Mine After Dark by Marie Force

Author:Marie Force [Force, Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HTJB, Inc.

Chapter 14

Riley pulled into the driveway at Eastward Look right on time. He’d been to the gym and to the grocery store to shop for what he needed to make dinner for Nikki later. Depending on Finn’s plans for the evening, he’d either invite her to their place or bring it to hers.

He still had questions about what exactly had happened last night, but for now, he was choosing not to dwell on that. Rather, he planned to focus on the renovations she wanted to do and how he could help her. That was far less complicated than thinking about why their great night had gone so wrong.

He’d texted to let her know he was on his way, so she came out when she saw his truck in the driveway.

She wore a white turtleneck sweater under a down vest with jeans and duck boots. Other than the hint of dark circles under her eyes, she looked fresh and pretty and much better than she had the night before when the devastation had dampened her natural sparkle.

“Thanks for doing this,” she said, saving him the trouble of thinking of a way to say hello that didn’t include the questions he was dying to ask. Are you okay? How did you sleep? Will you please tell me what happened last night?

“No problem. Syd is great. You’ll love her. She’s married to Luke, who’s Mac’s partner in the construction business—and the marina. They’re like brothers from another mother.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting her and Luke.”

“They also have a baby girl named Lily. Luke is crazy about that baby. He shows us pictures every day at work.”

“That’s cute.”

“He waited a long time to get married and have a family. Mac told me that he and Syd were together for four years when they were younger, but then she went to college, met someone else and married that guy. They had two kids together, and when the kids were seven and five, their car was hit by a drunk driver. The kids and her husband were killed. She lost her whole family that night.”

“Oh my God. That’s so awful.”

Riley noticed tears in her eyes and was touched by her compassion for a woman she’d never met. “She and Luke saw each other again a year or so later. They’ve been together again ever since, and now they have Lily.”

“I give her credit for picking up the pieces that way and taking another chance with Luke. That couldn’t have been easy for her.”

“From what Mac said, it wasn’t, but Luke never gave up on her. He never stopped loving her, even when she was married to someone else.”

“That’s very sweet.” After a long period of quiet, during which Riley still wanted to ask her if she was okay, she said, “There was more to what happened to me in college than what I told you last night.”

“Oh,” he said, feeling woefully unprepared for this. His dad would know exactly what to say and how to deal with whatever she had to tell him.

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