“I was driving, so no. Mind filling me in?”
My brother smiled. “You remember that trip we took after graduation?”
“Uh, the cabin?” I asked slowly.
“That’s the one.”
I stared at Lukas, waiting for an explanation, but he just smiled broadly. “Mind filling me in?”
“Turns out it’s an Airbnb now.”
“And?”
“We’re going away for the weekend,” Duke said, strolling outof the house. My mouth watered at the sight of him in a maroon henley and jeans. It was different from his usual plain black t-shirt. Both delicious, but in different ways.
“To the cabin?”
Lukas shot me a wink, ushering the girls inside the house to pack as Duke walked up and placed his hand on my lower back. He pressed a kiss to my temple, holding me steady. “Are you surprised?”
“Yeah,” I laughed. “And maybe a little confused, too.”
“Hardest surprise of my life to keep. I’ve wanted to tell you for days.”
“Days?” I turned to look at him. “Just how long have you been planning this?”
“In my defense, your brother helped. I was simply the source of information.”
Suddenly, our conversation from last weekend came hurtling back. How he’d asked me where I’d like to go if I could. I’d said the cabin because it was the last time I remembered before I was bombarded with obligations and expectations.
I missed the days when the only thing causing me anxiety was a calculus test.
“What would you have done if I said Paris?”
Duke smiled. “Well, we might have had to wait on that one a bit. Can’t be gone from the bar for that long. But a weekend is manageable.”
My god. Could everyone in my life stop making me so damn emotional? It was too much for a girl to handle. I stared up at him, searching his green depths for comfort. “How?”
Duke pursed his lips. “It’s likely your last weekend at home. I wanted it to be a good one.”
The reality of our situation was like a lead weight sinking to the pit of my stomach. I could feel it there, the pressure and dread of the next few days nearly making me want to vomit. Ididn’t want to admit it, but there was a chance this was my last weekend for a long time with the people I loved. Depending on how the reading of John’s will went, I could be boarding our jet as early as Tuesday and heading off to handle some godforsaken crisis.
“You didn’t have to do all this.”
Duke cupped my face, pulling me back into this rare, private moment with him. “Hey, I can’t take all the credit. Your brother wanted to throw a party, but that seemed like the last thing you’d want.” I snorted, loving the way he knew me so well already. “So I proposed this. Grady and Cleo are coming, too. It’s a whole family affair.”
“Thank you,” I said, leaning into his touch and pressing a kiss to his palm. “I can’t tell you what this means to me.”
He slid his hands down my body, tugging me into him. “You’re worth it, honey.”
OLIVIA
“Pizza or burgers?”Lukas asked, scrolling his phone for the nearest restaurants.
The cabin was about three hours from Pinecrest, tucked in a thicket of trees on the lake. By the time we made it there, it was dark and well past everyone’s dinner time.
Charlie and Harper had already reached the hangry stage, and were on their way to full-blown meltdown as we parked our vehicles. We’d had to stop at a gas station after only an hour on the road, just so they wouldn’t completely lose their minds before we got to our final destination.
“We should’ve stopped somewhere on the way,” I said, yawning. Grady, Duke, and I sat on the porch while Lukas and Cleo graciously agreed to keep the girls distracted inside. Judging by the overall silence and sporadic giggle we heard, I’d say they were doing a damn good job.