Shelter Me(74)

“I understand why you did what you did,” I begin, “But you have no idea how hard all of this was. I loved him, Vincent. I have always loved him, and I can forgive you for keeping us a secret from him because I did the same thing. What I can’t forgive you for is the fact that you didn’t give Luke a choice. He’s not that nineteen year old young man anymore. He should have made this decision himself. You should have told him.”

“I know I should have told him. I haven’t even told Camillia about this yet, nor have I told my son. There is nothing I can do about these past seven years and I will regret most of them until the day I die, but I did what I felt was best for everyone. I can’t change what I have done.”

Picking up my purse, I stand up and turn to him.

“When are you planning on telling Luke about this? You do know I won’t keep this from him, don’t you?”

He stands up and looks at me.

“I plan on telling him as soon as I get back to the office today.”

He goes to pull me in for a hug and I take a step back from him.

“Shayne, please forgive me?”

I nod my head.

“I don’t think I am the one you have to worry about, Vincent.”

I turn and leave him standing by the bench. As soon as I get into my car, I look at myself in the mirror and try to clean myself up the best I can before going to pick up Lucy. I sit there for a few minutes and think about everything he told me. Putting all of the pieces together, I realize that Vincent did what he thought was best at the time and I can’t hate him for that, but knowing Luke like I do, he is never going to forgive his father for keeping us apart.



************



The drive back home seems so much longer having so much on my mind. I am very worried about everything that is going on right now. I believe that Luke and his family are doing everything to keep Lucy and me safe, but what about them? Who is keeping them safe?

Sighing to myself, I decide that when Luke and I have a chance to talk about all of this tonight we will work it out together, so as I pull into Bubba and Jen’s drive to get Lucy I check myself one last time in the mirror to make sure my appearance gives nothing away. When I knock on the door, I am greeted by my cute little daughter who is wearing purple high heels and has makeup all over her face. I look around and when I see Jen sitting on the couch, I burst out laughing.

“Oh my God! You two look so beautiful.”

Lucy shuts the door and saunters in with her shoes clacking on the hardwood floors. She goes and sits in front of Jen in a little chair.

“Come sit over here, Mommy. Let me do your makeup, too.”

I sit down on the couch and let her do my makeup. The three of us sit there for almost an hour laughing and joking around until Jen has to get up to get Zoe from her nap. After Jen comes out with a freshly changed Zoe, I take Lucy into the bathroom and clean us both up the best I can. When we come out, I take Zoe from Jen so she can go and clean herself up as well.

Leaving Lucy sitting on the living room floor, Jen and I go into the kitchen with Zoe. She offers me a beer and we sit at the kitchen table for a few minutes sipping our drinks in silence until Jen speaks up.

“I can tell that something is bothering you, Shayne. Would you like to talk about it?”

Shaking my head no, I take a sip of my beer.

“I really need to talk to Luke about all of this first.”

“Is everything okay with you and Luke?”

“Yes, everything is perfect between us. It’s just that I learned some things today we need to talk about, and I don’t know how he is going to react to it all.”

“Well, why don’t you let me help you out by letting Lucy stay here tonight? The two of you can stop here tomorrow and we can all go to the beach together.”

“You know what? If you don’t mind, that would be a great idea. I will make it up to you by taking this cute little girl here one of these days.”

Finishing up my beer and saying goodbye, I thank Jen for everything and head back home. I take a long, hot shower and then go sit on the back porch waiting for Luke to come home.





Chapter Twenty-Four



My nerves are all over the place as I sit here waiting and then suddenly I hear what sounds like glass breaking in the kitchen. I jump up and walk into the house and find Luke standing at the counter with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. Seeing me approach, he lifts his head and looks at me.

We stand there looking at each other for a few minutes and then he takes a long swig and points the bottle directly at me.

“So, as much as I don’t want to be pissed off as hell at you for forgetting to fucking mention to me that you were seeing my father today, I am,” he says with so much pain and anger in his voice. “Is this how we are going to start our relationship? By keeping fucking secrets from each other?”