---

Chelsea couldn’t put it off any longer. It had been a busy night, and a fun one too. She hadn’t known what to expect with a Halloween party but it seemed like almost the entire town had shown up and was really getting into the spirit.

The one thing she really hadn’t expected, though, was for Scott to declare his feelings for her. It had completely taken her off guard and she felt bad she hadn’t been able to reply properly. It was probably for the best given their surroundings, but now that she was going to take a short break, she couldn’t think of a better time.

She needed to talk to him.

Chelsea caught his eye from across the room and gestured to the kitchen where they could talk with a little more privacy. As soon as he saw her, Scott nodded and finished his conversation with Rhys. Chelsea ducked into the kitchen to wait. But she didn’t have to wait long.

“It’s crazy out there.” Scott smiled. He reached for her and pulled her into a hug. “Are you having fun?”

She nodded and slipped out of his embrace so she could look at him.

“It’s actually been a really fun night, but definitely busy. Sorry I didn’t have more of a chance to talk with you earlier. It really wasn’t ideal that I had to rush off, right after…”

“It’s totally okay.” Scott once more moved closer to her.

“No.” She shook her head. “It’s not okay. What you said…it was…it was really sweet.” Chelsea hated herself for what she was about to do, but she was absolutely certain of her feelings. And no matter what happened, she knew she had to be fair. And honest. Even if it meant hurting him. And that was the last thing in the world she wanted to do. Scott gave her a look, but she could see he didn’t fully understand. She swallowed hard and stepped forward to take his hands in hers.

“Scott. I really like you and all the time that we’ve spent together has just been so much fun.”

Chelsea could see in his eyes the moment he realized what she was about to say, and she could see the hurt there, too, and it killed her. Scott shook his head but she squeezed his hands tighter.

“Every day I spent with you, it’s been…” She smiled genuinely. “It’s been amazing. You are amazing. But…”

“No.” Scott shook his head and pulled his hand away from hers. “No,” he said again. “Don’t say it, Chelsea. Don’t say what I think you’re about to say. Because you’ll regret it. There’s been a lot going on…this isn’t the right time to make this kind of decision.”

Chelsea felt the heat of unshed tears press against her eyelids. Sharing her feelings with him was harder than she could’ve imagined. Because she did care for him. A lot. Which was exactly why she needed to tell him the truth. More importantly, he needed to hear it. He needed to understand. Or even if he couldn’t, at least not yet, maybe he would one day.

“Scott, please. I never meant for any of this. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then don’t do this.” Scott shook his head and turned away for a moment. “Don’t do this, Chelsea. You don’t know what you want. I’ll give you time. I’ll give you the space you need. I rushed you. Whatever it is that you need, I’ll give it to you. Just don’t do this. Don’t end this before it really begins.”

She couldn’t hold it in any longer. A tear slid down her cheek and she didn’t bother to wipe it away as she said, “I do know what I want, Scott. And as much as I like the idea of a life here in Cedar Springs, with my family and one of my own and you, I want to go and live my life more. I need to go and experience things. I need to travel, write my books, live. And I can’t do that here.”

“Yes, you…wait. Books? What are you talking about? What books?”

His question took her aback, because for the first time Chelsea realized she’d never told Scott about her dreams about wanting to write a book. She let that realization sink in. How come she’d never told him? In all the time they spent together, how come it had never come up? It was such a little detail, but an important one. And it was that little detail that concreted for her that she was making the right decision.

For whatever reason, Chelsea had held back with Scott. Maybe she’d always been holding back with him. Either way, she was done holding back who she really was, and who she wanted to be. She smiled sadly and shook her head. “My books,” she told him. “I want to write books. Lots of them. And I don’t know how I’m going to do it yet, but I’m going to. And I’m so sorry, Scott. Because you are the greatest guy. But I just don’t think that you’re the guy for me.”

Chelsea swallowed back a sob as she watched Scott’s face transform with the realization that she wouldn’t change her mind. Maybe there was part of him that had known all along that they weren’t right to be together. Or maybe not. Either way, it was heartbreaking. But she really did value him as a friend and an important part of her life. She didn’t know what else to say.

“Scott?”

He held up his hand, looked to the ground and shook his head.

She wanted to touch him, hug him and apologize again. But there was no point. It hadn’t been her intention, but she’d hurt him and the best thing she could do for him was leave him alone.

“I’ll go,” she said. “But I want you to know that I really never meant to hurt you. I care about you a great deal and…” She let her words drift away because there really was nothing she could say. “I hope we can…” Chelsea rested her hand for a moment on Scott’s arm. “I’m sorry.” She whispered the words and then left him, slipping out of the kitchen and back to the busy bar.

---

What Chelsea really wanted to do was take a minute to compose herself, but she didn’t have that option. The party was in full swing and as much as she wanted to go have a good cry, she didn’t have the luxury. She took a breath, straightened her apron and put a smile on her face before she grabbed her tray off the bar and headed back into the fray of costumes and partiers.

She kept an eye on the door to the kitchen and after a few minutes, Scott, with his Batman mask in place, returned to the bar and ordered a beer. Chelsea fought the urge to go to him. But there was nothing else she could say. Not yet.

With a sigh, she turned around and was about to check on Gwen and Ian’s table when a familiar face caught her eye.

A mostly familiar face.

Lucas wore a very large and very fake beard, along with a red plaid flannel shirt and thick suspenders. He carried an inflatable ax in one hand. He waved across the bar with the other.

She laughed and shook her head, while her heart did a stutter step in her chest. Even as a lumberjack, Lucas was sexy.

“Hey, beautiful.” He reached out and stroked a strand of her blonde wig as soon as he was close enough.

“Hey yourself.” She tugged on his beard. “It’s a good look for you.”

“You like it?”

She took a breath. “I like you.”

Even in the dim bar light, Chelsea could see the flash in his eyes as he realized what she’d just said to him. He smiled and nodded slowly. “So does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore? You were pretty fired up the other day.”

She shook her head. “I’m not mad. I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“Don’t be. I’m a big boy. I can take it.” He cupped her cheek with his hand. Chelsea closed her eyes and leaned in, but only for a moment. There was a lot she still needed to say. “Now what’s this about you liking me?” he teased, but there was a note of seriousness too.

“It’s true,” she started. “I like you and I think it’s—”

“Chelsea!”

She looked to see a table of her customers waving at her. “I’m sorry,” she said to Lucas. “I need to get back to work, but I do want to talk to you. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

---

---

Don’t go anywhere?

As if he could.

Chelsea had some sort of magical hold on him, and when she was around, he literally only had eyes for her. Everything else disappeared and was unimportant.

It was only her.

Lucas watched her work for a few minutes before going to the bar to order a drink. He might as well settle in. Because he wasn’t going anywhere without her. Not until they had a very long overdue talk.

He ordered his beer and leaned up against the bar to scan the crowd.

“I suppose you came to gloat.”

“Pardon?” Lucas turned in time to see Scott Harding down a shot. “Are you talking to me?”

“You son of a bitch.” Scott’s words slurred slightly as he slammed the shot glass down on the counter. “You just couldn’t leave it alone. As if it’s not bad enough to get what you wanted. That you won. You also needed to come in here and rub my face in it.”

Won? What the hell was he talking about?

He was drunk, that much was clear from his red-rimmed eyes, his thick tongue, and the multiple empty shot glasses in front of him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, man, but I’m here tonight because it’s a Halloween party.” He cocked an eyebrow at Scott and his Batman costume. Interesting choice, he thought. “Looks like you’re here for the same thing.”

He accepted his beer from the bartender and turned around again, determined to ignore Scott and whatever ramblings he was going on about.

A hand grabbed him and spun him around. In reflex, Lucas fisted his hand but resisted the urge to punch the man. Starting a bar brawl with a drunk man was definitely not at the top of his list of things to do today. “Hands off. You don’t want to do that.”

“Don’t I? You don’t think I want to punch the man who’s determined to destroy the new life I’m building here? You just had to show up in town and ruin everything, didn’t you?”

Lucas shook his head. Clearly something had happened beyond the call he’d made to Rhys Anderson about his suspicions that it was Scott he’d seen in his surveillance video. And despite the fact that Scott got on his last nerve, he hadn’t made that call lightly. In fact, he’d held off making it as long as he did because Chelsea seemed to like him.

“Look, man, I did what I had to do to protect my business. This is my livelihood you’re screwing with and if you think I’m going to sit by while you set out to sabotage it, you’re mistaken. So I’m sorry if you are a little inconvenienced for an afternoon answering some questions, but it shouldn’t be a big deal. That is, unless you really did have something to do with all of it.”

“You son of a bitch.” For a moment, Scott really did look as though he were going to hit him. Or at least try. Then the other man slouched back down in his seat and gestured to the bartender for another drink. “Of course you would think this is all about that. And I guess maybe I should thank you, because in some twisted, backward way, you did manage to take my mind off that particular problem. Which, by the way, I had nothing to do with. I don’t know who’s vandalizing your construction site, but it’s not me. Although trust me when I say, there are times when I really wish it was.”

Lucas shook his head. “I know it wasn’t you. Rhys updated me and he told me you were cleared. But you do understand why I suspected you? The man in the security footage was about your height and build, and was wearing a cap that said Scott’s Stop. So you can see why I thought what I did.”

“I handed out a bunch of those hats earlier this summer, and I’m five eleven, of average build, just like most of the men in this town. You and I both know exactly why you called.” Scott glared at him, challenging him. It was a challenge Lucas would gladly meet. “You couldn’t handle the fact that I was spending time with Chelsea. You were jealous, admit it.”

Jealous? Hardly. Irritated? Definitely.

There was no point in getting into it. And hadn’t Scott just said something about winning? Lucas’s eyes scanned the room until they landed on Chelsea, who was taking a drink order. As if she could sense him watching her, she turned and met his eyes. She smiled but that smile faded as she saw who he was sitting next to. She shook her head slightly, but Lucas didn’t know what that meant.

“Doesn’t matter now anyway,” Scott muttered next to him. “You won. Chelsea doesn’t love me.”

Lucas’s head snapped back to look at Scott. What had he said about love? Lucas almost asked him to repeat himself, but he took another look at the man. Something had gone down with Chelsea, something that had definitely driven him to drink. And he was drunk. There was no point talking to him, and definitely no point trying to get anything of use out of him. Besides, they weren’t friends. Far from it.

“Well, I never thought I’d see the two of you having a drink together.” Rhys Anderson, dressed in a toy sheriff costume that Lucas vaguely recognized as Woody from an old Disney movie, approached. “Am I going to have to separate you two? Or are things going to be okay?” The officer looked warily between the two men. No doubt he was trying to assess whether he was going to have to get involved in breaking up a brawl on his night off.

“We’re all good here. Nothing to worry about, Officer. Except maybe that this guy has had one too many.”

Rhys assessed his friend briefly, nodded and said something to the bartender about calling a cab for Scott. “It’s been a long week for him,” he said to Lucas. “For all of us, really. Sure can’t be easy dealing with everything you’re dealing with as well.”

“No. I will admit I would like to have this all solved. And the sooner the better.” Lucas took a sip of his beer and an idea came to him. “Hey. Scott here said something about those caps. The one that the guy in the video was wearing. He said he handed them out during the summer solstice festival.”

Next to him, Scott grunted. “No, I handed them out at the Dockside Days festival. I only had like twenty made up.”

Lucas nodded and raised his eyebrows at Rhys. “Do you see what I’m getting at? If there were only twenty caps handed out…at the festival where there would’ve been a lot of tourists… That means the people who still own one of those hats…”

“Would definitely be a narrower field.” Rhys finished the thought.

“Exactly. Now if only we had a way to know who got the hats.”

“I know who got the stupid hats.” Scott waved his hand and almost fell off his bench.

The other man stared at him. “You do? Who?”

Rhys intervened, his hand on Scott’s back to stabilize him. “As much as I want to know too, we’re going to need to wait until Scott has had a little bit of rest. I can’t question him or get him involved in any way, if he’s under the influence. It will have to wait till tomorrow.” He took another look at his buddy and then added, “Or maybe Monday. Either way, we need to let Scott here sleep it off.” He helped Scott up from a stool. “Come on, I’ll make sure you get home.”

Scott let himself be helped out and Lucas watched his gaze drift over to where Chelsea was filling up a tray at the other end of the bar. He nodded sadly, and looked at the officer. “Might as well. There’s nothing left for me here.”

After Rhys and Scott left, Lucas let his eyes wander over to Chelsea. What had Scott said about him winning? About Chelsea not loving him? Of course, the other man had been drunk, but even if what he said had only a little bit of truth to it, Lucas needed to talk to Chelsea, and right away.

---

LUCAS

---

Whatever been going on between him and Chelsea, there’d obviously been something else going on between her and Scott. Lucas wasn’t blind. Besides, there’d definitely been something holding her back from letting her feelings for him grow. And he knew that she had feelings toward him.

It definitely wasn’t the best time to have a serious conversation, surrounded by costumes and characters, never mind the fact that Chelsea was technically working. But he couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to talk to her as soon as possible.

He had an idea. Lucas ordered another beer and had a quick word with the bartender, who agreed—albeit somewhat reluctantly—to his plan. Lucas slipped the bartender a hundred dollar bill for good measure.

A few moments later, the song he requested—a slow, romantic song…one of Ed Sheeran’s latest—played over the speakers.

Perfect.

He left his untouched beer on the bar behind him, and walked directly to Chelsea. He took the empty tray from her hand and put it on a nearby table. “May I have this dance?” Before she could answer or protest in any way, he added, “One dance. I promise I cleared it with your boss.” It was a bit of a lie, but surely it wouldn’t hurt anything.

She looked at him warily, but nodded. “Okay. But only because I have been dying to talk to you. I just hope I don’t get fired.”

Lucas took her in his arms, and led her out to the dance floor. “Well, if you do, it’ll just be a bit more incentive to write that bestseller.”

Something flashed her eyes and she melted into his arms as he started moving her around the dance floor.

“I’ve missed you,” he said. “I know it’s only been a few days, but…I can’t stop thinking about our time in the mountains. That hike. It was one of the best days ever.”

“One of mine too. Well, except for the twisted ankle part.” She laughed, a beautiful sound. “But there is something I want to tell you. And I know this isn’t the best time, but…I can’t wait any longer.” She stopped moving and stared into his eyes. “Lucas…I—”

“I love you.” He said the words before she could say whatever she needed to say. Of course, he hoped she was going to say the same thing. But even if she didn’t, he had to tell her. “I’ve been falling in love with you from the moment I laid eyes on you. And every time I am with you, I am more certain. I can’t even begin to explain how it happened, Chelsea McCormick, but I am absolutely, without a doubt, in love with you.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but still he wasn’t ready to hear what she was going to say because if it was a rejection, he wouldn’t be able to handle it. And that realization alone had him spinning. Never in his entire life had he thought he’d ever fall in love with someone, let alone feel the need for their love in return so badly that it was a physical ache. “Don’t say anything.” He cut her off before she could say whatever it was she needed to. “I just want to remember this.”

“Lucas.” He held a finger to her mouth but she moved it and smiled. “I need to say something.”

“Really, before you do, I just need to—”

“Lucas, I love you, too.”

“Remember this—what?” He blinked hard and stared at her. “You love me?”

She nodded and laughed. “I do.”

“But you…”

“I was confused and I didn’t know what I wanted. But now…well, now…not only do I know what I want, I know what I need.”

“And that’s…”

“You.”