“Do you want to sit down?” He offered her a chair at one of the consulting stations.
“Yes. Thank you.” She took the water, opened it and took a long drink before setting it down on the table. She took another deep breath. “I bet you’re wondering why I’m here.”
Lance grinned, hoping he wasn’t showing how nervous he was. His heart was pounding so hard he was sure that she could hear it. He’d wondered if this day would ever come, and now it was here. He’d played out versions of it happening but he’d always thought that it would be Arturo’s son that would find him.
He’d pictured a guy showing up wanting revenge for his father. A year ago, hell, a month ago, before he met Leah, he would’ve handed him a gun so he could have the ultimate revenge. An eye for an eye. But now, now he had something to live for.
She set her purse on the table and pulled her phone out of it. “This is my son, Emile.”
She showed him a picture of a boy that looked like he was in his early teens.
“Six months ago, Emile was in a car accident. He and two of his friends got drunk and went joyriding in his friend’s dad’s car. He wasn’t driving, his friend was.” Marisela sniffed back tears. “But they hit a car, and there was a woman in it. She was a nurse who was just getting off her night shift. The car Emile was in spun out and hit a tree. Her car hit a pole. Three people died. Emile was the only survivor.
“Since the accident, he hasn’t been himself. He’s been carrying around all this guilt. He hasn’t said so, but I think it was his idea to go on the joyride. There’s no criminal case, he’s not facing any kind of legal action. But it’s like he’s in his own prison. I don’t know how to help him, and that’s why I’m here.”
Lance wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted from him. Did she want him to do some sort of scared straight thing? He felt horrible and would do anything to help this woman, but he really didn’t think that was what this kid needed.
“I don’t know what…”
“Oh right, sorry!” She let out a breath. “I’ve been so nervous about coming to see you. I was scared you wouldn’t even talk to me. I’m not making sense. Okay, so, I remember during the trial I kept willing you to say who the other guys in the store were. Part of it was because I wanted them caught, but, mostly I didn’t want you to go to jail.
“I saw the security footage and heard the testimony. I know that you didn’t have a gun and the guys you were with told you their guns weren’t loaded. I saw the shock on your face when the gun went off. And when your friends ran out, you stayed. You called the ambulance and you did CPR on my dad. And you were a kid. You were the same age I was and I didn’t want your life to be over.
“I know my dad died, but he died with all of us around him. He died with people that loved him. We got a chance to say goodbye to him. If you hadn’t done what you did, we never would’ve had that chance. He would’ve died alone, and scared.”
Lance had never thought about it like that. And he sure as hell never thought that any of Arturo Ortega’s family would think of it like that.
“I always thought about you. I prayed for you. I lit candles for you at church. I asked that God wouldn’t let this destroy your life. I had planned on following up when you got out of jail, but by then I was a mom of two, and you know, I was just busy. But then, last week, my mom sent me a video of you saving a dog that had been hit by a car. And then another one of you getting shot when a woman was being held hostage.”
“She knew that was me?” Lance couldn’t believe it. He’d tried so hard to stay out of the spotlight so that it wouldn’t rub salt in their wounds.
Marisela nodded. “I think she missed her calling, she should’ve been in the CIA. She’s kept tabs on you. She follows you on Instagram.”
“She does?”
“Believe it or not, she was worried about you too. We all were. Well except my brother, at the time. But even Art’s come around.”
Lance couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Marisela reached out and covered his hand with hers. “Lance, you were there when my dad was shot, you didn’t kill him. And you were a kid. You were fourteen and you made a stupid decision. You were my son’s age. He’s a kid. He made a stupid decision. If things had gone differently, he could be dead. Or sitting in a jail cell. I came to see you because even after you were in prison, you made something of your life.” She held her arms out and looked around his shop. “You are successful and talented. I wanted to come see you because I needed a light at the end of the tunnel. I needed hope that my son has a future.”
Lance was still trying to unpack all that he’d just been told but he knew that this was not the time to do it. Marisela hadn’t come all this way to see him process the things she’d said.
“I don’t know your son, but I know he has people around him that love him. That believe in him. My grandparents were my rock. They never gave up on me. They’d come to visit me every chance they got. They never treated me differently because of where I was or what I’d done. Having people that really saw me and still loved me, that believed in me, made the difference. I wish I could say more, or do more but—”
“You can. I lied before. I would actually like a tattoo.” She took out a picture and handed it to him. “I’d like to have this portrait of my father on my shoulder and I’d like you to do it.”
“No, I can’t.” He hadn’t tattooed in over a month and he wasn’t even sure he could. There was no way he was in the shape to do the most important tattoo of his life.
“Please.” Her eyes filled with moisture as she pleaded. “I want to show my son that the mistakes you make when you’re a kid don’t define you. I want him to always be reminded that no matter what’s in your past, only you decide what is your future.”
“I would, but I suffered nerve damage in that shooting. I was here today because I was going to try and tattoo on myself. It’s the first time I’ve picked up my machine since I got shot.”
She looked at his arms and his neck. “It looks like you have plenty of tattoos, you don’t need another one. I do. I need this one.” She put her finger on the photo.
He could see the look in her eye, it was the same one he’d seen in his nonna’s and in Leah’s, she was not going to back down.
“Okay, I’ll try. But if I start and it’s not going well, I’m going to stop and call in Sergio to finish it.” Sergio Mendez was a master at his craft. If anyone could do the memory of Arturo Ortega justice, it was Sergio.
She smiled. “Deal.”
Deal. That reminded him of the first night he’d been at Leah’s. He had a new deal he wanted to make with her. He just hoped that it wasn’t too late.
Chapter 29
Leah felt like she was dreaming as she entered the shop. She’d been mindlessly walking on the bike path beside the river for the past two hours. She’d tried to clear her head, but it hadn’t worked. So many thoughts were crashing around her brain, it felt like bumper cars up there.
“Oh good, you’re back. Oscar left the papers for you to sign in…” Bea stopped mid-sentence when she looked up from the computer and saw her sister’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m pregnant.” It was the first time she’d said the words out loud. Hearing those words come out of her own mouth, instead of the doctor’s, made it that much more real.
She’d gone to her general practitioner to get referred to a psychologist, like her sister had suggested. Since it had been a few years since her last check-up they’d decided to do tests. She’d thought that she was going in for a quick referral. When the doctor came back congratulating her and telling her that he would also be referring her to an OB/GYN she’d thought he was joking.
Her first thought was that she needed to report him to the Better Business Bureau or medical board, or whoever decided if he could keep his license. It wasn’t until a nurse came in and she had an ultrasound that she believed what he’d said. Then, she’d almost passed out.
“Is i
t…” her sister asked quietly, like she spoke when customers were in the store and they were talking about personal things.
Leah looked around and didn’t see anyone. Maybe it was just force of habit.
“Yes. It’s Lance’s.” She hadn’t been with anyone since Lance walked out of her door and before he’d shown up it had been three months since she’d hooked up with anyone.
That last time had been when her sister had walked in on her getting nailed on the kitchen table. After Bea had gotten an eyeful, Leah’d decided that it was time to get her life together. That’s when she’d embarked on her self-improvement journey. She never expected that it would end with her expecting.
If the ultrasound was correct, they’d conceived the first night they were together. They’d used protection but apparently condoms weren’t one hundred percent effective.
Leah had always assumed that in the cases of condoms not working, it was due to human error. But neither she nor Lance were novices in that department. So this just happened to be one of the times that she fell into the two percent, since prophylactics were ninety-eight percent effective.
“How are you feeling?” Bea asked almost silently as she searched her sister’s face, looking for answers.
Leah hoped her sister would share them with her if she found them, because she didn’t have a clue how she was feeling. “I don’t know.”
“What are you going to do?” she whispered-asked.
The doctor had given Leah all of her options, not that she’d needed him to spell them out. She’d always assumed if she found herself in this position, she’d terminate the pregnancy. But that was a hypothetical. Now that it was reality, she felt differently.
She may not’ve been able to clear her mind on her walk, but she had come to a decision. She was going to have this baby. She had no freakin’ clue how it was all going to work out, but that was okay. She’d figure it out.
“I’m going to have a baby.”
“You are?!” Bea exclaimed but then lowered her voice, “You are?!”
“Yep.” Leah placed her hands on her stomach. She’d found herself doing that a lot over the past few hours she’d known she was pregnant.
Bea rushed around the counter and threw her arms around her sister’s neck. She held her tightly.
“Do you want to see your niece or nephew?” Leah asked, already pulling the ultrasound from her pocket.
“Yes!” Bea exclaimed quietly as she clapped her hands.
The only thing that was visible was a tiny dark area that the doctor told her was her gestational sac. She pointed to it. “That little bean is my baby.”
“Aww,” Bea sighed. “It’s so cute.”
“It’s a blob.” Leah might be overwhelmed with emotion but she was still a realist.
“It’s a cute blob,” her sister insisted in a hushed tone.
Leah knew that Bea was going to be the best aunt ever.
She looked up at Leah and breathed, “Have you told Lance?”
“Not yet. But I will.” Leah wasn’t sure how to tell him, especially since his ex had used a baby to try and trap him. She would find a way to let him know. After that, the ball was in his court. He could be as involved or not involved as he wanted to be. That was his choice. Just like her keeping the baby was hers.
Bea bit the inside of her mouth and nodded. Leah could see that her sister was nervous for her, and she didn’t want her to worry. She was going to handle this, all of this. Starting with taking the first step toward her and her bean’s future.
“What were you saying about Oscar?” Leah suddenly remembered that Oscar was supposed to drop off the paperwork for her to take over the space upstairs to use as the rescue.
“Oh, right…” Bea got the strangest look on her face and Leah was pretty sure she knew why. She thought that Leah was going to bail on her plan to open the rescue.
If anything, finding out she was pregnant had made her more determined to open it. She wanted to be the best person she could be for this little human she was growing. She wanted to make the world a better place for him or her. “I still want to do this, Sissy. I might need a little bit more help. But I’m going to do this.”
“I know!” Bea exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically. “Of course you are. I was just… I mean… Oh, fuck it. Oscar left the paperwork in the mudroom.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, why?” Her sister’s brow furrowed.
“You said fuck.” Leah grinned. Her sister rarely, if ever, cussed.
“You say fuck all the time.” Bea shot back defensively.
“Whoa, okay. Sorry. I just thought it was a little out of character.”
“Well, it’s not. This is the new me. I’m going to be a cool aunt.” Bea’s phone rang and she looked relieved for the interruption as she grabbed it off the counter. “It’s CJ. Can I tell him?” She was back to whispering.
“Sure,” Leah smiled at her sister’s excitement. “I’m gonna go grab the papers.”
Bea nodded and Leah could see that her twin still looked nervous even as she answered the phone. Leah understood her sister’s reaction. In the past, Leah would get all excited to start something and then lose interest. Now, she was taking on not one, but two of the biggest commitments that she’d ever made. But she knew in her heart of hearts that she was doing the right thing.
She was excited for her future. Excited to be a mom. Excited to be doing something she believed in and had loved doing since she was a kid. Excited to face whatever challenges she’d have in her future.
In a perfect world, her future would include Lance. But she had no control over him or what he was going to do once he found out. So, instead of focusing or obsessing over that, she was going to put all of her energy in what she could control. Herself.
Because it wasn’t just her anymore.
She almost tripped over a basket of towels on her way out and figured that she might as well get used to doing laundry. She’d heard that babies generated a ton of it. Her friends that had more than one kid said they did several loads of laundry every freaking day. She wasn’t sure how that was possible, but thankfully, she was just having one baby.
Shit. Unless she had twins. She was a twin so there was a very good chance that she might have twins. Panic started to well up in her as she pushed open the screen door and stepped into the mud/laundry room. She was so distracted by the thought of two screaming babies that she jumped when she heard a male voice.
“Hi.”
She looked up she saw that Lance was standing in the exact place he’d been the first time she’d laid eyes on him. And just like that first time, the laundry basket slipped from her hands and fell on the floor.
Her hands automatically covered her belly. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.” He smiled.
“Oh.” Leah couldn’t think straight. She was trying to figure out if he knew about the baby, or babies. Was that why he was there? But how could he know? She’d only found out a couple of hours ago, and the only person she’d told was Bea.
Wait. Did Bea know he was here? Is that why she was whispering and acting strange?
“Does Bea know…?”
“Yeah. We didn’t know if you were going to come in the front or the back. She said that if you came in the front she’d get you back here.”
“Oh. So why are you here?”
What she really wanted to ask was, Do you know you’re going to be a dad?
“I wanted to tell you that I started tattooing again.”
“Oh, good.” Leah was genuinely happy for him, but she wasn’t sure what it had to do with her. He’d made that very clear.
“Do you want to see the first piece I did?”
“Sure.” She’d imagined that if she saw Lance again she’d feel something. But right now all she felt was numb. Just like finding out she was pregnant, she was having a hard time believing that this was real.
He took out his phone and showe
d her a portrait of a man who looked like he was in his forties.
“That is Arturo Ortega, the man that died in the convenience store.”
“It is?” Leah wasn’t sure what she’d expected him to say, but that wasn’t it.
“His daughter came to see me. I’ll tell you all about it later, if you want to hear about it—”
“I do!”
“It was the first time that I picked up a machine. I wasn’t even sure that I could still work. It turns out that I can. But guess what?”
“What?”
“Right before she came into the shop, when I was about to tattoo myself to see if I still could, I realized something. It doesn’t matter. I mean I love it, and I’ll happily keep doing it for as long as I can. But if I never pull another straight line, or touch a machine, it’s fine because it’s not my life. You are.”
“What?” Leah had to be hearing things. She must be having pregnancy delusions.
“I’m sorry that I was an asshole, Leah. I was scared. Scared I wasn’t good enough for you. Scared that you’d be better off with someone else. Scared that I’d screw up your life, like I’d screwed up mine.”
“What?” She shook her head in frustration. “No. No, you didn’t screw up your life. You made a mistake—”
“I know,” He smiled at her with his signature sexy-as-sin, lopsided grin, and if she weren’t already pregnant, she was pretty sure it was potent enough that it would’ve fertilized her eggs. “I know that now. I figured a lot of things out over the past month. With the help of Nonna, and Marisela, that is. I know now that I made a mistake, but when I walked out of your house that night, I didn’t know that.
“It’s not an excuse for how I treated you. You didn’t deserve that. But I promise you, I will never walk out on you again. The only time that I’ll ever leave you is if you tell me to. And even then, I’ll probably just hang around and wait for you to change your mind.”
Leah wanted to tell him that she never wanted him to leave, and she would never change her mind about that. But there was something she had to tell him first.
Just One Look - Leah and Lance (Crossroads Book 15) Page 25