Just a Little Sequel Read Online Free PDF Page A

was a gas range stove with four sealed burners, a double wall oven, and large stainless steel refrigerator fitted between two of the marble countertops.
    I didn’t even want to know how much money had gone into designing that kitchen, and I couldn’t imagine Luke or I either one would ever utilize any of those appliances to their full potential.
    I took a minute to study the tiled backsplash on the wall and the dim fixtures around the island. I don’t even know how many times I’d thought ‘holy crap, Matt is gonna freak when he sees this place!’
    A door off the side of the kitchen opened to a descending staircase. The basement wasn’t finished, but Luke said something about making a project of it in a few years. There was a small corner with a folding table, washer, and dryer, but other than that, the basement was pretty much that… a basement.
    Back on the first floor, I wasn’t sure I’d managed an expression yet. Luke still watched me with great uncertainty, and he held his hand out to take me to the next room. At the back of the house, just behind the kitchen, there was a small, carpeted dining room. A set of windows spanned the entirety of the room. Just like his apartment back in the district, Luke had already taken the time to hang blinds and curtains.
    We backed out of the dining room and walked directly into the attached living room on the right side of the house. Like the dining room, it was also carpeted. Unlike the dining room, it was incredibly spacious. There was a wood burning fireplace on the far wall, and a small hallway stretched back, concealing four closed doors.
    “Bathroom,” he pointed at the first, and I stopped off to check it out. For obvious reasons, bathrooms weren’t particularly my favorite spot to hang out. Still, I studied the unique features before turning out.
    “This is just a spare room,” he opened the next door. It wasn’t incredibly spacious. “It’s not much, I know, but I thought we’d convert this into a home-office of sorts,” Luke said, raising a brow. “You know, a place for you to do homework now, and conduct business in a few years when Just a Little Soiree takes off.”
    I bit my bottom lip and turned back to him.
    Just a Little Soiree .
    Just hearing those words fall off his lips made my heart swell with happiness.
    I’d told Luke earlier in the year, just before my second semester at the local community college that I’d finally decided to chase that unattainable dream. I loved planning parties. I loved organizing, decorating, and executing such huge events. For the past couple of years, I’d never thought of it as anything that I could ever make a realistic career out of. But then one day I woke up and decided ‘why not?’ How would I ever know if I didn’t try? I marched into my academic advisor’s office last spring, threw myself back in a chair, and finally declared a major: hospitality management, emphasis on event planning.
    I swung by the police station after school that day and Luke instantly recognized a change.
    He’d said, ‘ you’re practically glowing, Jules, what’s going on? ’
    That’s when I told him that I’d decided to start my own party planning business. Of course, I had to get through school, learn the basics, and really make sure I had my feet on the ground. Saving the money I earned working part-time for Grace and Lonnie at the flower shop (I’d taken over Matt’s job when he left) I’d be able to make myself a nice little nest-egg for the start-up. I figured, maybe by the time I’m twenty-five, I can hit the ground running.
    Luke had been nothing but supportive.
    He’d even been the genius behind the name Just a Little Soiree . He said it had a ring to it, and I liked it. So it stuck.
    “Bedrooms,” he turned to the two doors facing the front of the house. I stuck my head inside the first and smiled; he’d already put a dog bed in place, which meant he planned to let Elvis have his own room. We walked back