December 18th, Ann Arbor Michigan, Lucas' house
Lucas sighed as he walked into his house. Normally, he would listen for Janette to see if she was around. Now that he knew that she had asked her friends to move her stuff, he knew there was no point in doing that. She was gone. Believe it or not, he wasn't too sad. His mind and heart had found a new focus. Unfortunately, she lived 582.3 miles away. Currently, she was still in Oahu but yeah.
He started a load of laundry and unpacked the rest of his things. He pulled the sheets off his bed and put new sheets on, noting that he now could sleep on whichever side he wanted to sleep on. No more, "your side is the left side."
He walked into the bathroom and noticed her toothbrush, hairbrush, razor and hair straighter were missing. No silk robe on the back of the door. No makeup residue in the sink. No tampons in the cupboards.
He felt his phone buzz. He had texted Beth when he landed and she must be answering back.
"I'm glad you're safe."
He hearted the text and put the phone back in his back pocket. He grabbed his keys and headed to the grocery store to get lunch and dinner items for the next week. It was ten pm, but the grocery store was open 24 hours so it didn't matter.
He took a selfie in his car, which he didn't do often, and sent it to Elizabeth. "Going to get groceries. Its so cold!"
"80 degrees here," she said with a wink emoji.
"Sure, rub it in. My car says it's 28 here."
"Winter is my favorite," she texted back. "Snowflakes, drinking coffee or tea by the fireplace, snuggling under blankets on the couch with a good book."
"Sounds nice when you put it that way."
She added a smiley face emoji to his post and he flipped his phone over on the seat so he could drive. He pushed the button to turn his heated seat on and another to turn his heated steering wheel on and pulled out of his driveway.
Kahala Resort, Oahu
"Let's go to dinner, Beth," Vi offered.
"I think I might just order some food from downstairs and maybe watch a movie."
"Its our last night here. We should make the most of it, don't you think? We could get Italian at Arancino. Baby is craving ravioli."
Italian food did sound good but Elizabeth just wanted to be alone.
"Beth, can I say something?"
"Why are you asking? You, little sister, will tell me no matter what I say."
"True. Okay then. I know you miss him but he lives in Michigan. You are probably going to be missing him every day for who knows how long. Why stop living your life just because you miss him?"
"I want what you and Vi have, you know?"
"I know and I'm sure you will have that."
"But what if I don't because I already met him, my person, and he lives in Michigan?"
Julie sat down and leaned back against Beth's headboard with her, taking her hand. "You fell in love, didn't you?"
She nodded and started crying. "Or I'm close to it. We agreed to just be friends but the more time I spent with him the more I wanted to. He's so amazing, Julie."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I guess wait until he's ready to be more than friends."
……
Ann Arbor, Lucas' house
The next morning, Lucas put a roast in his slow cooker with carrots and potatoes and put it on low. He almost couldn't wait to get home and eat it and then have leftovers for a few days.
As a single guy who loved to save money wherever possible, he did this alot. He always took his breakfast and lunch to work and ate dinner at home. His mom had taught him to cook as a young teen and now he loved it.
"Welcome back, Luke," Carmen, one of his tellers said when he walked in the door to the branch.
"Hey, Carmen."
"How was your vacation?"
"Eventful," he told her, sitting down at his desk and turning his computer on.
"How so?"
"Its a long story. What did I miss here?"
About ten minutes later, Lucas led a huddle to get things going. He liked to try to start a positive discussion every morning or have someone else chip in and do a huddle too. Either way, it seemed to put everyone in a good mood to start.
Then he spent the next hour going through the endless emails that he had refused to look at while he was on vacation.
His desk phone rang so he answered it. "Bank of Ann Arbor, this is Lucas speaking, how may I help you?"
"Hey, man. How was your vacation?"
"Lee! How are you?"
Lee was a good friend of his and he managed his own branch of the same bank over in Ypsilanti.
"I'm good. Rosie told me about you and Janette. Sorry, man."
"Yeah well. I should have seen it coming."
"Luke, Rosie would like me to invite you over for dinner. Maybe Friday?"
"Sure. That sounds good."
"I'll tell her. 6:30?"
"See you then."
……
At lunch, he texted Beth to see how she was doing.
"Hey, friend. First day back at work for me. What are you up to?"
"Just waking up. We leave this evening to fly home. I'm going to miss Oahu."
"I do too. But not just Oahu." He added a wink emoji and she hearted it.
"Was that flirting?" she asked.
"Perhaps. Mostly just the truth."
That text made Elizabeth smile until lunch. She ate with the girls and they hit the beach one more time and then headed to the airport. Elizabeth was flying home to Philly, Vi to Phoenix and Julie to Nashville.
In a few weeks, the sisters would be together again in Phoenix for Vi's wedding but until then, it was back to normal lives.
Elizabeth used the wifi at the airport and on the plane to check in with her coworkers and clients. She had a small staff of two other women that did a tremendous job with the company while she was gone or just in general.
Her coworker Molly had been working on a sweet 16 party and Florence had a 50th anniversary party going on. This freed Elizabeth up to work on her parent's Christmas/New Years Extravaganza they did every year.
Her phone buzzed and she picked it up, hoping it was Lucas but it was in the middle of the night in Michigan so it probably wasn't.
"Hey, this is Kyle Kensington," the text said. It was only 10pm in Phoenix where the Kensington's lived.
Charles' cousin Kyle was a nice guy. All the Kensington's were nice. But, Kyle was a bit stuffy for her taste.
"Hi."
"I was wondering if you had a date for the wedding yet?"
She didn't want to have a date for the wedding unless it was Lucas and Lucas wasn't going to be in Phoenix.
"I'm a bridesmaid and I am going to be so busy with the wedding and helping Vi and Julie that I'm not going to bring a date. Thank you for asking, though!"
"Okay. No problem. Just thought I'd ask."
"You at the airport?" a text flashed across the screen. Lucas!
"Hey. Yeah. We are boarding in about 30 minutes."
"Want to do a video chat?" he suggested.
"Yes!" Elizabeth stood up and walked away from the gate for privacy.
She accepted his request and then she saw him. Gosh, he was handsome.
"Hi."
"Hey."
"Its late there. Aren't you tired, Luke?"
"Maybe a little but I wanted to talk to you for a bit."
"I'm so glad. I was just thinking about you."
"You were?"
"Yeah."
"So when you get back to Philadelphia, what are you going to do first?"
"Laundry and unpack and take a long, hot bubble bath and take a nap."
"I did the laundry first too. I can't stand dirty clothes hanging around in my luggage."
"Yeah. Me either. How was work today?"
"Same old thing. My branch basically runs itself."
"That's a mark of a good manager."
"It means that I can get out in the community and talk to people and volunteer."
"What type of volunteering do you do?" she wondered. She also liked to volunteer.
"The local food bank always needs volunteers. Especially this time of year I go to the soup kitchens and help feed the homeless."
"I do that too. In between the major holidays, my work slows down so my coworkers can handle it. So I feed the homeless or I like to visit the nursing homes too."
"Maybe we can go together sometime," he said, basically reading her mind.
"I would love that."
They chatted for a bit longer and then she heard her plane start to board. "I have to go, Luke. I need to hit the bathroom before I get on the plane."
"Okay. Beth?"
"Yeah?"
"Text me when you land?"
"I will. Bye, Luke.
"Bye, Beth."
…..
A few days later, Lucas got a text from a number he didn't have in his phone.
"Lucas, this is Vi. Beth's sister."
"Hey, Vi. How are you?"
"Great! I just wanted to invite you to my wedding."
"When is it?"
"January 8th. Here in Phoenix. I know that you may not be able to come but I think it would be amazing to surprise Beth."
He looked at his calendar. He had that weekend off. He could fly there on Friday night and back to Michigan Sunday night.
"Sure. I'd love to come."
"Great! As far as a place to stay, I've got that covered. So don't get a hotel room or anything. I'll send you info in a week or so."
"Thanks, Vi! I can't wait to see Beth."
"The feeling is mutual, I assure you."
"Is a suit okay or do I need a tux?"
"Suit is just fine."
"Great. Thanks again."
"You are very welcome."
He couldn't believe he was going to see Beth. Surprising her was going to be so awesome! Unless she hated surprises but he bet she loved them. She was a party planner afterall.
……
Friday evening, Lee and Rosie's house
"Tell me why you're going to Phoenix again," Lee said, as they sipped their beer after dinner.
"To go to Beth's sister's wedding."
"The woman you just met in Oahu?"
"Yep."
"Wow. Who are you and what have you done with Luke?" It was unlike Luke to be so spontaneous.
"Funny. I'm right here. Beth and I are just friends."
"For now?"
"Yes. We agreed."
"Hm."
"What, Lee? Tell me."
"Phoenix is far to go to see a friend."
"Is it?"
"You have feelings for her," Lee said, nodding. "Now I get it."
Lucas took another sip of his beer. He wouldn't deny it. He did feel something strong for Beth. Something he hadn't felt for anyone ever. Even Janette.
As much as he said they were "friends," he wanted it to be more. Maybe the wedding could be a turning point.
"Are you sure you want to jump into another relationship so close to your last one?"
"All I know is that if I don't try, I will regret it."