Page 7 of Searching for Love

He’d always been drawn to it. Maybe it was his crappy childhood that had opened his eyes to the manipulators of the world. He could tell when people were using him or wanted to gain something from his friendship.

Here, in this group, there weren’t any hidden agendas.

While the group of friends continued to chat about the wedding plans, he tried to think of a menu of choices that he could make for them.

He doubted tacos would be the best solution for a fancy event. Still, there were enough authentic items in his grandpa’s arsenal of recipes that he’d learned as a kid to impress them.

By the time Wyatt, Hannah, and Avery left, his brain hurt from considering the possibilities.

“Help,” he said to Kara and Robin. “Why did I agree to cater a wedding a month away when I haven’t even opened my restaurant yet?” He felt a little breathless.

His cousin chuckled as he sat down in the sand with Reagan fast asleep on his chest.

Robin and Kara were his cousins on his mother’s side. His mother and Robin and Kara’s father were siblings.

Growing up, he’d always felt like his family were the oddballs in the Jenkins family. His parents had never married and shortly after Sophia’s sixth birthday, his father had disappeared from their lives.

His grandpa was the only steady male role model in his life, and he had molded him into what he was today. An excellent chef. Someone who stood up for those weaker than he was.

When he’d reached out to his cousins after they’d moved to Pride, he was happily surprised by how welcoming they had been. Not only to him but to his mother and sister.

Lucas’s mother worked two jobs in Edgeview. She still lived in the small three-bedroom home by the hospital that he’d grown up in.

When he’d been old enough, he’d taken odd jobs to help pay the bills. Then, after turning eighteen, he’d needed space and had moved into a small studio apartment, but he’d still helped his mother make ends meet. Even now, he planned to help her out after he opened the restaurant.

He’d seen firsthand the destruction his father’s abuse had caused not only to himself but to his mother. Sophia had been too young when their father left for the last time to remember much.

“Lucas, you can do this with your eyes closed. Make what you did for us the last time we visited your mother,” Kara said, touching his arm. “Now, give me my sleepy child. I think it’s time we went home.” She motioned to her husband, Conner, who walked over and gently took Reagan from his arms.

He instantly missed the warmth and softness of the sleeping baby against his chest. He missed the days when he’d watched Sophia when she was younger. Being a big brother was the best feeling in the world. It had trained him for the day when he’d have a half dozen kids himself.

He daydreamed about those six kids the entire drive back into town, and the fact that they all had fiery red hair and crystal blue eyes did little to calm his fears about cooking for Avery and her best friend and brother.

This was probably the most important thing he’d do in his entire life. He just had to get this one right. His future, and that of those six red-headed kids, depended on it.