LUCY“How’s your dad doing today?” Charlotte asks, unable to hold still and almost making me nauseous with how much she moves her phone while we’re FaceTiming.I give her a smile as I sit back in the old office chair in the back room of my family’s store. It’s getting late in the evening, but I still have so much to do before I can go home for the night.“Dad’s doing good. Still grumpy that we’re not letting him work, but we haven’t had any mishaps since he got back from the hospital.”Charlotte nods.“I know where you get your stubbornness from,” Charlotte quips. “I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting your dad in person yet, but it’s obvious that you’re set in your ways just like he is.”Through FaceTime, she and my father have struck up a friendship. I’ve never heard my dad belly laugh, but that all changed the other day when Charlotte and I were video chatting. She was catching me up on what was going on in her life—leaving out details about Cal—when she made some kind of joke that

Dernière mise à jour : 2025-12-20

LUCYI pull into the driveway of my childhood home feeling completely empty.I’ve called Cal twenty-two times in the last two hours.He hasn’t answered a single one.All the calls go straight to voicemail.Talking to Jude and Charlotte had made me feel so hopeful. Jude had made it sound like Cal would forgive me for anything if he just knew how I felt. Now, he won’t talk to me, so I can’t even tell him how I really feel.I swallow, wincing at the soreness in my throat from my sobs. I spent the better part of an hour huddled in the back office of the store, letting myself finally break down at the loss of Cal. For two weeks, I’ve tried to be strong. I pushed all thoughts of him from my mind as I focused on being there for my parents.But I can only be strong for so long.And having hope that maybe I could make this work—be the daughter my parents deserve and also still have Cal in my life—just to have it ripped away from me was my breaking point.I’m broken.I’ve never had my heart bro

Dernière mise à jour : 2025-12-20

CAL“So, this is it,” Lucy tells me with a bashful grin as we step into her childhood bedroom.I laugh, my eyes scanning the room, not knowing where to look first. “This is amazing.”Lucy softly shuts the door behind us, making my pulse spike a little, remembering the scowl on her father’s face when Lucy said we were going to go upstairs to talk some more.I clear my throat, my eyes focusing on the shut door. “Your dad was very clear he wanted that door open.”Lucy laughs and rolls her eyes. “I’m twenty-three years old. He’ll get over it. Plus, he’s going to bed. No one sleeps deeper than him.”I nod, feeling like a teenager again, afraid of a father on the other side of the house. I take a step closer to a wall of photos. It showcases photos of Lucy at different ages, making me smile. I point to one of a five- or six-year-old Lucy in a full chef’s costume. “So you knew you wanted to cook from a young age?” I ask.She nods as her attention shifts to the photo as well. “You could say t

Dernière mise à jour : 2025-12-20

LUCY“I have a gift I want to give you before we head out,” Cal announces, his arms wrapping around my middle as he brings my back to his front.I stare at him in the mirror with a smile on my face. “A gift for me? What’s the occasion?”“The occasion is you’re back, and I missed you.” He presses a kiss to the base of my neck, making my entire body shiver. He continues to trail kisses along my skin as I attempt to put my earrings in. His skin is soft against mine, something I’m not typically used to.We’re going to Pembroke Hills tonight for their annual Black-Tie Event. From what I understand, the club goes all out for the evening, and I’m excited to experience it.It’s my first time back at the club since returning to the Hamptons. After Cal surprised me by visiting, we spent a week getting everything settled for my parents. It was amazing having him at home with me, and I fell even more in love with him as I watched him create a bond with my parents. He eventually had to go to Manha

Dernière mise à jour : 2025-12-20

EPILOGUE - LUCYMy body trembles with excitement as the bridal coordinator plays with the hem of my wedding dress.From a few feet away, someone else helps fix the knot of my father’s tie. He smiles at me from across the entryway of the villa, giving me a wink as they continue fussing over the tie he insisted on tying himself.I take a deep breath, trying to calm the jitters.I’m getting married today.I smile, still in shock that today’s my wedding day.It feels like it took forever to get here, but it also came so fast. At the end of our first summer together, Cal proposed. It was magical, and I didn’t know it was possible for me to be so happy. At first, we were going to do a small wedding as soon as we could. But after thinking about it, I knew my dream was to get married in front of all our friends and family. We thought about doing something at Pembroke, but when Cal was able to book my dream villa in Lake Como, Italy, for our wedding, it seemed like fate. We were engaged a litt

Dernière mise à jour : 2025-12-20

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