The Complete Legacy Series: Books 1 - 6

by Paula Kay

  Chase nodded his head.

  “For some reason the one thing I did believe was that she wasn’t here to take Jemma. But it could be that I believe that because it’s hard for me to imagine that she’s really clean now. For good, ya know?” She looked at Chase for some reassurance.

  “I think you should be able to trust your instinct with her. And you know that you have Douglas to help you, should it come to that.”

  Blu felt herself tense up. “God, I hope I’m not wrong about this. About seeing her, I mean.”

  “Well, it makes sense to me, Blu. She’s obviously trying, and it will be up to you to decide how authentic you feel she is being.”

  “Well, I guess I feel that had I not called her back, I was risking her just turning up anyway, ya know? I really need to take my address off that website, now that I’m thinking about it.”

  She made a mental note to email Katie about that right away. They’d used it for the business address when the website had first gone up, which was ages ago. Things were different now, and she needed to think about Jemma’s—about their—safety now that people knew about her brand—about her.

  “I think that was the right call. She’s obviously pretty desperate to see you, coming out here and all,” Chase said.

  “I guess I’ll find out just what that’s all about.”

  Chase nodded his head in agreement.

  “God, I can’t believe I’m gonna be seeing my mother.” She sighed, wanting it to be over as she realized the nerves were coming now.

  Blu took the coffee that Victoria handed her, happy for the chance to catch up with her friend. Victoria and her family had been in Mexico for Spring Break so it had been over a week since they’d spoken. There was a lot to catch her up on.

  “Wow, girl. You have had a very eventful week, haven’t you?” Victoria said once Blu had given her the shortened version on everything from being in love with Chase to the meeting with her mother tomorrow.

  Blu nodded. “Yes, I can’t believe all that’s happened since I last spoke with you.”

  “Starting with this little shift in your relationship with Chase.” Victoria laughed. “You know that that makes me insanely happy for you, and it sounds like you’re doing a great job being open with everything.”

  “It does feel really huge.” Blu could feel her face growing warm.

  “What?”

  “I don’t wanna jinx it.” Blu laughed. “But, I dunno. I really feel like maybe he could be the one, ya know.”

  Victoria grinned. “Of course he could be. And I’d say, from everything I know, there’s a likely chance of that. He certainly has seemed to take to Jemma.”

  “Jemma adores him. Which of course make me so happy.”

  Jemma’s name coming up reminded Blu of her mother again, and she felt her heart beating faster just thinking about it.

  “So how are you feeling about seeing your mother? Maybe this will be a really good thing too,” Victoria said.

  “Maybe,” Blu said. “I’m trying not to get too ahead of myself. It’s actually really starting to freak me out.”

  “How long is she in town for?”

  “I’m not sure exactly. She said just a few days, so I suspect not many more after our coffee meeting,” Blu said.

  “So you would still have time to take Jemma to see her probably.”

  Victoria said it as if it were a fact, not a question, and Blu felt her stress level rising just thinking of it.

  “I really don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Blu said. “I’m certainly not mentioning anything to Jemma yet, if ever.”

  The two enjoyed the rest of their coffee, Victoria filling Blu in on their trip to Mexico and Blu suddenly wishing she could escape to Mexico before her meeting the next day.

  Victoria laughed at her friend. “You’re going to be just fine. Seriously. You’re one of the most resilient—and amazing—women I know. I have the feeling that this is just one more thing that is really going to work out for you.”

  Blu loved this about her friend. She was one of the most positive and supportive people she knew. She got up from the table to give Victoria a hug.

  “Thank you so much. For everything, I mean. For being such a great listener, for sure.”

  “As have you—been a good friend to me as well.” Victoria grinned. “And on that note, I think you should let me do you a favor tonight.”

  “What’s that?” Blu asked.

  “Let Jemma sleep over and you and Chase can have what sounds like a much needed night alone.”

  “Really?” Blu grinned.

  The girls would be starting back to school again on Monday, and they hadn’t seen each other in over a week, so it seemed like a good plan.

  Blu hugged Victoria again before calling to Jemma to come down and say goodbye; the girl happily agreed to the sleepover plans, convincing Blu that she didn’t need anything from home. Claire would loan her pjs and anything else that she needed.

  Blu pulled her phone out from her purse to text Chase as she walked the short distance back to her place.

  J is spending the night at Claire’s. Do u wanna have our own sleepover tonight??? xo

  She smiled after sending it, delighted about the way she was feeling about their relationship. And this even amidst all my stress, she thought. She heard her phone ding with an incoming text.

  Yes!! I’ll bring the champagne AND cook us a sexy dinner. Be ready. ;)

  And another ding, right after.

  Love u!

  She laughed, texting back the words that she hadn’t thought would be coming out of her mouth anytime soon with Chase—or with anyone for that matter. She did love him. God, she loved him a lot. And it wasn’t quite so scary any more

  The walls were coming down. She could feel it. Her thoughts turned towards the meeting tomorrow. She only hoped that when it came to her mother, she’d left enough to protect herself—to protect Jemma. She couldn’t relax that much. There was a reason she’d learned to be so hard and so protective of her daughter. Now was not the time to loosen up on those things. She was sure about that.

  Chapter 17

  Blu woke up to the delicious smell of bacon, grinning as she was reminded of Chase and the wonderful night that they’d spent together. She felt completely content and loved in a way that she’d never felt before. She pulled the covers up around her face, wanting to spend just a few more moments in bed with her thoughts, eager as she was to kiss the man downstairs cooking for her.

  She glanced over at the clock beside her bed, noting the time. In two hours she’d be driving to meet her mother. God, the thought made her heart pound. Even now, she debated canceling, but every time she thought of doing so, she reminded herself of the possibility of her mom’s turning up at the house, and that was the last thing that she’d want. For Jemma to see her.

  She sighed. No, she was doing the right thing. She was sure of it now. She was very curious to see her mother after the brief phone conversation they’d had. She had sounded so different. She’d find out soon enough, Blu thought as she finally got out of bed, pulling on her thick terry robe and making her way downstairs towards her gorgeous man as well as the food that she’d guessed was waiting for her in the kitchen.

  She stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, unnoticed by Chase, who was reading the newspaper and sipping his coffee at the breakfast table. The fact that he was shirtless shocked her in a good way, causing her to smile at her unbelievable luck to have found a man who was not only one of the kindest people she’d ever met, but sexy as hell too.

  Chase glanced over at her just then, his face erupting in a big grin as he got up to walk towards her. As if he was reading her mind, his hands came around her small waist and his lips crushed hers in a way that made Blu consider leading him back up to the bedroom. God, she loved how passionate he was. It was hard to resist. She laughed at all of the thoughts going on in her head.

  Chase pulled away to look at her. “Hey, what’s so funny?”
He smiled.

  “Oh, if you could read my mind right now,” Blu said, teasing him.

  “Oh yeah? What’s in that beautiful, sexy mind of yours?” he teased her back.

  “Everything that I don’t have time for this morning.” She grinned, taking his hand as she made her way into the kitchen. “Something smells fantastic, by the way.”

  Chase led her over to the small table. The cool morning breeze coming in from the ocean felt lovely, and the fact that this amazing man was serving her breakfast made the morning feel like something out of a movie.

  “You sit. Let me get you a cup of coffee,” Chase said.

  Blu accepted the coffee that he handed her, knowing that he’d made her favorite Italian blend, strong and black, just the way she liked her first cup.

  Chase proceeded to lay out a beautiful spread of omelets, bacon, and fruit for the both of them, and suddenly Blu was famished as she dug into it all.

  “Oh my god. This is so good,” Blu said, barely swallowing the food in her mouth before speaking.

  “Do you like it?” Chase grinned as he too dug into his own food. “I figured that you’d have a long day ahead of you, and I know that you usually don’t take time for more than toast and coffee in the mornings.”

  “That is correct,” Blu said between mouthfuls. “And I do appreciate it—and you—very much.”

  Chase reached across the table for her hand. “And I appreciate you very much—especially after last night.” He winked.

  Blu felt her face growing slightly warm, feeling embarrassed, but also more comfortable with him than she’d ever felt. “Well, I should say the same—oh magnificent lover of mine,” she teased.

  “I like the sound of that—being your lover.” He laughed, then put on a more serious face. “But you do know that I want more than that? To be clear.”

  “Well, to be clear—I want more than that too,” Blu grinned, really enjoying their playful morning banter.

  What would it be like to have this every day with him? She tried to put the thought out of her head for the time being. There’d be time for making plans about their relationship later. Her stomach lurched as her thoughts turned to the upcoming meeting with her mother. She hoped she’d be able to make plans anyways.

  Chase looked thoughtful; Blu noticed him watching her as she finished her breakfast, enjoying the easy silence and the beautiful view out the nearby window.

  “So how are you feeling?” Chase asked. “About your meeting, I mean?”

  Blu took a deep breath as she considered the question. She’d had such a mix of emotions, none of which were exactly pleasant. “I’m not sure. I do feel nervous and also very skeptical. Part of me wonders still if I should just cancel, go with my first instinct to not see her at all. I mean, I could do that.”

  “Right. You could,” Chase agreed, but Blu knew there was more on his mind.

  “But?” Blu said.

  “But wouldn’t you always wonder about it? About her and everything that she’s said about being clean now? About how much she’s changed?”

  “Yes, there’s that, and also the fact that I’m guessing she knows where I live because of the website. Truthfully, that more than my curiosity is probably what’s driving me not to cancel. The fact that I don’t wanna risk her coming here—and Jemma seeing her.” Even the thought of that now made her feel ill.

  Chase was nodding his head.

  “But yeah, I suppose that I am curious too.” Blu paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “She really did sound so different on the phone.”

  “Well, I’m proud of you.” He squeezed her hand. “For taking the chance. I know it’s not an easy thing for you at all.”

  Blu nodded, grateful once again for Chase’s steady presence these past few weeks.

  “I’m here for you, and I know that Gigi, Douglas, and Lia are here for you as well. If something goes wrong, you’ll have the help that you need to make it okay.” He was looking intently at her from across the table. “I promise you that, Blu. That everything’s going to be okay.”

  And she believed him.

  Blu sat waiting in the coffee shop, sipping her latte and trying to calm her nerves. She’d suggested a popular spot that she knew would be easy to find, and was happy that she’d arrived fifteen minutes early to choose a table and try to relax a little bit after her racing thoughts during the drive down. She chose a table in the corner where she had a good vantage point for seeing the people as they walked into the cafe.

  Her mind flashed to the last time that she’d actually seen her mother. Blu had mistakenly given her the address of her apartment one time and she’d turned up, pounding on her door and begging for help. Not wanting to disturb the neighbors, Blu had let her inside, disturbed by her black eye but not surprised at all. Nothing had surprised her about her mother at that time—she’d seen it all. The bruises, the track marks on her arm, the dirty hair, and the stench of someone who couldn’t be bothered to bathe.

  That wasn’t the first time that she’d asked for Blu’s help either. She always needed money, needed something that Blu had discovered that she couldn’t give her. She’d tried; she’d tried a lot when she was younger. She wanted to believe that she could be strong enough for her mother. That once she had moved out—away from Harold—her mother would somehow find the courage to get some help too. But that never happened.

  Things had only gone from bad to worse. Jemma was born and then Blu’s mother was headed off to prison for at least a year, she’d been told. No chance of the baby getting to know her, and Blu knew that it was for the best. She wasn’t an influence that Blu had ever wanted the child to grow up around. That had been nine years ago, yet it was really hard for Blu to imagine her mother walking through that door as anyone other than that sad woman from her past.

  Blu glanced at her phone to check the time and when she looked back towards the door, she saw her. Her heart beat quickly and she had to take a few deep breaths as she searched her brain for a cue as to how to react to this woman walking towards her with a big smile on her face. A woman who looked nothing like the one that Blu had been imagining.

  Chapter 18

  This woman, walking towards her in the cafe, held a vague resemblance to the one of Blu’s earliest childhood memories. The good memories, before everything went bad. Before Blu started school and before her mom met Harold; she had distant memories of a happy home back then. One that had the normal everyday stresses of that of a single woman trying to raise a young daughter on her own, but she remembered the laughter during that time, when it was just her and her mom. And the woman standing beside her now looked like an older version of that younger, happier mom.

  “Blu?” She was awkwardly standing next to her at the small table and Blu knew that she was waiting for her to stand up, to allow her the hug she’d been waiting these past days to administer. But she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. There’s was nothing comfortable about the moment, and all she could do was gesture towards the seat across from her.

  “Have—have a seat. Please. Let’s get you something to drink.” Blu didn’t recognize her own strained voice. She called the waitress over, and her mom ordered a black coffee. With the drink ordered, the two were left staring at one another across the table. Her mother seemed much more at ease than Blu did, and this oddly made her more curious about how this was going to go.

  She was staring at Blu with a wide smile. “You look so great. Incredible, really.”

  “Thank you,” Blu managed to croak out.

  “Thank you again, so much, for meeting me. I know this must seem pretty sudden to you.”

  Blu nodded her head as her mom continued, trying not to be too distracted by the way she looked to miss what she was saying. But she had to admit that Linda looked very healthy, not at all like someone who was doing drugs, living the lifestyle that had haunted Blu’s memories whenever she’d let herself remember her mother and earlier times.

  “Sorry, what was th
at?” She was very distracted, and needed to get a grip so that she could pay attention to what her mother was saying.

  Her mother smiled. “I was just saying how amazing it was to see you on TV. You always did have an incredible sense of fashion. Even as a little girl, playing dress-up.”

  Blu pasted a fake smile on her face and nodded. In her head, she recalled that her memories of playing dress-up had to do with escaping the nightmare that was playing out in her living room. Usually one to do with her mom getting punched around by Harold or both of them passed out in a drunken stupor.

  “How—how long are you in town?” Blu couldn’t think of what to say, and her own feelings of awkwardness didn’t seem to be getting any easier.

  “I’m leaving on Saturday.”

  Blu counted four more days in her head.

  “Have you been here before—to San Diego?” The small talk was nearly unbearable, but she didn’t know her way around it. It was just all too weird.

  “No. I—I only came here to see you.” She looked at Blu tentatively, as if waiting for her approval to continue.

  Blu looked up, granting her the go-ahead with her eye contact, which wasn’t easy for her. She knew it was necessary if anything real was going to come of this meeting. And she’d come this far.

  “I had to see you—to tell you that I’ve changed.” She reached across the table for her daughter’s hand and Blu instinctively pulled it away.

  “You do look good,” Blu said quietly. “I wouldn’t have recognized you. Anywhere else, I mean.”

  “It’s been a long time, Blu. A lot’s happened. I’m not the person that you last saw all those years ago. Before you—before you and Jessica left.”