KEPT_ A Second Chance Fairy Tale(28)

Michael

“ARE YOU SURE THIS ISN’T an imposition? Honey, I know you’re busy.”

“It’s not, Mom,” I explain to her for the third time. “I’ll talk to Corbin and move my schedule around. If necessary, I’ll bring my work there.”

Mom sighs in relief. “Oh, thank you. Denise isn’t listening to what the doctors keep telling her.”

“She’ll listen to me,” I assure. “I’ll be there later tonight or tomorrow.”

“Tell Lillie you’ll need a few days away. That’s all. She’ll understand.”

I haven’t told Mom that Lillie left. They met once, hitting it off immediately, so I knew it was better not to say anything until I had a replacement.

Not wanting to get into that with her now, I let it go. “Will do. Talk to you soon.”

My mother rarely calls me on Saturdays. Usually, those are spent shopping with her friends or at the spa getting pampered. If she needs anything, I make myself available on Sunday afternoons, where she talks for an hour or so, filling me in on what’s happening back home.

From what she said this morning, my sister has been giving her a fit. She’s been out with a new boyfriend, one Mom doesn’t approve of, and she’s been drinking. We’re all well aware she shouldn’t be partying as any other twenty-eight-year-old might, but Denise is stubborn. She always has been.

Luckily, when I put my call through to Corbin, he answers on the second ring.

“This better be good, Mike. It’s seven-thirty on a Saturday morning,” he admonishes with a voice raspy in sleep.

“You got company?” I ask, remembering how quickly he rushed off after dinner last night.

“No. Didn’t end well.”

“Struck out again. Life’s a bitch.” I smirk at the thought.

Dismissing my sarcasm, he asks, “You get Lucy home?”

The question hits me square in the chest, piercing with its effect. After leaving Lucy’s apartment, I spent the rest of my night mentally listing every reason I could as to why pushing further with whatever was happening between us would end badly. I came up with nothing other than the obvious—she doesn’t know who I am or what I’ve been doing for the last five years.

“I did,” I answer, keeping my answer short.

“So, what’s up?”

“My mom called—”

“How’s Denise?” he interrupts.

“Not great. I need to go home for a few days and help her set shit straight.”

Lowering his voice, he asks, “She’s okay, though, right?”

“She’s Deni,” I tell him, knowing he’ll get it. “Just being more of a pain in the ass than usual. She’s giving my mom hell.”

He laughs, but his direct response is serious. “Do it. Take some time off, Mike. You never do.”

“I have shit here that needs taking care of,” I explain.

Corbin huffs into the phone, his annoyance apparent. His family is tight, and there’s never been a time he’s hesitated to take time off when his mom needed him. His little brother, Tyler, is the same.

“I’ll pick up in the office where you can’t. So go do what you need to do. Maybe I can push Jane into making a decision about coming aboard, also finding out where she’s at with Lucy.”

Not wanting to get into the reasons why Corbin shouldn’t push Jane after she’s already doing us a favor, I tell him, “I’m calling Lillie when I get off here and ask her to make arrangements.”

“Lillie?” he questions. “You mean Lucy.”

“No,” I correct. “Lillie knows how to do my schedule. I don’t have time to explain it to Lucy.”

“Jesus, Mike. Lillie doesn’t work for us anymore.”

“She said I could call her.” I hear the petulance in my own voice, but don’t care.

“How that woman ever put up with you,” he tsks. “Do what you need to do,” he clips. “You’ve gotta let Lillie go, though, Mike. She’s not coming back.”

I don’t need his unwelcome advice. “I’ll call you when I know more.”

“Hey,” he says before I can disconnect.

“Yeah?”

“Take her,” he tells me, but I don’t understand.

“Take who?”

“You said you have work, and if you’re working in Chicago, you’ll need help. I’ve seen you with that calendar. It’s a little depressing. Take Lucy.”

Closing my eyes, I refuse to give his idea merit, but not for the reason he thinks. After last night, I’m not so sure it’s a good idea I go anywhere alone with Lucy.

Or maybe it is. Fuck, I don’t know.

“Take her. I’ll be fine,” he adds when I say nothing.

“I gotta go,” I tell him. “I’ll call you later.”

“Right,” he answers before disconnecting the call.




Lucy

“I am such an idiot,” I cry as Shannan stands in my room, watching me pack.

I’ve just dumped nearly every drawer onto the floor. In the process, I’m fairly certain I’ve scared my best friend into thinking I’m a lunatic for being attracted to my boss, who also happens to be a moody recluse of a man who rarely smiles.

I’m certifiably nuts.

When Michael called this morning, apologizing for intruding on my weekend, saying he needed my help, I was surprised. After what happened between us last night, I wasn’t sure how I was going to ever face him, if I ever wanted to at all. Then hearing his voice, as quiet and careful as he made it, I assumed he felt the same and it immediately settled my worry.

He kept his greeting short, then went on to explain he was going home for a few days to visit his mom and sister. In the moment, I figured he was just offering a courtesy call as he started to nervously rattle off cases he’d need to work on while away. I promised him I’d do my best to assist from the office, but he surprised me further by telling me I’d be joining him during said visit.

“Do you want a shot of tequila? Would that help?”

Oh, my god! My best friend doesn’t get it!

“Shannan, please. Focus. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing,” I state the obvious as I spin in a small circle, reviewing the mess I’ve made of my room. It looks as if all the clothes in my closet have managed their way to my bed. However, my sad, empty little suitcase sits in a corner alone, as though making fun of me.

Still unable to sense my level of mortification, Shannan ignores my stress and asks for the third time since coming over, “Did you really kiss him? Because I’m having a hard time believing–”

“Oh, my god. You’re not listening,” I whisper, fearing she never will. “That wasn’t the worst part. I compared his Amazon woman to a…” I stop and take a breath, but can’t bear to finish my thought.

The humiliation I feel in comparing his woman to an animated character, and not in a nice way, is too much.

She laughs, grabbing what looks like my last shirt from the closet, holding it up in front of her. “I’ve been listening, and it sounds to me like he wasn’t exactly telling you to stop.”

Momentarily ignoring her, I reach to grab the shirt she’s holding and throw it on the bed with the others. This is the first time I’m leaving Dillon alone for more than a night, and with someone who isn’t family. The times before, he’s spent with either my mom or Gabe’s. Telling him goodbye nearly broke my heart, but not for the reason I thought it would. My son didn’t seem to have the same concerns as I did. He worried he would miss his favorite cartoons if I weren’t here to remind him of them. He also wondered who was going to cook for him.

My thoughts are elsewhere. I worry he’ll fall from the playground when Stella lets him outside in the afternoon. I also worry he’ll choke on his breakfast, or break his arm jumping on her king-sized spare bed.

All this has only added to my stress of flying out of state and leaving my only son behind. Not to mention being around Michael…

Returning my focus to the task at hand, I ask, “What do I take with me if I’m not working at the office, but technically still working?”

I don’t wait for Shannan to answer because she wouldn’t have any idea anyway. Instead, I continue to frantically sort through clothes, most of which I haven’t worn in months.

“Honey, come here,” she says, stretching her arms out in my direction. She grabs my shoulders in order to slowly place me on the edge of the bed.

Looking down, she holds a straight face, but her big, brown eyes are filled with humor. Her voice is sweet and reassuring. “I think you’re afraid of him because you like him.”

“I think I’m insane because I got drunk after drinking four glasses of wine!”

“Four glasses, Lucy Loo? You drank four glasses of wine?” she chastises. “Have I taught you nothing? That shit can sneak up on a girl the first time.”

“Shannan.” I sigh, rolling my eyes in frustration. “You’re not helping. Michael’s driver is due here in less than twenty minutes. Our flight leaves in a little over three hours, but I’ve not packed a thing. I think I’m going to hyperventilate.”

Tugging on a piece of my hair, she laughs. “Calm down. It’s fine. So it’s a few days away to a city you’ve never been in. You’ll be locked in a hotel with a man you’ve told me more than once was pretty.”