Always My Home (The Aster Lake Series Book 2)

by Alora Kate

“We used condoms, Mom.”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “One of them broke.”

  “I need to know if I can continue to take my pain meds. Can you call John please and see if we can stop by.”

  She nodded, got up, and made the call. While she was on her phone, mine rang. It was Ian.

  “Hey, Ian.”

  “Madi.”

  “How’s the new house treating you?”

  “Still have a few things that need done, but we’re good.”

  “That’s good to hear.” I haven’t seen his house yet but I would soon.

  “Thanks. So about the favor you asked.”

  I sat up on the couch. I was hoping that he would be able to help me considering his background and what he did for Adalyn.

  “I found him.” At his words, my stomach dropped and I sat up a bit straighter.

  “And?”

  “His mom passed away a few days ago.”

  I flopped back on the couch, absolutely crushed. “Oh no.” Tears sprung to my eyes. “He told me she was sick, but he never told us how bad it was.”

  “She had lung cancer. It was aggressive and grew rapidly, spreading to too many sites within her body.”

  “Poor Isaac. No wonder why he isn’t returning calls.”

  “There’s more.”

  “More?” I cried.

  “He’s broke, Madi. He took out a second mortgage on his house to pay some medical bills and he maxed out every one of his credit cards. His mom was still in the morgue. I don’t think he has the money to bury her.”

  I kicked my coffee table with my good foot and cussed. My mom came back in the room and stared at me with the phone still at her ear.

  “Madi?”

  “I have money, Ian.”

  “I know nothing about that, Madi.”

  He knew I won but never acknowledged it. “I don’t have any idea how to do it. But you do, right?”

  He knew what I wanted to do. “I have my way with things.”

  “Anonymous donation to the funeral home for her expenses.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Find out how much his second mortgage is.”

  “I already know that.”

  I smiled. “Figures. What about his address? Can you text it to me?”

  “Done. I’ll get back to you on the other stuff.” He hung up and I tossed my phone on the coffee table and started crying again.

  My mom sat next to me on the couch and hugged me. “Isaac,” she said, softly running her hands through my hair.

  I looked up at her silently questioning how she knew that.

  “Your father.”

  “Ian told Dad?”

  “Honey, they work together.”

  I snuggled back into my mom. “First the show, then this. No wonder why we can’t get a hold of him. He’s all alone, Mom.”

  She kept running her hands through my hair. “Have I ever told you how proud I am of you?”

  “More than once,” I sniffled.

  “I’m so proud of you, Madi.”

  I continued to cry. “Even though I’m having a baby out of wedlock?”

  She laughed and held me tighter. “I bet you’re married before you have the baby.”

  #

  I was a little over two months pregnant, which meant I was knocked up within the first week of sleeping with Rocco. My mom kept reminding me that is was meant to be. Fate. I was starting to hate that word even though I used it a lot with Adalyn. John said everything looked fine and when I was further along, I could have more testing done to make sure the baby was developing okay. I couldn’t take the pain pills, just some generic over the counter shit that didn’t do any good. I hobbled to the car and my mom and I went to check on Adalyn because she wasn’t able to leave the house and I really needed to see her.

  She knew I was pregnant. I had called her in the airport bathroom while I took the pregnancy test. I couldn’t talk too much to her because I had a plane to catch and she hadn’t been feeling good. Morning sickness had come late for her and now I wondered if it was going to hit me next. Rudd had just left to pick the kids up from school, so we let ourselves in and went to her room. She was sitting up in bed eating some soup.

  “Hey, baby mama,” I said plopping down on the bed.

  “I could say the same to you.”

  “Please don’t.”

  She set her soup down and drank some water. “This,” she said motioning to her belly, “will you be you soon; you can’t escape it.”

  I smirked. “No shit.”

  She barely had a bump and hadn’t even gained weight.

  “When are you telling Rocco?”

  “Tonight.”

  She looked at my mom and said, “That’s a great idea.”

  “It is?” I asked waving my hand in front of her face getting her attention back.

  “Yes, the sooner the better.”

  “Well, I’m still in denial so…”

  She sat up and pulled me into a hug. “I sure did miss you.”

  “I missed you more.”

  “Not possible,” she said pulling back. “If you’ll excuse me, my soup’s coming back up.”

  She ran to the bathroom and slammed the door. My mom and I went into the dining room to give her more privacy, and I needed to elevate my foot. She kept bringing up baby names she found on the internet. She had asked me to use Grandma’s name for the middle name or hers if it was a girl, and I just closed my eyes in an attempt to zone her out. I had too much to think about, too much to worry about other than a baby’s name right now. I was worried about Isaac, but I knew Sam was on a plane as soon as I sent her his address. Steph was keeping me updated with her travels and would let me know when she got there.

  Rocco.

  Rocco.

  Rocco.

  How was I going to tell him?

  Most importantly, what would he do when he found out?

  “Madi Buckle!” Bailey belting my name out had me jumping in the chair. She ran in and climbed up on my lap. “You’re home.”

  “I am, sweetie.”

  “I colored and drew pictures for you every day you were gone.”

  “That was nice of you,” I said noticing that she had gained some more weight. She also seemed taller. “You look good, Bailey.”

  “Gained a few more pounds,” she said proudly, patting her belly.

  I laughed and smiled at Rudd and Danny when they walked into the room. They both gave me a chin nod. Danny was just like Rudd in so many ways, even though Rudd wasn’t his biological father. His biological father died a few months ago, and Rudd and Adalyn adopted him shortly after their wedding.

  “I have a boyfriend,” Bailey whispered into my ear, but not quietly enough.

  “No she doesn’t,” Danny said while he leaned against the counter with Rudd.

  She jumped off my lap. “Yes, I do!”

  “No. You. Don’t,” he repeated himself.

  I glanced at Rudd who was smiling at Bailey. “You can’t date until your thirty.”

  Bailey stomped her foot and fisted her hand at her side. “You said twenty-five the other day.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “Daddy!”

  “Tell this boy you’re off limits,” Rudd said and Bailey huffed and turned around to me.

  “Can I live with you?”

  We all started laughing and Bailey kept glaring at me waiting for me to answer.

  “Can we talk about it later?”

  “No one loves me!” she yelled dramatically as she ran to her room.

  “Is she okay?” I asked Rudd.

  “We go through this every day,” he said.

  Danny turned on his heel and added over his shoulder, “I guess I’ll go check on her.”

  I hope my kids are like that. Looking out for each other.

  Kids.

  Shit!

  Shit!

  Shit!

  I said kids, as in more than one!

  “I gotta go
,” I announced standing up and grabbing my crutches.

  “I’ll let Adalyn know.”

  “Thanks. She’s in the bathroom.”

  “Fuck,” he muttered and walked out of the room.

  “Let’s go, Mom. I’ve got something to take care of.”

  “This is exciting.” She was beaming at me.

  I poked her in the chest. “You’re not going.”

  “I’m your driver. I have to go.”

  “You can drop me off.”

  “Where?”

  “The bar.”

  “Oh, honey,” she said, disappointed.

  “I’m talking to Rocco, not drinking.” I opened the back door, tossed the crutches in, and got in the passenger side.

  “I knew that,” she said climbing in and starting the car. “Maybe we should wait.”

  “No, I’m doing this now.”

  She sighed and put the car in gear.

  Chapter 19

  Rocco got a text from Adalyn informing him that Madi might be headed his way. Madi and her mom, Carol, went out to see Adalyn and she had a feeling she wasn’t going home. She knew that Rocco was planning their first date tonight.

  He wasn’t ready for her to be here.

  Early this afternoon when he left her house, he ran into Carol and told her he was coming back for Madi later and to try and keep her home. She smiled, didn’t ask any questions, and gave him her number. Her mom was supposed to text when they got back to the house and he would go pick Madi up.

  He still needed to finish making the dinner, which was upstairs cooking. He just moved the tables around so theirs was the only one in the middle of the bar. He had a nice white cloth over it, with the dishes placed on top. He had a bottle of white wine chilling, which he knew was her favorite. Everything was in place and he had the jukebox playing a string of romantic slow songs so they could dance later. You had to dance on the first date, and just because her foot was bad didn’t mean they couldn’t dance. He’d hold her, with her legs around his waist.

  God, he missed her.

  He still couldn’t believe she was home. They didn’t talk much on the airplane ride home because she had slept a lot. They could talk tonight. There was a lot to talk about.

  He ran upstairs and checked on the food. He wasn’t the best cook but he knew how to make spaghetti and garlic bread, so that’s what they were having. He drained the noodles and put them in a separate pasta bowl with a lid, and then grabbed everything else and put it all in a box before he headed back downstairs. If she were coming from Rudd’s house, he would probably have a few more minutes.

  He set the box on an extra chair at their table and went behind the bar to grab himself a beer. He drank half of it in one gulp, then walked to their table and set it down. His phone buzzed, a text message from Carol confirming that they were headed to his bar. He went to the front door and stepped outside to wait for her. They were having a light winter so far, but it was still early in the season. Today hadn’t been too bad, light winds and in the forties, but the sun was setting and the temperature was slowly dropping. He wasn’t sure when he would propose, but he had the ring. It wasn’t the exact same one Adalyn had shown him but it was close enough. He had already spent most of his savings, so he needed to start saving again for a wedding.

  He saw the car coming down Main Street and grinned. Carol pulled the car over and she stood from it, and shrugged a shoulder at him while he opened Madi’s door.

  “Why are you outside?” Madi asked as he helped her out of the car.

  “Waiting for you.”

  She tossed him a curious look, then her mom, but didn’t say anything.

  “You hungry?” he asked pulling her crutches out of the back door.

  “I guess.”

  “Have fun kids!” her mom yelled out the passenger window and then pulled away from the curb.

  He opened the door for her and followed her in. She stopped halfway to the table and Rocco stood next to her.

  “Our date,” she acknowledged and it sounded like she approved. “This is nice, Rocco.” She swung her head up at him. “Did you cook?”

  “Of course.”

  They walked to the table and he pulled her chair out for her. He took her crutches and set them aside before he opened the box and started pulling out their dinner.

  “It smells good,” she commented.

  “Thanks.”

  He set everything on the table and she started fidgeting with the edge of the cloth table cover. She’s been doing that a lot the last twenty-four hours. Fidgeting.

  “I need to tell you something, Rocco.”

  “Okay.” He finished putting all the food on the table. He kissed the top of her head and then went and sat across from her.

  “I’m giving away some of my money.”

  He knew the answer but asked anyway, “From the show?”

  “Yes. Ian found Isaac. It’s not good and he needs help. He should have won. Not me. It’s just not fair.”

  “His mom?” he asked watching her eyes fill up with tears.

  “I’m sorry. It’s not the best timing.”

  “It’s okay, Madi. I want to know everything.”

  “She passed away. Isaac said she was sick but I didn’t think it was that serious. And he’s broke. He can’t even bury his mom,” she cried. “I can’t imagine what he’s going through.”

  Rocco had never met anyone so selfless and humble. So kind and generous that they’d give their money to someone they’d met two months ago. He slumped back in his chair, his heart filling with pride and confusion. He thought he already loved her, but he didn’t. All this time he had been falling deeper in love. Confusion? Yes, he was confused. His palms were sweaty, his emotions were everywhere, but he knew in that instant that he loved her. He was in love with her.

  “Rocco?”

  He blinked a few times and rubbed his hands on his legs trying to dry his hands off.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Sure.” He grabbed his beer, drank the rest of it, and then stood. He wasn’t going to wait. It was stupid and fast, but he knew she was the one.

  “Are you mad at me?” she asked as he came around the table and looked down at her.

  “I think what you’re doing is amazing. You’re the kindest person I know. Always looking out for other people. Always wanting the best for people.” He kissed her forehead and started to kneel down. “It’s your money, Madi. You can do what you like with it.”

  “Well, that’s the thing…you might not feel that way after I tell you...” She shook her head. “Wait, why are you on your knees?”

  “Comforting you.” He was nervous. The ring was in his pocket. His pocket felt like it was on fire. He should take the ring out.

  “Liar,” she hissed. “Get up.”

  “No.” He reached into his pocket and she put both hands on his chest and pushed him over. He landed on his butt.

  He couldn’t believe she pushed him away. “Why’d you do that?”

  “Who told you?” she spat at him, pushing her chair back.

  “Told me what?”

  “Don’t give me that crap.” She snatched up her crutches and Rocco got to his feet. “I can’t believe you,” she muttered under her breath and tried to leave but he stepped in front of her. “Move, Rocco.”

  “Why don’t you sit back down and tell me what’s going on.”

  “Hah!” She moved to go around him and he moved in front of her again. “Let me leave,” she gritted through her teeth.

  “Never.”

  She started laughing. This was not funny. Rocco wasn’t sure what was going on. Maybe she took too many pain pills.

  “Did you take too many pills?”

  Her shocked face and angry eyes told him he said the wrong thing.

  “I’m leaving.”

  “How are you getting home?” he asked crossing his arms on his chest, moving in front of her every time she tried to move around him.

  “I’ll cal
l my mother!” she shot back.

  “If you want to go that bad, I’ll take you.”

  “I don’t want to be around you right now.”

  Rocco would do anything for her and if she truly wanted to leave, he’d take her. But he was staying with her now so she couldn’t get rid of him.

  “Let me turn this shit off,” he grunted. “I’ll pull around up front to get you.”

  He walked past her and tossed the food and dishes in the box. How could he fix something that he knew nothing about? He’d have to replay this scene in his head and try to figure it out. He hadn’t dated someone in a long time, so maybe he needed to talk to someone. He could call Rudd; he’d help him out.

  The table was clean so he grabbed the bottle of wine, put it in the box, and then grabbed the stand that the wine had been sitting in.

  “Wait.” He stopped but didn’t turn around. “Was that wine?” she asked softly.

  He tried not to smile. “Your favorite.”

  She didn’t say anything so he turned around. “Please tell me that you still like this kind?”

  “Wine,” she stated with no emotion in her voice and a blank look on her face.

  “Yes Madi, wine.”

  “Crap,” she muttered and made her way to him. “You don’t know?”

  “No, Madi, I don’t.” He shifted the box. “But I’d like to know.”

  “Can we start over?” She smiled and her nervousness apparent once again.

  “We could move it upstairs so we can heat up the food.”

  “Not dealing with the stairs.”

  “Piggyback?” he suggested with a grin.

  That made her smile and she was starting to snap back to being herself. “I’m not hungry now and we still need to talk.”

  “So, are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

  She dropped her eyes and turned around towards the table. “Yes.”

  He put the box on the counter, grabbed the wine from it, and headed back to the table. He pushed her chair closer to the table so she could sit down and he joined her.

  “Don’t open it,” she told him when he reached for the bottle opener.

  “So you don’t like it now?”

  “I can’t drink, Rocco.”

  “Oh.” He set the bottle of wine of the table and wished he had grabbed a beer. They looked at each other and he was waiting for her to say something. She glanced around the bar. She looked down at her hands. She was definitely stalling.