The Reluctant Bachelorette (34 page)

Luke suddenly felt like he didn’t know anything anymore.

But Taycee did.

He turned and headed in the direction of her place, his steps
purposeful. A few blocks later, he stood in front of her door, his fist lifted
to knock. He hesitated. What if he didn’t like what she had to say? Did he
really want to hear her admit that she didn’t know who she liked best?

Luke stood there, hand raised, as varying emotions slammed
into him all at once. Jealousy. Betrayal. And now . . . fear. The kind of fear
that had him dropping his hand and backing away.

T
aycee slipped her feet into
her
sandals and reached for her purse. Her head pounded from the incessant worry
and stress that seemed intent on following around her wherever she went, like
Eeyore’s little raincloud. But the feeling wouldn’t go away. Like a storm that
hovered for weeks at a time, trapping out the sun, the feeling enshrouded her.

Taycee started forward, knowing the only way past this storm
was to force her way through the clouds and find the sun herself. And she’d
start with Jake and Miles. Sure, she could rationalize her actions all she
wanted—a greater cause and all that—but what she’d done to them was wrong. They
deserved an apology. A big one.

Taycee flung her door open and stepped out into the humid
evening air. She paused on her doorstep when she caught sight of Luke’s wavy
brown hair and broad shoulders—shoulders she’d give anything to bury her head
in right now. They would be warm and smell good and feel good. But why was he
walking away?

“Luke?” she called.

He spun around, his eyebrows drawn together in wary surprise,
as if he’d been caught somewhere he didn’t want to be. “Hey.”

Taycee stepped toward him, suddenly nervous. “Did you knock?”

He hesitated. “No.”

The pounding in her head changed from a rubber mallet to a
sledgehammer, striking with strong, hard strokes. The way he looked at her made
her want to run back inside and let her door take the brunt of whatever he came
here to say—or not say.

But her feet wanted to run
to
him, not away.

“I saw your date with Jake,” Luke said. The words sounded accusatory
and final, as though he’d already formed his own opinions and challenged her to
negate them.

Taycee let out a breath of frustration. Not this. Not now. Not
after everything else that was going on. “You said you weren’t going to watch
that.”

A flicker of annoyance passed over his features. “Really?” he
said. “That’s your response? That I shouldn’t have watched it? Well it’s too
late because I already did.”

Taycee sighed. “It wasn’t what it looked like, Luke. You
should know that better than anyone.”

He took a purposeful step toward her, and then stopped and
raked his fingers through his hair. “I want to believe you, I do, but this
bachelorette thing isn’t some fictional Hollywood movie. It’s called a reality
show for a reason. You can talk all you want about how it wasn’t the way it
looked and how I should know better, but here’s what I do know: On that video clip
you
weren’t
acting.”

If it had been Miles or Jake standing there accusing her,
Taycee would have expected something like this—even deserved it—but Luke was a
different story. She had no reason to act when she was with him. There were no
cameras trained on them. No viewers to please. No expectations to save a bunch
of farms. He
knew
that. And yet here he was, questioning her motives
just like the rest of the viewers.

Questioning her.

“What did you want me to do, Luke?” Taycee said. “Pretend to
drop an earring every time he tried to kiss me? Or maybe I should have downed a
spoonful of garlic before our date. That would have gone over really well on
the final episode of a reality show about finding love.”

“That wasn’t just a kiss,” said Luke. “It was a full on
make-out session—one that you looked more than happy to be part of. What do you
expect me to think?”

“I expect you to trust me,” Taycee snapped. “Do you think I
liked pretending to be into all those guys? Or kissing them? Or parading in
front of those cameras like some happy-go-lucky girl who couldn’t get enough
male attention? Because I didn’t! I never wanted any of this. I would have
rather been with you during all of those dates.

“But I did it anyway. For six weeks, I went out with guys I
didn’t care about and let my life become public domain so a lot of good people
wouldn’t lose their farms. But now that’s all in jeopardy, and you know why?
Because you decided to follow me to the park one afternoon and kiss me
yourself!” The words were out before Taycee could rethink them.

Luke stiffened, saying nothing. He simply stood there, looking
at her with a mixture of disbelief, anger, and hurt. Then he took a step back,
pivoted, and left. It was the second time tonight she’d watched him walk away.
Only this time, she didn’t call him back.

Taycee bit her lip hard and let the tears fall. One by one,
they dripped down her cheek. Her own little shower. So much for forging her way
through the storm.

Luke closed his front door and turned on the light. He should
have never gone to the diner. Never watched that video. Never showed up at Taycee’s.
Then he’d still be in his happy little cocoon, completely oblivious to the fact
that the girl he was crazy about wasn’t so crazy about him right now. She made
no secret of the fact that she would undo their kiss at the park if she could—a
kiss he’d never want undone no matter how many problems it caused.

Luke dropped down on his recliner and flipped on the TV. A
quick perusal of the stations offered him nothing, so he shut it off and
resisted the urge to chuck the remote.

The silence of his house suddenly felt like a foreshadowing of
his future. Empty. Alone. Deprived. He felt as if he were six again, when his
golden lab ran in front of a moving car. Luke had stood there and watched him
get hit, watched his best friend get taken away from him. But it wasn’t until
that night, when he was lying in bed without his dog at his feet to scare the
bad dreams away, that it had really hit him. He’d cried—long and hard. And with
that cry came a promise to never own another dog again—not if that’s what it
felt like to have your heart broken.

Unfortunately, that promise did nothing for him now.

The faint sound of Luke’s cell phone filled the house. He
reached into his pocket and yanked it out, as if it could somehow stave off the
ever increasing pain gnawing away at him. He answered without looking at the
number.

“Luke?” a familiar female voice asked—a voice he’d never
thought he’d hear again.

“Madi?” He hadn’t spoken to his ex-fiancée since he moved
back. Hadn’t really even thought about her. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Dad,” she said, her voice breaking. “He had a heart
attack last night.”

“What!” Luke sat up straight.

“He didn’t make it, Luke. He’s gone.” Sobs practically
vibrated through the phone.

Luke blinked, not quite able to believe it. Madi’s father had
been in perfect health. He was a runner. Lived on a strict diet of healthy
foods. How could this happen to someone like him? “Madi, I’m so sorry. What can
I do?”

“I need you,” was all she had to say.

“On my way.”

T
aycee pulled to a stop in front
of
the town inn and wiped a finger under each eye, removing any smeared makeup. Three
windows glowed in the darkness. Which room was Jake’s? Was he even here or had
he seen the gossip blog and already left town? Taycee wouldn’t blame him if he
had.

She sat in her car for several minutes, taking deep breaths
and trying not to think about what had just happened with Luke. An engine
rumbled behind her as a car pulled into the lot. Jake’s Audi. He was still
here. Maybe he didn’t know anything yet.

Taycee wiped her eyes one more time and stepped from her car.
Before she lost her nerve, she walked quickly to Jake’s car and tugged on the
passenger door handle.

Locked.

She tapped against the dark window. It rolled down, revealing
Jessa’s face with her hair clipped artfully back and her silver dangling
earring shimmering in the lamplight. She looked beautiful and put together—the
opposite of how Taycee felt.

“What are you doing here?” Taycee said.

“Probably the same thing you’re about to do,” Jessa said.
“Apologizing.”

Leave it to Jessa to say it how it was. Taycee almost smiled.
Almost. Until she looked beyond Jessa and caught two wary blue eyes looking
back at her. She swallowed. “Finished?”

“You’re timing is perfect.” The door opened and Jessa got out
of the car, turning back to Jake. “Thanks, Jake.”

He nodded.

Jessa offered Taycee a sympathetic look before walking across
the parking lot to her car. Taycee slid into the passenger seat and closed the
door, shutting herself into an almost eerie silence. Jake stared straight
ahead, his elbow hanging out an open window. Minutes ticked by, coating the car
in discomfort.

He finally broke the silence. “Yes, I read the blog and saw
the pictures.” A pause. “In case you were wondering.”

Taycee closed her eyes. Great. Now he thought she was here to
deal with collateral damage, which she was, but it was also more than that.
She’d wanted him to hear the truth from her, not some lousy gossip blog that
exaggerated everything.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

In front of them, a maple tree moved gently in the wind,
sending shadows darting across the sidewalk. She focused on the shadows. “I owe
you an explanation,” she said, “and I hope you’ll hear me out.” Then she
started at the beginning, telling him everything. How she’d wanted out. How
she’d never gotten over her teenage crush. How she’d gotten Luke voted off the
show. And how she’d wished she could fall for Jake instead.

“I should have told you sooner,” Taycee said. “I wanted to. I
even planned to at some point. But there was too much on the line, and the fear
of you walking away held me back. It was so wrong, I am sorry. If I could
rewind the past few weeks and do things differently, I would.”

Jake shot her a hard look. “Of course you say that now, after
everything went down the way it did. But the only reason you’re sitting here is
because of those pictures. You never would have told me otherwise—or, at least
not until after the final vote. Instead, you let me believe that you were into
me, that you wanted me to stick around after the show.” His head shook slowly
as he peered out the windshield. “You played me, and like an idiot, I fell for
it.”

Taycee reached a hand toward him, and then withdrew it. The
last thing Jake probably wanted right now was for her to offer comfort. Not
when she’d been the cause of his anger. “You’re not an idiot, Jake Sanford. Far
from it.”