Luke (A Cocky Cage Fighter Novel Book 8)
Page 3
Chapter Two
Megan
After Lennox passes out on the living room floor while watching his favorite show, I pick him up and carry him to his Paw Patrol bed to tuck him in. Then, I call my aunt and tell her what’s been weighing heavily on my mind ever since the incident at the grocery store this afternoon.
“Hey, girl. How are you and my little man doing getting settled in?” Aunt Pattie says when she answers the call.
“Hey. Not so good,” I admit with a sigh as I flop down on the sofa with my legs up on the other end.
“Why? What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Of all the hundred and fifty thousand people in this town, guess who I ran into today,” I explain.
“A Campbell?” she replies on a gasp.
“Yep. Not just any Campbell, but Mrs. Campbell, who proceeded to cause a scene when she demanded a DNA test to prove Lennox is Eli’s.”
“Oh, shit,” Pattie mutters.
“Exactly.”
“So, what are you going to do?” she asks.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I recall the awkward telephone conversation I had earlier, and my reluctant agreement that I’m already starting to regret.
“I…I don’t really have a choice now. Maybe we shouldn’t have come back here. I should’ve stayed there and kept looking for a job…”
“I miss you and Lennox like crazy, but deep down you and I both know the real reason you went back. You had to, Meg. Hiding out here for years, pining away wasn’t good for you.”
“You’re right. It’s just, facing them now is going to be so hard,” I whine.
“If it were going to be easy, you would’ve done it before now. You’re not a scared little teenager anymore, sweetie. Time to own up to your decisions, make things right, for yourself and for Lennox.”
“I know,” I admit just as I hear a soft knock on the door. “Shit, Pattie, I’ve got to go. Someone’s here, and I have a pretty good guess who it is.”
“Good luck, Meg. Love you and miss you. Give Lennox a kiss for me.”
“I will, and he misses you like crazy,” I tell her as I get up and start for the front door. “Come visit us soon. Love you,” I say before ending the call, even though I know my aunt won’t step foot in the same state as my mother.
Taking a deep breath, I gather my courage so I can open the door and face the music.
Why did I think moving back to this town was a good idea? Other than the obvious, I really didn’t have much choice. Since graduating in May with my nursing degree, I’ve applied for every job under the sun without a single callback. So when my mom’s friend on the Wake County School Board emailed me about their opening, it was a blessing and yet very ironic that I would finally be moving back home to teach sex education, of all things. Now, I’m definitely second-guessing that decision.
Not wanting Lennox to wake and stay up half the night, I force myself to finally unlock the front door and open it, fully expecting to see Eli’s mother on the other side.
“Luke,” I inhale in surprise as I take in all of the muscular blond man.
Instead of Mrs. Campbell, I come face to face with Eli’s brother for the first time since the night of his funeral. The night we were both an emotional mess, and I stupidly initiated sex with him.
“Hey,” Luke says quietly, and I have to look up to meet his eyes since he’s so much taller and broader. Did I mention hotter? He’s all grown up, which makes sense. Luke was just sixteen when I last saw him, and now he’s twenty.
“Hey,” I reply. “My mom tell you where to find me?” I ask, figuring she’s ratted me out to the Campbells. Again. Neither my mom nor dad will actually speak to me or see their own illegitimate grandson, but my mom has no problem telling everyone my business.
“Yeah, she did,” Luke answers with a nod before his blue eyes lock with my green ones and his jaw clenches. “Meg, I’ve got to know. Is he mine?” he asks.
Oh, God.
This is going to be so much harder than I thought. They’re just words, one sentence, so why is saying it so damn difficult?
“Why don’t you come in so we can talk?” I offer, prolonging the inevitable by opening the door wider for him to step through.
Luke hesitates before finally moving forward, smelling like the clean, comforting scent of leather and berries as he walks past me in jeans and a black tee with a red logo on the front that hugs his broad chest nicely. He looks different all filled out, yet also the same as when I last saw him a lifetime ago. God, he reminds me so much of Eli.
Once I shut and lock the door again, I lead him to the living room where Luke takes a seat on the sofa. Before I can move past him to the loveseat, he grabs my arm and pulls me down next to him, making me gasp in surprise. Something else unknown stirs deep inside of me at his assertiveness.
“Talk to me, Meg,” he says, his face just inches away from mine.
So, I swallow down my guilt and look him in the eye to tell him what he came here for.
“He’s Eli’s son.”
Jerking away from me, Luke asks, “You’re sure? I mean, how can you be sure?”
His young, handsome face is pinched, and his furrowed brow shows hurt and devastation. I was expecting Luke to be relieved, thankful that he won’t be required to become a father at twenty.
“How do you know, Meg?” he demands again.
“Because when I was, ah, pregnant, the ultrasounds were able to determine the conception date. It was, um, two weeks before…”
“Before the accident?” Luke questions. “But I thought…I could’ve sworn that you were…” Luke stammers while getting to his feet and combing his fingers through his blond hair. “So you mean you were not a virgin the night you and I…?”
“No,” I tell him. “And I was already pregnant. I just didn’t know it.”
“Wow, you slept with Eli too,” Luke mutters to the ground before taking in a shaky breath that makes his broad chest rise. “You’re sure he’s Eli’s?” he looks up and asks me again, and I give him a quick nod. “Then why did you lie to my mom?”
Shit.
“She…she caught me off-guard, and I didn’t want to tell her everything in front of Lennox. He’s too young…” I start to explain when Luke interrupts.
“Lennox?” he repeats with a smile.
“Yes. Lennox Warner,” I answer.
“That’s a really good name, and sort of ironic actually,” Luke says with a creased forehead. “I was born right after Lennox Lewis’s fight against Ray Mercer in Madison Square Gardens. My mom had already picked out the name Luke from the Bible, but my dad’s a big boxing fan, so he tried to convince her to name me Lennox instead,” he tells me before the smile slips off his face. “So, they decided to let Eli be the tie breaker. Since he was only two and couldn’t say Lennox...”
“He named you Luke,” I finish the story that Eli loved to tell everyone about how he named his little brother.
“Yeah,” he replies. “No middle name?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“And I’m so sorry my parents and I kept this news from your family. They pretty much pretend Lennox doesn’t exist. Actually, they’ve never asked, and I’ve never told them who his father is. They preferred to just blame my aunt for letting me be so promiscuous after I went to live with her…”
“How can they not know he’s Eli’s? My mom said he looks just like him,” Luke says sadly. After glancing around at the scattered toys in the living room he goes over and picks up one of the picture frames on the mantel, a photo of Lennox playing on the beach in California this past summer. “He’s a really cute kid.”
“Lennox definitely takes after his father,” I tell him honestly. “He’s asleep right now, but maybe I can bring him over to your parents’ house tomorrow? After I leave work?”
“Yeah, that would really make my mom happy,” he says as he places the picture frame back down. “She still misses Eli so much and occasionally falls into a pretty miserable depression.”
“Well, I guess I better get going,” Luke says suddenly before he starts toward the front door. Just as he reaches for the knob, he turns around abruptly and asks, “Why did you leave? Was it because of what we did?”
As I get to my feet to show him out, it takes me a second to answer that question since, with all the worry of Lennox’s paternity, I wasn’t prepared for it. So, I tell him the truth.
“No, of course not,” I assure him. “After what happened with Eli, my parents thought spending some time away from here would be good for me. I’m not sure if they were really worried about me or just didn’t want to deal with me...” I explain. “Anyway, my aunt Pattie took better care of me than my parents ever did.”
“I missed you, and I’m glad you’re back,” Luke says quickly before pulling the door open. “See you tomorrow.”
“I missed you too,” I say into the silence after he’s gone. “More than you’ll ever know.”
And only then do I allow the tears I was holding back to fall.
Chapter Three
Luke
“I can’t believe Mom was right,” I tell my dad as I rinse the dishes and he helps clear the table. After I made breakfast, Mom went shopping to buy who the hell knows what for the three-year-old she intends on spoiling before she meets him.
“She may be emotionally fragile and sometimes irrational, but she would’ve recognized her own grandson from a mile away,” Dad says with a rare, genuine smile. “I just wish we had known back when Megan first found out. Maybe it would’ve helped give your mom something good to focus on.”
“Yeah,” I agree, my brow furrowed in thought. “I wonder why Megan kept it from us.”
My dad clears his throat before he answers. “She was young and still grieving. Maybe she was afraid of losing him, thinking we would try and take custody. Who knows? The good thing is that she’s back now and willing to let us be a part of her son’s life.”
“Maybe,” I agree as I think it over.
“Well, I better get going. See you this afternoon,” he says from the doorway. “Love you, son.”
“Sure, see ya. Love you too,” I tell him absently, my mind still trying to make sense of everything.
Last night I didn’t sleep much, too busy thinking about how Meg is even more gorgeous than she was before she left. I thought that after all the time that’s passed, the sight of her wouldn’t pack the same haymaker punch as when I was a teenager. Boy, was I wrong. I could barely form a string of words when she opened the door because I wanted to kiss her, to touch her like the night we were together. My mind’s been replaying the night I lost my virginity over and over again nonstop since I left her house. I thought for sure Megan was a virgin too based not only on what she said about Eli not wanting her but also the fact that I washed away what I thought was the proof of her first time down the drain. Obviously I must have been mistaken if my brother is the one who got her pregnant. And I was certainly in a state of turmoil that night, especially after Meg told me to leave and I had to come back to the house full of people mourning Eli. It was a guilty slap in the face, making me feel even shittier about what I had done in a moment of weakness. I let my longtime, unrequited feelings for Meg cloud my judgment and used her as a temporary escape from reality. Which is all she was doing with me too. Worst of all, I betrayed my dead brother. Yet, I didn’t regret it even if it was wrong. What I regretted was thinking I may have taken advantage of Meg when she was upset.
Two days later when I went to tell her I was sorry, it was a knife to the gut finding out she had left without even saying goodbye, making me feel horrible. For weeks I kept asking her parents about her, wondering when she would be home until three months or so later when they finally told me the heartbreaking news --- Meg had decided to stay and live in Arizona with her aunt. Permanently.
Everything in my life was turned upside down, and yet there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it. Over the months and years, I kept thinking about Meg but had given up hope that I would see her again, until yesterday. And now she’s back for good and brought my brother’s son with her. I’m an uncle, and it’s exciting that I get to spend some time with both of them tonight.
A few hours later, my mom returns home with her SUV packed full of goods. She bought a new digital camera for a million photos, and of course a slew of toys, including a huge train set, a Power Wheels monster truck, and some of Eli’s favorite childhood movies like An American Tale, Shrek, and Ice Age.
“Wow, Mom. You do know it’s only the end of August and that Christmas is still four months away, right?” I ask her as she sits on the floor and starts opening packages. “And shouldn’t you have maybe waited for a DNA test first just to be sure –”
“Nonsense,” she interrupts with a dismissive wave of her hand through the air. “I don’t need any tests to prove what I knew within the first thirty seconds of seeing him. Besides, Megan admitted to you that he’s Eli’s last night. This is your brother’s son, and we need to take care of him, show him all the love…all the love he’ll miss out on…from his father…”
Annnnd my short reprieve is over.
Mom starts boohooing so hard she ends up in the fetal position on the carpeted floor.
Jesus Christ.
She was so happy and doing so good until she started thinking about Eli missing out on seeing his son grow up. Lennox will never know his father other than in photos and home videos. The most fucked up thing is, I can’t help but think that a few days later and he could’ve been my son. Idiotic thoughts, yet there they are, creeping up and making me jealous of my dead brother.
Sorry again for being so shitty, Eli, but I’m thinking you should forgive me since you left me here alone to deal with our mother’s never-ending grief.
I grab a box of tissues and a throw blanket from the hall closet to cover my mom. Sitting the tissues within her reach, I kneel down on the floor and kiss the top of her head, hugging her while sounding like a broken record when I say, “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“He…he would’ve been…a good father,” she replies through the sobs.
“I know, Mom. But you can’t breakdown like this in front of a three-year-old. You’ve got to keep it together for him, okay? We’ll be his family and make sure he knows who his father was, but Megan’s not gonna let you keep seeing him if you cry and upset him.”
“Okay,” she answers, pushing herself up into a sitting position. “Okay. I can be strong,” she promises and then throws her arms around me again.
“I know you can,” I tell her halfheartedly while she cries against my chest. “Just try not to think about what Eli’s missing out on but what he’s giving you, a part of him that you can hold and love again.”
What I want to tell her is to stop wallowing in pity for Eli, who isn’t here, and save it for his son, who is gonna grow up fatherless. That poor little guy got the shittiest deal by far. So much of a person’s identity comes from the two people who gave birth to them, love them, and raise them, yet Lennox will always be missing an entire half of himself. And Meg must have had her hands full trying to deal with all of the responsibility of raising a child on her own while she was so young.
Holy shit!
That’s when I remember that there wasn’t a man at Meg’s house last night when I stopped by, and I don’t remember seeing any rings on her finger. If Lennox is Eli’s, then maybe that means she’s not seeing anyone. And if not, now’s my chance, not just to finally be with Megan, but to help fill the place Eli left behind.
After all these years, this is it.
Tonight, when she brings Lennox over, I’ll find out if she’s seeing anyone; and if not, I’ll ask her out. We could even bring Lennox along, or I bet my parents would love to babysit.
After everything has been going to hell for so long, maybe my luck is finally about to change.
; Chapter Four
Megan
“Sweetie, do you remember me telling you that your daddy lives very far away?” I ask my son, glancing at him in the rearview on the drive over to the Campbells' home.
“Uh-huh,” Lennox replies, happily kicking his feet back and forth in his car seat.
“Well, today we’re going to see his family, your daddy’s mom and dad. They’re your grandparents.”
“Okay,” Lennox agrees like usual, laidback and easygoing just like his father. Or at least what I remember about him…
Pulling up in front of their large, brick home, I park and get out to unbuckle Lennox. With his small hand in mine, I lead him down the sidewalk and up the three tall steps to the front door. Nancy’s waiting by the time Lennox climbs them with one slow foot raised at a time. Even though she’s smiling, her eyes are full of tears.
“Can you say hi, Lennox?” I squat down and ask him.
“Hi,” he repeats with a friendly grin, apparently not recognizing Nancy from the scene at the grocery store.
“Nice to meet you, Lennox,” Nancy says, standing frozen as she takes him in again, from his angelic curls down to his size three Nikes.
“Can you give Nancy a big hug so she can see how strong you are?” I ask him, since I can tell by the way she’s wringing her hands that she probably wants to pick him up and squeeze him but is trying to hold back.
Without further encouragement, Lennox walks up to Nancy and wraps his arms tightly around her legs. She bends down to hug him back.
“Wow, you are so strong,” she says to him. “Just like your daddy.”
“My daddy lives very far away,” Lennox looks up and tells her.
“That’s right,” Nancy replies. “He’s way up in heaven, but he sent us you, you sweet little angel. Now, how about you come on in? I have a few surprises just for you,” she tells him. “I bought him a few presents. All age appropriate of course. I hope that’s okay,” she says to me.