Legacy (RiffRaff Records Book 2)

by L. P. Maxa

  “Why’d you leave, bud?” Aunt Dilly was studying me, confusion written all over her face.

  I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “I thought that I was doing what was best for Halen.” I looked down at her and I couldn’t help the frown that came over my face. “But I made the wrong choice. Living without Halen was like living without the sun. Once I came home, once I saw her again…I couldn’t stay away. I begged her to forgive me, I begged her for a fresh start.” I brought her hand to my lips, kissing the back of it softly. “And I’m the luckiest guy in the world, because she said yes.”

  “You dated my underage daughter behind our backs. Got her pregnant? Lied to our faces, and then left her brokenhearted. And now you want us to be okay with you two being together? You honestly expect me to trust you with her heart?”

  “Uncle Dash, I know—”

  “It’s Mr. Conner.”

  Uncle Luke rolled his eyes. “Come on, Dash. Don’t be an asshole. He’s still your nephew. He’s still the boy you’ve always known and loved.”

  “No, he’s the boy who knocked up Halen and then shattered her heart because he decided he wanted to go sow some wild oats and—”

  “I didn’t sow one oat, not one.” I was pleading. “I didn’t leave because I didn’t love Halen.”

  “Sure the hell sounds like it.” My uncle, Halen’s dad, was looking at me like he wanted to cut off my balls. “She lost your baby.” His voice cracked and my knees threatened to buckle. This was literally my worst fear from two years ago coming true. Why did I ever think coming clean was the right move?

  Uncle Luke gestured to Uncle Smith. “Will you please talk some sense into Dash? He’s going very pot and kettle on our nephew here.”

  Uncle Dash turned a shade of red I’d never seen before. “Excuse me? I’m not forgetting that I got my girlfriend pregnant. But I would have never left her, even if we had lost Halen.”

  Uncle Smith nodded, his arms crossed over his chest. “And we have daughters, you have sons. You’d never understand.”

  “Hello?” My dad was joining this clusterfuck now. Perfect. “I have one of each and I understand perfectly. They were just kids Dash, they—”

  “Halen was a kid.” He pointed to her and then to me. “Beau wasn’t. Fuck, how old was he at that point? Twenty? That’s statutory rape.” Uncle Dash was glaring at me, but speaking to my father.

  “That’s enough.” Halen’s voice made everyone fall completely silent. “I’ve been in love with Beau since I was old enough to understand the term. Don’t you dare try to twist what we shared and make it something wrong.” She sent her parents a small smile. “I know that you raised us to be close, to be family. But I never thought of Beau like I think of Cash and Crue. Or Jett. I’ve always wanted him in a different way. And I’m sorry if that disappoints you. I’m sorry if that makes you think less of me, of him.” She took my hand in hers, squeezing it tight. “We weren’t reckless, and the baby…”

  “And that baby was loved.” I picked up where she trailed off, the strength she’d mustered to stand up to her parents seeming to have dissolved a little. “We were young, but we weren’t stupid. We had a plan. We would have been okay.”

  “Better than okay. We would have been great.” She beamed up at me and my heart skipped a beat. “Beau left, and that hurt. But what I’ve come to realize is that it hurt us both.”

  “I don’t deserve her forgiveness. But I’ll work hard, every damn day to earn her love.” I looked my Uncle Dash in the eye. “I’m in love with Halen, and I’ve been in love with her since forever. I fought it, until I couldn’t. I never wanted you to look at me the way you’re looking at me now. I let fear get in the way. But I won’t do it again, not ever. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Halen

  I thought Beau’s speech was fantastic. I really did. I had tears in my eyes and I wanted to jump up and wrap my legs around his trim waist. But my father? Didn’t seem to feel the same. His eyes were still hard, unyielding.

  “Halen. It’s time to go home.” He was staring daggers at Beau.

  “Beau is my home.”

  “Home isn’t a place, it’s people. Right, Aunt Lexi?” Landry looked down the table at my mother. Her face was pale but her voice was solid.

  My mom closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “These past couple of days have been trying, for all of us. I think we need to take a minute and regroup.” She put her hand on my dad’s arm. “We don’t want to say things out of anger that we’ll regret tomorrow.”

  “Your mother is right. Girls, let’s go.” He turned to me. “All of you.”

  This was it. This was the moment where I drew the line, where I had to choose my path. I didn’t falter, even for a second. “I’m not going home, Dad. I can see in your eyes that you aren’t okay with this. That you are going to try to convince me to end things with Beau. But you can’t change my mind. I just got him back. I’m not letting go.” I bit at my bottom lip. “Unless he can come too, I’m not going with you.” I’d never done anything like this before. I’d drawn a line in the sand against my own father.

  For a moment I thought he’d give in. Instead he shook his head and walked off. Marley got up and followed him, sending me a mischievous smile on the way. Clearly she was going to her room and out the window the second she got home.

  Avory stood, her hands shaking. I knew this was all too close to home for her. Would the same thing happen when the family found out about her and Crue? I knew this was what they were both thinking. She didn’t look at me as she left the table; her eyes were on her boyfriend. Crue’s jaw was clenched and his hands were gripping the edge of his seat. He didn’t want her to leave. Not feeling the way she was right now. I could tell that every fiber in his being was screaming at him to go to her.

  “We missed school yesterday. And it was cool of you guys to let us skip today too, but I think it’d be best if we went in anyway.” Cash got to his feet, motioning with his head to his twin. Coming to Crue’s rescue, again.

  “Yeah, come on, Avory, we’ll drive you.” I cocked my head, watching Crue as he spoke to my sister. Did no one else notice it? The rapid pulse in his muscular neck, the desperation in his voice? They were all blind, these parents of ours. Beau thought it was our fault and it was on us for lying, for hiding our truths. But watching this exit unfold I realized he was wrong.

  “I do have a test today.” Avory looked at my dad, who’d stopped at the edge of the patio. He nodded and I swear Crue visibly relaxed.

  “Well, then we’ll head in too.” Jett jerked his head at Marley, in the fudging opposite direction of the compound exit. She shrugged and skipped on over to him.

  “You know, I need to run into town for a few things. I can take Emmie to school on my way if you guys would like.” Evie smiled down the table at her parents, wiping her mouth gently with her napkin and then placing it next to her plate.

  “Sure, sweetie, that’d be helpful. Thank you.” My Aunt Dilly nodded, her eyes crinkling as she returned her daughter’s innocent grin. I fought the urge to make gagging noises.

  Yeah. Beau had it all wrong.

  ***

  We were in my mother’s studio. Landry had gone home, her eyes apologetic and tear-filled. All the parents had retreated to their corners and Beau and I had decided that the studio would be a safe place. He needed to get things ready for his gallery opening this weekend anyway.

  “Well. That was a shit show.” He leaned back in the custom black leather desk chair, his hands behind his head. “But. At least they know and we can move forward without ever having to worry about them finding out. Right?”

  He was looking at me with love in his eyes, and a small dose of trepidation. He’d wanted to tell the parents everything; I had been the one on the fence. But I’d done it, without thinking, to save Landry.

  Us against the world.

  I perched on the edge of the desk, putting my bare feet beside his
legs on the chair. “Right.”

  “Really?”

  I knew what he was asking. Did I regret it? Did I hate him for suggesting it? “You were right—our secrets were a weight. If we were going to start over, go public, we needed to tell them.” I pulled my lower lip through my teeth. “But.”

  “But?”

  I tilted my head. “But. I think you were wrong about everything being our fault. About us hiding things from them, sneaking around and keeping secrets. Yeah, we lie and yeah we cover for each other.” I threw my hands out. “We’re kids, Beau. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Work like hell to make sure we don’t get in trouble? Shouldn’t at least some of the blame fall on our parents? There are eight adults that live on this fudging compound. Eight.”

  He chuckled at my exuberance. “Yes. Eight. What’s your point, Sweets?”

  “How come we never got caught? How come Crue and Avory don’t get caught? How come no one has thought to question why Cash suddenly has a new girl hanging around every other day?” I let out a humorless laugh. “Did you see Crue at breakfast this morning?”

  “When Avory got up to leave? Yeah, he looked like he was about to come out of his skin.”

  “Exactly.” I pointed at him for emphasis. “You saw it, I saw it. But between eight parents, not one of them noticed? At what point do they get to shoulder some of the blame?”

  He reached up and pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms around my lower back as I straddled him. “You’re right.” He kissed my chin. “The other night at dinner, it was like everyone’s lies and problems compounded ours. It was like I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I was buried under the burden of it all. But everything you said just now is the truth. We are the kids. We’re their kids. And they never see it. They never look hard enough, close enough.”

  “Maybe they don’t want to. Maybe it’s easier on them to think everything is fine and everyone is okay.” I put my hands on his shoulders, suddenly so giddy that he was mine to touch.

  “Maybe they need to start asking more questions, and we need to stop lying to their faces.”

  I nodded. “Maybe you’re right.” I pointed to the screen in front of him. There was an image of a falling-down house, the porch covered in trash. “You should head into town and take some images of an older home, the porch covered in children’s toys.”

  He jotted that idea down. “Speaking of stupid lies our parents believe, Landry threw up all over the backyard yesterday morning.” He wrinkled his nose. “She blamed it on the dog and no one even blinked an eye.”

  Landry was pregnant. The reminder was like a small punch to the gut. “Is that when she told you?”

  “Yeah.” He pulled me in tighter and rested his forehead on my chest. “She wanted to wait to tell you until she knew for sure and you two could be alone. I swear I wasn’t trying to keep things from you. I just knew—”

  I silenced him with a kiss, then pulled back. “It’s okay. I understand.” I winced. “Who’s the father? Her ex or the new guy?”

  He mirrored my expressions. “Apparently, it could be either.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. She’s feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment.” He sighed. “I told her I’d be there for her. For whatever she needs, whatever she decided. Her ex cheated on her and the new guy is, well, new. She could very well end up needing our help.”

  I put my hands on his shoulders, making sure he was staring into my eyes. “You are a good man, Beau. A great man.” I could see the denial on his face, automatically thinking back to how he hurt me, how he left. “You are, and I’m so lucky that you’re mine.”

  Emotion filled his gorgeous eyes and he swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple working overtime. “I love you, Halen, so damn much. I meant what I said this morning. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I will spend the rest of my life earning your love.” He put his hands on my cheeks. “You’re it for me, Sweets. You’ve been my girl since I was a kid, and you’ll be my girl until the day I die.”

  I leaned forward and placed my lips on his again, kissing him, trying to make him physically feel my love. My dad was pissed, but I knew he’d get over it eventually. When he realized that I was an adult, when he realized that Beau was everything I’d ever wanted. When he realized that no one would ever love me the way that Beau did.

  I moaned against his mouth when his hands trailed under my shirt, grazing my hard nipples.

  He moved one hand down to my hip, grinding me against his hard-on. I giggled. “Are you suggesting that we have sex on my mother’s desk?”

  Beau stood abruptly, depositing me on my feet and spinning me around. “No, Sweets. I’m insinuating that we fuck on your mother’s desk.” He shoved my jeans down. “That okay with you?” He didn’t wait for me to answer before he slid two fingers inside me. He pushed on my upper back, making me bend at the waist.

  “Yes. Beau, please.”

  “I love it when you beg me, baby.” I heard the sound of his belt falling to the concrete floor and shivered in anticipation. He entered me in one punishing thrust, causing me to cry out in pleasure. It wasn’t often that Beau was rough like this, but I loved it.

  “Please…”

  “That’s it, that’s my girl.” He hammered into me, relentlessly. The heavy desk was scraping across the floor from the force of our movements. “Let me hear you scream, baby.”

  He’d never wanted me to be loud before, but today and last night he’d basically demanded it. “Beau, don’t stop.” I bit my lip as he wrapped my hair around his fist. His other hand was holding my hip, keeping me in place. “Don’t stop.” I was so close.

  “Scream for me, baby.”

  His command and the gravelly sound of his voice sent me soaring. I came hard, his name on my lips.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Beau

  “Ready for a beer?”

  My dad was standing in the entryway waiting for me when I got home later that night. I hadn’t wanted to leave Halen, but she’d insisted that she’d needed to talk to her parents. And now I supposed it was time for me to talk to mine. We couldn’t hide out in the studio forever. “You have no idea.”

  He gestured with his head toward the backyard. “Come on, bud. I got some sitting on ice for you.” He put his hand on my shoulder and guided me out of the house. Once he’d handed me mine and taken a big pull of his, he set his dark eyes on me. “You want to tell me what the hell is going on?”

  “I’m in love with Halen. Everything we said this morning is the truth. We’ve been together since her sixteenth birthday. When she was seventeen, she got pregnant.” I took a sip from the ice-cold bottle. “We lost the baby and I left.” I nodded slowly. “And I’ll regret leaving every day for the rest of my life.”

  “You said you were in love with her since ‘forever’. Why’d you wait until she was sixteen?”

  I swallowed. “It was the right thing to do. I knew I was too old for her.” I chuckled. “I actually planned on waiting until she was eighteen, until we were both living off the compound.”

  “What happened?”

  Memories of our first kiss assaulted my brain. “Remember the day I got my bike? You convinced Uncle Dash to let her go with me on a ride. We were sitting on this old fallen oak tree on the side of some backcountry road. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said she wanted a kiss.”

  “So you kissed her.”

  I nodded. “It was the first time I’d ever had a kiss like that. I’d wanted it for so long and it was better than the fantasy, you know?” I shrugged. “In that moment I knew that there was no going back. That I could never go back to living in a world where I didn’t get to kiss Halen.”

  “And the baby? When did that, uh…”

  I knew what he was asking. And I knew why. My dad wanted to believe in me, he wanted to know without a shadow of a doubt that I was a good guy. That I loved Halen and that I did right by her. “Same. I wanted to wait, Halen pushed. She was close to se
venteen when I finally gave in.” I took another sip. “I didn’t leave because she lost the baby. I didn’t leave because I was scared of a future with her or because I was scared of you guys finding out. I left because I wanted her to have a perfect life. I wanted her to have the life her parents wanted her to have. I wanted her to go out, I wanted her to party and live and smile. I wanted more for her than married at eighteen with a house full of kids.”

  “And now? What do you want for her now?”

  I smiled. “I want her to have the life she wants. Whatever it may be. If she wants a house full of kids, I’ll give them to her. If she wants to travel and see the world, I’ll hold her hand on each and every adventure.”

  “Dash will come around, bud. He will.” My dad reached out and put his hand on my knee. “You just need to show him that you love his daughter. That you’ve always loved his daughter and that you’ll never hurt her again.”

  ***

  “Hate me?”

  I looked up from the picture I was editing on my massive desktop screen when Landry walked into my room. “Never.”

  She sighed and sank down on my bed. “I’ll tell them soon. I promise.”

  “Like you said, it’s your truth to tell. It’s up to you when and how you do it. I won’t pressure you, and I certainly won’t go behind your back and narc.” I winked, making her snort.

  “You were right, you know? All these secrets we keep from them? It’s not healthy.”

  I turned off my monitor, giving my sister my full attention. “No, it’s not. But you know, Halen said something today that made me realize that it’s just as much the parents fault as it is ours. They let us float through life unsupervised. They don’t ask questions. They don’t really pry. It’s almost like they are happy believing that everything is sunshine and rainbows, you know?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.” She looked down at my comforter, pulling at a loose thread. “Is Halen okay? Is she mad at me?”