Last Chance Proposal by Barbara Deleo Page A

as she took one of the sandwiches Ellie offered her. “What with losing your brother and then you with Louis’s no-good father running off, a wedding full of love will be just what they need. I bet your mum’s shopping for an outfit on that overseas trip.”
    Fleur touched Cy on the back and threw him a teasing smile. “Oh, they’ll be proud, all right. How could they not be happy with someone like Cy having Ellie’s best interests at heart.”
    Cy considered the elder Jacobs sister and raised an eyebrow at her challenge. “I’m the one who’ll be proud,” he said, meaning every single word. “Having Ellie as my wife is a privilege I take very seriously.”
    Fleur chewed the inside of her cheek and smiled back at him.
    “Let’s check on the barbecue,” Ellie suddenly said as she took Cy’s hand. “You take a break, Fleur. I think Betty wants to ask you for a cupcake recipe.”
    Before her sister had a chance to reply, Ellie had him by the hand and was leading him to the secluded barbecue area. “Sorry about that,” she whispered. “Fleur’s a little overprotective.”
    “As she should be,” he said, lowering his voice. “You’re lucky to have such a strong family, Ellie. People to look out for you.” He picked up a pair of tongs and started turning some kebabs. “How are you doing with all this?”
    She sat on a swing hung in the tree and pushed her hair off her face. “To be honest, I’m not loving it. All the pretending. I can feel myself blush every time I have to lie.”
    He threw her a smile. “I wouldn’t worry. People like Betty will think it’s just your way of showing how in love with me you are.”
    She threw her head back and laughed. “I reckon we’ve got Betty fooled, and if she thinks we’re in love, then half the province will know by tomorrow. Those drama classes Mum so reluctantly paid for one summer obviously paid off. I thought I must have been giving the game away for sure.”
    He sat his beer bottle on the side of the barbecue and waited until she looked at him. “No one can mistake the fact that we’re still good friends. We’ll just have to be ready next time someone expects us to act like a couple in love.”
    A wave of pink traveled up her neck. “I’m worried I’ll forget and ruin everything.”
    “We’ll be fine. We’re comfortable enough around each other to pull it off.”
    She looked around to make sure no one was listening and her voice became more serious. “We’ll need to discuss a few things like that. About boundaries.”
    He shrugged. “The best thing about being here for the next two weeks is that we can work on all that stuff. And the easiest way to get to know each other again is to spend time together, have some fun. It won’t take us long to figure it out.”
    “Hey, speaking of having fun, Louis was asking if we could take Jonty to see the glowworms down by the river. There’s supposed to be a cold wind coming up tomorrow so tonight would be good. I know it would mean a lot to Lou.”
    He turned sausages on the grill. “Louis’s a great kid. It was nice of him to ask, but Jonty’s scared of the dark. He still sleeps with a light on. I think it’d be too much.”
    “Even if we have torches and all go together? There’s a good track down there now.”
    She didn’t understand what it was like sometimes with Jonty. He could have a panic attack at any minute, either going still and refusing to move, or thrashing about so much that he could hurt himself. “I don’t want to rush things with him, Ellie. With you coming back to the States now and the changes he’ll have to go through living with us, he’s going to have a lot to deal with. I’d prefer to play it safe.”
    “Sure,” she said. “What do I know about kids anyway? When Louis was three I thought it would be a great idea to take him to see the fireworks at the neighbor’s and he was scared witless.”
    “I’m sure you’re great with kids,” he said before taking