Just a Little Surprise (9 page)

“
Now,” Charlie said, arching a brow. “Bruno tells me you were running your mouth about me.
Talking smack
, I believe he put it.”

“Yeah?”

“What’s this I hear about you saying I can’t keep a secret?”

“Oh,” I said, trying not to laugh. “He told you that?”

“Mmm-hmm—”

“I can explain,” I said
, holding my hands up defensively. “I just thought you were really bad at planning surprise parties, that’s all—”

“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging
one shoulder. His silly grin made me chuckle. “I thought I did a pretty good job keeping Matt’s secret.”

“Matt’s secret?” I asked. “What secret was that?”

“Bringing Derek back,” he said, scrunching his brow. “It was all his idea.”

“It was Matt?” I asked, suddenly feeling like a complete jerk for how I’d treated him at the flower shop. He’d gone completely out of his way to do something nice for me—even though he hated Derek, and he’d
always be Team Luke—and put his own selfish feelings aside to ensure my happiness. “I had no idea.”

“He didn’t like doing it,” he said. “But he knew it’s what you’d want.”

I looked down at Charlie’s hand as it cupped my own. “We had a fight,” I said, shamefully twisting my lips. “I need to apologize to him. He needs to know I’m sorry….”

“He’ll be home from the flower shop later,” he said. “You can talk to him then.”

I jerked my head up and looked at him with a twisted grin. “You know about his second job?”

“I’ve known since day one,
hon,” he said. “There’s nothing happening in this town that I don’t know about.”

“And you haven’t said anything to him?”
I asked. “You’re not mad at him for lying?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “He means well. He has big plans,
you know? And he’s working hard for his future. He needs to prove that he can be the kind of man Kara will need in the long-run. You have to respect that.”

“You… you know about his plan, then?”

“To propose?” he asked, shrugging. “There’s nothing happening—”

“In this town that you don’t know about, I know,” I said, suddenly feeling stupid for thinking that anyone—especially someone in this house—could keep a secret from Charlie.

“Hey,” I said, playfully shoving him. “You know I love you, right?”

“You better,” he said, returning my shove. “And you know I love you too?”

“I’ve never doubted it, Charlie. Never.”

Saturday, March 09

“
Go to jail,” I said, flipping a small yellow card between my fingers. “Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.”

“Hmm,” Derek
mumbled with an exaggerated eye roll.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said, moving his car token to the jailhouse in the corner of the board. I tucked the Community Chest card at the bottom of the pile. “I just find it funny that I’ve ended up in jail three times, and you’re over there sitting pretty with a hotel chain and a pile of money the size of Everest.”

I don’t know what time our friendly game of Monopoly started, but it felt
as though we’d been at it for hours. Derek had come over sometime after noon, and the hours seemed to fly by faster than we could even tell. Neither of us set out any ground rules for our conversations, but we’d kept the topics lighthearted and playful all day. He’d never mentioned his trip away, and I’d stayed away from any topic that got too close to discussing Luke.

Somehow, though I wasn’t surprised, we
’d managed to fall right back into the friendly nature we’d had once before.

“So… what’s the problem?
” I asked, trying not to laugh at his crimson face. “You’re mad that I’m winning, or mad that you’re losing? Because there has to be a loser.”

He looked up from the board and smiled, but only lightly. The lamplight reflected off
of his glasses as he watched me for a few long minutes. His eyes softened and he stared at me, giving me his best puppy dog pout.

“Fine,” I said, giving into his pouted lip. I moved his piece from the jailhouse to the ‘just visiting’ half of the corner.
“Free pass.”

“Ah, how sweet that you’re willing to cheat for me
—”

“Well, I figured
there are enough of you Miltons rotting in jail—”

“Whoa!” he
said, his smile so big that he could barely contain a laugh. “Low blow!”

“You asked for it!”

Derek gnawed on his lower lip, leaned back against the foot of my bed, and stretched his legs out in front of him. Elvis, who’d spent the evening ignoring everyone but himself, finally acknowledged his previous owner by plopping his head down on Derek’s lap. We shared a small laugh, and Derek yawned for the hundredth time in an hour. He pulled his glasses off, setting them aside on the floor next to him, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You’re tired.”

“No,” he said, yawning again. “Not even a little—”

“Liar.”

“Okay,” he said, squinting at me. “Maybe a little.”

“Go home,” I said, pushing the game aside. “
To be fair, I think I kicked your butt in this game. There’s no point in trying to redeem yourself.” I looked back at the clock and playfully smacked his leg. “It’s two o’clock. I think it’s safe to say we’ve both missed our bedtimes.”

I thought I saw his hand flinch; for a second, I thought he was going to reach forward and grab mine. But he didn’t. He kept a reasonable di
stance—just as he’d done ever since the moment I pulled away from his welcome hug the night before.

“Can I see you later? Maybe after we’ve both had a good night’s sleep?”

“Only if you intend to live,” I said, leaning against the bed and nudging him. “No more of this
abandoning Julie
stuff, okay?” A light smirk crossed his lips. “I’ve missed you.”

“Likewise,” he said, clenching his fist in his lap. I started to drop my head on his shoulder when he shimmied out from beneath me and pulled himself standing. I sat straighter and watched as he smoothed the wrinkles on his sweater. “Get some sleep.”

I nodded.

He headed for the door and turned back just as he reached the threshold. “It’s good to be back.”

“It’s good to have you back,” I said, smiling. “Things are about to change for all of us, Derek. I can feel it.”