Chapter 96: A Beautiful Encounter

Chloe's POV

Lucas stood in front of Theodosia. The tips of his ears were turning pink. He cleared his throat to steady his voice.

"Ma'am, we're not a couple." His tone settled back into its usual calm. "Chloe is my nephew's girlfriend. I'm just here to… look after her."

Theodosia gave him a long look. Then she turned to study me. "Oh, is that so?" she said lightly.

She didn't press further. Just smiled. Shook her head. Picked up her scissors and went back to trimming the roses. "Young people these days," she murmured softly.

I ducked my head and hurried inside. My cheeks were burning.

For the rest of the afternoon, I deliberately avoided Lucas's eyes. We barely made eye contact at all.

By evening, Lucas had set up the grill in the yard. Fresh ingredients were laid out neatly on the wooden table.

I stood in the doorway for a moment. I hesitated. Then I turned and knocked on Theodosia's door.

"Ma'am, come join us for the barbecue tonight." I invited her. "We got way too much food. The two of us can't possibly finish it."

Theodosia patted the dust off her apron and smiled. "Then let me go pick some fresh vegetables. Grilled meat always tastes better with greens."

By the time it was fully dark, the three of us were gathered around the grill in the yard.

The charcoal glowed red-hot. The steaks sizzled and spat. The air filled with a rich, smoky smell.

Theodosia had pulled a rocking chair over to the side. She sat watching quietly as Lucas turned the meat with practiced ease.

"Were you in the military, young man?" Theodosia asked suddenly.

Lucas looked up. "I'm a detective. I went through military-style training."

"A detective!" Theodosia looked mildly surprised. "My husband was a veteran—served as a signals soldier, then came back to this mountain to farm after he was discharged."

Her expression softened. Her gaze drifted past the firelight toward something far away.

"When I was young, I ran into a wild wolf out in the hills once. Nearly didn't make it. My husband was the one who saved me." Theodosia smiled faintly. "The way we met—it was a knight-in-shining-armor story."

"And another time, late at night, two drunk men were harassing me…"

I set down what I was doing. I listened quietly.

"My husband happened to be coming home from work. He walked right into it. He went straight at them and beat them both up pretty badly."

"He broke one of their noses," she added, with just a hint of pride in her voice.

I couldn't help laughing. "And then what?"

"Then I married him, of course." Theodosia spread her hands. Her voice was warm and certain. "A man who steps up for you, who protects you—who else would you marry?"

My grip on my juice glass tightened.

Being harassed by thugs. A brave man stepping in to save you.

The story felt way too familiar.

My eyes drifted, almost without my permission, to Lucas sitting beside me.

I caught myself daydreaming. What if, years from now, I lived in a place like this? A cabin in the mountains. Flowers growing all through the yard. A grill set up on the porch in the evenings. Lucas handling the meat. Me setting out the plates and cleaning up.

Weekends spent watering and weeding the garden together. And when we got tired, just sitting in the sun and letting the breeze wash over us…

The image was so vivid it made my chest ache. I let out a quiet breath.

Impossible.

Even if things with Owen fell apart completely, I could never let myself fall for Lucas.

He was Owen's uncle. He was my elder. He was a line I could never cross.

That time at the hospital, I'd used up nearly every bit of courage I had.

I'd just gotten out of danger. The rush of surviving something like that had gone straight to my head. I'd been reckless enough to ask for a hug.

But that was a different situation. When you're staring down something life-or-death, you do things you normally never would.

I was clear-headed now. And when I was clear-headed, I knew—I couldn't let myself get any closer.

"Were there wild animals in these mountains before?" Lucas spoke up at just the right moment. He steered the conversation somewhere else.

I quietly let out a breath. I pulled my thoughts back. I focused on what was being said.

"There used to be," Theodosia said, waving a hand. "But don't worry. Decades of environmental changes have made this area unsuitable for wildlife. The forestry department relocated them to other regions a long time ago."

She laughed and teased him. "Spoken like a true detective—first instinct is always to check for safety risks."

Lucas's mouth twitched slightly. He didn't deny it.

Partway through the meal, Theodosia got up and went inside. A moment later she came back out carrying a glass bottle filled with deep amber liquid.

"This is fruit wine I made myself. Much stronger than anything you'd buy at a store."

Her voice was calm. It carried the easy steadiness of someone who'd lived a long life. "I can hold my liquor pretty well. I have a glass every night before bed. When I miss my husband, I have a few more. Sleep it off, and by morning, whatever was weighing on you is gone."

She poured herself a full glass. She drank it in one go. No tears in her eyes—just the quiet peace of someone who had made her peace with things.

"If you two can't handle much alcohol, just take a small sip. Get a taste of it." Theodosia slid the bottle toward us.

I picked it up and smelled it. Rich and fruity. None of that sharp bite you'd expect from something strong.

"I'll try some." I poured myself a small amount.

The first sip hit my tongue sweet and clean. Then a wave of heat rolled down my throat and straight into my stomach.

I coughed a couple of times.

Lucas reached over to take my glass. I turned away and held onto it. "I'm fine. I just didn't expect it to be that strong."

The fruity wine and the smoky char of the grilled meat turned out to go together surprisingly well.

I alternated—a bite of meat, a sip of wine. Before long I'd finished the small pour and helped myself to a little more.

Lucas frowned at me. "Easy on that," he said quietly.

"I know, I know," I said. My words came out a little slurred. I stuffed another piece of grilled sausage into my mouth.

It wasn't long before my head started to swim.

The firelight in front of me went soft and hazy. Theodosia's voice came through in fragments. It was like she was filtering through water.

The feeling was nice, actually. Really nice. Every tight, wound-up nerve in my body let go at once. All the worry and stress that had been sitting in my head just—dissolved. All that was left was this warm, lazy glow spreading through me.

At some point Lucas got up to walk Theodosia back to her room. I sat alone by the grill. I stared into the jumping flames.

I picked up the tongs. I started loading things from the plate onto the grill.

But after a while I looked down, confused. I'd put on several pieces, hadn't I? The grill was completely empty.

Had some little animal sneaked in and stolen them?

I reached over in a daze to grab more. My fingers touched something cool and soft.

A warm hand came from behind me. It closed firmly around my wrist.

"Chloe." Lucas crouched down beside me. His voice carried a laugh he was clearly trying to hold back. "You're grilling leaves."

"What?"

I looked down at my hand. What I was holding between my fingers wasn't meat at all. It was a leaf. Pulled from the shrub nearby. Now sitting on the grill and quietly smoking.

I stared at those smoldering leaves. I wished the ground would swallow me.

I hunched my shoulders instinctively. I wanted to sink straight down into the chair.

Beside me, Lucas's shoulders were shaking. He was obviously fighting hard not to lose it.

"Don't you dare laugh," I said. I shot him a mortified look.

He cleared his throat. He managed to get his expression mostly under control. "Alright. Not laughing," he said. Perfectly straight-faced.

Two seconds of silence.

Then, casually, like he was just making conversation, he said, "For what it's worth, I've done stupider things when I was drunk."