Lex and Lu(35)

“Who’s the trust for? Is it for my mother?” He was thoroughly confused. Why did he need to set up a trust? Lex was not stingy with his money, although no one ever asked for it. He’d paid Pete’s tuition because he wanted to, but even then, they had given him a hard time. “Are you trying to tell me my father planned to steal from me?” He’d heard stories about parent managers who had ended up skimming off of their children’s accounts, but he couldn’t imagine his father would have done that.

“No. No. The trust is set up for your child, to be used for tuition and then for whatever she wants on her twenty-fifth birthday. It’s ironclad. We can’t change it.”

Lex stood up. “Why would he set something up for my future children? Did he not trust me to make good decisions about my money? You’re not making sense here, Caroline.”

“Lex, it’s not for your future children. Lu didn’t have an abortion eight years ago. You have a daughter.”





15





For a time—and Lex would never know how long—he sat, dazed, in the Sunday-school classroom. His mind empty. Although he wanted to focus on what’d he’d just learned, he sank deeper into a murky existence. Thoughts flew around, but he couldn’t quite grab on to anything. Images and memories assailed him. His conversation with his father a couple of days ago, Lu refusing to look at him the last time they’d had sex, his mother’s eyes glistening with unshed tears, Pete and Willa standing together all day, Dr. A. watching him with a weary gaze as he left the room with Caroline, his mother telling him that Lu had an abortion, his first goal scored in Premier League soccer. A constant barrage of scenes over the last eight years, all which he experienced by himself, continued to pelt him like hail falling from the sky. How different would his life have been had he known that he had a child? How was it even possible that he had an eight-year-old daughter and he didn’t know it until today? How could Lu have slept with him and lied to him over and over again? How could he have been so wrong about her? Even after not seeing her for the last eight years, he felt he knew her. He’d fallen right back into his childhood. Teasing her, cajoling her, bringing her out, seducing her. And all along, she’d held back. He felt robbed. He felt like a fool. He wanted to hurt her, make her feel what he was feeling. Afraid to move, thinking he might somehow shatter, he remained there.

Pete found him. But Lex didn’t hear the door.

“Lex!”

Lex looked up and saw his brother. “What’s up?” he managed.

“I’ve been looking for you for twenty minutes. And I had to say your name ten times!”

Lex shook his head, as if to clear it. “Sorry.”

Pete studied him. “What happened? Are you OK?”

“Yeah,” Lex said, pulling himself together. “I just needed a minute.” He stood up from the tiny chair he’d been perched on for however long he’d been there. “You OK?” he asked his brother, hoping to divert his attention.

Pete eyed him wearily. “I’m OK,” he said, nodding his head as if to reassure himself and Lex that he really was. “Are you ready to go? They’ve started heading back to the house.”

Lex thought about going back to his house; his connections to the past blew up in his mind. He didn’t want to taint his house with the conversation he knew he needed to have with Lu. He needed to preserve that piece of his childhood. “Is Lu still here?”

“Uh, I think she is back.” Pete paused. “She ran some food to the house, but she came back a couple of minutes ago.”

Lex drew a shaky breath. Here, he thought, looking around, I want this confrontation to be here, not at my home, not where my memories of my father are enshrined. “Can you get her for me?” he asked, staring his brother down, hoping to intimidate him into doing his will. As much as Pete loved him, Lex knew that he instinctively wanted to protect Willa and Lu. Lex was the same way.

Pete cocked his head to the side, studying Lex. Then Lex smiled at him, that Lex Pellitteri smile, and Pete knew that he was OK. “Sure. Do you want me to wait for you?”

Shaking his head, Lex said, “Nah, Lu can get us back.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, man. We’re good.”

Pete started toward the door, then turned back, “What were you and Caroline discussing for so long?”

“Contract stuff,” Lex said nonchalantly. “You know Caroline. She’s all business.”

“All right. You sure you’re OK?”

“Bro, I’m good. I just needed a moment.” Nodding toward the door, he said, “Go get Lu for me, please.”