Shelter Me(70)

“Oh, stop. Next damn subject, please.”

I know he is busy at work already as I can hear the noise from the construction site in the background.

“Listen, Luke told me everything about the other day with Ben, and I thank you for that.”

“He told you everything?”

I know Adam. The tone of his voice says that Luke hasn’t told me everything.

“Adam. What the hell happened?” I know I am not going to like what I hear.

“Jesus, Shayne. Don’t get all bent out of shape, here. All we did was rough him up a little bit.”

“You did what? Damn it, Adam! Why would you guys do that?”

“Listen, Shayne. I am not going to get into this with you. Luke told me he explained to you that there was bad blood between Ben’s family and his. Ben is the type of guy who won’t give up until he gets what he wants, so we had to make sure he understood that you and Lucy are off limits. It’s not like we beat the ever-loving shit out of him, but trust me, we both wanted to. Now, I am sure that Luke didn’t tell you because he knows you would get upset about this kind of shit, so just forget about it. We handled it like men do.”

I don’t say anything for a second or two so I know he knows I am pissed about this. I hate violence and he knows why.

“Just don’t let it happen again, Adam. You know why I hate violence. I have called you too many times after Erin’s ex-husband beat the shit out of her.”

“I know you do, cuz, but Luke doesn’t know any of that, so you can’t be pissed off at him.”

Knowing he is speaking the truth because I have never told Luke about this, I agree he is right and we chat for a few more minutes before we hang up. I look at the clock and realize it is almost time for me to leave, so I walk upstairs and make Lucy’s bed then go into our bedroom to make ours as well. I smile at myself when I think of it being ‘ours’. I finish up, grabbing my purse and phone before locking up. I jump into the car to go have lunch with Bubba.

Pulling into the parking lot of Bubba’s, I see that the place is packed with the lunchtime crowd. I step out of the car and look around, seeing all of the people heading toward the beach. I need to talk to Luke and see if he wants to bring Lucy to the beach for a few hours this weekend. I head inside and go straight to where Bubba and Jen are working behind the bar. I see an empty stool at the end and assume it is saved for me. I take a seat and clear my throat.

“Excuse me? What does a girl have to do to get some service around here?”

Both of them look down at me and Jen starts to laugh. Bubba lifts his eyebrow slightly.

“Well, it’s about fucking time you showed your smart ass mouth around here,” he says in his deep voice.

Slinging his towel over his shoulder, he saunters over to my end of the bar and places a soft kiss on my cheek.

“How’s it going, girl?”

Not being able to keep the huge smile off of my face, I tell him the truth.

“I am so happy, Bubba. I never thought I would ever feel this way again, and to see Lucy so happy is truly the best feeling in the world.”

He tilts his head and I can tell he is studying me to see if I am telling the truth.

“You really are happy, aren’t you?”

“I am,” I say.

“You know that no one wants you to be happy more than I do, right?”

Standing up and leaning myself over the bar, I pull my dear friend closer to me and place my arms around his neck and give him a tight hug. I push myself back and give him a smile.

“I do know that. So, how about a Corona and a burger? I’m starved.”

Grinning and shaking his head, he gets my beer and orders my burger. We continue talking about everything that has been going on with both of us. Both he and Jen work the lunch crowd and once it dies down, I ask them if they would like to get together this weekend at the beach. We decide that Saturday would be a great day and I send Luke a quick text asking him. He responds back immediately saying that it sounds great to him.

I sit and talk for a few more hours. Jen and I discuss getting together for a spa day. I think it’s a wonderful idea, but I tell her I want to wait until Erin gets here. Finally, I get up and hug both of them goodbye. As I’m pulling off, I decide that since I have a few hours left before Lucy gets home, I can drive to the cemetery to visit Aunt Judy’s grave.

Twenty minutes later, I am walking up to the gravesite. When I approach, I notice her headstone has been put in. Kneeling down, I place my hand on top of it and I feel a lone tear fall. I wipe it away with my other hand as I talk to my aunt and fill her in on everything that has happened in the past few weeks. I softly laugh to myself as I know she is smiling down on us. The one thing that she wanted out of life was to see both Adam and I happy.