Deserving of Luke by Tracy Wolff Page A

defend their mother, as she always had. Waited for her to ask when Paige was planning to stop by to see their parents since she’d been in town nearly a week and hadn’t gone near the house they had both grown up in.
    But Penny didn’t say anything for the longest time, so long that Paige started to head upstairs, figuring Luke was probably done with his shower. She was halfway to the staircase when Penny finally spoke.
    â€œThey were wrong.”
    Shock ricocheted through Paige and for a second she was sure she had heard incorrectly. “What?”
    â€œTo treat you the way they did. They were wrong. Terribly wrong. Mom especially. I never understood why she felt the need to punish you for her mistakes.”
    Pain ripped through Paige, sharp little shards of glass that embedded themselves in her bloodstream, leaving small, bleeding wounds behind wherever they touched. “It’s no big deal.”
    â€œIt’s a very big deal. The way they treated you was awful. I’m sorry I never stuck up for you. I was afraid of making things worse.”
    â€œIt wasn’t your job to stick up for me. I was capable of doing that myself.” But it would have been nice not to have felt so alone all the time, not to have felt as though it was her against the world. Maybe she wouldn’t have—
    Things were what they were and her past was what it was. Bemoaning it now wasn’t going to change anything. She hadn’t spoken to her mother—or the man who had raised her—since she’d left town, pregnant and alone, all those years ago. “No. It was my job. And I failed at it. I should have opened my mouth.”
    The pain grew sharper, and Paige knew if she didn’t get out of there quickly, she was going to say something she regretted. Penny might not understandwhat her parents had done to Paige, but she still loved them. Confessing what Paige thought of them wouldn’t help anything.
    â€œLook, Luke is going to be down any minute. We need to get ready to go to town—”
    It was as if Penny hadn’t heard her. “I didn’t say anything then, but I learned from my mistake. I’m not going to keep my mouth shut again when saying something could change how things play out.”
    The resolve in her sister’s voice stopped Paige in her headlong flight upstairs. “What are you getting at?”
    â€œI know I said the other night that Logan was a complete asshole—and I’m sticking by that assessment. But, Paige, have you noticed that Luke has made an excuse every day to go into town? Today it’s ice cream. Yesterday it was a wheel for his skateboard. The day before it was a trip to the library to get books.”
    â€œHe’s a little bored. It’s very different here than it is in Los Angeles and—”
    â€œHe’s not bored. He’s looking for a chance to bump into Logan again.”
    Icy shock replaced the pain of a few minutes before. “What?”
    â€œHe knows his dad is in town, knows he works in town, and is doing everything he can to get there to see him. He wants to meet his father.”
    Even as she opened her mouth to deny her sister’s words, Paige couldn’t help wondering if Penny was right. Hadn’t she noticed Luke’s spectacular disinterest in his skateboard after she’d bought him the new wheel—it still sat in the bag in the corner of their room where he’d left it after they’d gotten home yesterday. And hadn’t she wondered why he hadn’t asked for ice cream one of the days they were in town? It wasn’t like Luke to pass up an opportunity to ask for his favorite treat. Unless…
    Unless he’d been planning this whole thing all along.
    Unless he had been making excuses to go into town every day in an effort to run into Logan.
    Unless he really did want to meet his father.
    Idly, she wondered what tomorrow’s excuse was going to be.
    When