Way to Her Heart (9 page)

Alexis reached over and gave her friend’s hand a comforting squeeze. “At our reception, actually. He said that Lucas had the unmistakable look of a VanBuren man who’d found his ideal woman.”

“That’s crazy talk, Alexis. It doesn’t happen like that,” she argued.

“Really? Are you forgetting how Jared and I met? He fixed my flat tire on a stormy night and cut his arm while doing it, so I took him to the hospital. The very next evening he came over to take me out, and when he saw me in that red dress we never made it out of the house. Less than twenty-four hours after I met him we were doing things to each other that I didn’t know existed and I thought we’d both lost our minds. You were the one who convinced me that his feelings for me were real,” she reminded her friend.

“Every time I had doubts you were right there with the reassurance and the insight and common sense and you were absolutely right. So now it’s your turn.”

“But, Alexis, that was totally different. I could see how he looked at you. I could see the love and affection just shooting out of him every time you two were in the same room.”

Alexis was finishing an extra-big piece of cantaloupe, nodding her head vigorously with every word from Sherri. “That’s right, sweetheart, and I can see the same thing when Lucas looks at you.”

“Lucas calls me sweetheart,” Sherri said softly. “It sounds so nice when he says it.”

“See? That’s what I’m talking about. I know this attraction between you and Lucas wasn’t part of your master plan and the whole thing just took you by surprise, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. At least you’ve known Lucas for several months and you didn’t jump his bones right off the bat like I did his brother. You can at least still be considered a woman of virtue—unlike me,” she said with a laugh.

“But you’ve got some thinking to do about this because someone else thinks you’re the perfect couple and has already started planning your wedding.”

Sherri gave her friend a wary look. “Please tell me you’re making that up for dramatic effect. Who on earth could you be talking about?”

Before Alexis could answer, the French doors in the dining room opened and a flurry of fur and little girl invaded the kitchen. “Sookie and Honeybee need some water,” Sydney announced.

Sherri obligingly got plastic dishes out and filled them with cold water. As she was doing this, Sydney’s eagle eyes noticed the floral tributes from Lucas. “Those are so pretty, Mommy! They’re from Uncle Lucas, aren’t they?” she asked with obvious enthusiasm. “Can we have flowers like that in your wedding?”

Sherri was in midstoop to place the water-filled dishes in front of the puppies. She was so stunned that she went down on her butt and gave Sydney a dazed look.

“My what?”

“Your wedding to Uncle Lucas. Can we have flowers like that in the wedding?”

Alexis covered her mouth to keep the laughter from exploding out. Sherri covered her eyes.

“Sydney, what makes you think that I’m going to marry Lucas?”

“Because he likes you a lot, Mommy. A whole, whole lot. And he’d make a good husband for you and a daddy for me, and we could all live together and be happy,” Sydney said innocently, like it was the most logical thing in the world.

“But, sweetie, that’s not the kind of thing that happens just because you want it to,” Sherri said gently. “That’s something that happens between two people who’ve known each other for a long time and who care for each other very much. You can’t just decide that something is a good idea and hope it happens out of thin air.”

“I know that, Mommy. That’s why I asked Uncle Lucas if he would marry you. Can I have some cantaloupe?”

Her words were so offhand that Sherri didn’t catch on for a moment. “You asked Uncle Lucas if he’d marry me? Why would you do that, Sydney?”

“Because he’s so nice and he really likes you, Mommy. He looks at you all the time and he always smiles when he sees you. And you need a nice husband like Auntie Alexis and Auntie Emily have and I need a nice daddy. So I asked him if he would marry you.”

“What did Lucas say when you asked him?”

“He said that it had to be your decision and I told him he had to have a plan to get you to want to marry him. He said it was all up to you. I’m hungry, Mommy.”

Chapter 9

The weekend couldn’t have ended any faster for Sherri. Normally she enjoyed spending time with Sydney more than anything else and she was always a little sad when Monday morning rolled around. It meant that Sherri would be back at work and Sydney would be back in school and there would be five busy days before they would be free to have another weekend adventure. But once Sydney had made it obvious that she expected her mother to marry Lucas, the rest of the weekend was nerve-racking, at least for Sherri. This Monday wasn’t tinged with regret that she had to go back to work; today she fully appreciated her tidy office, her efficient staff and the patients waiting to see her because it gave her something else on which to focus her attention. It meant that she had at least eight hours to not think about Lucas.

* * *

Sherri was still thinking about her conversation with Sydney while she got ready for her first patient. She had explained to Sydney that marriage was a really big thing between a man and a woman and it wasn’t the kind of thing that happened just because someone else thought it was a good idea. She told her that it took a long time for a person to meet the right person to marry and a longer time for them to fall in love. Sydney had listened intently and said, “But it didn’t take long for Auntie Alexis and Uncle Jared to love each other. And it didn’t take long for Auntie Emily and Uncle Todd. Why can’t you fall in love with Uncle Lucas? You like him a lot. I know you do.”

Sherri had been dumbfounded at her little girl’s insight and logic. “You have the makings of a fine attorney under those braids,” she’d told her. “But the bottom line is that marriage is a grown-up thing and you are a little girl. It’s not appropriate for you to involve yourself in grown-up situations, especially my grown-up situations. You got that, kiddo?”

Sydney was an obedient child but a persistent one. “But if you get married, I’m involved, too, because your husband would be my daddy, right? So I should be part of it, right?”

Sherri changed tactics slightly because Sydney wasn’t giving in yet. “Why have you decided that you want a daddy? I thought we did really well, just the two of us. We live in a nice place, I have a good job, we have really nice friends who love us and treat us like family and you and I have lots of fun. I think our life is pretty good, Sydney.”

“It’s very good, Mommy,” Sydney assured her. “That’s why I want Lucas to be in our family, because then it would even better. I have lots of fun with him, Mommy, and so do you. Don’t you want to be with him all the time? I do.”

After more discussion Sherri was fairly sure that she’d convinced Sydney that while her intentions were pure, her interference was inappropriate and that anything to do with marriage should be left strictly to the adults involved. Sydney said she understood and promised to stay out of her mother’s love life. Sherri was, however, dreading her next encounter with Lucas because this time it was bound to be uncomfortable.

She couldn’t stop replaying the rest of the weekend like an endless live-feed loop on her mental computer screen. Her mind was occupied as she addressed patients whose asthma treatments needed upgrading or who were recuperating from sprained ankles, measles and other childhood ailments. She forced herself to keep her mind clear and focused on her patients and their parents. It worked wonderfully until it was time for her to take a break for lunch. “Break” was somewhat of a misnomer because she usually stayed in her office and dictated notes on all her patients while she ate something she’d brought from home. When she went to her office, Lucas was waiting for her with a fancy bag from Seven-Seventeen.

Sherri entered the room warily, asking, “Why are you here, Lucas?”

Lucas gave her the easy grin that never failed to melt her heart and said, “I thought I’d bring you lunch and say hello. Come on in. I don’t bite unless you want me to.”

She straightened her shoulders and walked to the coat hooks behind her desk to hang up her white coat. Sitting down behind her desk, she clasped her hands together before giving him a stern look. “I thought we agreed to take things slowly,” she said.

Lucas didn’t answer her right away; he was occupied with taking her lunch out of the bag and arranging it on the coffee table in front of the small sofa. “This is slow, Sherri. Believe me, I can move a lot faster,” he teased. “Come eat your lunch. You skip too many meals, sweetheart.”

There it was again—that tender tone that made her body respond every time she heard it. As if she had no will of her own she rose from the desk and went to the tiny lavatory to wash her hands. When she was finished she seated herself on the sofa and looked at the delicious food. She smiled in spite of any misgivings and thanked Lucas properly.

“This looks wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this. You didn’t have to, but I really appreciate it.”

“You’re more than welcome.”

Sherri sighed deeply before turning her attention to the gorgeous spread in front of her. A salad of arugula, romaine and spinach adorned with thin slices of sirloin with marinated artichoke hearts and hearts of palm awaited her. It was garnished with avocado, tomatoes and cucumber and it looked like a magazine cover, right down to the little glass jar that held her favorite dressing, red wine vinaigrette. There was a crusty roll, still warm from the oven, a bunch of tiny champagne grapes and a bottle of green tea. He’d also had the pastry chef from Seven-Seventeen make up a huge box of cookies for her to share with her hardworking staff. Lucas had thought of everything. Sherri spread the cloth napkin he’d provided over her lap before attacking the salad.

After the long, slightly worrisome mother-daughter talk with Sydney, Sherri tried not to fret, but it was impossible. She wasn’t a person to act on impulse; the serenity of her life depended on her ability to plan things out calmly and rationally. Her plan had included a life of celibacy until her daughter was safely in college, and she’d neglected the plan. She’d destroyed it totally by going to bed with Lucas and now all these complications had raised their ugly little heads. Sydney thought she was going to marry Lucas and they’d all live happily ever after; right, like that was going to happen. The last thing she wanted to do was see her child hurt by becoming attached to a fantasy that couldn’t happen. Somehow she had to get everything back on track, and quickly.

Sherri paused for a moment to look at Lucas. He was so handsome it should have been illegal.

“We need to talk,” she said firmly.

“Whatever you wish,” Lucas said agreeably.

Lucas sat next to her, so close that she could feel the heat from his body. It distracted her immediately, but things needed to be cleared up right away.

“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”

Hearing that word made something throb deep inside her, and she blurted it out with no finesse at all. “Sydney thinks we should get married and I understand she discussed it with you.”

Lucas moved a little closer, his arm thrown casually across the back of the sofa. “Yes, she did. She told me all about it on Mother’s Day, as a matter of fact.”

“Why didn’t you say anything to me? Didn’t you think that this was something I should know about? I can’t have my child getting all caught up in a fantasy that can’t come true, Lucas. That’s not fair to her.”

Lucas didn’t answer for a moment; he was slowly removing the pillow barrier and bringing her closer to his body. “Sydney isn’t the kind of kid to indulge in idle fantasy. She’s a very smart little girl and very observant, too. She knew I had feelings for you and she knew that you’d be happier with me in your life, so she came to me with a plan. It just so happens that her plan was the same as mine.”

Sherri turned so that she was resting against him with her head on his shoulder. She drew her legs up onto the sofa and felt her body relax into his side. His voice was so soothing that it took her a few seconds to register what he’d just said.

“What do you mean her plan was the same as yours? Did you have some kind of agenda in mind, Lucas?”

He lifted her chin so he could take her mouth in one of the long, lingering kisses that made her forget everything but the feel of his lips and the taste of his tongue. When he finally brought the kiss to a satisfying end, he spoke.

“The only agenda I had was to get to know you and to earn your trust and your confidence so that you and I could be a couple. I knew you the first time I met you,” he told her.

“You knew me? What does that mean?”

“It means that the men in my family don’t mess around. When we meet the woman who’s going to be the most important person in our lives, we know her. When I met you at Jared’s wedding, I knew,” he said simply. “I had planned on taking my time with you and Sydney because I wanted you to trust me and to know that I was the right man for you and the right man to be in your daughter’s life. But Miss Sydney kind of jumped the gun.” He laughed. “She had everything figured out and she wanted me to step up my game, so I did.”

Sherri looked at him carefully, trying to gauge his sincerity. His eyes held nothing but warmth and affection and he looked happy and full of desire for her. She had to be sure, though, of what he was saying.

“And if she hadn’t come to you with her crazy idea, what would you have done? What was the outcome supposed to be, Lucas?” She sounded a little witchy.

“I wouldn’t have done anything differently, Sherri. I would have still come after you, no matter how long it took. I would have wooed you, courted you, chased you down or whatever it took to make you mine. I told you, I had the same plan as Sydney—I want to marry you and take care of you and be a father to Sydney. I’m sure it’s too soon to tell you all of this, but because all the cards are out on the table, I think you should know what I want so I can see if you want it, too.”

The way he’d spoken to her while he was holding her close was too romantic and sexy to recall in such clarity—not while she was in the office. Sherri made her libido go into deep freeze while she hurriedly finished her lunch and took the cookies to the break room for everyone to share. She washed her hands and checked her face to make sure she looked like her usual calm, composed self. Then she put her white coat back on and prepared to meet the rest of her patients for the day. She and Lucas, after a little more conversation and a whole lot more kissing, had agreed to take things slow. They had a plan in place and all they had to do was follow it. Nothing could be easier than that.