Chris grabbed her around her upper arms and whispered to her, “That’s enough!” as he pulled her from the room. He glanced up at Jo and mouthed, “Sorry,” even though he knew that wasn’t enough to fix what had just happened.
When they had cleared the room, the door sliding shut behind them, Jo sank into Mike’s chair. Resting her head in her hands, she let go. Finally, seventy-two hours after the death of her husband, she gave in and cried. She cried for her loss and her children, she cried for the death of her friendship, and she cried for the collision course that she had set for Lex and Lu all those years ago. She wanted to fix it. She wanted to make it right for them. She owed it to them and to Mike. But she didn’t have a clue as to how to do it. For the first time in her life, she felt powerless.
PART 2
21
Six months later
Lu bent over to pull the turkey out of the oven. She may have moved to England without putting up a fight, but she was determined that Nina would take part in the American traditions. Taking a sip of her wine, she tried to fight the nerves flaring up in her stomach. Walking a tightrope, she worked to find the balance between matchmaking and interfering. She owed Willa and Pete, though, and this represented her chance to help them find their way back to each other.
Lex’s demand that Lu move to England had dealt the deathblow to Willa and Pete’s fledgling relationship. Willa wanted Pete to get involved. His refusal pushed her away. Like Lex, Willa went hard. All or nothing. Pete taking Lex’s side—or not trying to talk some sense into him—had felt like Pete wanted nothing. It didn’t matter that she essentially asked him to choose. She couldn’t see beyond his support of Lex. Lu knew it wasn’t right for Willa to hold Pete to that standard, but that was Will. And for her relentless support of Lu over the years, Lu wanted to give her what she needed. The problem being that Pete wasn’t what Will wanted right now. Which meant Lu’s impromptu Thanksgiving meal could be over very quickly.
It had been easy to get them over there. Both Willa and Pete had time. Pete had a short break from school and Willa got the weekend off from the practice. Nina and she had been in England for a little over three months because Lu hadn’t wanted Nina to start a new school year at home. Lu had taken the summer to get everything together, and they were in London for the start of school. Nina’s aunt and uncle hadn’t seen her since they left. A visit was due.
Pete continued to call weekly to check on them. He’d told Lu he was coming over for his break. Knowing that, Lu had put the pressure on Willa to visit. She’d resisted at first, which is why Lu played her ace in the hole and put Nina on the phone. It took one simple request from Nina and Willa capitulated. So they were both in London and in about thirty minutes, they would both be in her flat, a term she was still trying to get used to.
Hurrying to make sure everything was ready, Lu slid the turkey back into the oven to keep it warm. She’d sent Nina and Willa on an errand so that she could have some peace before she set off the fireworks tonight. After grabbing her glass of wine, she made her way across the room to the table she’d set for four—another reason she’d sent Willa away. She didn’t need her asking questions. Sitting down, she got lost thinking of the events over the last several months. True to his word, Lex still hadn’t spoken to her nor seen her. Everything had been handled by his attorney. Lu allowed them to handle the visa issues but had put her foot down on Lex having some minion pick the place where they would live. Lu did much of it via the Internet and finally settled on a two-bedroom flat across the city from Lex. There had been some bumps, mostly having to do with transferring Nina between the two residences. Lex hired a woman to help him with transporting. He’d even allowed Lu to be a part of the selection process. But again, all communication came via Heathgard, Masters and Hughley, Esq. Sometimes, when Lu wasn’t looking, she got hit with the pain of his abandonment. While it took her breath away, she always managed to find her footing.
Lu had adapted quite easily to living in London. The history of the city interested her, while the vivacity captivated her. Who knew she was a city girl at heart? But being in this country meant a lot more exposure to Lex, who enjoyed some notoriety over here. He graced the gossip magazines frequently enough for Lu to know he dated amazingly attractive women. And she marveled a bit at how much of a celebrity footballers were in this country. While it hurt, she was beginning to grow thick skin. She and Lex had settled on joint custody, which meant Lu had a lot more time on her hands than she was used to. And true to her word, she had started to date. It wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was fun to get out there.