“Victoria is your sister?”
He perks up. “You know her?”
I hand him back his phone and grip the steering wheel. I press my forehead against it. Five seconds later, a car behind us honks. I look in my rearview mirror and the guy behind us holds up his hands in frustration. I put the car in drive. “Yes, I know her.”
“You know where she lives?”
“Yep.”
Luck faces forward again. “Good,” he says. “That’s good.” He starts tapping his fingers on his leg again. “And you’re taking me to her house? Right now?” He seems nervous again.
“Isn’t that where you want to go?”
He nods, but even his nod seems unsure.
“Does your sister know you’re coming?”
He shrugs his shoulders as he stares out the passenger window. “There’s not really a correct answer to that question.”
“Actually, there are two potential correct answers. Yes and no.”
“She may not be expecting me today. But she can’t abandon me without expecting me to show back up at some point.”
I had no idea Victoria had a brother. I’m not so sure my father knows Victoria has a brother. And he’s so . . . different. Nothing like Victoria.
I turn onto our road and then pull into our driveway. I put the car in park. Luck is staring at the house, still tapping his leg and bouncing his knee, but not making an effort to get out of the car.
“Why does she live in a church?” He pronounces church without the r. Chuch. All of his annoying confidence is gone, replaced by an equally annoying amount of vulnerability. He swallows and then reaches to the floorboard to pick up his container of beef jerky. “Thanks for the ride, Merit.” He puts his hand on the door and glances back at me. “We should be friends while I’m in town. You want to exchange numbers?”
I shake my head and open my door. “That won’t be necessary.” I pop the trunk and get out of the car.
“I can get my own stuff,” he says. “You don’t have to help.”
I open the trunk. “I’m not. I’m getting my dog food.” I struggle to pull the bag out from beneath all of Luck’s belongings. Once I have a secure grip on it, I head for the front door.
“Why are you taking your dog food to my sister’s house?” When I don’t stop to answer him, he starts following me. “Merit!” He reaches me just as I stick a key in the front door. When it unlocks, I face him. He’s still staring at the key in the door.
“Your sister is married to my father.”
I wait for him to absorb that information. When he does, he takes a step back and tilts his head. “You live here? With my sister?”
I nod. “She’s my stepmother.”
He scratches his chin. “So that makes me . . . your uncle?”
“Step-uncle.” I walk through the front door and toss the bag of dog food onto the floor. Luck stands in the doorway as he runs a hand through his hair and then grips the back of his neck. “I already pictured you naked,” he mutters.
“Now would be a good time to stop doing that.”
Luck glances back to the car and then peeks his head inside the house. “Is my sister home right now?” he whispers.
“She doesn’t get back for a couple of hours. Get your stuff and I’ll show you where to put it.”
While he heads back to the car, I drag the dog food through the kitchen and set the bag next to the back door. I find a couple of old bowls and fill them with water and food, then take them out back. Wolfgang is halfway out of the doghouse, lying on his stomach. His ears perk up when he hears the back door shut, but he doesn’t move. His ears go limp again when he sees me. He just watches as I set the bowls down next to his doghouse. He makes no move to devour the food, even though he’s been a whole day without it.
I reach out and pet his pathetic head. “Are you sad?” I’ve never seen a grieving pet before. I didn’t even know they could grieve. “Well, you can stay here as long as you need to. I’ll try to hide you from my father as long as I can, but you better not bark all night.”
As soon as I stand up, Wolfgang lifts himself off the ground, just far enough to reach his food bowl. He sniffs the food and then the water, but he lies back down again and whimpers.
Luck appears next to me. “Has he eaten that brand before?” He’s still holding his suitcase, trash bag, and backpack. I look back at the house.
“Why didn’t you just leave your stuff inside?”
He looks down at his stuff and shrugs. He nods his head toward the dog. “What’s wrong with him? Is he dying?”
“No. His owner died yesterday. He showed up in the middle of the night last night because he used to live here.”
“That’s impressive,” Luck says, tilting his head. “What’s your name, dog?” Wolfgang’s eyes scan over Luck, but he doesn’t move.
He looks at me like I’m the weird one of the two of us. “That this is better than where I’ve been sleeping?”
“No. The other thing. I only told you about my sister’s boyfriend because I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
Luck smiles. “Relax, Merit. Your love life doesn’t interest me enough to repeat it.”
I don’t know why, but I believe him. “Thanks. You want a tour of the house?”
He nods. “Eventually. I’d like to unpack first.”
He was the first person to inspire her, to move her, to truly understand her. Was he meant to be the last? Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story—their story—at the very beginning. Lucy and Gabe meet as seniors at Columbia University on a day that changes both of their lives forever. Together, they decide they want their lives to mean something, to matter. When they meet again a year later, it seems fated—perhaps they’ll find life’s meaning in each other. But then Gabe becomes a photojournalist assigned to the Middle East and Lucy pursues a career in New York. What follows is a thirteen-year journey of dreams, desires, jealousies, betrayals, and, ultimately, of love. Was it fate that brought them together? Is it choice that has kept them away? Their journey takes Lucy and Gabe continents apart, but never out of each other’s hearts.