“I know you are, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t have my own concerns, but if I get my way, Mom, Lea will be the mother of your grandchildren. I need you to understand that before you and Bre come here and tag-team her. She just lost her mom. She doesn’t have anyone.”
“Austin—”
“I gotta go. Love you guys. See you Saturday.” I hang up before she can say anything else then sit back in the chair, wondering if I should tell Lea to skip dinner.
“Hey,” Lea’s soft voice pulls my attention away from the ocean as I look at the sliding door, where she is standing in her bare feet, wearing my thermal.
“C’mere.” I hold my hand out in her direction then pull her down into my lap, rubbing my hand up her bare thigh. “You sleep okay?” Her smile against my bare chest and her mumbled, “Yes,” does something to my heart, causing it to beat harder. “Bre, Shawn, and the kids are coming with Mom and Dad.”
“Great,” she says as I pull her shirt up her side, resting my hand on the underside of her breast, needing to feel her skin and hating that her body has drawn tight.
“Do you trust me?” I ask.
“Yes.”
Her whispered confession and her body relaxing against mine fills me with satisfaction. “Then you should know that I would never allow anyone to harm you, physically or otherwise.”
“I know.”
“Good.” I press my nose into her neck, loving that she smells like vanilla and me.
“I need a shower.” She tilts her head to the side, giving me better access to her neck, where I nip her, groaning.
“You smell good, but a shower sounds like a good idea.” Kissing her neck once more, I lift her off me pulling her inside to the shower, where we spend the next hour until were both satisfied, me more than her, because I leave the shower with her taste on my tongue.
“How are things going between you and Lea?”
I look at Ben then set my beer on the rail of my deck, where I swear once the nights are warmer I will have Lea bent over, so I can take her from behind while she looks out at the view.
“Judging by that faraway look in your eyes, I’m gonna guess you guys are good,” he mutters.
“Things seem to be getting better, but I can’t shake the feeling that something’s off.” I look away from him to the horizon. There has been something under the surface I just can’t seem to grasp, and not knowing what it is, is driving me crazy.
“Maybe it’s time you tell her about what her mom did.”
“I can’t.” I scrub my hands over my face. “I don’t want to be the one to tell her that shit, and I know it’s fucked up to be pissed at a dead woman, but I’m still fucking angry at Josie for not coming clean to Lea when she was alive. I feel fucking torn about it, because I know Lea has doubts about us. I can see it in the way she looks at me sometimes. I know she wants to ask me why I never came after her, but she’s afraid of what my response will be.”
“What do you think is going to happen when she finds out?”
“She’s gonna lose it, and since Josie’s gone, I’ll be the one left picking up the pieces,” I grumble.
“I know why she did it, but I understand why you’re pissed, and believe me, I agree she kind of fucked you over in not coming clean.”
“Yeah.”
“Any word from the ex?” he prompts.
“Lea talked to her lawyer, and he signed the papers as soon as he got back to Montana.”
“So she’s clear of him?”
“That part of her life is over, brother.”
“Good,” he grunts, settling back into his chair. “Now your mom and sister are coming to stir shit up?” he asks, making me chuckle.
“They are. You know Mom. I warned her to take it easy.”
“Like that’s gonna happen.” He shakes his head, knowing my mom as well as I do, since he basically lived with us from the time we turned sixteen, when his dad kicked him out.
“I know, but I won’t separate my family and Lea.”
“I don’t think you should,”
“I can’t. I know she’s afraid of being alone.” I take a pull from my beer, setting it on my thigh. “I want her happy, and I don’t even know if she realizes that part of her happiness is dependent on having people around who care about her.”
“I can’t imagine Lea not having friends in Montana.”
“She said most of her friends were friends of hers and Ken’s. I guess some of them knew he was having an affair and never told her about it,” I reveal.
“Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with people?”