by Lee Wardlow
Inside Skylar started looking through the freezer then the fridge for items she wanted to make Ava’s favorite dinner. She was bent over at the waist looking through her kitchen cabinet when Luka joined her.
“Although I love the view we should talk.”
“Shut up,” she grumbled.
“Now it’s your turn. Talk to me Skylar.”
“I don’t want to talk.” She kept taking things out looking for something in particular.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m looking for something?”
“What?”
Skylar sat on the floor. She stopped rooting through the cabinet and started to cry. Luka walked to her and sat beside her. Sitting cross legged for him was not an easy chore. He laid his hand on her arm and she shoved him away.
“What is wrong?”
“I’m losing Ava,” she cried.
“I was afraid that is what it was.” Skylar looked at him. “You are not losing Ava. You know better.”
“What?” She sniffed back her tears.
“Skylar, Ava loves you. I’m like a new toy that she hasn’t gotten bored with yet even I know that much about kids. I haven’t been put in the position to be the disciplinarian yet where she can get mad at me.”
Skylar laughed through her tears.
“So when do you think you’ll be the disciplinarian Luka?” Skylar asked him.
He chuckled. “Hopefully never,” he replied. “I know she just has to look at me with those eyes of hers and I’ll want to cave.”
Skylar pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She ran her fingers through her hair. “Inside,” she tapped her forehead. “I know the truth but in here,” she tapped her heart, “it’s a little more difficult to not feel fear that Ava will resent me for keeping you from her.”
His eyes met hers. Luka sighed heavily.
“I won’t let that happen Sky. As hurt as I was at finding out about her I guess I understand the level of pain you were in and the age you were the reasons you did what you did.
“The important thing is that we fix what we can now.” He lowered his eyes. “You don’t know what it meant to me when you came to me and told me we needed to protect her future. That you sought me out meant something to me. Skylar, it shows me no matter what you won’t shut me out of her life. I needed that.”
She propped her chin on her hands. “I won’t shut you out Luka. Ava needs you,” Skylar admitted.
“So we’ll make the appointment together tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’m using dad’s attorney. Is that all right with you? Your mom has been using him too since your dad passed away.”
“Who is that? Carmichael?” He asked.
“Yeah, Jason Carmichael.”
“That’s fine,” Luka said.
That night after dinner, Skylar met Luka coming out of Ava’s room. She went in to tell their daughter good night. Ava was reading a book. She laid it down on her stomach and glanced up at her mother.
“Momma, what ya doing?”
“Heading to bed Ava,” she told her. “I’m tired. Ramona and Brett are coming over tomorrow while Daddy and I go see the attorney if Mr. Carmichael can see us.”
“Why can’t I go with you?”
“Because the lawyer’s office isn’t someplace for you to be.”
Ava nodded. “Are you mad at me?”
“No sweetheart, I’m not. Why would you ask that?”
Her daughter’s eyes lowered, she wasn’t wanting to look at Skylar. She took Ava’s hand in hers. “Ava, what is it? You can tell me anything.”
“I was just afraid Momma that you were upset with me because I wanted to be a Shaw like Daddy, Grammy and my uncles.”
“I’m not.”
“I love you more than anything Momma,” Ava reassured her.
“I know.” But it was reassuring to hear her daughter say it.
“Maybe someday we’ll both be Shaw’s,” Ava suggested.
“I wouldn’t hold my breath Ava.”
Her daughter chuckled. “Goodnight Momma.”
“Goodnight Ava.”
Skylar slipped out of Ava’s room and shut the door. She was already lost in her book before the latch clicked shut. Ava always had a fondness for reading just like Luka. He was coming up the stairs.
“Good night Luka,” she said softly. Skylar was tired.
“Could we talk Sky?”
She kept going towards her room. She might have even picked up her pace. “Not tonight Luka. Too tired.”
She couldn’t let him into her room again Skylar knew what would happen. She would let him into her bed again. Her hand was on the doorknob when he said her name. She dropped her chin to her neck a little and sighed.
“What Luka?”
“I just wanted to say goodnight,” he replied.
She tilted her head a little to look at him. “Goodnight Luka.” Then she disappeared in her room and shut the door firmly.
Skylar slid to the floor with her back firmly against the door. Her head tilted towards the ceiling. “Give me strength Jesus to resist him,” she prayed. “I don’t have it in me to resist him on my own.”
Chapter 10
Skylar had made an appointment for them to see Jason Carmichael at ten that morning. She was showered and dressed in a flowered, flouncy skirt and bright red tank top. Her sandals matched her top.
She was sipping her coffee waiting for Brett and Ramona to arrive. They were watching Ava for her while she and Luka went into town to meet with Jason. Luka was showering now. He had spent the morning with Ava while she did chores. Once again, he offered to help her. Once again, she turned him down. She didn’t know how to make him understand that their relationship other than the one slipup was going to be about Ava. They couldn’t risk hurting their daughter if it didn’t work out.
He walked into the kitchen with Brett and Ramona who appeared even more chummy than the day before at the picnic. Brett hugged her to him.
“How you holding up?” He whispered.
“Just fine,” she answered.
“You don’t look fine.”
“Thanks.” She pushed him back before Ramona could get angry at them. Then she glanced at her sister. Ramona gave her a hug and a kiss and Skylar was surprised. No jealousy? No insecurity? What had changed?
“We wanted to talk to you two before we head out to Jason’s office?
Ramona was fixing a cup of coffee, she turned. “What about?”
“We’re having Jason do our wills while we’re there. Setting up a trust for Ava too,” Luka explained.
Skylar nodded. “We want you both to be named as Guardians should anything happen to us.” They glanced at each other. “Is that all right?” Skylar asked.
“You know it is,” Ramona answered for them. Her eyes sought Brett’s. “Even if for some reason we weren’t together we would make Ava our priority.” Brett nodded in agreement.
“I appreciate that,” Skylar told them. “You both know that is something that has always worried me.” She let the implication hang between them. Ramona understood what it was like to be without parents.
“Hopefully, we don’t have to worry about that Skylar,” Ramona told her.
“I hope not,” she agreed. “We had better get going.”
Luka drove the Escalade to town. They didn’t have far to go from Skylar’s ranch to Haley Cove where Jason’s office was located in the town square. He kept looking at her. She knew he was but she kept ignoring him.
The one thing that she hadn’t thought of was the Mayor’s office was located on the same side of the street as Jason’s office. Tag was standing at his assistant’s desk when Luka parked his big expensive truck. Skylar saw him do a double take as he leaned over the desk most likely staring down Donna Sue’s top. The woman had double-d sized breasts and she wore low cut tops. She is a late thirties woman but she is an attractive late thirties woman.
Luka went around to the bac
k of the Escalade and met Skylar slipping out of the truck. He shut the door and followed her across the street. She put her sunglasses in place to hide her eyes. Not that she cared what Tag was doing but she wanted to see what he would do next without him knowing that she was watching him.
As Skylar expected, he moved to the plate glass window. Arms crossed over his chest, he watched her and Luka traverse the intersection then enter Jason’s office. She knew him well; Tag had wanted to see who exactly was getting out of the expensive vehicle.
The bell at Jason’s front door tinkled through the space letting the occupants inside know that they had arrived. Jason’s niece entered the massive foyer from a back room.
“Hi, Skylar.”
“Hi Becca, how are you?”
“Doing well. Here for your appointment with Jason?” She asked eyeing Luka standing behind Skylar.
Becca was twenty-five, not much younger than Skylar. They had gone to the same school but hadn’t run in the same circles. Luka would have graduated long before Becca started at the high school. Being from a small town they knew each other though.
“I’ll let him know you’re both here,” Becca told them. Her long blonde hair was naturally light brown. Hair dye made it the color it was now. She crossed her long legs and turned her chair facing Luka and Skylar. Becca smiled at Luka. Skylar rolled her eyes. He glanced at Skylar ignoring Becca.
“Uncle Jason, Luka Shaw and Skylar Bradford are here to see you,” she hesitated while her uncle spoke to her. Becca’s long, tan leg swung back and forth. “I’ll bring them in just a few minutes then.”
Luka reached across Skylar’s lap and took her hand in his big hand giving it a squeeze. He smiled at her. She frowned at him. Skylar leaned a little closer to him. “What the hell are you doing?” She asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” he said.
“I’m not your protection. You’re giving Becca the wrong idea.”
“I’m giving her the right idea,” he whispered.
Luka held tight to Skylar’s hand irritating her. She kept her gaze lowered not wanting to watch Becca try to flirt with Luka. She leaned over.
“Is it always like this?”
“Like what?”
“Women flirting with you?”
“Hardly,” he replied. He glanced over at her. “You look beautiful today.” That is why he was staring at her.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“I can take you both to see Jason now,” Becca told them. “He’s ready.”
Luka rose, not releasing Skylar’s hand at first. Then he guided her with his hand on her lower back as they followed Becca to her uncle’s office. Her hips swayed just a little more as they followed her. Skylar glanced over her shoulder at Luka. He was looking down at her.
Becca opened Jason’s door and they walked into the spacious office lined by bookcases with law books. His big desk was covered in papers with a computer sitting off to the side. Jason was an older man about their father’s ages but he was still an attractive man with his dark hair slicked back. Long, touching the collar of his golf shirt. His dress slacks, neatly creased. He rose out of his chair and shook Luka’s hand first.
“Luka, nice to see you’ve come home to your roots, son,” Jason told him.
“Nice to be back home,” he replied.
Jason shook Skylar’s hand. He had helped with lots of things in relation to the ranch and the training business that she ran. He had helped her get and hold onto guardianship of her three younger siblings after her parent’s death.
“So what can I do for the two of you?”
They took seats across from Jason as he took his seat. “Jason, we need to establish Luka’s parentage of Ava whatever that entails. Getting his name on her birth certificate and changing her last name to Shaw.”
He appeared surprised. “Isn’t she kind of old to be changing her name?”
“It’s what she wants,” Skylar replied.
He nodded. “Easy enough,” he replied. “I’ll file the petition at the courthouse this week for the name change and to get her birth certificate changed at the same time with the new name and to add Luka’s name. I assume there is no doubt in your mind Luka?”
“No Jason. There is no doubt,” he replied with a bit of testiness.
“Don’t be offended,” Jason told Luka. “What else can I do for you?”
“We need to write wills to protect Ava in case something happens to us?” Skylar told him. “Brett and Ramona will be her guardians if something happens to both Luka and myself.”
Jason was making notes. “Do you want your assets set up in a trust till a certain age?”
“Yes,” Skylar said. “Fifty.”
Jason looked up at Skylar with confusion. “She’s terrible with money.” Jason laughed.
“Maybe she’ll get better as she matures,” Jason suggested.
“Jason,” Luka told him. “My funds are managed by this man.” Luka handed him a business card. Skylar watched him hand the card over to their lawyer.
“Do you want him to continue to manage the trust fund for Ava should something happen to you?” Jason asked.
“I don’t know why not. He’s done well by me.”
“Sounds good. I know Skylar’s assets. Can you give me a rough estimate of yours? Do you own a home?”
“I sold it before I moved back to Haley Cove,” Luka replied. “I wanted to make a home here now.”
“Any vehicles, recreational homes or vehicles, boats?” Jason asked.
“I haven’t had time for stuff like that. Only my Escalade,” Luka told him.
“Savings accounts? Retirement Accounts? Checking?”
Luka cleared his throat. “I have all of them. I can have Steve put Skylar down as my beneficiary with Ava as secondary on everything including the life insurance.”
Jason laid his pen down. “Do you think that is wise? You two aren’t married.”
“She’s the mother of my child Jason. She’ll take care of her if something happens to me.”
“What if you get married and have more children Luka?”
“Not happening,” he replied.
Jason had picked up his pen and started to write. He laid it down again. “I can’t change your mind? You can setup the beneficiary as Ava for it to go to her trust.”
“Listen to him Luka.”
He glanced at Skylar. “No. You’ll take care of Ava should something happen to me.”
“How much are we talking about Luka?” Jason asked.
He glanced down at the desk in front of him. Luka clasped his hands in his lap. “I have a life insurance policy that currently has my mother listed as beneficiary for ten million dollars.”
Skylar choked.
“I have a portfolio that Steve manages worth forty million.”
“I need water,” Skylar gasped.
Jason rose from the desk and walked to the hallway. “Becca, get me two bottles of water.”
It took several minutes but she eventually brought her uncle who was still standing in the doorway water. “Thanks kid,” he told her. He shut the door in her face. He handed one to Luka and opened the other one for Skylar. She gulped it down.
“You are not making me the beneficiary. That is too much responsibility. Put it in a trust for Ava and have Steve handle all the details or Jason. Somebody else just not me. I’ll ask for money if I need it. Otherwise, it will be there when Ave needs it for college or a car. Her first home. Please Luka, don’t do this to me.”
He dropped his chin. She knew he was thinking. “I trust you Skylar with my life.”
She swallowed hard. “I appreciate that Luka but that is too much responsibility. I want that money to be there when Ava needs it. I don’t want to risk it.”
“All right,” he told her. “Set it up with Steve so that Ava has a trust fund to be managed by Steve and you Jason. If Skylar needs money for Ava, it’s hers to use until Ava turns twenty-five then she can do whatever she wants with it but
my recommendation for her would be to continue letting you both handle her finances.”
“I’ll put that in the will.”
“Happy?” Luka asked Skylar.
“God yes,” she replied.
“Maybe you should let Steve tell you about my retirement account and my checking and savings so I don’t have to carry Skylar out of here.”
Jason chuckled. “That’s fine. Just let him know it’s okay to talk to me and I’ll include those in your will and he and I will work together to setup a trust fund for Ava.”
“Thanks Jason.”
“You going to the be executor’s of each other’s estates?” He asked.
They looked at each other. “You’ll guide me with his?” Skylar asked.
“Yes, most likely Steve and I will since his is beyond what I’m capable of as well.”
“Then yes,” Skylar replied. “If that is what you want?” She asked Luka.
“It’s what I want. Jason, I would also like to make a provision for my mother to ensure she has whatever she needs.”
“Absolutely,” he replied. “What did you have in mind?”
“I’m not sure. Something that says if she needs money for the ranch she has her own self-funding trust maybe? Does that make sense?”
“An account that she can draw from and if it gets low Steve funds it?”
“Yes,” Luka replied.
“Sure. I can work that out with him too.”
Luka looked at Skylar. “I don’t suppose you would let me setup something like that for you?” He asked her.
“Hell no,” she answered.
Luka licked his lips. Then he looked across the desk. “Set that up for Skylar as well in case she’s homeless someday and needs it.” She scowled at Luka hard. Then she turned her head away.
Jason made more notes. “Give me about a week, I’ll have the wills and the trust documents for you to sign. Sound good?” He asked.
“Thanks,” they both said at the same time.
Luka rose first from his chair. He shook hands with Jason. “I guess the cage fighting paid off Luka.”