Protecting Lucianna

by Tiffani Lynn

  “Can I see you again tomorrow?”

  “It’s Christmas Eve, don’t you have things to do with your family?”

  “I’m having breakfast with my parents, but other than that, no. How about I pick you up about noon and we do some more sightseeing? Then have dinner together?”

  “Okay,” I agree, wishing I could kiss him again.

  “In the lobby tomorrow at noon. I’ll feed you lunch so don’t eat, okay?”

  I nod and grin. With one last brush of his lips against mine, he turns and saunters down the hall in all of his powerful male grace.

  Devlin

  I’m still riding the high of the teenager-like make-out session with Lucianna when I enter my house as quietly as I can. I’m shocked to find my dad sitting in his recliner with the television still on. It’s well past midnight and he’s usually a man who is in bed by ten thirty every night. There is a half-empty glass of scotch sitting next to him on the end table. His eyes meet mine as I round the couch. “Have a seat, Dev. We need to talk.”

  “Yes, sir.” I still haven’t lost the manners my mother practically beat into me as a kid.

  “Where have you been all day?” His question is more accusatory than a pry for information.

  “Down in the historic district and at the beach. Why? I’m a grown man. I didn’t realize I had a curfew.”

  “You don’t, but your mother and I have only seen you a handful of times since you left here eleven years ago and we were hoping to actually see you while you are here.”

  “You don’t get it, Dad.”

  His eyebrows hit his hairline and he leans forward in his chair. “I don’t get it?” he asks incredulously, his voice rising. “Oh, I get it. Better than you. I not only lost my daughter, I also lost my son twelve years ago. The day Briana died you did too, or at least the fun-loving son I once knew, and it’s my fault. I should never have let her spend all that time with you. You were a teenage boy with so many distractions. It wasn’t right, allowing her to tag along everywhere you went. I should have insisted she find friends her own age. It was just easier than arguing with her, and because I hated to say no to my baby girl, she’s gone and so are you.”

  My body stiffens in shock. He blames himself for allowing her to be my sidekick?

  “Dad, it’s my fault. I take sole responsibility. I should have been watching her. I know those rip currents can take even the best of swimmers. It was my responsibility, not yours. I liked having her around. Loved it actually. I was the one who let some little beach bunny draw my attention away from the water for too long. I don’t even remember that chick’s name, Dad, damn.”

  My dad stands and approaches me. “Stand up, son.” Warily, I do as I’m told. “It wasn’t your fault. She was a strong swimmer, grew up on the beach. I never in a million years thought that could happen to either one of you. When your mom and I took her to the beach, I didn’t always watch her because I assumed she could handle herself. But that wasn’t right. She was only a skinny teenage girl. It could have been any one of us with her that day and it still would have happened. Don’t you see that?”

  “No, Dad, because she was my responsibility!” I yell, trying to make him understand it was my fault. “Now I stay away because I can’t face you and Mom without feeling more guilt. I took her away from you both and she was the light of our lives.”

  My mom’s voice startles us both as she enters the room and I jerk around to face her. “It wasn’t your fault, Devlin. Please stop blaming yourself. Stop hiding from me.”

  The shame I feel overwhelms me and I can’t look at my mom so I cast my gaze to the ground. My fists are on my hips as I try to breathe through the torrent of emotions coursing through me. Her cool palms press to my cheeks as she angles me to face her head-on.

  “I love you, Devlin. You are an amazing son. I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else, not even Briana. I love her too, I always will, but she’s gone. You aren’t, and I need my son. My heart hurts without you. Please come back to me.” She shakes my face a little as she tries to make her point. The dam breaks and the next thing you know we’re all crying and I’ve got my mom wrapped in my arms, holding tight. I’ve missed this. As a grown man, I shouldn’t miss my mom like this, but I do. It feels good to hold her and to have my dad’s arm around me too.

  When the crying fest finally subsides, we relax and Mom and I sit on the couch while Dad resumes his spot in his recliner.

  “So where have you been all day?” she asks cautiously.

  “I met a woman.” I grin at her, feeling much more relaxed, like the me of so long ago.

  “Oh, Dev, I don’t want to know about that stuff,” she chides, blushing a little.

  “It’s not like that, Mom. I saw her on the beach the first day I was back but didn’t speak to her. Then I saw her at the dinner we had at Panama Hattie’s. When I went to the beach after the argument with Uncle Harry, she was there alone. We talked a little then but that was it. Then today I went back and found her at the pirate museum. We ended up spending the day and evening together. I didn’t sleep with her.”

  “I’m not naïve, Devlin.” She rolls her eyes.

  “I know, but I’m being serious. I only kissed her. She’s a nice woman. She’s going through her own stuff. She was on a road trip from Miami, heading up north, and her car broke down. It won’t be fixed until after Christmas so she’s just hanging out. I’m supposed to see her tonight, but if you don’t want me to go, I won’t.”

  “She’s alone for Christmas?” my mother queries.

  “Yeah. She’s staying at the Embassy at the beach.”

  “Well then, she has to come over. She can have dinner with us tonight and come back tomorrow to have Christmas with us.”

  “Mom, I don’t know if she will.”

  “Well you better find out in the morning. I’m setting another place at dinner tomorrow night. It’s prime rib and you know how good my prime rib is, so make it happen. No one should be alone for Christmas and I’m not missing the chance to spend it with my son for the first time in a very long time.” She stands up and pats me on the cheek as she passes on her way to her bedroom. “No argument.” She pauses in the doorway. “It’s good to have you back, best Christmas present I could ever ask for.” Then she disappears.

  My dad takes one last gulp of his scotch and rises from his chair. “We love you more than anything, son. Don’t cut us out again. See you for breakfast.” Then he disappears down the hallway too.

  The next morning, I get up and have a late breakfast with my parents in a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere, even after all the heavy stuff last night. My mom, of course, has a million questions about Lucianna, and I oblige what I can, but leave out the shooting. I figure if Luci wants to share, she can and that will be up to her.

  I leave at a quarter after eleven and drive to the Embassy using my dad’s truck to pick her up. My idea is to take her to a nice lunch and maybe over to the fort. I already called my cousin and got us on the last trolley tour of the night, to see all of the Christmas lights up at the college and around town. She was so enamored while walking around that I thought the tour would be nice.

  Before I pick her up, I stop at a little jewelry store we went through yesterday and pick up a present for her for tomorrow. I don’t want her to go without having something to open and the gift is fitting for her.

  Once my task is complete, I drive over to the hotel and tense up as I turn into the parking lot. There are two cop cars parked out front, which isn’t normal. I click the locks on the truck as I stride toward the entrance. My blood runs cold when I spot Luci sitting next to one uniformed police officer and across from another. A manager is lingering nearby with a cell phone to his ear.

  “What’s going on?” I ask as I approach. Her teary eyes meet mine and fury consumes me. My instant response is to tear a hole in whoever made her cry like that. “Luci,” I plead, needing her to explain.

  “She was mugged this morning,” the cop across from
her explains.

  “What the hell?” I boom, loud enough to make Luci and the cop next to her jump slightly. “Are you okay?” I ask, moving over to her and pulling her up to scan her. Other than a scrape on her arm and a small cut on her forehead, she appears to be okay. “Tell me what happened,” I demand.

  “I wanted to walk and get some coffee this morning. I wasn’t far from the hotel when a man jogging past snatched my purse. I was trying to keep hold and tripped and fell. I’m okay.”

  I pull her against me. “You’re not okay. You’ve been crying and you’re all scratched up.”

  “Really, I’m fine.”

  The cop that was sitting next to her says, “We are almost done here if we can just have her answer a few more questions.”

  “I need to make a phone call. Can you sit with them a little longer? I’ll be right back.”

  She nods and sits down next to the police officer as they finish. I step outside and dial my mom.

  “Mom, I need to ask a favor. Can Lucianna stay with us? She was mugged outside of the hotel this morning and I don’t want to leave her here tonight. She has a history of bad things happening and I don’t want her to be scared here alone.”

  My mom pauses for a long moment and I know why. The only other bed in the house is in Briana’s room. “Mom, she can have my bed and I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  Mom clears her throat and answers, “Of course she can stay. We will work out sleeping arrangements tonight. Is she okay?”

  “Yeah, just a couple of cuts. I’ll bring her by to get cleaned up and drop off her stuff before we go eat lunch.”

  “Alright, Dev. See you soon.”

  Once the police give her their card and say their goodbyes, I grab her hand and lead her to the front desk. “Can she get another room key?” The clerk, who is obviously familiar with what happened, quickly gets her another key and we move toward the elevator and to her room.

  “Let’s pack your stuff. I want you to come stay with my family.”

  “I can’t do that. It’s Christmas, time for family. I don’t even know them. They aren’t going to want a stranger in their home.”

  “I already talked to my mom and she’s expecting you. Besides, they invited you to dinner tonight anyway.”

  “I feel bad. It’s weird crashing someone’s family time.”

  “It’s been a long time since I was alone with them. It would help if you were there.”

  She sighs. “I am pretty freaked. Maybe for tonight. I’ll leave first thing in the morning so it’s not weird that I’m invading your Christmas.”

  “We can talk about that later. For now, please pack up your stuff and we will head to my parents’ to drop it off and get your cuts cleaned up.”

  Lucianna

  It’s obvious that his whole frame of mind shifted from get to know Lucianna to protect Lucianna. I can feel it in the way his body shifted from relaxed the other times we’ve been together to alert and wired. I never blamed Titus for what happened to me, because it wasn’t his fault, but in the back of my mind I’ve thought several times that if he had been in town and with me, I would have been safe. But he was at a bachelor party out of town, so Simone was with me. I don’t know the last time I felt safe or protected or much of anything else for that matter. Since I’ve met Devlin, I’m feeling all kinds of things that don’t seem real, and it’s nice, more than nice really. Fantastic is a better word.

  We drive for about ten minutes until we pull into a quaint neighborhood that’s probably been here for twenty or thirty years. We make a couple of turns and I watch out the window as kids play in front yards and dogs bark at neighborhood walkers. We finally pull into the driveway of a beige house. There are a couple of poinsettias in by the doorway and a Christmas garden flag hanging outside the front door.

  We climb out of the truck and Devlin grabs my suitcase and carries it, walking ahead of me toward the front door. He knocks twice and proceeds inside. A tall, lean red-headed woman with some freckles and a warm smile greets us, wiping her hands on a dish towel and I remember her from the restaurant. “You must be Lucianna! Very nice to meet you.” She reaches right out and hugs me.

  I don’t respond right away because I’m so shocked. I’m not sure what I expected but this wasn’t it. “Um…hi,” I force out as cheerfully as possible.

  She must not notice because she moves us along. “Come in, come in! Set your stuff over here for now and we’ll get you set up later. Dev says you have a few cuts to clean up, so let’s get to that.”

  His mom is so merry I almost laugh out loud because it’s the opposite of Devlin, who is so calm and cool all the time. I wonder if Briana was more like her mom or if Devlin used to be more like this when he was younger. I set my stuff next to where Devlin parks my suitcase in a corner.

  The house has a very warm feel to it. The room is decorated in earth tones and years of family love. The walls are filled with pictures of the kids in various stages of youth. Both red-haired with golden freckled skin and both with smiles meant to light up a room. Briana was a young beauty, one that wouldn’t have seen her full potential until she was in her twenties and would probably have grown more stunning as she aged, much like her mother. The pictures portray a brother and sister who, despite their age difference, were always together doing something. There is an older brown couch against one wall, a well-used tan recliner in a corner with an end table dividing it and a love seat of the same brown colors. Everything is sort of squeezed together to fit the Christmas tree, which stands in the other corner. It’s a family tree for sure. Not one you’ll find in a department store with matching bulbs and lights and fancy ornaments, but one made of kid-created ornaments of all shapes and sizes. Everything about the tree is a memory, it seems.

  “I love your Christmas tree, Mrs. Byrne! It’s beautiful and so full of love.”

  She beams at me, clearly pleased I get the vibe she was going for. “It is, isn’t it?

  Follow me, Lucianna. By the way, I’m not Mrs. Byrne. Call me Claire. Mrs. Byrne was my mother-in-law, God rest her soul.”

  She leads me to the guest bathroom and has me sit on the toilet seat before she uses an alcohol rub and some Neosporin to fix me up. Her gentle hands convey such care. I bet she misses having young children in the house.

  “There you go, all set.” Her smile is infectious so I return it.

  “Thank you so much for taking care of me and allowing me to stay. It means a lot.”

  “Of course. We’re pleased to have you. Did Dev tell you that I’m making prime rib tonight for our family? Do you eat prime rib?”

  “Claire, I’ll be honest. There isn’t much I don’t eat. Thank you for including me.”

  “I think it’s wonderful. I love having people here. A quiet house is not my thing.”

  We rejoin Devlin in the living room and now a man almost as tall as Devlin is standing next to him. His dark hair is short and neat and I see where the golden skin tone comes from. His facial features match Devlin, minus the freckles and gold. “You must be Lucianna,” the man declares and reaches out to shake my hand.

  “I am.” He grins and it’s so like his son’s smile that I pause momentarily.

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Red’s dad, Will.”

  “Red, huh?” I smirk at Devlin. We haven’t gotten to the “do you have a nickname” portion of getting to know you yet.

  “Yup, he’s been called Red since he came out squalling with a mess of red hair on his fat little head.”

  I laugh at the visual he painted. “Makes sense.”

  “So, he’s takin’ you to lunch and to see a few things, but we get you back here later, right?” Will asks. Devlin’s family is so nice. There’s no way to feel out of place with these people.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll be back this afternoon. Thank you for having me.”

  “No problem, we look forward to it.”

  “Alright, you have to be starving, so let’s get going.” Devlin hustles me out of the house a
little faster than is polite, grumbling under his breath. “Let’s get out of here before they scare you away.” I cackle all the way to the car.

  Once we get back in Will’s truck, Devlin pauses and looks over at me. “Do you need to call your bank and cancel your cards or anything?”

  I lift my phone and show him the little pouch on the back. “Nope, got my debit card and credit card here. The only things in my purse were my lipstick, Tylenol, feminine products and room key. Thank God I started carrying them that way. All my keys are with Earl at the auto shop so I’m good. Of course, it was my favorite traveling purse, but I can live without it.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay? I’m sure that scared the shit out of you.”

  “It did, but I wasn’t really hurt and that guy didn’t get away with anything. Besides, I’m with you. It’s hard not to feel safe when you are near. Thank you so much for bringing me to your home. If I stayed there alone tonight, I probably would have been afraid.”

  “You’re welcome. You are safe with me, I promise.”

  I nod, but stay quiet.

  Reaching over, he runs the back of his fingers along my jaw tenderly. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

  That was unexpected and I blush a little and look away.

  We end up having a nice lunch at a local cafe and going back to the beach to walk for a little while, ditching the sightseeing idea.

  “Are you sad we didn’t go see the fort?” he asks as we walk hand in hand along the shoreline.

  “Nope. An old fort is an old fort to me. I didn’t have much interest. I’d rather spend the day near the water. Are you sad?”

  “No, the beach was my happy place too, before Briana drowned. We’re kind of changing some of those memories for me. Or at least making new ones to help bury the shitty ones. I never thought I’d be here again.”

  “Well, I’m glad you are.”