Lex and Lu(43)

“I agree. I was completely thrown when she said that to him. It felt like I was watching a Hallmark Channel Christmas special.”

Jo laughed. “Well, let’s hope we get our happy ending.”

“Problem with that, Dr. J., is that I’m not sure what a happy ending would be.”

“Don’t you?” Jo asked.

“No, not anymore. What my happy ending was forty-eight hours ago and what it would be now are totally different,” Lu said, staring out at nothing.

“Louisa May?” Jo said, calling in the motherly tone.

Lu looked up directly at Jo, a slight smile on her face. “Yes?”

“What exactly did you do? Why is Lex not mad at me?”

Had Jo asked her that question at another time, a time when she felt stronger or more hopeful or more generous, she would have answered differently. But she didn’t have any strength, hope, or generosity left in her reserves to call upon. So she looked directly at Josephine Pellitteri and said, “I sold a bit of my soul to save all of yours.” With that, she pushed herself off the swing and moved away, seeking solitude so she could sulk without an audience.



Lex sat at the counter with Nina, totally enthralled. He had a difficult time thinking that he had a part in her creation and he wondered how often his parents had thought that throughout his and Pete’s childhood. In the brief time he’d spent with her, she seemed to be equal parts him and equal parts Lu. The combination of their features in her physical appearance made him wonder how those genes got all mixed up and spit out. It seemed to work on her and he vaguely wondered what his life would be like as the father of a sixteen-year-old who looked like her.

He saw his mischief reflected in her green eyes, but he could already tell that she had Lu’s thoughtfulness and innately cautious nature. That in itself would be a most interesting combination. She would have Lex’s craziness but would temper it with actually thinking through her actions. He smiled, thinking again of the teenage years.

Lex hadn’t spent much time with children, so he felt a little out of his league. Ice cream he could do, but he’d sputtered a few times trying to think of appropriate things to say to her and to ask her. She always picked up the slack, asking questions that had sometimes caught him off guard. He was able to handle the “Why do you play soccer?” and “How much do you practice?” He managed “What’s England like?” and “Do you have a best friend?” He’d completely blanked on “Will you always play soccer?” and “What will you do when you don’t play soccer anymore?” Did all eight-year-olds talk like this or did she have Lu’s super brain?

He’d already fallen in love with her, but when she asked if he thought Grandma Jo was going to be OK, he felt his heart grow, like the Grinch’s.

“I think Grandma Jo is going to be OK. But it might take some time,” he answered.

“I’m gonna miss Grandpa Mike,” she said sadly.

For the first time since he’d met his child, her face was marred by a frown. Again, feeling out of his league, not sure what to say, he hoped he could manage this conversation without having to resort to calling his brother over. “Me too. I will miss him every day.”

She looked at him quizzically, her eyebrow cocked. Oh shit, Lex thought, she inherited the eyebrow.

“But you didn’t see him very much because you’ve been gone for so long.”

Lex felt wounded, but wasn’t sure if that had been her intention … Running his hand over his short hair, Lex fumbled through an explanation. “Well, I’ll still miss him. Even though we didn’t see each other every day, I talked to him almost every day, and he was one of the closest people to me.”

“Oh,” Nina said. “So is that what we’ll do now? Will we talk every day?”

Lex wanted to reach out and pull her in to a hug, but he didn’t know how that would be received. He wanted to assure her that they could have a good relationship even with an ocean between them. He wanted to know the right thing to say and do, but without the last eight years of experience he felt helpless. And that’s when he got pissed all over again. That’s when the seed of his plan began to take root.

Lex called up his reserves: his patented smile and charm, which had seen him through every difficult situation in his life. Smiling the same smile that she would use, he said, “We’re going to figure all of that out. We’re coming up with a plan. OK?”

He thought the look she gave him was calling bullshit. But, again, without knowing her the way he should have, he couldn’t be sure. He wanted to reassure her, but he didn’t want to have it be a lie later. So he kept it vague. “Your mother and I are working on it. Promise.”