Chapter 58
When the laughter died down, Luke smiled at Liz and shook his head. “Darlin’, a little craziness is a requirement if you’re going to live in this town!”
“My grandmother’s lived here for years, are you saying she’s crazy too?”
Bobbie, Amy and Laura laughed. “Oh honey, Audrey’s done some crazy things in her time as well. You’ll have to ask her about it, though,” Bobbie explained.
“Look, we’ve established that we’re all nuts, and all of us have done something on the wrong side of the law at one time in our lives, so why don’t we call a truce and try to salvage the rest of dinner?” Laura asked, trying to restore the peace. Everyone murmured in agreement and Luke chuckled.
“Baby, when you’ve got all of us at one table, peace is the last thing you’re gonna get! Just be happy we haven’t killed each other yet.”
Lucky leaned in to whisper in Liz’s ear. “I’m so sorry about this! I never expected it to get that bad!”
She shook her head and smiled. “It’s okay. It was actually kind of entertaining, although I think I learned more about your family than I needed to!”
“So we didn’t scare you away?” he asked with a smile.
“Lucky, it’s going to take a lot more than a few skeletons in your family’s closets to chase me away. But you’re going to have to tell about that gambling addiction sometime!”
Lucky laughed and kissed her, happy that he hadn’t lost her.
“Hey, people are trying to eat here!” Luke said, tapping him on the shoulder. He quickly broke the kiss, remembering that they were still at the dinner table, surrounded by people. Liz blushed and looked down at her plate. She had also forgotten where they were and was embarrassed to have been kissing Lucky in front of his whole family like that.
Jerry laughed. “Oh come on, Luke, give them a break. It’s not like Jax and Chloe haven’t been doing that all day!” He looked at his brother, who was gazing intently into his wife’s eyes, oblivious to the rest of them.
“Yeah, but they just got married, it’s expected. Plus, they’re all the way over there, so I don’t have to look at ‘em as much.,” Luke said, laughing.
“No, you just like to pick on me,” Lucky grumbled.
“Well, that too, but that goes without saying!”
Everyone laughed again and went back to their food, eating in relative silence. They were all afraid to speak, worried they would say something that would spark another argument. When they were done eating, Jax glanced at his watch and sighed, turning to Chloe
“Hon, we better get going before Edward blows a gasket. You ready, Emily?”
“Not really, but I guess I don’t have a choice.” She turned to Nikolas and smiled. “Walk me out?” He nodded and stood up as she joined Jax and Chloe in saying goodbye to everyone and thanking the Spencers for inviting them. Once they were gone, everyone got up from the table. The men retired to the living room for more football while the women cleared the table and started the dishes, with Sonny’s help. He was still avoiding Mac, plus he felt more comfortable in a kitchen than he did watching a football game.
“Hey, Laura, I’m sorry about all that out there,” he said, handing her a plate. “I should know by now not to let Mac get to me.”
Laura smiled and took the plate. “Don’t worry about it, Sonny. I understand. It’s not like you were the only one, anyway. We all lost it a little. Oh, Felicia, Bobbie, I’m sorry for the stuff I said. I guess I got caught up in the heat of the moment.”
They smiled and shook their heads. “It’s already forgotten,” Felicia said.
“I’m sorry, too. I gave as good as I got,” Bobbie added.
Lucky stuck his head in the door. “Mind if I steal my girlfriend?” he asked with a smile. Liz grinned. That was the first time he had publicly referred to her as his girlfriend, and it made her feel all warm and fuzzy.
“Go ahead, there’s too many people in here, anyway.,” Laura answered, smiling as she watched them leave.
“Man, those two must really be in love,” Sonny murmured.
“I know, it’s hard to believe that they’ve only been dating for a little over a week!” Laura said, shaking her head.
~*~
“So why did you drag me out of there?” Liz asked as Lucky took her hand and lead her to the front door.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of all these people. Let’s take a walk.” He opened the door and stepped outside. Once the door was closed behind them, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. Liz felt her knees go weak and tightened her grip on him. A few minutes later, they parted breathlessly.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” Lucky said hoarsely.
Liz grinned. “That’s good, cause I’ve been wanting you to do that all day!”
“Where do you want to go? I need to get away from this house for a while.”
“How about the park?” she asked, following him down the porch steps and onto the sidewalk.
He wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked, smiling at how good she felt next to him. They walked in silence to the park and sat down on a bench. He turned to her and smiled. “So, what are you doing for Christmas?”
She laughed. “I think I need more than a month to recover from that!”
“Oh, Christmas won’t be like that. It’ll just be my parents, Lulu, Bobbie, Lucas, and, with my luck, Nikolas.”
“Well, in that case, I guess I’m spending it at your place!”
“I was hoping you’d say that, because I can’t imagine spending another day away from you,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her.
~*~
“That son of yours is head over heels for that girl, isn’t he?” Mac asked with a grin.
Luke smiled. “Oh yeah. I figure he’ll be professing his undying love to her by Christmas.”
“Really? Isn’t that kind of soon? I mean, they just started going out last week!”
“I know, but they’ve been flirting with each other since August! I think now that the ball is finally rolling, it’s only going to gain speed!”
“Christmas is still kind of soon, Valentine’s Day maybe, but not Christmas,” Nikolas said from the other end of the room where he was playing with Lulu.
Luke laughed. “Don’t make me bet you again! Laura will kill me.”
“Who says Laura has to find out?” Mike asked.
“Man, I thought Lucky was the one with the gambling addiction!” Jerry said with a laugh.
“Who do you think he got it from?” Luke answered, grinning devilishly. “Okay, if you all promise not to tell your women, you’re on.”
“Okay, what are the terms?” Tony asked.
“One hundred smackers, either now until Christmas or Dec. 26 until Valentine’s Day. If he doesn’t say the L-word by then, well, I’ll lose all hope for him.”
“I’m in for Christmas,” Tony said, laughing.
“Valentine’s Day,” Jerry said.
“Me too,” added Mike.
“I don’t know, I think I’ll have to go with Christmas, too,” Mac said.
“You in, Nikky?” Luke asked, grinning at his stepson.
“Yeah, Valentine’s Day.”
“Jason? You want in?” Luke asked, looking over to the corner of the room where Jason and Carly were playing with Michael. Jason laughed and shook hi head.
“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun!” Carly whined. When he refused again, she laughed. “Fine, can I join in then, or is this some men-only thing?”
“Oh, Caroline, you know I’ll take your money any day!” Luke joked.
“Funny. I think I have to go with Valentine’s Day as well, although I think it’ll be sooner, just not as soon as Christmas.“
“You’re on, but if word gets to my wife, the whole thing’s off!”
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