“Jane, what are you doing here?” I asked her once more.
“I…” Her voice shook the same way Lucy’s had a moment before. “I wanted to see my daughter.”
“Your daughter?” I huffed, stunned by the nerve she had to walk into my home and use those words.
“I…can we talk, Graham?” Jane asked. Her eyes darted to Lucy, and she narrowed them. “Alone?”
“Anything you say can be said in front of Lucille,” I told her.
Lucy’s already bruised heart was taking another beating. “No, it’s okay. I’ll go. I should probably get some work done at the floral shop, anyway. I’ll just grab my coat.”
As she walked past me, I lightly grabbed her arm and whispered, “You do not have to go.”
She nodded her head slowly. “I just think it’s best if you two talk. I don’t want to cause any more issues.”
She gave my hand a light squeeze then let go. When she grabbed her coat, she walked straight out of the house without another word, and the room somehow filled with darkness.
“What is it you want, Jane?”
“It’s been a year, Graham. I just want to see her.”
“What makes you think you have any right to see her? You abandoned her.”
“I was scared.”
“You were selfish.”
She grimaced and shifted around in her shoes. “Still, you need to let me see her. As her mother, I deserve that much. It’s my right.”
“Mother?” I hissed, my gut filled with disgust. Being a mother didn’t simply mean giving birth. Being a mother meant late-night feedings. Being a mother meant sleeping next to a crib because your child was sick and you needed to watch their breaths. Being a mother meant knowing Talon hated teddy bears. Being a mother meant you stayed.
Jane was not a mother, not for a minute.
She was a stranger to my child. A stranger in my house.
A stranger to me.
“You need to leave,” I told her, uneasy about the fact that she apparently believed she could walk back into our lives after all this time.
“Are you sleeping with Lucy?” she questioned, throwing me for a complete loop.
“Excuse me?” I felt it form in my gut and start rising to my throat—my anger. “You abandoned your daughter months ago. You left without more than a bullshit note. You didn’t take a second to look back once. Yet now, you think you have the right to ask me something like that? No, Jane. You don’t get to ask me questions.”
She pushed her shoulders back. Although she stood tall in her high heels, there was a tremble in her voice. “I don’t want her near my child.”
I walked over to the front door and opened it. “Goodbye, Jane.”
“I’m your wife, Graham. Talon shouldn’t be around someone like Lucy. She’s a toxic person. I deserve—”
“Nothing!” I hollered, my voice hitting a new height of anger, panic, and disgust. “You deserve nothing.” She’d crossed a line by using the word wife. She’d crossed a bigger line by speaking ill of Lucy, the one who had stayed. She’d crossed the biggest line by saying how Talon should be raised. “Leave!” I shouted once more. The second I hollered, Talon started crying and I swallowed hard.
I had grown up in a home with screaming, and it was the last thing I ever wanted my daughter to witness.
My voice dropped low. “Please, Jane. Just go.”
She stepped outside, her head still held high. “Think about what you’re about to do, Graham. If you slam this door, it means we must fight. If you slam this door, it means there’s going to be a war.”
With no thought needed, I replied, “I’ll have my lawyers call yours.”
With that, I slammed the door.
28
Lucy
“Lyric’s back in town,” I said, hurrying into Monet’s Gardens where Mari was putting together a new window display.
She glanced over at me and gave me a small nod. “Yeah, I know.”
“What?” I asked, surprised. “When did you find out?”
“I saw her two days ago. She stopped by Parker’s place to talk.” The way the words rolled off her tongue so effortlessly and carelessly confused me. Who had taken my sister, my favorite person in the world, and changed her?
What had happened to my Mari?
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, my chest hurting as my heart began to crack. “You saw me yesterday.”
“I was going to mention it, but our last conversation didn’t lead to the best place. You stormed off,” she told me, picking up the vase and moving it over to the windows. “And what does it matter if she’s back? Her family is here, Lucy.”
“She abandoned them for months. She left her newborn in the NICU because she was selfish. Don’t you think it’s terrible for her to just walk back into Graham’s life? Into Talon’s life?”
“We don’t really get a say in that, Lucy. It’s none of our business.”
More pieces of my heart shattered, and Mari acted as if she didn’t even care.
“But…” Mari took a deep breath and crossed her arms, looking my way. “We do have to talk about the business. I thought I could hold out for a while longer, but since we’re here now, we might as well talk.”
“About what?” I asked, confusion filling me up.
“Lyric is a bit worried about how some of the things in the bookkeeping are adding up, and I mean, I think she’s right. I think we jumped the gun hiring Chrissy. We aren’t bringing in enough profit.”
“Why in the world are you talking to Lyric about the store?” Mari grimaced, and I cocked an eyebrow. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Don’t freak out,” she said, which of course made me freak out even more. “Remember when we were starting out and we couldn’t get a loan to cover the rest of our needs?”
“Mari…you said you got another loan from the bank. You said after months of trying, it finally went through.”
She continued, breaking her stare from mine. “I didn’t know what to do. You were so happy and excited to move forward after me getting sick, and I didn’t have the guts to tell you the truth. You gave up so much of your life for me, and all I wanted was to give you our shop.”
“You lied to me about the loan?” I asked Mari, my chest tight. “You asked Lyric for a loan?”
“I’m sorry, Lucy, I really am. With the medical bills and everything piling up, I knew I’d never be able to get a bank to help me—”
“So you went behind my back and asked Lyric for the money.”
“You would’ve never let me take it if I told you.”
“Of course I wouldn’t have! Do you think she gave it to you out of the goodness of her heart? Mari, everything is leverage with Lyric. She only does things that will benefit her.”
“No,” Mari swore. “She did this for us, to help us get back on our feet. There were no strings attached.”
“Until now,” I huffed, my hands falling to my waist. “If it weren’t for you taking money from her, letting her hold something so big over us, this wouldn’t even be a problem, Mari. Now she’s trying to tell you how to run our shop. We could’ve worked harder to get the loan ourselves. We could’ve done it, but now she wants to ruin everything we’ve built, all because you trusted the snake. We need to destroy the deal.”
“I won’t,” she said sternly. “I was talking to Parker about everything, and he thinks—”
I huffed. “Why would I care what he thinks? It’s none of his business.”
“He’s my husband. His opinion matters to me.”
“I don’t understand why. He abandoned you when you needed him the most. I was there, remember? I was the one who picked up your pieces after he destroyed you.”
“So what?” she asked.
“So what?” I replied, flabbergasted. “That means you should at least trust my opinion over his.”
She nodded slowly. “He said you’d say that.”
“Excuse me?”
“He said
you’d play the cancer card on me, reminding me that you were there for me when no one else was. Parker made a mistake, okay? And based on the past few months of your life, you know what it’s like to make a mistake.”
“That’s not fair, Mari.”
“No, you know what’s not fair? Holding it over my head every day that you stayed. Reminding me whenever I have any kind of feelings that you were the one who stuck around to help me during the cancer. So, what, am I now forever indebted to you? I can’t move on and live my life?”
“You think working under Lyric is going to be you living your life? All of this is happening because of Lyric’s need to control everything.”
“No, all of this is happening because you slept with your sister’s husband.”
“What?” I whispered, shocked by my sister’s words, by the way they fell from her lips so effortlessly, and I stood there for a second, stunned, waiting for her to apologize, waiting for her cold stare to soften, waiting for my sister, my best friend, my Pea to come back to me.
“Take it back,” I said softly, but she wouldn’t.
She’d been poisoned with love—the same love that had once destroyed her.
It amazed me how love could hurt so much.
“Look, Parker thinks…” She paused and swallowed hard. “Parker and I both think that Lyric helping take control wouldn’t hurt things. She’s a businesswoman. She knows the laws and how to help build up the shop. She wants the best for us. She’s our sister.”
“She’s your sister,” I corrected. “She’s your sister, and this store now belongs to you and her. I want nothing to do with it. I want nothing to do with either of you. Don’t even bother firing Chrissy. I quit.”
I walked around to the back, gathered all my belongings, and tossed them into a cardboard box. When I walked to the front of the store, I took the shop’s keys off my keychain and placed them on the front counter.
Mari’s eyes were still cold, and I could tell she wasn’t going to change her mind. I knew I wasn’t going to change mine either, but before I could leave, I had to speak my final truths—even though she’d think they were lies.
“They’re going to let you down, Mari. They are going to use your trust and let you down and hurt you. This time, though, it’s your choice. You have the free will to deal with the devils or not, and just don’t come crying to me when you get burned.”
“I know what I’m doing, Lucy. I’m not stupid.”
“No,” I agreed. “You’re not stupid. You’re just too trusting, which is a million times worse.” I swallowed hard and blinked back the tears that wanted to fall. “For the record, I never slept with him. I love him with every ounce of my heart. I love the way he loves me so quietly, but we never slept together, not once, because I could never get past the idea of doing something like that to my sister. Now, though, I see the truth—being a sister isn’t just defined by blood. It’s defined by unconditional love. Lyric was never my sister, and she never will be.” I took the heart-shaped necklace from around my neck and placed it in Mari’s hands. “But, you are my heart, Mari, and I know I’m yours. So, when they hurt you, find me. Find me and I’ll put your heart back together, and then maybe you can help me fix the cracks in my own.”
“Hey, where have you been? I’ve been calling you, but your phone went straight to voicemail,” Graham said as I stood on his front porch, exhausted. His eyes were filled with concern and a heavy dose of guilt as he held Talon in his arms. “Are you okay?”
I nodded slowly and stepped into his foyer. “Yeah. I stopped by Monet’s and got into another big fight with Mari. Then I went for a run to clear my head, and when my phone died, I realized my charger was here, so I just came to pick it up. I hope that’s okay.” I brushed past him and blinked my eyes a few times, trying to hide the emotion that was seeping from my spirit.
“Of course it’s okay, I was just worried.” His eyes stayed glued to me, his concern never easing up, but I tried my best not to notice as I walked into Talon’s room to grab my charger.
My heart was beating uncontrollably as I tried my best not to fall apart. My mind was spinning, thinking about everything that had just unspun with Mari in the shop. It was as if my favorite person in the whole world had been drugged and was being controlled by the hands of hate and confusion, yet was being told it was love driving her decisions.
It was heartbreaking to watch your best friend set herself up for heartache.
“Lucille,” Graham said, following after me.
I blinked.
Oh, Graham…
The comfort of his smooth voice went right to my soul.
“I’m okay,” I told him, walking past him with my charger. I avoided eye contact, because I knew eye contact would make me melt, and I couldn’t melt into him. Maybe Mari was right—maybe every feeling I had for the man before me was wrong.
If only love came with a timeline and instructions.
If it had, I would’ve fallen in love with him when our timing was right. If love came with a timeline, Graham Russell would’ve always held my heart.
“I think I’m going to just stay at a hotel for a few nights. I think it’s too messy to stay here knowing Lyric is back. I’m going to grab some of my things.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he told me. “You’re staying here. This is your home.”
Home.
If he knew me, he’d know that all my life, home was always shifting. I never planted my roots anywhere, and when it was time to move, it was time to move.
Even if going meant leaving my heartbeats behind.
“No, really, it’s okay,” I said, still avoiding eye contact. I didn’t want to fall apart, not in front of Graham. I’d wait until I got to the hotel to lose myself. Feel less, Lucy. Feel less.
That was almost impossible when I felt a tiny hand reach out to me and tug on my shirt. “LuLu,” Talon said, making me turn toward her. She had the brightest smile and the widest beautiful eyes, which were staring my way. Oh, how her smile made my heart beat. “LuLu,” she repeated, reaching out for me to lift her up.
It cracked my heart, which I was trying so hard to keep intact.
“Hey, honey,” I said, taking her from Graham’s arms. I knew it wasn’t right, knew she wasn’t mine to have, but that little girl had changed me in more ways than I could’ve ever imagined. She never looked at me with judgment for my mistakes. She never turned her back on me. She only loved unconditionally, fully, honestly.
As I held her so tight in my arms, my body started to shake. The idea that I wouldn’t wake up to her sounds every day was weighing on my soul. The idea that the past year with Talon and Graham would be the last year we all spent together was soul-crushing.
Yes, Talon wasn’t mine, but I was hers. All of me loved that child. All of me would give my world for her and her father.
I couldn’t stop shaking, couldn’t fight the tears that started flooding my eyes. I couldn’t change the person I’d always been.
I was the girl who felt everything, and in that moment, my whole world began to crumble.
I held Talon against me and cried into her shirt as she kept speaking her random words. My eyes shut tight as I sobbed against the beautiful soul.
This was where I had felt it for the first time.
What it felt like to be happy.
What it felt like to be loved.
What it felt like to be part of something bigger than myself.
And now, I was being forced to leave.
A hand fell against my lower back, and I curved into Graham’s touch. He stood behind me, tall like the oak trees in the forest, and lowered his lips against my ear. As the words danced from his mouth and into my spirit, I remembered exactly why he was the man I chose to love fully. When he spoke, his words forever marked my soul as his. “If you need to fall, fall into me.”
29
Graham
Jane came back the following day, as if she had a right to stop by whenever she pleased. I hat
ed the fact that I didn’t know what she had up her sleeve. I hated the unease I felt about the idea of her being back in town.
I knew she was capable of anything, but my biggest fear was that she’d try to take Talon away from me. If I knew anything about Jane, it was that she was intelligent—and sneaky. One never really knew what she was up to, and that made my skin crawl.
“Is she here?” Jane asked, stepping into the foyer of the house. Her eyes darted around the space, and I rolled my eyes in response.
“She’s not.”
“Good.” She nodded.
“She’s taking Talon for a walk.”
“What?!” Jane exclaimed, shocked. “I told you I didn’t want her around my child.”
“And I told you that you didn’t have a say in the matter. What exactly are you doing back here, Jane? What do you want?”
There was a moment where her eyes locked with mine. She looked nothing like her sister. There was no light in her eyes, only her dark irises that didn’t contain much heart within them, but her voice contained more gentleness than I’d ever witnessed before. “I want my family back,” she whispered. “I want you and Talon in my life.”
I couldn’t believe the nerve of her—to think she could just walk back into our lives as if she hadn’t taken a year-long vacation.
“That’s not happening,” I told her.
She tightened her fists. “Yes, it is. I know I made a mistake leaving, but I want to make it right. I want to be here for the rest of her years. I deserve that right.”
“You deserve nothing. Nothing. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to go to court, but if that’s the way it’s going to be, that’s the way it’s going to be. I’m not afraid to fight for my daughter.”
“Don’t do this, Graham. You really don’t want to,” she warned, but I didn’t care. “I’m a lawyer.”
“I’ll fight you.”
“I’ll win,” she told me. “And I’ll take her from you. I’ll take her away from this place if it means Lucy won’t be anywhere near her.”
The Elements Series Complete Box Set Page 100