Lex and Lu(53)
“Do I get story time tonight?” he asked.
“Of course.” Taking a deep breath, Lu plunged forward. “I’m sorry. I misjudged Willa’s anger.”
Pete smiled. “To be honest, I think I did too.” He sighed. “Do you know why I held off for so long?” At Lu’s shake of her head, he continued. “Because of all of this. This craziness between our families. I knew, before I even got this ball rolling, that we wouldn’t be able to separate ourselves from it.”
Lu smiled sadly. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s just too complicated,” he sighed. “Have you and Lex really not spoken?”
“We have not spoken,” she said, a little sad. “It’s OK. I’ve become quite friendly with his attorney.” She smiled, letting him know she was really OK.
“I wish I could tell you that he’ll break at some point.”
“He won’t. There will come a time when we’ll have to discuss something pertaining to Nina. Until then, he’s going to be stubborn.” She paused then, thinking about how she wanted to say what she felt she had to say. “I know you have a lot going on with school and your future. But I hope you don’t give up on Willa.”
He laughed. “Come on, Lu. She’s a female Lex. She’ll never forgive me for not stepping in.”
“She’s wrong.”
“So’s Lex.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Stop defending him. Damn it, Lu!”
Taken aback by his anger, Lu decided to wait him out. “He’s wrong to be taking all of his anger out on you. How is he not mad at everyone else? I don’t get it. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he shuts down whenever I bring it up. I’ve never seen him like this. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
But Lu knew that it did and she wasn’t going to let him wrangle it out of her. She sent up a silent thanks that Lex hadn’t told Pete about their conversation.
“Do you ever wonder how different things would have been if you and me had fallen in love with each other instead?” Pete asked.
They both studied each other. Then simultaneously burst out laughing.
When Pete had gone and Nina was in bed, Lu went to talk to Willa. Willa had changed into her pajamas and sat, curled up with her Nook, in the corner of the couch. Lu watched her for a moment before approaching. They resembled each other. When they were children, people often mistook them for twins. But puberty had wrought different changes in them. Willa grew. She’d inherited their father’s height and towered over Lu’s tiny frame. Will’s eyes had changed too, to a dark blue. She kept her dark hair cut short, in a pixie that not everyone could pull off. Her demeanor made her features look harsher than Lu’s. If they had been paintings, Lu would have been a watercolor with soft, smudged edges, while Willa would have been an oil with strong, well-defined lines.
Sitting on the couch, Lu reached out and touched Willa’s leg. Looking up, Willa impaled her with a glare.
“I’m sorry,” Lu said candidly.
“You should be,” Willa said. “How could you set me up like that?”
Lu smiled guiltily. “I thought you would be overcome with joy and would leap into his arms.”
“I don’t believe in fairy tales like you do, Lu,” she said pointedly.
“Ouch,” Lu said, drawing her hand away.
“Sorry,” Willa muttered. “Look, Pete and I were never anything. You don’t need to feel guilty about it.”
“But you could be something. You’ve both held back because of Lex and me. And it’s not fair. You would both be so good for each other.”
“Right. Like we’ve been so far,” she said sarcastically.
“Look, Willa. I’ve never tried to give you advice on anything because my shit was so fucked up that I didn’t think anything I had to say would mean anything.”
“That’s pretty sad, Lu.”
“I know, but it’s true. Pete’s the best there is. He loves you. You being mad at him is killing him.”
“He’ll survive. He hasn’t even tried to talk to me. I think he’s doing just fine.”
“Willa, who really tries to talk to you when you’re mad?” Lu pointed out. “And I think you’re wrong to be mad at him.”
“How am I wrong?” she asked, genuinely perplexed.
“You’re mad at him for not wanting to get in the middle of Lex and me. You essentially asked him to choose. Not even Lex did that to him.”
Willa thought about that crazy time six months ago. “I didn’t ask him to choose!” she said, defending her position wholeheartedly.