Free Up to the Challenge (An Anchor Island Novel) by Terri Osburn

perfect.”
    “This has nothing to do with the restaurant. I’m not sure how to say this.”
    Lucas took the chair on the other side of the desk and crossed an ankle over his knee. “You’ve never had any problem saying exactly what you think. I don’t see why now should be any different.”
    “Right.” But Joe stared at the desk as if the answer might be written there. “I know shit is still awkward between us. I want that to change.”
    Joe talking about his feelings? Lucas hadn’t seen that coming.
    “I do too, but it’s going to take time. It’s only been six weeks.”
    “I know.” Joe sat up, leaning his elbows on the desk. “That’s not very long.”
    “Depends on what you’re talking about. Six weeks for Dad to recover from this heart attack is feeling like forever. When it’s my future suddenly becoming your future, six weeks feels like six hours.”
    “Then why did you send me up to Richmond?” Joe asked, meeting Lucas’s eyes for the first time since they’d entered the office. “You wanted me and Beth to be happy. Nobody set out to hurt you.”
    “Yeah, I know.” Lucas ran a hand through his hair. “I’m mostly mad at myself for blowing it, though Beth tells me there was nothing to blow in the long run. It’s not easy to hear your fiancée would have left you whether she fell for your brother or not.”
    Though he’d had this kind of conversation with Beth back when it all happened, Lucas had never called up Joe to hammer things out. He’d been more interested in hammering his brother into the ground at the time. Maybe they should have done this sooner.
    “She’s happy here,” Joe said. “We’re both happy. We owe that to you.”
    “Glad I could be of service.” As soon as the words were out, Lucas regretted them. “Sorry. Bruised ego. Leads to a lot of scorch-and-burn comments like that.”
    “No problem.” Joe picked up a pen and starting tapping it against the desk. “That’s why this part is so hard.”
    “What part?” Lucas tried to imagine what could possibly make things worse.
    Then Joe pulled a small black box from his pants pocket. A ring box. Holy shit.
    “Is that—”
    “My mom’s ring. Dad gave it to me the day before we moved Beth’s stuff down here.” Joe spun the box between his fingers. “I think he expected me to propose before we shacked up.”
    The air in the room felt thicker and nonexistent at the same time. A knot formed in Lucas’s stomach as if he’d just swallowed the paperweight on his desk back in Richmond. In the office where he should be right now. Where he’d be if his brother hadn’t screwed up his life and turned him into an unfocused idiot.
    “So you’re going to—”
    “Yeah. But I wanted to tell you first.”
    “Why?” Lucas fought to keep his voice even. Unable to sit, he began pacing the small space. “You want my permission? My advice on how to do it?” Slamming his palms on the desk, he asked, “What the fuck do you want from me?”
    Joe didn’t flinch. He just looked up from the ring box. “I don’t expect anything from you. But I figured I owe you the respect of letting you know before I did it. That’s all.”
    Lucas had known this was for real. That Beth and Joe loved each other. That she loved his brother in a way she’d never loved him. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d wanted them to fail. He’d wanted this to be temporary, for Beth and Joe to break up.
    What a selfish son of a bitch he’d turned out to be. He cared about these two people. How could he want them tosuffer? To sooth his fragile ego or appease some arrogant need for revenge? What the hell kind of person would think like that?
    “I guess that’s it.” Joe slipped the box back into his pocket. “Maybe I’ll wait awhile. Give it more time.”
    “Don’t do that,” Lucas said.
    “What?”
    “If you want to wait to make sure you two are ready, then do it. But if you’re waiting for me, don’t bother.”
    “I see,”