Chapter Twenty-Five: For Love's Sake-2

Jillian almost sprayed Ryan with the soup she'd just spooned into her mouth. Zoe nearly dropped her glass of wine. And Alex went as still as a stone statue for like five minutes, only his eyes darting back and forth between me and Luke. The rest were surprised as well but took it in stride, Peggy and Elise being the more enthusiastic ones. Elise still puzzled me but it was hard to doubt that she was genuinely happy for me and Luke. She wasn't going to be a critic. Alex had top spot for that. "Are you sure about this, Max?" he asked when he finally cornered me after Marcel's incredible dinner and the group had broken up for drinks. Luke was in a rowdy conversation with my grandfather and Ryan about something on the other side of the room. I smiled broadly at Alex, knowing that it was more concern for me than jealousy that spurred his hesitation. "Yes." When I said nothing more, Alex raised a brow. "Yes and that's it? No further explanation?" "There isn't really a ton of explanation and I don't want to ramble on and seem like I'm trying hard to justify it," I said lightly. "We want to do it so we're doing it." Alex remained dubious. "That easy, huh." It was probably aggravating him more but I couldn't help but chuckle. "It should be. Of all the choices I had to make, the risks I had to weigh, deciding to marry Luke has probably been the easiest. And I'm not going to sabotage it by grasping for doubts that don't need to be there." Alex's gaze strayed to a smiling Luke in the distance. '"He's really a lucky bastard and I hope he remembers that all the time." I smiled and patted Alex on the arm. "If he forgets, I'll make sure to remind him." The expression on Alex's face remained serious though. "If you're happy, then I'm happy for you. And while I can trust that you know what you're doing, I'm just not sure that Luke can be trusted the same way." "So you think he's either way in over his head or he has some secret agenda," I stated as a-matter-of-factly. Alex shook his head ruefully. "Luke Hedenby doesn't exactly seem the type of guy scrambling to head to the altar. In fact, he has a reputation for going the opposite direction." I snorted. "I think that might be more of a general male condition." "Not all men shy away from commitment if it's with the right person, Max." I beamed triumphantly. "Exactly. Thanks for answering your own question." Alex seemed half-amused and half-exasperated. "You're hopeless. You're not going to budge." He was right—I wasn't going to. Usually, my struggle was with determining exactly what I wanted. Once I knew what that was, I had no problem being tenacious about it. My decision with Luke was no different. But I should've known, like any conviction of the heart, life was bound to test it. *** On the Monday morning I took off, I hugged Gramps goodbye at the airport, reassuring him that Luke and I would visit him at White Point sometime soon. A tiny town out in the country wasn't exactly Luke's scene but he could probably manage a few days. It was just right around lunch time that I made my way to work and found the office, especially our own project team, buzzing with nervous energy. I was going to ask as soon as I could corner someone when my cellphone sounded off. [Luke: Come see me when you get in. But don't get too close coz I might grab you and kiss you in front of everyone. Kiss.] I hadn't seen him since he drove me home last night but based on his text message (aside from the whole grabbing and kissing part), something big was up. Peggy was on the phone and pacing when I arrived at her desk. The door to Luke's office was ajar so I peeked in and found it empty. Peggy saw me and mouthed something that read like 'conference room' while pointing to the hallway. In all the time I spent around her, the woman was always very calm and collected. Right now, she looked like she could use a drink.