Love in Between

  “When did you find out?” I asked.

  “Does it really matter at this point, Lily?”

  “Yes, Mother, it does. It matters to me.”

  She took in a deep breath before spilling the words I didn’t want to hear. “I found out the day we went shopping for your wedding dress.”

  My stomach instantly felt sick as I put my shaking hand over my mouth and my eyes swelled with tears. “But, Brynn was with us that day and she was trying on maid of honor dresses. How did you find out?”

  “I received a text message from Mrs. Kendall with a picture of Hunter and Brynn going into a hotel room together. She said she saw them, and she thought I should know. Why do you think I broke down and cried when you came out in your dress? Part of it was because you were so beautiful, and I couldn’t believe you were getting married, and the other part was because I knew it would destroy you, and I couldn’t let that happen. So, one day, not too long after that, I confronted the two of them and warned them that they were to end it immediately.”

  Luke walked over to me and clasped my shoulders with his hands, rubbing them gently. I took in a deep breath, and I buried my face in my hands. As I thought of something, I lifted my head and looked at my mother.

  “If you couldn’t get pregnant, then how did you with Brynn?”

  She looked at me and smiled lightly. “Brynn was a complete surprise. The doctors couldn’t explain it either; they just said she was a gift from God.”

  “Yeah, a real gift,” I mumbled as Luke kissed me on the head.

  Mary reached over, put her hand on mine, and I instantly froze. “Lily, what your sister did was wrong, and please don’t think that I’m defending her, but you also need to remember that you’re supposed to love your children unconditionally.”

  As I slid my hand out from under hers, I got up from the chair and walked over to the window. There was a part of me that understood where she was coming from and why she didn’t tell me. As I turned around and looked at my mother, I saw a weak woman who was scared and alone. I saw a forgiving woman who took in someone else’s child, as her own, because she so desperately wanted a baby with the man she loved. I walked over, sat down in the chair, and grabbed her hand.

  “Our relationship is going to need a lot of work. It’s going to take time to get back to where we were before all of this happened. I just can’t instantly forgive you and pretend it never happened; I need time to process everything you’ve told me.”

  She tilted her head and gave me a small smile. “At least it’s a start. I want our relationship back, Lily.”

  “We’ll get there eventually, but you’re going to have to give me space, and as for Brynn, don’t expect miracles, because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive her.”

  As Mary and I got up from our chairs, she hugged me. “I’m going to go now and give you the space you want, but please keep in touch. You’re a very lucky woman to have such a wonderful man in your life. Even though I don’t know him very well, I can tell he’s a great man; and he’s very sexy too.” She winked.

  As I smiled at her and walked her to the door, she turned to Luke. “I’m counting on you to take care of my daughter.”

  “Don’t worry, Mary, I’ll take excellent care of your daughter.” Luke grinned as he winked at me.

  Shutting the door behind her, Luke walked over and pulled me to him. “I’m so proud of you. It took a lot of strength to try and mend things with her; that’s one of the qualities I love about you, Lily.”

  “Oh yeah?” I smiled as I nipped at his bottom lip. “Tell me what other qualities you love about me.”

  His hands began to travel up and down my sides as he softly kissed my lips. “I love how soft your skin is,” he whispered as his lips traveled to my neck. “I love how perfect your ass is,” he said as he squeezed it with both hands. “I love how beautiful and firm your tits are.” He smiled as he pulled the strap to my sundress down and exposed one breast, taking it in his mouth and lightly sucking my nipple. “But most of all, I love how wet you get when I touch you,” he whispered as his finger dipped into me.

  I moaned as I ran my fingers through his hair, threw my head back, and brought one leg up to his waist so his finger would deepen inside me. My body instantly knew pleasure when he touched me. Hell, it knew pleasure just by the way he looked at me. As he removed his finger, he looked at me and smiled. “Come on, babe, let’s take it to the bedroom this time,” he said as he picked me up, carried me, and gently laid me down on the bed.

  30

  Luke

  As Lily and I were snuggled against each other in bed, I heard my phone beep. I reached over, grabbed it, and read a text message from Maddie.

  “Adam just called and talked to Charley. He said that he’s sorry and something came up, so he won’t be able to come visit her. She’s devastated and won’t stop crying.”

  I closed my eyes, and Lily asked what was wrong. I showed her the message from Maddie, and she instantly felt bad for Charley. I was relieved because I didn’t want him anywhere near her, but I felt sorry for Charley. I kissed Lily on the forehead and sent a message back to Maddie.

  “Typical douchebag, Adam. I’ll be up there in a second.”

  I sighed as I climbed out of bed and looked at the clock, which read 6:00 p.m. Lily and I got dressed and headed upstairs to Maddie’s apartment. As I opened the door, Maddie walked over and told us Charley was in her room. I could hear Charley crying down the hallway. As Lily and I stepped into her room, we saw Charley lying face down and crying into her pillow.

  “Hey, peanut,” I said as I rubbed her back.

  “Go away, Uncle Luke; I don’t want to talk to anyone,” she sobbed.

  “Your mom told me about your dad, and I think it’s pretty crappy what he did, but he’ll come see you soon.”

  “You don’t know anything!” Charley snapped at me.

  Lily walked over to the bed and motioned for me to move down. “Let me try,” she whispered.

  As she sat down on the bed, she began to tell Charley about her father.

  “I know what it’s like to be disappointed by your dad, Charley. My dad disappointed me almost my whole life.”

  Charley turned her head, looked at her, and sniffled. “Really?”

  “Yeah, really,” Lily answered her in a soft, sweet voice.

  “But he promised, Lily. He promised me that he would come see me,” she said with a pout.

  Lily took her hand and started stroking Charley’s hair. “I know he did, sweetie, but sometimes when you’re grown up, things come up, and it can hurt the ones you love. My dad made me a lot of promises that he didn’t keep. Sometimes, he wouldn’t be home for my birthday, even though he said he’d be.”

  “What did you do?” Charley asked as she sat up.

  “I cried, just like you are right now, and then I got over it, because I had plenty of people at home who loved me, just like you do.”

  “But I wanted to see him,” she whined.

  Lily pulled Charley into an embrace and kissed her on the top of her head. “I know you do, sweetie, but sometimes certain things can’t be helped. You have to be a big girl and move on.”

  As Lily looked at me, I smiled. Seeing her with Charley was incredible, and all I saw when I watched her was the mother of my children.

  “Thank you, Lily.” Charley smiled as she looked up at her.

  “You’re welcome, baby.”

  “Hey, what about me?” I asked as I leaned over and began tickling her.

  Charley giggled and tried to push my hands away. “Thank you, Uncle Luke.”

  “How would you like to spend the night over at my apartment tonight? We can dance, eat a bunch of junk food, sleep on the floor and, best of all, we can watch scary movies!” Lily said with excitement.

  “Really?!” That would be so fun! Can Uncle Luke spend the night with us?” Charley asked.

  Lily looked at me; then she twisted her face as she looked at Charley. “Are
you sure you want boys at our sleepover?”

  “Only Uncle Luke.” Charley giggled.

  Lily leaned over and kissed me. “I guess he can come, but he has to behave himself.” She smiled.

  “Is that so?” I growled at her.

  As Lily and I got up and walked out of the room, I told Charley to pack her bag. We walked into the living room, where Maddie was sitting on the couch.

  “Charley is going to have a sleepover at Lily’s tonight, if that’s ok,” I said.

  She looked up at me and smiled. “That’s great, Luke. Thank you, Lily. I’m sure that made Charley very happy.”

  Charley came running down the hall with her bag. “I’m ready!” she squealed as she kissed Maddie goodbye.

  ***

  The next morning, I rolled over and looked at Lily as she slept next to Charley on the floor. We had a great night, and Charley was happy. Before getting up, I softly kissed Lily on the head and walked back to my apartment to take a shower. While standing under the warm water, I kept thinking about Callie and how she’d be happy that I’d moved on. I grinned as I thought about Lily and how all I saw was my future with her. As I was turning off the water and wrapping a towel around my waist, there was a knock on the bathroom door.

  “Bro, I have to take a piss! Can you hurry it up?”

  “I’m done, man; relax,” I said as I opened the door and walked to my bedroom. After getting dressed, I saw Sam sitting on the couch, alone.

  “Where’s Gretchen?” I asked.

  “She had a photo shoot,” Sam said.

  I walked into the kitchen and grabbed what I needed to make pancakes because I wasn’t sure if Lily had everything. “Dude, come over to Lily’s for pancakes; Charley’s there.”

  Sam turned his head. “Why is Charley there?” he asked.

  “Adam called her yesterday, said something came up, and that he wouldn’t be able to come visit her. She was upset and crying about it, so Lily asked her if she wanted to sleep over at her place.”

  “I bet she loved that.” Sam smiled.

  “We had a lot of fun,” I said as I headed towards the door.

  “Hold on a second and let me throw on some clothes,” Sam said as he got up from the couch.

  We walked back to Lily’s place, and I set the stuff on the counter. Lily wasn’t on the floor anymore, and Charley was up watching cartoons.

  “Hi, Uncle Sammy.” She smiled.

  “Good morning, darling.”

  “Charley, where’s Lily?” I asked as I plugged in the griddle.

  “She’s in the shower. Are you making pancakes?”

  “I sure am.” I smiled.

  As I measured out the pancake mix, Sam cracked the eggs and put them into the bowl. Lily emerged from the bedroom with a smile on her face.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you two were gay.”

  I looked up and smiled at her as she walked over and kissed me on the lips. “Maybe I am, and you just don’t know it yet.”

  She hit me on the arm with the back of her hand as she walked over and kissed Sam on the cheek. “Where’s Gretchen?”

  “She’s at a photo shoot. We’re leaving tomorrow afternoon for San Francisco. I’m taking her home to meet my parents.”

  “That’s great, Sam.” I smiled.

  As Lily reached up in the cabinet, Sam grabbed her and hugged her.

  “Dude, what the hell are you doing?” I said as I looked over at them.

  “I’m just thanking her for moving in next door because if she didn’t, I never would have met the love of my life,” he said.

  “Uncle Sammy! Lily is Uncle Luke’s girlfriend; you shouldn’t be hugging her like that.”

  “Yeah, Sammy, hands off.” I chuckled.

  “It’s ok, Charley; it’s just a friendly hug,” Lily said as she set the plates on the counter.

  I made the pancakes exactly the way Charley loved them, and the four of us had a nice breakfast. As we were cleaning up, and Charley was gathering her things, my phone rang and my mom appeared on the screen.

  “Hey, Mom,” I answered.

  “Good morning, Luke. Your father and I were wondering if you and Lily would like to go to Bernie’s bar tonight for a couple of drinks.”

  I told her to hold on as I looked at Lily and asked her if she wanted to go. She smiled and nodded her head as she took a sip of her coffee.

  “Sounds good, Mom. How about we meet around seven?”

  “Excellent! We’ll see the two of you tonight. I love you, Luke.”

  “I love you too, Mom,” I said as I hit the end button.

  31

  Lily

  After spending the day with Charley, Luke took her back to her apartment as I got ready to meet his parents at the bar. I couldn’t stop thinking about how devastated Charley was when her father told her that he couldn’t visit. It was a feeling that I knew too well, and how I wish I didn’t. As I stood in front of my full-length mirror and stared at the girl looking back at me, I thought that she looked happy and fulfilled. Had fate finally led me to where I was supposed to be? I’d never been this happy, and now that I’d settled things with my mother, an overwhelming sense of peace had landed in my life; it was a feeling I never wanted to lose.

  “What are you thinking about?” Luke asked as he came up from behind me and wrapped his arm around me, burying his nose into my neck.

  “I was just thinking about how my life has worked out, and how happy I am because of you.” I smiled.

  A low growl came from the back of his throat as he took in my scent. “Do you have any idea how good you smell?”

  “Judging that you have one hand squeezing my boob and the other up my dress, I think I have a pretty good idea.” I laughed.

  “Can you feel that?” Luke whispered as he pushed his body against me, looking at me through the mirror.

  “Yes, I can feel how hard you are, baby, but we don’t have time.” I smiled as I turned around and kissed him on the cheek. “Look at the clock; it’s 6:45, and we have to meet your parents in fifteen minutes,” I said as I walked over to my closet and grabbed my shoes.

  “Damn, Lily, you sure know how to give a guy blue-balls!” he exclaimed as he adjusted himself.

  “Sorry, baby. I don’t want to be late for your parents. I promise I’ll make it up to you when we get home,” I said, walking out of the room.

  “I just want you to know that you’re mean, babe!” he yelled as he stood in the bedroom.

  “Yep, and I’m going to show you how mean I am later!” I yelled back.

  Suddenly, Luke came up from behind me, grabbed me, and spun me around. “You better keep that promise, because that’s all I’ll be thinking about all night,” he said as he kissed my neck.

  “Do you ever think about anything else besides sex?” I laughed.

  “Not when I’m around you. You’re all I want 24/7, babe,” he said as he put me down and kissed me.

  As Luke grabbed his keys off the counter, I grabbed my purse, and we headed out the door.

  ***

  Walking hand in hand and Luke carrying his guitar, we strolled into the bar and over to the table where his parents were sitting. Before sitting down, I gave them each a hug while Luke went to the bar and grabbed us a couple of beers.

  “It’s so good to see you again.” I smiled at Annie.

  We sat at the table and talked as Luke showed his father around the bar. I could tell how excited Annie was that Luke was finally going to buy it. She reached over and put her hand on top of mine.

  “You have no idea how happy I am that you’re in Luke’s life. The past year has been so difficult for him; for all of us, really.”

  As I tilted my head, I smiled at her. “I’m sure it’s been very difficult. It seems the past year wasn’t good for any one of us.”

  “No, it wasn’t, but the only thing that matters is that you and my son found each other, and you’re both happy. I’m thrilled he’s decided to buy this bar. It’s
all he ever talked about for years. Now, he’ll finally put that settlement money to good use.”

  “He never mentioned the settlement money to me.”

  “He doesn’t like to talk about it; I think it’s a reminder of the accident. The man who ran the red light was drunk and driving on a suspended license. He was a partner at a prestigious law firm in Los Angeles. Needless to say, he’ll never be practicing law again. Luke settled for five hundred thousand dollars. His attorney said he could probably get more, but Luke just wanted to be done with it. It was settled out of court to avoid publicity.”

  As I sat there, pondering the fact that my boyfriend had five hundred thousand dollars that he didn’t tell me about, Luke and his dad sat down at the table.

  “What have the two of you been talking about?” Luke asked.

  “Just girl talk.” I smiled. “You haven’t told Bernie yet that you’re buying the bar, have you?”

  “No, I just sent him a text message, telling him that I need to meet with him tomorrow and that I’ve made my decision.”

  I reached over and kissed him on the cheek, leaving a lipstick mark on his face. I laughed as I grabbed a napkin and wiped it off. We ordered some chicken wings, had a couple of beers, and enjoyed the company of his parents. Luke leaned over and told me he’d be right back as he got up from his seat. As I continued to have a conversation with Tom and Annie, the lights on the stage caught my eye. I looked up, and Luke was sitting on the bar-stool in front of the microphone.

  “Good evening, everyone.” He smiled and waved to the patrons in the bar.

  Everyone cheered and said hello as Luke strummed his guitar. “This song I’m going to sing for you tonight is a song I wrote for a very special woman in my life.”

  Annie looked over at me and smiled as she placed her hand on mine and gently squeezed it. My eyes started to swell with tears before he even started singing. He strummed the chords as our eyes met, and he started to sing.

  Even the Clouds will say

  There’s nowhere we can get away from everything

  There’s nowhere we can practice positivity