Free Wait for Me / Trust in Me by Samantha Chase

she told him. “I’ve got lunch ready.”
    Lucas stood straight up and looked at Emma as if he’d never seen her before. He opened his mouth to argue, but all she said was “Go” and he slowly lumbered back toward his bedroom, where he slammed the door.
    Emma made a tsking sound and went about picking up his belongings and taking them into the mudroom near the back of the house to dry. After that, she headed into the kitchen to serve up their food. Before she was finished, Lucas stepped from the bedroom, walked over to the living room, and sat down wearily on the sofa, his head falling back against the cushions.
    It was a no-brainer at that point; making up a tray, Emma carried it to Lucas and placed it over his lap. He looked up at her in surprise and what she saw in his eyes took her breath away. Gratitude, plain and simple. How long had this man been taking care of himself? How long since anyone had done something as simple as preparing a meal for him? How long since he’d even let anyone?
    She gave him a weak smile and turned to walk away. “Are you going to join me?” Lucas asked, his eyes warm on hers.
    â€œI was just going to make myself a tray,” she reassured him. Within minutes she was sitting on the sofa beside him, making herself comfortable and trying not to spill her soup. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted to eat but I figured this was your house and if it was here, you’d pretty much enjoy it.”
    He gave a small laugh. “Can’t argue with that logic. But seriously, Emma, thank you. You didn’t need to do this.”
    â€œAre you kidding me? It was nice to have something to do. I felt so helpless sitting in here where it was warm and dry while you were stuck out there. I hate that you had to do that for me.”
    â€œWe’re not going to go through that again, are we?” he asked. “None of this was your fault and you need to let it go.”
    â€œHow did you get the driveway cleared away so fast?”
    â€œI have a plow blade attachment for my truck. I simply pulled out of the garage and went to work.”
    â€œOh, thank goodness. I thought you had shoveled that whole thing yourself!”
    â€œNot anymore,” he mumbled to himself. “It didn’t take too long and I wanted to have it done before I called the tow truck. It would have been pointless to have them drive all the way out here if they couldn’t get onto the property.”
    Emma nodded. “How bad did it look?”
    â€œThe road?”
    â€œNo, my car. Was it bad?”
    Lucas took a hearty bite of his sandwich and seemed to chew slowly. Emma did not take that as a good sign. “It was about what I expected,” he said finally.
    â€œMeaning what exactly?”
    â€œIt looks like you ran it into a tree. The front end is pretty banged up, but luckily you weren’t going very fast so it could have been much worse. I had Bill take it to his shop. He’s a friend of mine and I trust him and his work. He’ll get a good look at it probably tomorrow and have an estimate to us by Monday.”
    â€œUs?”
    â€œEmma, Montgomerys is going to take care of this. It wasn’t your fault and you were on company time. We’ll take care of the repairs and your car rental for however long it takes to get your car fixed.” In that moment, he sounded very much like a boss and Lucas saw something cross across Emma’s face. Confusion? Disappointment?
    â€œThat’s very generous, Lucas. Your father called while you were outside with the tow truck and he told me the same thing. I don’t expect the company to take care of this expense, but I appreciate the help.”
    â€œWell, it was Dad’s fault,” Lucas stated firmly, still angry at what could have happened to Emma because of his father’s inconsiderate behavior.
    â€œI could have told him no, Lucas. He didn’t hold a gun to my head and force