Lost and Found Family by Jennifer Ryan

Sarah stood on Luke’s porch, her stomach tied in knots. Would his family like her? Had he told them about her? Did they know she had two children? Would it matter to them?

Given that Margaret was a longtime family friend of Luke’s parents, Sarah wondered if they would have the same preconceived ideas about her that Luke did when he met her, because of Margaret’s anger toward her.

She really didn’t want to spend the whole night convincing them she wasn’t the money-grubbing monster Margaret had made her out to be.

Mustering her courage, she knocked on the door, setting off a new wave of uncertainty and a billion butterflies in her stomach.

“Do I look pretty?” She didn’t normally ask such things, but she wanted to make a good impression.

The black slacks and cream-colored cashmere short-sleeved sweater were comfortable and classic. Luke always saw her with her hair tied back in a ponytail. Tonight she’d secured the sides at the back of her head with a gold clip and let the rest spill down her back in long waves. Her black strappy heels would probably bring her up to Luke’s nose if she was lucky. Careful with her makeup, she went with a natural look for her eyes, with subtle brown shadow and liner. The black mascara brought out her long lashes and made her light brown eyes stand out. She painted her lips a subtle wine color.

She hoped Luke appreciated the way she looked tonight and didn’t think she was trying too hard. Up until now, he’d only seen her in jeans, tank tops, and T-shirts. She wanted him to see there was more to her than what he’d seen so far.

“You pretty, Mama,” Nick assured her with a soft, sweet smile before he buried his face in her neck again.

Sarah looked down at Jack, standing with his back straight as a soldier beside her, holding the flowers she’d brought for Luke’s mother. He gave her a reassuring smile and nod.

Footsteps drew closer to the door. She took a deep breath and waited, hoping they liked her.

Luke opened the door wide and stepped to the side, revealing his parents.

“You must be Sarah,” Luke’s mother said with a soft smile. “We’ve heard a lot about you and your sons. Come in. Come in.” She waved them forward. “That little guy must be heavy.”

“He’s shy. You must be Luke’s parents. I’m sorry, he never told me your names.”

Luke’s father took his wife’s hand. “I’m James, and this is Lila.”

Sarah shook hands as best she could holding Nick. She smiled, her anxiety easing at the warm welcome.

Luke took after his father in looks, but instead of blond hair, James had light brown hair that had turned gray at his temples. As tall as Luke, he had the same lean build. His white dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar and his gray slacks were elegant but casual. He had a charming face with crow’s-feet at his eyes and laugh lines by his mouth. Sarah imagined he laughed often and enjoyed life.

She especially liked the way he looked at his wife and had his arm around her waist. They looked comfortable with each other, like they shared something most would envy.

Sarah wanted that with Luke.

Where James radiated a quiet dignity, his wife glowed with beauty. A few inches shorter than her husband she had lovely blue eyes that softened when she gazed upon the boys. Her face was oval with beautiful, flawless skin. Her deep brown hair softly curled to just below her chin. Her peach silk blouse made her skin glow.

Sarah was pleased to see she had dressed appropriately because Lila had on a pair of black slacks almost identical to her own.

“These are my sons, Jack and Nick. Nick is the shy one.” She kissed him on the head.

“Are you Luke’s mommy?” Jack asked, taking a step closer to Lila.

“Yes, I am. It’s nice to meet you, Jack.”

“My mommy bought these flowers for you.” Jack handed over the flowers and dashed into Luke’s arms.

Luke scooped him up and held him close. “Hi, big guy. What took you so long to get here?”

“Mommy was busy on the email.” Jack let out a long-suffering sigh.

Sarah’s face heated with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I’m just glad you’re here.”

Lila touched her arm. “Thank you for the flowers. They’re just lovely. They remind me of the roses I had in my wedding bouquet.”

“You’re welcome. I thought you might like them because of the rooms you decorated upstairs. They’re romantic and lovely. You put a lot of heart in them. The way Luke talks about you and this house . . . He loves you very much. You left a lot of love here to keep him company.”

Luke’s mother did something Sarah never saw coming. She handed the flowers to her husband and then hugged Sarah. She put both arms around her and Nick and held her so tight she thought she might shatter from the love she felt coming from this woman she’d only just met. She couldn’t remember her own mother, or anyone, ever holding her so closely, or with such reverence.

Tears clogged her throat and threatened to spill from her eyes, the display of emotion embarrassing her even more.

Lila stepped back, but held Sarah by the shoulders. “Luke didn’t do you justice when he said you were incredible. That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“I like her, Mommy. She hugs like you.” Nick had finally pulled his face out of Sarah’s neck.

“I like her, too.” That earned her another warm smile from Lila. Sarah swallowed back the unexpected emotions and looked down at Nick. “Do you want to go down yet?”

“No.” He buried his face in her neck again.

Sarah smiled at everyone and moved away from the door, so Luke’s father could close it. Luke moved toward her carrying Jack. He leaned down and kissed her and held it for a few seconds. The soft kiss held a lot of promises.

Luke cocked his head toward the living room. “Come meet my brother and his wife.” He leaned down and kissed Nick on the head. “Hi, buddy.”

Nick looked up, grabbed Luke’s shirt, and pulled him down for a kiss on the cheek. He turned back and buried his face again. Nick’s show of affection completely surprised Sarah. It proved how much he had become attached to Luke.

Luke’s gaze met hers and they shared a moment of connection that said clearly how much Luke appreciated Nick’s love and how much he wanted to hold on to her and this.

So did she.

And the boys obviously wanted Luke to be their dad.

Luke introduced her to the rest of his family. “This is Jason, Michelle, and Emma. Guys, this is Sarah and her boys, Jack and Nick.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Michelle gave her a warm smile. “Luke tells me you’re an extraordinary businesswoman. He says you put my husband’s work hours to shame. I don’t know how you do it with two boys. I have only one daughter and still haven’t managed to get back to work. I miss the challenge,” she added.

“I haven’t figured out how to make the day longer,” Sarah confessed. “I split up my workday between them and my office. I work from home a lot. It’s good to be the boss. No one can fire you for going to the school play or a Little League game in the middle of the afternoon.”

Michelle acknowledged that with a nod.

Sarah tried to coax Nick out of his shyness. “Hey bud, want to give Emma her present?”

Nick looked up and handed the little girl in Michelle’s arms a bag.

“Thank you, Nick.” Michelle held the present in front of her little girl. “Emma, you got a present. Want to open it?” Emma stuck her little hand into the bag and pulled out the gift.

Emma showed it to her mom.

Michelle made big eyes at it for Emma’s benefit, then asked Sarah, “What’s this?”

“It’s one of my projects. An electronic children’s book with four stories. Push the button and the story will begin. You can switch it to game mode and the different-shaped buttons will rotate through saying the name of the shapes and the colors, and then it will play a song.”

Luke’s eyes went wide. “Sarah, you did that?”

“I came up with the idea when Jack was a baby. I finished it a few months ago and a toy manufacturer is putting it out at Christmas if I can get all the marketing material ready. This is one of four prototypes I had made. I wrote the stories and it’s my voice on the recording. I hope Emma likes it.”

Nick pointed to Jason and whispered into her ear, “Is he going to leave her alone, too?”

Sarah hugged him tight and looked him in his sad eyes. “Jason is big and strong like Luke. Nothing is going to happen to him. Okay?”

Luke cocked a brow. “What’s this about?”

She kept her voice low so Emma wouldn’t overhear her talk about her dad, even though she was preoccupied playing with her new toy on the couch with her mom.

“He wanted to know if Jason is going to die and leave Emma without a father, too.” She gave Jason a half smile. “I’m sorry. He has a hard time seeing other kids with their dads.” She rubbed her hand up and down Nick’s back. “Not all dads go away,” she assured him.

Luke put his hand on his father’s shoulder. “Hey Nick, this is my dad. He’s been with me and Jason our whole lives. Just like Jason will always be with Emma. And I want to be with you. Okay?”

Nick smiled at Luke. “Okay.”

Luke’s dad poked Nick in the belly. “I hear you’re really good at the race car game. I’m not as good as Luke and Jason, but how about a game?” James’s obvious love for the kids showed in his warm smile, and Nick responded: “I can totally kick your butt.” Nick jumped down from his mother’s arms and raced for Luke’s office with Jack on his heels and James following in the rear.

Jason spun around. “I want in on this.” And off he went to catch up with the boys and his dad.

Sarah shook her head. “I guess I don’t need to worry about the kids for a while.”

Lila tugged on Sarah’s arm. “Come into the kitchen. We’ll get you a glass of wine and get to know each other better.” Lila went ahead.

Luke stepped in front of her before she could follow. He leaned down and kissed her softly. “I’m so glad you came tonight.” He cupped her face. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Luke kissed her right there with his sister-in-law watching with a smile and Sarah felt like she belonged because it seemed everyone was happy for her and Luke.

They’d welcomed her, Jack, and Nick and made them feel like part of the family because she and the boys were connected to Luke.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“I really like your family.”

“They like you, too.” Luke kissed her again. “But not as much as I like you.” Then he kissed her with all the heat and desire that usually sizzled between them.

“Luke!” his mother called. “Bring her here before you set the house on fire, dear.”

Luke smiled down at her, rolled his eyes, took her hand, and led her into the kitchen, where his mother handed her a glass of wine, and clinked her glass to Sarah’s. “Thank you for ending his bachelor streak.”

And just like that, all the reservations Sarah didn’t think she harbored about whether Luke was really serious about moving their relationship along so quickly evaporated.