Chapter 79



“Sorry we’re late,” Laura said, taking a seat next to Lucky.

“Yeah, we got, um, hung up,” Luke said suggestively, figuring it was the best way to keep Lucky from asking any questions.

Lucky grimaced and shook his head. “All right, that’s about all the information I need. Can we just get this dinner over with?”

“Ah, anxious to get back to your little love nest?” Luke teased, kicking Laura under the table as he saw her trying not to laugh next to him.

Lucky and Liz both blushed at the insinuation. “Something like that,” Lucky said quickly. “But, we’re not alone there anyway. Charisma’s staying with us while she looks for a new place. She got thrown out of her apartment yesterday.”

Luke raised an eyebrow, pretending to be surprised. “That must put a cramp on the ol’ honeymoon, huh?”

Not sure how to answer, Lucky just shrugged, turning his attention back to his menu as though it were the most fascinating thing he’d ever read. Luke chuckled softly and picked up his own, figuring he had tormented him enough for the moment.

“So,” Laura said a moment later, trying to break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over the table. “How is married life treating you two?”

Time to start acting happy. “It’s good,” Liz said, turning to smile warmly at Lucky. He grinned back and draped his arm across her shoulders, pulling her closer.

“Yeah, it’s great.”

The waiter came by and took their orders, taking the menus with him as he left, leaving them with nothing more to hide behind. Luke folded his hands in front of him and figured now was as good a time as any to get to the tour discussion.

“Have you decided when you’re taking that Monte Carlo trip yet? I figured you’d be out of here by now!”

“Um, actually, we can’t do it for a while,” Lucky said, growing serious. “I just found out I have to go on a tour for the next month, so we’ll have to wait until it’s over.”

“A whole month?” Laura asked, feigning shock. “But, you just got married! How can they do that?”

He shrugged, playing idly with his napkin. “I don’t know, but they did it, and I can’t get out of it. I leave on Thursday.”

“But, Liz is going with you, right?” Luke asked, trying desperately to keep a straight face.

Liz looked over at Lucky in surprise, not expecting someone to suggest that she go along. How were they going to get out of this one? “Um, we hadn’t talked about it,” Lucky stammered.

“Yeah, and I can’t leave Kelly’s for a whole month!” Liz argued, happy to have come up with a good excuse so quickly. Lucky tried to hide a smile at her resourcefulness.

Luke frowned, scratching his head. “True, Barbara and I can’t handle it for that long.” He pretended to think for a moment, then grinned. “Why don’t you go for a week? We can run the place without you for that long without a problem.”

“I don’t know....” she said, turning to Lucky for help.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty boring out there. There wouldn’t be anything for her to do while I’m doing shows and stuff.”

“But you’d be together. And you can’t spend 24 hours a day doing shows, right?” Laura argued.

“Come on, she can go with you on Thursday, spend the week on the road with you, see what you do, then come back that weekend. I’m sure your manager wouldn’t mind.”

Lucky sighed. “No, she wouldn’t have a problem with it.” He turned to Liz and tried to smile. “Well, what do you think? Want to go with me?”

She made a note to punch his lights out for this once they got home, then pasted a phony smile on her face. “Sounds like fun.”

Luke clapped his hands and reached for the bottle of wine the waiter had delivered a moment earlier. “There you go. Now we can finally celebrate!” He poured four glasses, setting two in front of Lucky and Liz and the others in front of Laura and himself. Once he had set down the bottle, he lifted his own glass. “A toast, to my son and his new bride.”

Laura smiled and raised her own glass while Lucky and Liz reluctantly followed suit. “To love,” she said grandly. Luke clinked his glass with hers and repeated the toast, then looked at the newlyweds.

“Yeah, to love,” Lucky said, sighing as he reached out with his glass to the others, turning to look at Liz. She forced a smile and nodded, repeating his words. Once the toast was over, Luke waved his glass in front of them.

“Bottoms up!” he cheered, bringing it to his mouth to take a drink. Laura did the same, watching over to rim of the glass to see if they would also drink.

Figuring they would look suspicious if they didn’t have the wine, they both sighed and drank, hoping that Luke wouldn’t insist on more than one glass. They were rescued from further toasts when the food arrived, allowing them to focus their attention on their meal and avoid conversation for a while.

Much to Laura’s amusement, Luke made sure that their glasses were never empty, always refilling them as soon as they got low. About halfway through the meal, it was obvious the two kids were growing slightly tipsy.

Once the plates had been cleared away, Luke decided to have some fun. “So, Liz, when are we going to start seeing some grandkids?”

Lucky nearly spit out his wine, causing them all to laugh. He recovered, wiping at his mouth with his napkin, and looked up at his father in shock. “Dad, we’ve only been married a few days!”

“Hey, I was just asking. I’m sure you’re having a good time practicing, though, right?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, laughing as the two blushed.

“Oh, Luke, behave yourself,” Laura scolded, seeing their discomfort. She turned to Lucky and Liz and shook her head. “I’m sorry about him. He gets carried away sometimes. Obviously, we’re not expecting you to have children right away. You’re still young, there’s plenty of time for that.”

Lucky nodded in relief. “I know, Mom. We haven’t even thought about kids yet, right honey?” He turned to Liz and took her hand. At least that part was actually true.

“Yeah, everything’s happened so fast, we haven’t had a chance to think about that.”

“Well, this part of marriage is a magical time,” Laura gushed, glancing lovingly at Luke. “Enjoy it, because once the kids come, reality is going to come crashing down!”

“Oh, don’t worry, we will,” Lucky replied, leaning over and kissing Liz, taking her by surprise. It wasn’t really necessary, and maybe it was just the wine, but he had the sudden urge to kiss her then.

When Lucky pulled away, she giggled, feeling the slight lightheadedness that the wine had caused. “If we enjoy it too much, we may never have kids.”

“Hey now, no need to get drastic,” Luke teased. “I’d like a grandkid or two to spoil before I’m too old and senile to enjoy it!”

“Then we better get cracking!” Lucky joked, grinning as Luke shot him an evil stare. “Sorry Dad, I just couldn’t resist that one.”

Laura glanced at her watch and sighed. “As much fun as this is, we have to pick up Lulu soon. We better call it a night.”

Luke groaned and reached for his wallet, not ready to leave. “Okay, fine. You okay to drive, Cowboy?

Lucky nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s not far, anyway.” He stood up, still holding Liz’s hand as she pushed back her chair and got up. They followed his parents out of the restaurant and exchanged hugs before parting for their respective cars. “Thanks for dinner guys.”

“Anytime, son,” Luke replied. “You two have fun on that tour now.”

“We’ll try,” Liz said with a smile. She hated to admit it, but part of her was kind of looking forward to it. She had always wondered what life on the road was like.

Once they were done with their good-byes, Lucky and Liz headed to his car. After a short drive, they were back at her house. Charisma’s car was there, but the windows were all dark, so she must have gone to bed already. They crept up the stairs, trying not to wake her, not saying anything until they were safely in Liz’s room.

“I guess that wasn’t too bad,” Lucky said, quickly removing his shirt in preparation for bed. Liz grabbed her nightclothes and headed for the bathroom.

“So, does this mean I really have to go with you next week?” she asked through the door.

“Looks that way. At least it’s not for the whole month!”

She opened the door, shut off the bathroom light, and climbed into bed. “Yeah, I suppose it could be worse. Anyway, they won’t be around, so maybe we won’t have to pretend as much.”

Lucky nodded, turning off the light as he slid into bed next to her. “True. Hopefully by the time the tour’s over, Alexis will be done with the divorce papers.”

“One can only hope,” Liz chuckled, turning to face him. “Well, good night.”

Lucky turned his head to the side to look at her. The moonlight coming through the window was forming a halo around her head, and she looked like an angel. He smiled, still feeling the effects of the wine. “Yeah, good night.”

Neither of them turned away, instead they continued to stare at each other, their eyes locked together. Lucky reached over and gently touched her hair, moving some out of her face, then slowly brought his head closer. Liz leaned forward, closing the rest of the distance between them, sighing as he met her lips in a tender kiss. She brought her arm up, wrapping it around him and resting her hand on his back, pulling herself closer as the kiss deepened, while Lucky buried his fingers in her hair.

After a moment, they parted breathlessly. “We shouldn’t do this,” Liz gasped.

“It’s the wine,” Lucky insisted. Liz nodded in agreement.

“Right, we’re not thinking straight.”

“We really need to stay away from alcohol,” Lucky added, pulling her head in for another kiss, unable to resist any longer.





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Graphics (except title) Courtesy Of:
Adler's Graphics