Silk

by Heidi McLaughlin

  Annie gasped as she squeezed my hand. “Lily, I’m so sorry.”

  “The worst part is that my mother knew about it, and I guess it had been going on behind my back for a long time, but she was going to let me marry him anyway.”

  Annie tilted her head to the side and frowned as she listened to my words. “Lily, you poor girl. I just want to reach over and hug you right now, but I don’t want Luke to think something’s wrong, so I’ll hug you later.” She smiled.

  Tom looked at me and held up his glass. “You got dealt a raw deal in life, Lily, but look at it this way, you never would have met my son, and we wouldn’t be in the presence of excellent company right now.”

  “Now, I’ll drink to that,” Annie said as she tapped both of our glasses.

  Luke got out of the pool, grabbed a towel, and walked over to where we were sitting. “What are you toasting to without me?” he asked.

  “We’re just toasting your beautiful girlfriend.” Tom winked at me.

  Now I know where Luke gets all his winking from. I smiled as Luke leaned over and kissed me with his cold, wet lips. Maddie came out of the house with two more margaritas, and she handed one to me.

  “I’ll be right back, babe. I’m going to go change,” Luke said.

  Sam carried Charley out of the pool and set her down on the patio. Maddie told her to go inside the house, change into dry clothes, and then go watch TV while the grown-ups talked. She whined a bit, but I could see how tired she was.

  27

  Luke

  I changed out of my bathing suit, rushing to get back to Lily and the others to announce that I’d be buying Bernie’s Bar. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to do it, and I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work, but with Lily by my side, it’ll be worth it. As I walked down the stairs, I saw Charley curled up on the couch, watching cartoons. I walked over to her, kissed her on the head, and as she looked up and smiled, her eyes were ready to close. As I grabbed a beer from the kitchen, I sat down next to Lily, taking her hand in mine.

  “I have an announcement that I’d like to make”—looking around the room—”I’ve decided to buy Bernie’s Bar.”

  “Dude! That’s awesome!” Sam exclaimed.

  Lily looked over at me, smiled, and put her hand on my cheek. I knew she was happy.

  “Luke, my boy, that’s wonderful news. If you need any help, let me know,” my dad said proudly.

  My mom got up from her chair and hugged me. “I’m so proud of you, son. You’re finally going to put that settlement money to good use.”

  Maddie stood up and high-fived me, because she’d be managing the bar once I take over, which meant better hours for her. I leaned over and kissed Lily on the lips.

  “It makes me happy that you decided to follow your dreams,” she said.

  “It’s because of you, babe.” I smiled.

  My good news didn’t last long as my father decided to say something to Maddie about Charley’s dad.

  “Charley tells us that her dead beat dad is coming to visit in a couple of days.”

  Maddie looked at him and said she didn’t want to talk about it right now. Maddie was good at avoiding things, believing that it she didn’t think about it, then the issue didn’t exist, but Charley’s dad does exist, and she needs to learn to deal with it.

  “He said he’s changed; that he’s off the alcohol and the drugs, he wants to form a relationship with his daughter, and he wants a better relationship with me,” Maddie said.

  I didn’t believe it for a second because I knew Adam too well. We used to be friends in high school, until he started hanging with the wrong crowd. Maddie was infatuated with him because he was the bad boy with the tattoos and piercings all over his body. I warned her to stay away from him and told her he was trouble, but she didn’t listen. They went on a few dates, and she ended up pregnant. He was her first, and I’ll never forget the night she told our mom she was pregnant. Of course being the dead beat that he was, he denied the baby was his, and my mom cried all night while I went out and beat the shit out of him. Lily sat there and didn’t say a word while we went back and forth about what a loser he was. As I got up from my seat, I asked Lily if she was ready to leave. It was getting late, and I just wanted to spend time with her alone.

  ***

  The next morning I found Lily arranging bagels and muffins on the kitchen table.

  “Good morning, babe,” I said, kissing her.

  “Good morning.” She smiled.

  “What’s all this?”

  “I went out and grabbed us some breakfast,” she said as she held up the plate to me. “We have blueberry, banana, and chocolate chip muffins on this side. Now, on this side”—turning the plate—”We have plain, salt, and cheese bagels, with your choice of regular, honey-walnut, strawberry, or non-fat cream cheese.”

  “Who’s going to eat the non-fat cream cheese?” I asked.

  “Gretchen will, because her and Sam are coming over. They should be here in a few minutes.”

  “Do I have time to jump in the shower?”

  “Yes, just make it quick,” she said as she kissed me.

  “I really wish you would have woke me up earlier and told me.”

  “Sorry, baby, it was sort of last minute!” she yelled as I already made my way down the hallway.

  After I finished my shower and getting dressed, the voices I heard grew quiet as I entered the kitchen. Looking around, Sam and Gretchen were sitting at the table, and Lily was staring at me with tears in her eyes.

  “Babe, what’s wrong?” I asked her as I walked over to where she was sitting.

  “I’m sorry, Luke, I had to tell her about Giselle seeing her mom in Seattle. I got a phone call from her mom saying that she’s on her way here and she wants to talk to Lily,” Gretchen confessed.

  Lily looked at me with sad and disappointed eyes as she got up from the table and walked into the kitchen area. “I can’t believe you knew and didn’t tell me,” she said.

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want to upset you,” I said as I went to hold her.

  She moved away from me and looked down. “There’s one thing I will not tolerate in a relationship and that’s keeping secrets. I hate secrets; they do nothing but ruin your life.”

  I moved closer, but she still continued to back away. “Lily, please. I think you’re overreacting,” I said.

  Gretchen and Sam got up from their seats. “Hey, bro, I think we should leave. Call me later,” Sam said.

  Gretchen walked over to Lily and put her hand on her arm. “Don’t stress, we’re all here for you.”

  When they left, my attention had immediately gone back to Lily. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and take away her pain, but she wouldn’t let me. “Lily, tell me what you’re feeling,” I pleaded with her.

  She walked over to the table and started cleaning up the plates. “I feel betrayed that you didn’t tell me about this. I feel sad because I trusted you to tell me everything, and I feel angry because you knew something about my family that I didn’t.”

  “Babe, seriously, don’t you think you’re overreacting just a little bit? Come on, so what if Lucky told her where you are. So what if she comes here and finds you; she’s your mom, and you should talk to her. You were with my family last night; that’s how a family should be, not full of anger and resentment. I understand what she did was wrong, but you have to find it in your heart to forgive her at some point.”

  She turned around and looked at me with fire in her eyes. “Don’t you dare tell me that I need to forgive her! I told you about my family and what kind of childhood I had. She was going to ruin my life by letting me marry that cheating bastard!” she yelled.

  “You need to calm down, Lily,” I said as I cautiously approached her.

  “Don’t you tell me what I need to do! You have no idea what path of destruction my family has left inside me, so you don’t get to tell me to calm down.”

  I was g
etting angry by her unreasoning, and I raised my voice to her, “Don’t yell at me. I’m not Hunter, your mom, or Brynn!”

  “Since you’re so big on forgiveness, why don’t you take your own advice and forgive Charley’s dad?”

  “That’s different, Lily, and you know it,” I said as I shook my head.

  “No it isn’t. What you feel for him is what I feel for my mom and sister. Why is it so easy for you to tell me to forgive and forget when you can’t do it yourself?!” she spat.

  “It’s a totally different situation, babe.”

  “No, it isn’t, Luke.”

  As I walked closer to her to tell her that everything was going to be alright, she folded her arms and turned away. “Lily, I’m sorry, but you’re being really childish right now.”

  “Then leave this child alone,” she replied.

  “Do you really want me to leave you alone?” I asked.

  She spun around and looked at me. “Yes, I do!”

  “Fine, then consider me leaving you alone. You won’t hear from me until you decide you want to talk, but I don’t know if I’ll be around when that happens!” I yelled as I opened the door.

  “You’re an asshole!” she spat.

  “Watch your mouth!” I yelled as I walked out and slammed the door.

  I stood there for a second with my hand on the knob, listening to her yell, “Fuck you—fuck you—and a triple fuck you!”

  28

  Lily

  Taking in a deep breath, I stood in the middle of my living room and pondered over our first fight. Hunter and I fought all the time, and it wasn’t healthy. I should’ve known then the relationship was toxic. Our fights always consisted of him having to work late and canceling plans at the last minute because of some business deal that came up. The more I thought about it, the more I knew those were just lies to see my sister or some other woman who may have been in his sights. As I sat down on the couch and brought my knees to my chest, I realized that I didn’t even know why I got so mad at Luke. I know he was only trying to help, and yelling at him wasn’t right. It’s hard for him to understand the dysfunction of a family when his is so perfect. I jumped up off the couch and ran to the door; I needed to apologize. As I pulled open the door, I saw Luke leaned up against the wall and staring at me. I threw my arms around him as fast as I could.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean anything I said. Please forgive me,” I begged, tears forming quickly in my eyes.

  “Shh, babe, it’s alright,” he said as he held me tight. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to push you.”

  I looked at him as he brushed my hair out of my face and gently kissed my lips. “Does this mean that we get to have make-up sex?” he asked.

  I lightly laughed as I pulled him into my apartment, and he kicked the door shut with his foot. He broke our kiss long enough to lift my shirt over my head. A low growl came from the back of his throat when he saw I wasn’t wearing a bra. As he unbuttoned my shorts and slid them off my hips, he pushed me up against the wall.

  “I don’t think we’re making it to the bedroom,” he said breathlessly.

  “I don’t think we are either.” I smiled.

  As Luke wrapped his mouth around my breast, I unbuttoned his jeans and slid them off his hips, wrapping my hand around his cock and feeling the extreme hardness against my palm. My body shuddered as he dipped one finger into me and then another. I tilted my head back as his lips traveled up to my collarbone, licking and light sucking my skin, sending intense vibrations throughout my body. As he lifted me up, I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he entered me with a long, hard thrust. My body tightened when his thrusts became accelerated, and I found myself moving my body with his as his tongue traveled from my neck, down my jawline, to my chin, and finally, to my lips. Our breathing became shallow, and our hearts were racing as we moved in-sync and our taut bodies gave way to the inevitable pleasure of release we both desperately wanted. Luke buried his face into my neck as he tried to catch his breath.

  “I love you, Lily,” he whispered.

  “I love you too, Luke,” I replied as tears filled my eyes.

  He looked at me and softly kissed each eye. “No tears.”

  I smiled as I unwrapped my legs from his waist, and he gently lowered me down. Luke pulled up his boxers and jeans. As he handed me my clothes, I heard my phone chiming. I quickly got dressed, and I walked over to where my phone sat, noticing there was text message from Sam:

  “Is everything good between the two of you? Because the wall was vibrating, and if it wasn’t from the two of you, then it had to be a minor earthquake!”

  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud as Luke walked over, and I handed him my phone. He shook his head and responded back:

  “Dude, don’t you have anything better to do than listen to us have sex?”

  Luke grinned when he read Sam’s reply:

  “Bro, when a fucking picture falls off the wall, what the hell do you want me to think?”

  “I’m going to go change,” I said as I walked towards the bedroom.

  “And I’m coming to watch.” Luke smirked as he followed behind.

  Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and he quickly turned around to answer it. “I’ll get it, babe, it’s probably Sam.”

  Just as I pulled my white sundress from my closet, my body started to tremble at the familiar voice I heard in the next room, my heart beat out of control, and my hands began to shake. I took in a deep breath before walking into the living area and facing my mother for the first time in over a year. I stopped dead in my tracks as I saw her standing there, staring at me.

  “Hello, Lily,” she said in a mild-mannered tone.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked; then turning to Luke, I put my hand up and said, “If you tell me to watch my mouth, you’re out of here.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything,” Luke said as he stood by my side.

  She stood there in her beige pant suit, looking at me. Her long, brown-dyed hair still looked the same, but her face had aged quite a bit.

  “I’ve missed you so much, baby girl.”

  “Don’t you ever call me that!” I said sternly as I put up my finger in disgust.

  “Please, let’s talk. It’s been far too long, and I want to talk to my daughter.”

  “Maybe you should have thought about that before you let me spend a year planning a wedding with a lying, cheating bastard!”

  Suddenly, out of nowhere, Luke spoke up, “I think that both of you need to get everything out in the open, but here’s not the place because it’s too easy to start screaming and yelling. I’m taking the both of you out to lunch to a restaurant, where you will do nothing but embarrass yourselves if you raise your voice. That way you can talk calmly.”

  “Thank you, Luke,” my mother said.

  “If you think for one second I’m going anywhere with that woman, then you’re delusional!” I yelled.

  “Come on, babe, we need to talk,” he said as he lightly took hold of my arm and led me to the bedroom. “We’ll be right back, Mary,” he said.

  As we walked into the bedroom, Luke pulled me into an embrace. “Listen to me, if you ever want her to leave you alone, then you need to talk things out with her. Just listen to her; ask her questions, get your answers, and then be done with it. If you still want nothing to do with her after you talk, then you can walk away with no regrets.”

  “I can’t, Luke. You don’t understand,” I said as I began to tremble.

  Instantly, he broke our embrace and placed his hands on each side of my face. “Close your eyes, and take in a deep breath, babe.”

  I did what he said; then I slowly opened my eyes. “Feeling better?” he asked.

  I nodded my head, and he kissed me on the lips. “I’ll be there with you. I’ll be there for you, and I’ll be there to catch you if you fall. You’ve suffered enough, and you need to do this. Ok?”

  “Fine, I’ll go. Just let me get myself toget
her,” I said.

  “That’s my girl.” He smiled, kissed me on the head, and walked out of the room.

  ***

  Luke pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant called The Garden Bistro. I was still unsure about this, but I had Luke there to help through it if things got rough. We walked into the restaurant and were promptly seated at a table. I stopped to see which seat my mother was taking because I didn’t want to sit next to her; then I took the seat across. As the waitress greeted us and handed us our menus, she asked us for our drink orders.

  “I’ll have a melon ball, please.” I smiled.

  Luke looked at me with knitted eyebrows and then looked at the waitress. “Doesn’t that have vodka in it?” he asked her.

  “Yes, it does,” the waitress replied.

  “No melon ball for her. She’ll have a glass of red wine.”

  I looked at him, cocked my head, and then looked up at the waitress. “Just bring the bottle, please,” I said as I sighed.

  I looked across the table at my mother as our eyes met and she took that opportunity to begin her sad attempts at changing my mind about her. “I miss you, Lily. You have no idea how hard this has been for me since you left.”

  I felt the fire starting to rev up in my body. “This has been hard on you?” I asked as I raised my voice, and Luke grabbed my hand. I took in a deep breath because I wasn’t going to embarrass myself or him. I made a promise to him, and I was going to keep that promise. Just as I was getting ready to speak, the waitress set the glass and bottle of wine down on the table. Luke grabbed the bottle, pouring some into my glass. I took a sip and asked my mother the question that I’ve wanted the answer to, “Ok, mother. Why? Why didn’t you tell me about Brynn and Hunter?”

  She looked down at her glass that held her gin and tonic. “They both promised me they’d end it, and I thought that they had. You already had trust issues with men, and I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  “Once a cheater, always a cheater. You of all people should know that!” I spat.

  I could see the tears beginning to form in her eyes. Luke looked over at me. “Lily,” he said.