Melanie Schuster - Way to Her Heart

After the sumptuous meal, everyone had decided to wait a while before having dessert. The men cleaned up the kitchen and the women walked off their meal on the beach while the dogs got a nice run. With all the inquiring minds away from the house, Jared decided it was a great time to get in his younger brother’s business.

“You were all but drooling on Sherri, bro. What’s going on there?”

Lucas didn’t take offense; he just shrugged. “Nothing’s going on yet. I’ve asked her out a couple of times and she’s been busy, but I think that’s about to change. I’m ninety percent sure that the next time I ask, she’ll say yes.”

Jared raised an eyebrow and said, “That’s all well and good, but don’t be fooling around. In case you haven’t noticed, she’s not your typical empty-headed glamazon. And she has a child, a very smart and lovable child, so you can’t be treating her place like it’s got a revolving door on it.”

“Don’t hold back, Jared. Tell me how you really feel,” Lucas said dryly. “I’m not an idiot. I know exactly what kind of lady Sherri is and I have nothing but respect for her. And love for her daughter, if you must know. Sydney’s an amazing kid. I’d never do anything to hurt her.”

Jared opened his mouth for a comment, but his father spoke first. “Glad to hear you say that, son. Dr. Sherri Stratton seems like a lovely woman and she’s certainly raised an exceptional child. Go slowly and carefully on this, Lucas. They’d make great additions to the family, so take your time and do this right.”

He gave his son a mock punch in the arm as he went to the mudroom to fetch a handful of small bags. “I’m going down to meet the ladies and scoop the poop. Be back in a few,” he said as he headed to the deck. Lucas watched him leave with a bemused look on his face.

“Don’t look so surprised, Luc. Dad and I could both see that Sherri knocked you flat out the day you met her. It’s a family trait. When we meet the right woman, we just know. When I met Alexis, I knew she was the one woman in the world for me. It’s just how it works for us. I knew at the wedding that it wouldn’t be long before you’d be going down the same path. I told Alexis that Sherri needed to put on her running shoes because you were gonna chase her down until you got her.”

Lucas gave a loud shout of laughter. “Thanks a lot. So I’m so ugly that I’m gonna have to ambush her, is that it?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all,” Jared replied. “I mean, yeah, you’re ugly as homemade sin, but that’s not why you’ve got your work cut out for you. Sherri had a really rough time when she got pregnant with Sydney. Sydney’s father cut and ran as soon as he found out and he hasn’t been back since. Her family wasn’t any help at all. They pretty much turned their backs on her, so she was all alone trying to raise her child and finish school. If it hadn’t been for Emily and Alexis and their mothers, I don’t know how she would have done it,” Jared said solemnly. “She hasn’t had anything to do with the male species since then and if you’re gonna be the first man she trusts enough to try again with, you better have your shit together. Alexis loves her like a sister and so do I, not to mention Miss Sydney. If anything happens to hurt the two of them, the consequences will be dire. And I’ll be one of the first ones in line to extract retribution, so don’t get it twisted, Lucas. This is not play time.”

Lucas was running a damp mop over the hardwood floors in the kitchen and dining room while Jared was delivering his summation of the situation. He narrowed his eyes at his older brother and pulled his earlobe, a sure indication of his annoyance.

“What have I ever done to make you think that I’m some kind of pond scum–sucking lowlife who’s going to subject Sherri and Sydney to emotional turmoil? Your track record was no better than mine before you met Alexis. I date a lot, sure, and I haven’t gotten serious with anyone, but it’s not because I’m a sociopath. And if memory serves, you hold the family record for the most women in a month, so you really don’t have any grounds for lecturing me.

“I like Sherri a lot and I love Sydney and I do take this situation seriously, which is why I’ve been taking my time. I’m not trying to mess up their lives,” he said heatedly. “I’m trying to make them both happy so I’d appreciate it if you step off. Give me some credit for having some common sense, you damned asshat,” he muttered under his breath as he stowed the mop in the mudroom.

To add to his growing irritation, Jared was laughing when Lucas returned to the kitchen. “Now what? What’s so freakin’ funny?”

“I’m proud of you, Luc. You reacted the way I wanted you to, which let me know that you’ve got your head on straight. I think that you and Sherri are a good idea, a really good idea. But I’m not the one you have to convince. Your intentions are all in the right place, but Sherri’s gonna take a lot of tender loving care if you want to make her your lady.”

Just then the doors in the dining room opened and in raced the dogs, followed by Sydney and everyone else. Further conversation was impossible, so the only alternative was dessert. But while he was serving the strawberry shortcakes with homemade vanilla-bean ice cream, Lucas couldn’t keep his eyes off Sherri. He’d fallen hard and fast for her. Lucas was a true VanBuren through and through because he knew at that moment he would do whatever it took to find the way to her heart.

Chapter 3

After the Mother’s Day weekend, Sherri had a new perspective on a few things. For one thing, she was beginning to think that date wasn’t a four-letter word after all, especially if the date was with Lucas VanBuren. He had many, many fine characteristics, but the most important of those attributes was the fact that he and Sydney already had a great friendship. Lucas genuinely cared for her little girl. She could see it every time he was around her. And they were around each other often, especially since the Hilton Head holiday.

He had joined their church and he always managed to sit with Sherri and Sydney. Because they routinely sat with Jared and Alexis, it was like being part of a big family, which was rather pleasant. After church they usually had dinner together as a group, especially when the elder VanBurens were in town. Lucas had finally convinced her to go out with him, and they’d had several dates, although their outings always included Sydney. They had gone to the movies, to an amusement park and on a couple of picnics with Alexis’s little dogs, Sookie and Honeybee. Sydney had a ball every time, and Sherri found herself getting more and more comfortable with Lucas. And now they were going on their first couple-only date, a momentous and, for Sherri, completely unforeseen occasion.

Alexis was beyond pleased with the situation and she continued to express her joy the whole time she was doing Sherri’s hair the day of the big event. They were in Alexis’s private styling area at Sanctuary One, the flagship location of the posh spas Alexis had owned for several years. After giving her friend’s thick hair a touch-up and a trim, she had blown her dry and was styling it with the aid of a ceramic flat iron.

“I can’t believe you’ve finally come to your senses. It’s about time you started acting like a real woman. Hooking up with a real man like Lucas is just what you need,” she gloated.

“Alexis, give it a rest! You’re repeating yourself, for one thing. That’s the third time you’ve said that real woman–real man thing. And nobody said anything about hooking up in the slutty way. We’re going to the recital and because Sydney’s going to a sleepover after, Lucas and I are going out. It’s not the beginning of the world or the end of it, so just chill, can’t you?”