Page 72 of Undeniable Love
She laughed softly. “You know what I mean. It just seems like I haven’t really been…like…present.” Shifting slightly, she looked at him. “How come? I know your game is on Thursday, so do you have the weekend off?”
Shaking his head, he said, “No, but I just have early practices and then a team meeting on Saturday.” Pausing, he considered just changing the subject, but then realized the decision about whether or not to come should be based on Lucy having all the facts. “My brothers are coming to visit along with Lily and Juliette. I just thought it would be cool if you were there too.”
His ears felt like they were on fire and it suddenly felt like he was asking a girl to his first school dance.
“So you mean like…a couples’ weekend?”
“Well…yeah.”
Her expression turned thoughtful. “And for the record, we’re really just going to put it out there that we’re a couple.”
“Lucy…”
“Is it weird then that your brothers know and mine don’t? Should we call Ty or Wyatt and invite them over?” Then she snort laughed and he knew she was just joking around. “Sorry! I got a little carried away.”
Hauling her into his lap, he wrapped her in a bear hug. “Yeah, you’re hysterical,” he told her with a laugh. “But if you want to make that call, I’m more than willing to calmly sit back and wait for them to show up.”
He barely felt the shove she gave him. “You’re no fun. Of course I don’t want to call them. You’re leaving first thing in the morning. Why on earth would I waste any of our time dealing with them?”
“I’m just saying…”
Another tiny shove as she climbed off his lap. “Well, stop saying!” she laughed. “There are much better ways for us to spend our time.”
“Yeah?” He was more than ready to take her back to bed, but the frown on her face said she wasn’t referring to that.
“Talking with you—you know, just sitting here and talking about our day or just random stuff—it’s one of my favorite things to do.” She shrugged. “And with the season still having at least another six to eight weeks, I want to soak up this face-to-face time. Is that weird?”
“Not at all.” Relaxing against the cushions, he didn’t even have to think of something to talk about. “I had a phone call with Maddie yesterday.”
“Really?”
Nodding, he explained. “I wanted to get her in the loop with the architect so they can work together on the plans for the clinic portion of the camp. It’s wild how fast things are moving along and I’ve had several more teammates asking about investing. Personally, I didn’t think so many people would be interested since I’m building it pretty much in the middle of nowhere instead of a big city or even near the Warriors’ stadium, but it was important to me to bring this back to my hometown.”
“I get why you feel that way, and after working here in the area for so long, I know there’s definitely a need for it. It’s just…I almost feel like the original idea you pitched sort of morphed into something much bigger. Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s almost like it’s become more about the clinic than the camp.” She paused. “Or am I looking at it the wrong way?”
“We can’t have a camp without the clinic,” he reasoned. “If we’re going to be helping kids with disabilities and physical restrictions, then having the best clinic available to them is very important. And if the camp is only seasonal, it seems like a waste for that facility to not get used. So the way I see it, the clinic isn’t taking anything away or overshadowing the camp. They’re both equally important. And I think the clinic is going to be a good selling feature when we open registration to the camp.”
“I guess.” Another pause. “And if the camp is only seasonal, then you won’t have to live here in South Creek year-round. I mean, I know we talked about this at some point, but…”
“This has always been home to me,” he admitted gruffly. “I know it’s not a great town and there isn’t really anything special about it to a lot of people, but…I have a lot of good memories of growing up here. My brothers don’t and I know you’ve mentioned how much you’d love to move away, but…” He shrugged. “South Creek is always going to be a part of me.”
She sighed. “This town…I guess it’s not so much the place itself that I have bad memories of, but situations that happened here. Obviously, the accident started it.”
All he could do was nod because that was a subject that would never go away. It was going to be a part of them and their history forever.
“But when I’m not bitching about wanting to move, I have to admit that I have a decent life. I lost my way for a while and that’s how the whole Blake thing happened.”
“I never want to hear that guy’s name ever again,” he groaned.
“Deal.” Reaching over, Lucy rested her hand on this thigh. “I have a great job and adore my patients. My family makes me crazy, but I love them. And South Creek just needs a little love and it wouldn’t totally suck.”
“No one says you have to stay here.”
“But…I kind of do,” she said quietly. “With us being us and the camp starting up, I’m going to want to be a part of that. I’m actually excited about being a part of it! There are worse things in the world than not living in a big city or someplace fabulous.”
That one statement made him sad.
However…