Page 40 of Love Like Ours

An hour later, the yard was transformed. The tables were set with cheerful tablecloths and flowers, the balloons swayed gently in the breeze, and he knew that the string lights would cast a warm, inviting glow at sunset.

He watched as Sophia surveyed the scene, her hands on her hips, a satisfied smile on her face.

“This looks amazing,” Juliette said, giving Sophia’s arm a squeeze. “We did a great job.”

“Agreed, it’s perfect,” Sophia replied, her gaze lingering on the setup. “I couldn’t have done it without you guys.”

“Don’t mention it,” Palmer said, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Now that everything’s done, how about we head into town to grab some food before everyone shows up?”

“I could go for some pizza,” Lucas suggested.

“Pizza sounds good,” Palmer confirmed with a nod.

“Have fun showering my wife and baby,” Lucas called as he and Palmer headed towards the driveway.

Palmer glanced back at Sophia one last time before climbing into his truck. He made a silent vow to help her, even in small ways, to feel at home again.

After they’d gotten the dogs into their trucks, he followed Lucas into town and parked next to his truck in front of Baked Pizzeria. The place was bustling as usual, the smell of fresh dough and melted cheese wafting out as they took a seat out front at a free table under the awning he and Parker had installed a few years back. Both dogs settled at their feet and waited for the food to arrive so they could start begging for scraps.

“Large pepperoni, extra cheese?” Lucas asked before a waitress could come over.

“Sounds great,” Palmer said with a grin.

After they ordered, Lucas leaned back and eyed him. “You’ve got a look in your eye,” he said with a grin.

“What look?”

“The one that says you’ve got someone on your mind.”

Palmer chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re imagining things.”

“Sure I am,” Lucas said, smirking. “It’s about my sister and, normally, I’d keep out of her business…” He leaned closer and lowered his tone. “But I’ll get this out of the way. If you hurt her, they won’t find your body.” He smiled.

Palmer laughed. “I’ve been warned. Actually, I was thinking of how we might help your sister to feel more at home in her place.”

Lucas nodded. “There’s still so much Mom there. We’ve tried to convince her to do what she wants, but so far she hasn’t. She is still sleeping in her bedroom. Still using her bathroom.” He shrugged. “I know it might take her a while, but at least she no longer talks about going back to New York.”

Palmer’s eyebrows shot up as his heart let out a little sigh of relief.

When the pizza arrived, they dug in, the conversation turning to lighter topics. But even as they laughed and joked, Palmer’s thoughts kept circling back to Sophia, surrounding herself with memories she hadn’t yet found the courage to move past.

He couldn’t change the past for her, but maybe, just maybe, he could help her build something new.

The following days, he had several meetings with Max. He and Parker measured what seemed like every square inch of the lighthouse and the surrounding buildings.

He spent a lot of his nights sitting at his computer, drawing and redrawing the plans for the changes Max wanted.

He worked out a budget, got quotes, made sure permits were applied for, and spent every free minute he could chatting with Sophia.

She seemed to be on the same schedule as he was recently—working crazy hours and not a lot of free time. She explained that everyone at the restaurant was gearing up for their bosses to have a full month off when the baby came.

Plans for the lighthouse were coming along. They had just finished hashing out the last small details and had agreed to have his workers start the demo process first thing Monday morning. He figured there would be more changes as they worked, but at least the large items were agreed on at this point. Every day after his other work was done, he drove out to the property and went over a handful of changes with Max.

To be honest, Palmer was starting to like the guy. He wasn’t the stuck-up New York director that he’d expected the man to be. He was feeling more at ease around him and even liked the guy’s humor. The more he was around him, the more he could see why Sophia had been so into the guy.

Which made him wonder why Sophia was into him now. They had texted or talked on the phone several times since the other night. They’d even had a few steamy conversations that left him aching to be with her again. But so far, he hadn’t done anything that would make him stand out from the smooth-talking Max.

Flowers.