Loving Lily(6)

She replied with a heart so I need not bothered to keep on pestering her, knowing how much detail, accuracy, and focus those sweet cupcakes needed. I wouldn’t have thought how much time they consumed by making those little pieces of heavenly pleasure. And as for tonight, dinner and a night in just to catch up with Lily was what I needed after a stress-filled week.

*

Dashing towards the grocery store immediately after work took about forty-five minutes and another twenty-five to get back to the house. PCH highway was hell around rush hour. Not even the beautiful sunset cast on the beach eased the stress that was pounding inside me after taking my Lily’s call a mere five minutes ago. It had begun right after she told me Shannon had made another visit.

“Another?” I had screeched into the phone, wondering if there was more to it. “What do you mean by another? When was the first time exactly?”

“The other night, when your father had a stroke and I went straight to be with you and your mom,” she said, sounding regretful that she hadn’t told me beforehand. “You looked shaken, Drake. I just couldn’t do that to you. And being surrounded by those white walls … It just brought so many bad memories up that I didn’t want to deal with Shannon then.”

I sighed loudly, feeling awful for yelling at her. It wasn’t her fault. I should have taken measures to ensure she didn’t come see Lily. Ever. Maybe Shannon was right about that “talk” she had been referring to. If playing nice wasn’t going to cut it with her, then maybe it was time to play rough and dirty.

“You’re mad, aren’t you?”

I wasn’t particularly mad—furious, most definitely, but not at her, at Shannon and myself.

“I’m not mad, Lil. I just wish you had told me.”

“I know, I know. And I’m sorry for that.”

“Don’t be sorry, just—just tell me when these things happen. The last time was bad …” I trailed off, recalling the past incident with Shannon. “Promise me you won’t keep stuff like this from me, not even for a day or an hour. You have to tell me instantly.”

“I will. I won’t keep these things from you, Drake. Not anymore.”

“Good. Well, I should be home soon,” I said as I checked the dashboard clock. “Be sure to be home in an hour for dinner, yeah?”

“See you soon, babe,” she said. I could hear the smile in her voice. “Love you.”

“I love you, Lil.”

What were Shannon’s motives? And, for fuck’s sake, why would she keep hounding Lily when it was me she wanted to see? Was this her technique of intimidation just to shake things up a bit? It wasn’t as if she had gone to see my wife to apologize for what she had done. No, it certainly didn’t seem that way. In fact, the whole thing made me feel worried, so fucking worried I couldn’t think of anything else. There had to be some machinations behind her actions of visiting Lily twice, though those two random occasions were both only through verbal altercations, nothing physical like when she had attacked Lily the first time. Therefore, if she wasn’t planning to bring down her warped claws, what was she up to?

Not knowing what could happen with her semi-lucid mentality, I decided to call first thing in the morning to have Mindy look for a company that could install some cameras around our home and in Lily’s shop. If things escalated from there, God help me, I would kill her before she ever touched Lily again.





Chapter 4

Lily



“I’m home!” I yelled out the second I stepped foot inside the house to the delicious smell of whatever concoction Drake was making.

Smiling, I wondered what he was preparing. It smelled so yummy I was practically drooling from it. The guy wasn’t the greatest of cook, but at least he tried. As he had confessed previously, he limited himself to grilling and pastas because it was the easiest. Hey, I couldn’t complain. I was simply lucky enough that he was willing to cook, a trait that was hard to find these days.

“Drake?” I called out, strolling inside the house, heading towards the kitchen where I could hear Frank Sinatra’s amazing vocals.

Well, well, well. The man was aiming for romance. I couldn’t resist feeling completely gushy about how in love I was with him. I always had been and always would. Moments like these made confrontations with Shannon much more bearable.

I had been on guard since she visited the day before, but with Masie around, giving her the evil-eye, I knew she wouldn’t dare do anything drastic that would easily land her back in handcuffs. She seemed harmless, yet you could never tell with those types. Anything could easily make them go off. Like her visit the first time around, she resorted to petty taunts and threats, saying Drake would eventually leave me, that I was too much of an ugly bitch to hold down a man of Drake’s caliber. This time, though, instead of biting the bait she was dangling before me, I remained emotionless and silent, unwilling to converse with her whatsoever. After Masie threatened to call the cops since new customers had arrived and having Shannon’s toxic self around was bad for business, it was Shannon’s cue to leave.