“Lucie and I have a strange relationship, I realize that.” Luke stated calmly. “I respect her, although I sometimes question her reasoning.”
“I’m sure she’d say the same about you.” Kane laughed. Luke wasn’t known for his rational thinking most of the time.
“I’m sure she would.” Luke answered with a laugh of his own. “If you don’t mind, ask her to come see me when you get back downstairs. And, I’d appreciate you getting back to me quickly on this. Trent is looking to move forward soon. He’s a little concerned about the Walker’s resort. He’s not willing to be outdone, so I think it’s safe to assume there are more changes in the works.”
Kane nodded his head in agreement, and then left Luke’s office. As soon as he saw Lucie by the bar, he told her that Luke wanted to speak with her. She looked a little concerned, but she stood up straight and made her way upstairs.
Kane wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but he knew one thing for sure. This time, the two of them would work together to determine what was best for their future.
He wouldn’t want it any other way.
~~*~~
Lucie was still reeling from her conversation with Luke by the time her shift was over the following morning. As she waited for Kane to finish with his inventory, she replayed the conversation over and over in her mind and still came up with the same conclusion. This was an amazing opportunity, and she had wanted to jump at the offer as soon as Luke told her, but she knew she had to talk to Kane first. She’d learned the hard way exactly what it meant to make decisions without thinking them all the way through.
“You ready?”
Lucie took Kane’s hand when he offered it, following him out to the garage. They’d started going in to work together after she’d agreed to move in with him. Kane had convinced her that it was inevitable and since she had so many concerns about the neighborhood she had been living in as it was, she couldn’t come up with a good excuse to say no. She was pretty sure Erika was much more comfortable going back to Kane’s house with Haley as well.
“So, what did you think about Luke’s offer?” Kane asked as they pulled out of the garage.
She smiled over at him, barely able to contain her excitement. Luke hadn’t gone into explicit detail about what Kane would be doing, but he’d alluded to the fact that it would be a step in the right direction for him. The way Luke had expressed his trust in Kane had made Lucie beam with pride. He deserved this chance. She just wasn’t sure she deserved anything more than what she had at the moment.
Not that she had told Luke as much.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for you,” she admitted, turning to face out the window once more.
“What about you?” he asked, and Lucie knew he was aware of the offer Luke had given her.
“Do you think I can do it?” She wasn’t going to ask whether she deserved it because she knew Kane wouldn’t tell her no.
She had her own doubts, but since she was only interested in doing what was best for Haley, she wasn’t going to make decisions based on her own self-doubt. She was moving forward, and the mistakes of her past were just that. She knew she had to overcome them eventually and dwelling on them didn’t help the situation.
“I think you’ll be fantastic,” Kane said with a smile. “Everyone loves you. You already know everything there is to know about managing the bar as it is.”
True. Lucie had been around long enough to know the ins and outs of Kane’s job. She’d even backed him up once or twice over the years. She just hadn’t thought this was ever even a possibility.
“What did you tell Luke?” Lucie asked, realizing he might’ve already taken the job.
“I told him he needed to talk to you, and that we’d decide what was best for the three of us at that point.”
Lucie’s heart swelled to near bursting. It was hard to even imagine that her life would’ve gotten to this point. After so many speed bumps along the way, it was still hard to believe that she had somehow made it to this point. To have Kane’s love was one of the greatest gifts she had ever known. And now that they were working together to raise their daughter, everything just seemed to be as it should be.
Although she’d love to be able to go back and change the way she handled things, she knew that no matter how they got to this point, it was where they were supposed to be. It felt right.
And that’s exactly what she told Kane.
The smile he beamed at her made her heart leap with joy. They’d finally done it.
They’d finally managed to secure their happily ever after.