Up to the Challenge

They didn’t have sex, but Lucas held her all night, as if he were afraid she might disappear if he let go. A part of her wanted to push him away, but the other part, the one aching in her chest, made her hold on. Lucas had become her drug. Quitting him cold turkey was going to feel like hell, but she’d take the trip and hopefully come out the other side only slightly singed. Now she knew what Georgette had meant by the permanent mark comment.

“Good morning, you two,” Patty said, as she and Lucas walked into the kitchen. “Coffee is hot and the food will be here shortly.”

Lucas reached for a mug. “You’re not cooking?”

Patty shook her head. “This is Beth’s little get-together. I’m just providing the table.”

Sid wondered what this was about. Will claimed not to know, and Curly wouldn’t give any clues when she showed up at Dempsey’s to work the dinner shift the night before. Even Joe was tight lipped, which wasn’t unusual, but he smiled more than normal, which made the whole thing feel even more ominous.

Could Beth be pregnant? Would they be happy to announce that before they’d even set an official wedding date? It was clear they were both ready for “till death do us part,” even if Joe hadn’t put a ring on it yet.

Wait. Maybe that was it.

“Good morning, everyone,” Beth trilled, prancing through the kitchen door with a large aluminum pan in tow. “Lucas, can you go help Joe with the rest of the food?”

“Sure,” he said, and dropped a kiss on Sid’s forehead as he passed her by.

One more thing she was going to miss after tomorrow.

“The table is almost set.” Patty said, grabbing a pile of forks and butter knives, then following Beth into the dining room.

Sid felt about as useful as four-wheel drive on a golf cart. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked, stepping into the dining room.

“You could fill some glasses with orange juice,” Patty said. “And pour what’s left of the carton into the pitcher that’s in the cupboard over the fridge.”

Sounded easy enough, until Sid tried to open the cupboard over the fridge. Maybe if she pulled up a chair.

“What do you need?” Lucas asked, setting a smaller aluminum pan on the island.

“I need the pitcher out of that cupboard.” Sid indicated the correct door. Lucas didn’t even have to stretch. The man came in handy in so many ways. “Thanks,” she said as he handed it over.

“Any time,” he responded, then his eyes clouded. He couldn’t reach things for her any time because after this weekend, he wouldn’t be around. They both knew it, only he didn’t know she knew and was apparently not ready to tell.

Sid considered pouring an extra glass of juice for the giant elephant they’d brought along with them.

“This is the last of it,” Joe said, stepping through the door as Beth and Patty returned to the kitchen. Dozer shot between Joe’s legs. “Damn it, Dozer. I almost dropped the bacon.”

“That was probably his intent,” Beth said, grabbing the big mutt’s collar. “If you hadn’t given him four pieces already.” She dragged the dog to the door. “Outside, Dozer. This food is not for you.”

Dozer pressed his nose to the screen and whimpered. Amazing an animal that big could look so forlorn and pitiful.

“Did somebody say bacon?” Tom asked, appearing in the doorway to the dining room.

The gang was officially all here.

“No bacon for you,” Patty said, shooing Tom back in the direction from which he’d come. “Egg whites and whole wheat toast. I’ve put the butter substitute down by your plate.”

Butter substitute? Poor Tom.

“Everyone take a seat.” Beth took the pan Lucas had carried. “Breakfast is served.”

Twenty minutes later, the eggs were nothing but a memory, the bacon a mere scent lingering in the air, and three sausage links huddled against aluminum as if in fear of their lives. And rightly so, as Joe grabbed them all with one stab of his fork.

“So why are we all here?” Tom asked, garnering a harsh look from Patty. “What? There has to be a reason, other than torturing me with food I can’t have.”

All eyes turned toward Beth and Joe. Her cheeks were pink, and Joe wore the same look he’d gotten when they’d landed a record-size marlin off the coast last year.

Beth slid her right hand into Joe’s, turned to the eager audience, and held up her left hand. There, on the third finger, had appeared a dainty rock that could mean only one thing.

“Joe asked me to marry him.”

Well duh, Sid thought. That part was obvious. About time was her second thought, then she looked to Lucas, expecting the same tension as when they’d all gathered in the hospital weeks before.

But it was nowhere to be found. He was actually smiling. Who was this imposter and what had he done with Lucas?

And then the entire table exploded. Patty was crying and Beth was crying. The men shook hands and did a lot of back slapping. Sid considered going out to congratulate Dozer, since no one was paying much attention to her.

Then Curly pulled her out of the chair and into a bear hug, in the middle of which she started jumping up and down. “You’re going to rip my head off, woman.” Sid extricated herself, but when she looked into Beth’s shining eyes, she felt her own grow misty.

“I wondered when he was going to get around to this,” Sid said, smiling and dabbing the corner of her eye on her shoulder. “Let me see that ring.”

Weren’t girls supposed to ooh and ah over the ring? Sid was a girl and Beth deserved the expected response. “That’s really pretty. Why does it look so old?”

Beth teared up a little more. “It was Joe’s mom’s. I still can’t believe he trusts me with it.”

“That’s pretty damn romantic,” Sid said. “I didn’t think Joe had it in him.”

“Cute, smart-ass.” Joe pulled her into a hug, then punched her on the arm as if reaffirming their standoffish male-type relationship.

“Listen up, everyone,” Beth said, wiping at her eyes with her napkin. “We wanted to have this breakfast for the family, but tomorrow, we were thinking we could close up Dempsey’s to the public and have a celebration dinner for the staff and all our friends. We’ll pay the rental fee, of course.”

“The hell you will.” Tom threw his arm across Patty’s shoulders. “The place is yours for the night and don’t mention money again.”

“Did you say tomorrow night?” Lucas asked. Sid tensed.

“Yeah,” Joe said. “Around six o’clock.”

Lucas rubbed a hand across his forehead. “I won’t be there.”

“What do you mean you won’t be there?” Beth asked.

Silence settled into the room like a fog blanketing the bay.

“Why won’t you be there?” Joe asked, gripping the back of his chair until his knuckles were white.

Sid knew what was coming next.

Because I’m going back to Richmond tomorrow morning,” Lucas said. He hadn’t intended to drop the words like a live grenade, but keeping them in was killing him. And now, with the dinner planned, he had to be honest.

His mother gasped. Beth dropped into her chair. Tom cursed under his breath, and Joe continued his vise grip on the buffed oak.

Sid didn’t react at all. Why didn’t she react?

“I don’t understand,” Patty said. “You’re supposed to stay a few more weeks. Why now?”

“Yes,” Joe all but growled. “Why now?”

“Something came up at work.” The words felt lame on his tongue. “They need me.”

He didn’t see any point in sharing the detail regarding his job security. They’d all think he’d jeopardized his career to come down here, and he didn’t want anyone feeling guilty on his behalf. He’d made his own