by Jordan Marie
“You come near our sister again, and I’ll bury you so deep, the crows won’t even find your ass,” Blue threatens me, and his words don’t ring false at all. He’s usually the quiet one of the family, and right now I’m sure he’s completely serious. He delivers his own kick in my side.
I use my hands to push myself off the ground, feeling like a chump. Each of them add their little warnings, and then finally Black is back in front. He grabs some papers out of his back pocket and throws them down at me. “I thought better of you, man. You make me sick. Stay away from my sister, stay away from my family!” I watch as they walk away and then bring my attention back to the papers. One is a check from my dad’s account for fifty thousand, and the other is a note from our family attorney. As I read each line, I feel sick inside.
It’s money for an abortion. Petal is pregnant… with my baby…
Present:
“What the hell are you wearing?” I growl before I can stop myself. When Petal walks into the room, I instantly want to smack her ass and make her go put some clothes on. Is this what she thinks she’s going to wear out on a date with that douche canoe? She’d better think again.
“Luka? What are you doing here? Is River okay?”
“River’s fine. He’s with Mom.” Petal frowns at my words, and that pisses me off too. “Don’t give me that look. He’s fine. My father is out of town at some government conference.” She doesn’t want River around my father, and to be honest, I don’t either—at least not alone. Still, she should know I’d never let my son stay somewhere that wasn’t safe. My parents have been apart for years—a fact my father hates my mother for. It doesn’t matter she left him because he’s a fucking asshole. In my father’s eyes she’s the reason for his failed bid for congress.
“Fine. That still doesn’t tell me what you are doing here.”
“You are not going out with that fuckwad Craig.”
“How do you know I have a date?”
“Please. We live in a small town. The minute you said yes, it was spread from county line to county line. And while we are on the subject, what are you doing having your brother fix you up on dates?”
“Gee, I don’t know! Maybe because my ex was out on a date and they think that’s a sign that I need to be getting out more and stop grieving my marriage.”
“Like you grieved our marriage? You’re the one who walked out.”
“You’re being an ass right now, Luka.”
“That’s better than showing my ass. What the hell do you have on?”
“It’s a dress.”
“That’s not a dress. It’s a fucking bikini.”
“It’s a perfectly fine dress,” Petal argues, but she’s blushing so deeply she is practically glowing in the small foyer. “I was trying to look nice for my date. I wanted to look presentable.”
“You definitely look like you’re presenting something,” I respond, my voice a low rumble because every protective instinct I have is coming out.
“Did you come over here just to be an asshole?” Petal huffs.
“Hey, Luka. You want a beer?” Black asks, coming back into the foyer.
“He’s not staying,” Petal snarls.
“What the fuck were you thinking, Black? Setting Petal up with that piece of shit? Have you gone stupid?”
“What? Petal needs to start getting out there again. Her and Craig will have fun together, and since you’re watching River, she won’t have to worry about whose bed she sleeps in tonight,” Black says.
Petal’s squeak of surprise echoes after his words. Anger is firing through every part of my body. What the hell has happened to him since he moved to Dallas?
“You son of a bitch!” I growl, and I deliver a hard punch to Black’s face, and then another. Then, just because I’m fucking livid, I deliver yet another. Black doesn’t even try to defend himself; he falls to the hard tiled floor with a thud.
“Black!” Petal cries, diving to the floor after him in concern. I thought my anger was at least marginally satisfied until I see the flash of red silk between Petal’s legs. Her fucking dress is so short, you can see her panties. Jesus, the fabric is so small, it’s probably a fucking thong!
“You’re all as fucking nuts as your mother,” I growl, and I leave before I throw Petal over my shoulder and remind her of the one thing we always did right between us.
Because it sure feels like everything has gone horribly wrong right now.
10
Petal
“I need to talk to Petal,” Luka tells Mom, who is standing at the door looking like she’d like to kill him. I listen some distance away from inside the house.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Mom returns, not bothering to open the door.
“I want to talk to Petal,” he repeats.
“Well, boy, people in Hell want ice water, but they don’t get it, and you aren’t getting near my daughter again.”
“You can’t keep me from her. She’s having my baby.”
“You mean the baby you and that piece-of-shit-in-a-suit daddy of yours want her to kill?”
“I didn’t know she was pregnant, Ida Sue. I’ll be dealing with my father next. Right now, I just need to see Petal.”
His words should make me feel better, but I’m scared. I don’t know how to be a mother. I don’t know how to fight against Luka’s parents. They have money and influence in Mason, and what if Luka’s dad follows through on his threats and hurts my family? It’s all a mess.
“She doesn’t need to see you. You and your parents have done enough. You’ve nearly destroyed my girl. You aren’t getting your hands on her again.”
“I nearly destroyed her? Has everyone forgotten that I was the one she played for a fool? I was the one who had no idea who I was even dating! It was all a lie! All of it! She’s the one who nearly destroyed me, and now I find out that she’s pregnant? You want to stand there behind the door and act like your daughter was completely innocent, but her decisions have nearly annihilated my entire world.”
“I never meant for that to happen, Luka,” I tell him, coming away from the wall to look out at him. “I know you don’t believe me, but I swear hurting you was the last thing I ever wanted.”
I should have done what Mom said and just remained out of sight, but the anguish in his voice kills me. I’ve made so many mistakes, and I’m so scared of making more. Luka doesn’t believe me, but I love him. I love him so much.
“Petal—”
“I need to talk to him, Mom. I’ll be okay,” I interrupt her. I wish I had taken the time to clean up and put makeup on earlier. I feel defenseless standing in front of Luka wearing my old ratty sweat pants and Green Day t-shirt. He has to notice the deep circles under my eyes, too. Seems like I’ve been sick constantly since finding out I was pregnant. They may call it morning sickness, but it never stops.
“Petal, we need to discuss you being pregnant. This isn’t about us anymore. We have to think about the baby,” Luka urges me, and nausea hits me in waves.
“I know what your father said. I know what you think, Luka, but I didn’t plan on getting pregnant, I swear. We only had sex twice, and you used protection. I thought it was safe… I didn’t know, I swear.”
“Come outside and talk to me, Petal. We need to decide what to do about the baby.” His voice softens a little as he tries to coax me outside.
“I’m not killing my baby, Luka. I know I’m young, and I might not know anything about being a parent, but I’ll figure it out somehow.”
“I think we need to get married,” he announces.
I can’t tell if it’s excitement or fear that runs through me now.
“No way in Hell!” Mom yells from behind me. “She’s still sixteen, and I forbid it. Get off my damned property before I have you arrested,” she warns, pulling me back. My eyes lock with Luka’s right before she slams the door, and I can’t do anything but stand there in shock.
Did Luka just ask me to marry him?
; Present:
“I was surprised when Black approached me about taking you out. I didn’t think you knew who I was.”
I have to blink to concentrate on Craig’s words. We’re only thirty minutes into the date, our food has just arrived, and I’m already wishing I was back home. It’s not even because I’m having a bad time. Craig has been nothing but nice, really. He’s not bad to look at, either. He’s got dirty-blond hair and clear blue eyes with a dimple when he smiles. His hair is wavy and a little out of control in spots as if the wind blew through it all day. He’s wearing a suit, which makes me glad I did wear a dress, but I wish I had worn one from my closet. Craig’s also taller than me, which is not a big feat since I’m short. Still, I’d say he’s around six feet tall, has defined muscles, and is broad. Women would be drawn to him, I imagine. Yet, just as I suspected… I feel nothing when he smiles at me.
Maybe there’s something wrong with me. I’m out to dinner with a nice, good-looking guy, and I wish I was home in bed asleep. You would think after the way Luka reacted earlier tonight that I could put the past out of my head and finally move on. Instead, I find myself going over everything Luka did and hoping Black is right. Maybe it is possible and Luka still cares. Maybe he is even jealous, and if he is, there might be a little hope left. Something has to be wrong with me.
“I have a confession to make, Craig. I don’t really know you.”
“Ow! A bullet to the heart,” he jokes, holding his broad hand over his chest. He gives me a look which clearly means I should pity him for the supposed insult. I find myself actually smiling.
“My crazy family has it in their heads that I need to start dating and getting out more. It was either let Black set me up or my mother would have. I wasn’t ready for those kinds of surprises,” I joke.
“Your mother can be quite the character from what I hear,” he laughs. “Does she really have a pet cow named Hamburger?”
“I’m afraid so,” I sigh out. “She’s even trained it to play fetch. I swear that thing thinks he’s a poodle.”
“A poodle?”
“Mom had two miniature poodles she’d go outside and play fetch with, and Hamburger joined in from the time he was a calf. He learned to do all of their tricks. Fetch, sit, lay down, even half-way rollover. He can do them all.”
“You’re pulling my leg!”
“Nope, not at all. I swear, the dang thing thinks he’s a poodle—a very large poodle.”
“I always thought Black was making up the stories he told us about his family,” he says, shaking his head.
“No way. You can’t make up the things my mother does. So, you see why I let Black set me up on a date instead of my mother? I shudder to think who her candidate would have been.”
“Well, I hope I’m at least living up to your expectations, Petal,” Craig says, reaching over to grab my hand. I have to fight the urge to pull my hand away. As it is, I keep the smile on my face by grinding my teeth. “I imagine it’s not easy finding a date after being married to the town sheriff. They’re probably afraid Luka will have them arrested or something.”
“Nah. It’s not like that. Luka and I are friends. We share a son, nothing else.”
Even as I say the words, inside I’m praying I’m wrong. I have this hope inside me now that wasn’t there before. This is Black’s fault. Luka should have hit him harder.
“I’m not sure I could be just friends with a woman who looks as fine as you do, sweetheart,” he says with a lazy smile. His compliment is a throwaway, I’m sure. Still, it’s really nice to hear. About the only person to give me compliments anymore is River, and his usually revolve around the way I color or fix his eggs.
“Yeah right,” I joke back trying to brush it off. It’s been so long, I don’t know how to react to a compliment. I honestly can’t remember getting that many before.
“I’m being completely serious. You are one hot woman, Petal Lucas. A man could lose his head with that dress you’re wearing.” He winks.
“Actually, she’s a Parish. Aren’t you, Petal? She kept my name even after the divorce.”
I look up to see Luka standing over our table, and I’m equal parts happy and irritated.
What does he think he’s doing now? This can’t be normal. Maybe Black is right.
Luka Parish is jealous that another man is taking me out.
11
Luka
“Luka, my mom will never agree to us getting married!”
“You turn seventeen in three days. She won’t have a say in it.”
“But, I’m not even sure I want to get married.”
“I think it’s a little late for that, Petal. I don’t exactly want to get married either. I had things planned out, you know. Getting married wasn’t on the list,” I growl back, frustrated and hurt. I’m lying. She lied to me, and everything in my life right now is up in the air… but I want to marry her. I want her tied to me. I want her to have my name. I want her and our child under one roof—a roof that I provide. I fucking want it all, and it pisses me off that she doesn’t.
“I’m not sure we should be getting married just because of the baby, Luka.”
“Is there a better reason?” I ask her, doing my best to tap down the anger inside.
“Love?” she suggests, her blue eyes looking up at me, pleading. I ignore it. I can’t go there. She lied to me. I can’t trust her… but maybe I can keep her.
“It’s time you grow up, Petal. We need to be practical. We’ll go get the license today, and then you can meet me at the old ice cream stand Wednesday. We’ll go straight to Dallas and get married at the courthouse.”
“At the courthouse?”
“Is there something wrong?”
“Not really, it’s just… I always imagined a church wedding.” She looks down at the ground. I feel a flash of guilt, but then—I didn’t create this situation; Petal did.
“This is just the way it has to be, Petal. Neither one of us has much of a choice here. We have to think of the baby,” I remind her. She looks up at me then, those blue eyes shining with unshed tears, and there is sorrow there that hurts me to look at. She’s just going to have to accept this. She played with fire, and these are the consequences. Hell, I had hoped for more too. I thought I had more with Petal… I really did…
Present:
“Luka? What are you doing here?”
“Got hungry. I come here a lot,” I tell her casually—and lying through my fucking teeth. I’ve been in this damned restaurant a grand total of two times, and one of those is now. For one thing, it’s a fucking Thai restaurant. I’m a Texas boy. Give me steak and a potato and I’m happy. Secondly, this place is the kind of place my father loves. I like to relax when I eat, not try and figure out how to eat my food with sticks instead of a fork.
“Really? You’ve changed since our divorce then, because I seem to recall you hating all foreign restaurants except for the Mexican one on Baxter Street,” Petal points out, eyeing me carefully. She wants to call me out—not that I could blame her. I should have my head examined for being here. Didn’t I just vow the other night to put Petal behind me? What the hell am I doing here?
“People change, Petal. Fact of life.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” She looks at me like I’m insane—which I am. “Where’s River?”
“I had to work late, so mom is watching him,” I tell her. The look on her face manages to annoy me. “He’ll be fine, Petal.”
“I know… I like your mother—for the most part. I just…”
“If you don’t mind, Luka, Petal and I were trying to enjoy our date,” Craig states, interrupting us.
I’m glad. I really don’t want to argue with Petal about having River around my father. It’s not like my father ever pays River much attention. There’s a part of me that thinks he hates him, so for the most part, I limit their interaction. Mom, however, loves River.
“I don’t mind,” I tell Craig, smiling just to annoy him—and lying my ass off.
“Not at all. I should be getting to my table. I just thought I’d stop by and say hi when I saw you.”
“Hi,” Craig answers, and he’s not bothering to hide his annoyance. That’s fine. He’s about to get a lot more annoyed. Sucks to be him.
“You look like Dallas is agreeing with you, Craig. I guess you don’t miss small town life at all these days.”
“Well, there are a few things that make small town life good,” Craig replies, and the bastard winks at Petal.
I really, really want to bury my fist in his face. I resist, but when Petal blushes, it’s not easy to hold back.
“Shit. Are those flashing lights? I can’t get a night off to save me,” I mention as cool as I can while looking out the window.
“Yeah, I imagine being a sheriff in a town with the population of… what? Six hundred? I imagine that’s really exciting.”
“You’d be surprised. But luckily, it just looks like some big fancy BMW is getting towed away. That’s not me. Nice car. We don’t usually see those around here. Must be someone from the city. They probably parked in the wrong spot or something. Anyway, I’ll let you two get back to your dinner. See you tomorrow, Petal,” I answer, turning around with a smile. With each step I make, I count silently. One. Two. Three. Fo—
“What the fuck?” Craig growls, and it seems like the whole restaurant goes quiet.
“Craig, this is a family restaurant,” Petal says, looking around uncomfortably. It doesn’t matter to Craig though; he’s too busy seeing his expensive convertible hauled off on the back of a wrecker.