradition, and we’re going to get the season started, so don’t get caught when the music stops.”

He paused for a second as he looked around. “Unless you want to.”

He grinned as he pulled the mic around so that his back was to the crowd.

No one needed to hear the first chords of music to know what song was next. “Mistletoe Junction”

wasn’t a famous Irish jig by any means. In fact, Theo was pretty sure that Charles Angus Quigley—the man who’d built the pub with his own two hands more than a hundred years ago—was the one who’d come up with the tune in the first place.

It was kind of like musical chairs: everyone would dance around in a circle while one couple would move to the center, right under one of the sprigs of mistletoe that had been hung. They’d dance for ten seconds or so, and then move off for the next couple to take their turn. But if the music stopped and they were in the middle, they had to share a kiss while everyone chanted, “Kiss under the mistletoe!”

It was supposed to be random, which was why the person leading the song turned their back to the audience.

“What are you guys up to?”

Theo asked Lucy and Lilah.

“Oh, you’ll see.”

Lilah winked.

“Should I be scared?”

He leaned closer into Lucy as they started to dance.

“No.”

She shook her head but stopped after a second. “Well, Lilah’s involved . . . so maybe.”

“Great.”

The beat of the music moved faster and faster until it came to a stop for the first time. Caro and Max were in the middle, and they didn’t even hesitate to kiss as everyone chanted, “Kiss under the mistletoe!”

Once the music started again, they moved out of the middle, as Lilah and Jeremy took their place, and so on, and so on. The next couple in the center when the music stopped was Oscar and Naomi. Naomi turned her head and Oscar gave her a quick peck on the cheek. The music picked up again, but it didn’t go for too much longer until it stopped; this time the people at the center were Sasha and Gavin.

Sasha shot an accusatory look at Lilah before she grabbed Gavin’s face and kissed him squarely on the mouth. Theo was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one who saw Gavin lean into the kiss . . . nor was it possible to miss the slightly stunned expression on Gavin’s face as Sasha pulled him back to the outer circle.

There were a few more music stops—and the subsequent cheers as the couples kissed in the center—before it was Wes and Lorraine’s turn to make their way to the middle. And that was when Theo saw it: one of Nari’s hands left the keys of the piano and she tugged on her ear. Not three seconds later, the music stopped.

The crowd went silent as they watched the two in the center, and as Wes made to kiss Lorraine on the cheek, she turned at the last second and kissed him on the mouth. He didn’t pull away; in fact, he reached up and cupped the side of her face. The cheer that went up around the room was deafening.

“So that’s what you were plotting?”

Theo asked as the music picked up again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Plausible deniability?”

“Exactly.”

Lucy nodded.

“I think that’s the excuse that Lilah is going to make. Because I’m going to put good money on the fact that the music is going to stop when we’re out there. Watch Nari; if she pulls on her ear it was planned.”

“I’ll pay attention.”

It was a few more spins around the room when Lucy and Theo made their way into the center, and as he predicted, Nari tugged her ear, and the music stopped.

Lucy looked right at him and said, “Give them a show.”

So, Theo did just that, dipping her back and kissing her deeply. He was pretty sure they got the loudest cheer of all. When he pulled Lucy back up straight, their mouths were still locked together. A few wolf whistles split the air, and they finally broke the kiss, both smiling.

“Like that?” he asked.

“Not bad.”

The music didn’t pick up afterward, the song now over. Desmond was facing the crowd again as he spoke into the mic. “I think maybe it’s time for a slower song, and I was hoping we could have a special guest come up and sing it. Lucy.”

He nodded to her. “Would you do us the honor?”

“Yeah.”

She turned to Theo, pressing another kiss to his mouth. “Be right back,”

she said before she let go and made her way over to the band, taking up the spot behind the mic.

“I think you might know this one,”

Desmond said as Nari started to play familiar chords on the piano, the haunting notes of “River”

by Joni Mitchell echoing in the room. Theo took a step back and off the floor, wanting to watch Lucy instead of dance. Besides, his partner had just left, and there was no one else he wanted to dance with.

Just like it always did, the second Lucy started to sing, his skin broke out into goose bumps. He remembered the first time it had happened, all the way back when they were in high school.

There was a year and a half difference in their age, but they’d only been a grade apart in school. It had been during his junior year that being around her had started to feel like something different for him.

Theo had never been involved in the theater or music program, and he’d never had any interest in going to the plays or musicals. But that year he’d gone to the winter musical to see Angie—his then-girlfriend—perform. He’d started to feel bored and antsy halfway through; that auditorium was the very last place he wanted to be.

It was the first performance after intermission, and when the curtains had parted, there was absolutely no light to be able to tell who or what was onstage. The only sound was the slow plucking and strumming on a guitar before someone started to sing.

In all of the years he’d known Lucy, Theo had never heard her sing before. But the instant her voice cut through the darkness he’d known it was her. That was when the goose bumps had broken out across his skin and his entire body had shifted forward in the seat, like he just wanted to be closer. And then the subtle sounds of the orchestra started, her voice and guitar now accompanied by violins, flutes, and a piano.

A small light at the front of the stage had turned on, and as the music built up and up and up, it slowly got brighter, illuminating her.

She was wearing a green velvet dress and bright red Converse sneakers. He remembered her hair had been down, curled at the ends, and held back with a gold headband. Every time she moved it sparkled in the lights.

His first thought had been that she looked like Christmas. The second was how beautiful she was.

It wasn’t that Theo hadn’t known Lucy was pretty. He hadn’t been blind then just like he wasn’t now. The thing was, he hadn’t ever thought of her as beautiful . . . hadn’t ever literally had the air knocked out of his lungs. She was the first to do it.

She was the only one to do it.

Sure, he’d been attracted to other women, but not like how he was to Lucy. She was . . . different. A different he’d never found anywhere else. Lucy was another dangerous four-letter word. One that he’d done his best to avoid for years, but without success.

Well, there was no avoiding her now. That was for damn sure . . . because he was in love with Lucy. Had been in love with her. He couldn’t deny it any longer.