by Katy Kaylee
“You won’t live happily ever after if you don’t go. I want you to go. Do it for me.”
“Mom.”
“I’ll be fine here. And I’ll be so much happier knowing that you and Torryn are together.”
Jesus.
“I bet there is a plane out tonight. Check on your phone.”
“I’m not going tonight.” I gave her an exasperated look.
“Give me your phone.” She held out the palm of her hand like a mom who was planning to confiscate my phone.
“You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Yes!”
I sighed and pulled out my phone. I didn’t give it to her and instead searched for flights. “There’s one in two hours.”
“You better hurry then.”
“There’s also one early tomorrow morning.”
“Were you this difficult as a boy? I’m your mother and I’m telling you to go now.”
I laughed. I didn’t like being bossed around, but I had to admit, it was nice to have my mother treat me like a difficult son. “Yes, ma’am.”
Six hours later, I landed and was driving through my home town of Natchitoches, Louisiana. I hadn’t been back since I’d last come looking for Torryn. Now here I was, two years later, looking for her again.
Chapter 25
Torryn
I decided to kill two birds with one stone. It would have been difficult to find time to spend with Charlie on my short trip, so I asked her to pick me up at the airport and bring me home. I was a little concerned that she might pick me up on a motorcycle, which would defeat the purpose of talking to her on the trip to my parents’ house. Fortunately, she picked me up in a sedan. They were an odd combination, and I wondered if she’d borrowed the car. Or worse, stole it.
“Is this your car?” I asked as she tossed my carry-on case in the back seat.
“Nope.”
I looked at her over the hood of the car.
“What?” Then she pursed her lips. “It’s not stolen if that’s what you’re thinking. Geez, Torryn. What do you think I am?”
“I don’t know, Charlie, you never tell me about your life.”
She rolled her eyes as she got in the car. “Get in, chicka or I’ll leave on the curb.”
I laughed, happy to be with my friend and heading home to my family. I loved New York, but I wasn’t one of those people who had been itching to leave their home town and never look back. Natchitoches, Louisiana was a beautiful city and my family and friends were awesome.
“So, what’s up buttercup,” Charlie said as she pulled the car out into traffic.
“Not much.” That was an understatement. “The new job is great. My boss is awesome.”
“Not Lucas?” She looked at me quizzically and I knew she wasn’t going to take the news about him well.
“No. My boss is Oliver Long. He’s a sweetie.”
“Ooh, is he hot?” She barked out a laugh. “That would serve Lucas right if you got it on with the boss.”
I winced. “It would, but it’s not like that with him.”
“So, you’re still on operation break Lucas’ heart into a million pieces? Is it working? Is he head over heels in love with you?”
Before I could answer, she continued on. “Of course, he is. That guy has been in love with you since grade school. I’ll never understand why he left, but that was his loss, the numbnut.”
I couldn’t tell her why Lucas left because I’d promised I wouldn’t. Since I couldn’t defend him, I didn’t say anything.
“So, are you at least getting some good sex while you enact your revenge? Although, good sex is worth sticking around for. So hopefully it’s blah.”
“No, the sex is good.”
Charlie’s head whipped to look at me. “So, you’re really doing it? You’re doing him to get back at him?” She shook her head as she returned her gaze to the road. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Well…about that.”
“What?” She glanced at me again, and after a second, her expression turned annoyed. “Oh God, don’t tell me. You’ve fallen for the jerk?”
I nodded.
“Girl.” She shook her head again. “You’re not supposed to fall for him.”
“He’s a good guy who’s had some hard times.”
“So? That doesn’t make it okay that he simply up and left without a word after you and he had all those plans.”
“He had a reason.”
“What reason?”
“I can’t tell you, but I forgave him.” I looked out the window, preparing to tell her the rest. “But at this point, I think it’s over.”
“Why? What he did he do now?”
I smiled, glad that she assumed my problems with Lucas were his fault. Which it was. “He’s angry at me for coming here this weekend.”
“Why? Does he have a problem with your family? Oh, no, I know. He has a problem with me.”
“No. Although I think he’s afraid of you.”
Charlie grinned. “As he should be. I have friends, even in New York.”
I turned to her. “Now what does that mean? What sort of friends? What do you do?”
She waved my question away. “So what problem does Lucas have with you coming home to visit your family?”
“His mom is sick. Really sick. She needs a stem cell donation.”
“I thought his mom ran off?”
“Actually, his dad took him away from her. It’s a whole sordid thing. The point is, they’ve found each other but she’s so sick, they don’t have much time without this procedure.”
“So, you’ve met her.”
I nodded.
Charlie pursed her lips in disgust. “You really don’t know how to do heartbreak revenge, do you? What are you thinking, meeting the mother?”
I opted not to mention that I was going to be the stem cell donor. “Anyway, he’s upset because he wants me there while his mother is going through all this. He needs me.”
“Okay.” She looked at me, a quizzical expression on her face. “I don’t get the part where he’s angry.”
“I don’t either, really. He was just mad. I think it has to do with his fear of losing people he cares for. The thing is, the reason I decided to come was seeing his mother and realizing how important it was to be with family.”
“Idiot.”
“Me or him.”
“Both. But him more.”
Charlie turned onto my street. I always loved the old French homes lining my street. And my parents’ home was the grandest. It was a plantation-style with double wrap around porches. The yard was huge with old oak trees that had long branches perfect for climbing and beautiful magnolia trees. She pulled into our drive and parked.
“So, what are you going to do?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Things are complicated right now, and it’s even worse because there are three assistants there who hate me because they love him.”
“What?”
“Seriously, they’re nuts. At least one of them is. One day I showed up, and all my stuff had been moved. The other day she was skulking in my office. Lucas saw her there and didn’t say anything.”
Charlie shook her head again. “He just let her go through your stuff?”
“He was mad at me then.”
Charlie turned in her seat to look at me. “Listen, I get it that the heart wants what it wants…or the body.”
I waggled my brows. “That part is good.”
“But, Torryn, this guy left you once without a word. Even with a good reason, what’s to stop him from doing it again? And if it makes the workplace harder for you, why put up with that? New York is huge. What is there like…eight million people or something. You can’t tell me there isn’t some other geek-turned-hottie that will make you feel good between the sheets.”
This was similar to my mother’s explanation of other fish in the sea. I wasn’t sure there was another fish or geek-turned-hottie, but Charlie was righ
t. Lucas had made promises to me once before and then left. He hadn’t made promises this time, but his behavior about my leaving and not saying anything when his assistant was in my office wasn’t a good sign.
“Like I said, it might not matter. I’m not sure where things are at with us.”
“If I see him again, I’ll punch him in the throat.”
“You don’t have to go that far.” I loved the sentiment, but with Charlie, it could happen.
“You were supposed to crush his heart and instead, he squashed yours. Torryn, this guy is no good for you. Yah, he was great in high school, but we’re not kids anymore and he’s proving that he’s not worthy of you.”
I nodded because I knew intellectually that she was right. But my heart couldn’t quite abandon the idea of me and Lucas having a future.
“You have to let him go, girl.” Charlie put her hand on my shoulder. “Seriously. He’s not worth it.”
“Thanks for picking me up. My mom has invited you to dinner tonight. Will you come?”
“Are you kidding? Mama Esperanza is the best cook in all of Louisiana.”
I laughed. “I’ll see you later then.”
“Later gator.”
I got out of the car and waved as Charlie drove off. There was so much I didn’t know about her and her life. Some of it worried me. But when it came to what mattered, I had no doubts about her. She was my friend through and through. She had my back through thick and thin. Her dislike of Lucas was born of her wanting to protect me, and while sometimes she could go overboard, in this case, she was right. I couldn’t trust Lucas to stick when it really mattered.
My eyes welled with tears, but I pushed them away. I wasn’t going to cry over him. I’d done enough of that six years ago. I sniffed, straightened my shoulders, and then headed into my love-filled home to visit my parents.
Chapter 26
Lucas
Memories flooded my brain as I drove my rental car through the streets of Natchitoches. The memory of the challenges I had with my father were made worse now that I knew he’d been the one to deny me a mother and a loving home. I wished he were alive today so I could give him a piece of my mind.
I pushed those thoughts away and reminded myself why I was here. The closer I got to Torryn’s parents’ home, the more my anger at her turned on myself. I was an idiot to react the way I did. Torryn had been nothing but gracious, especially to my mother. She’d offered to be a donor and what I did I do? I crapped all over her for abandoning me. I totally saw the irony in that, since I’d abandoned her six years ago. Or maybe I was angry that she wasn’t a match either. Hadn’t my mother expressed concern that I’d feel that way when she hesitated about having Torryn be tested?
I rolled my shoulders as I pulled up to Torryn’s home. I let the good memories of our time together fill my thoughts. We’d climbed that huge oak trees as kids, hung out at the river as teens, and later, when I’d finally told her how I felt, I loved her both emotionally and physically. I hoped she had the same memories and that they’d overcome any anger she had for me.
I walked up to the front door, straightening my tie, and then knocked. I took a deep breath, shoring up my strength for whatever I would find behind the door.
The door opened, and Torryn’s mother, looking lovely and regal, stared at me. Then slowly recognition came to her eyes. “You’re about six years too late.”
I frown at her comment. Hadn’t Torryn told her that we were together? Or at least working in the same company? The niggle of doubt rose again.
“Yes, ma’am. Is Torryn here?” Old habits die hard in the south. The rules of manners must be in the air here because it was as natural as breathing to use ma’am and sir, as taught to me growing up.
“Why are you here Lucas?”
She wasn’t letting me in. Was I really going to be stopped so close to the finish line?
“Who’s at the door, mama?” Torryn appeared behind her mother. “Lucas? What are you doing here?” Then she looked at her mother. “Are you going to let him in?”
“I wasn’t. I was just sending him away.”
“You can’t do that.” Torryn pulled the door open.
“Why not? After all that he put you through! Now six years later he shows up and expects everything to be the same?”
“It hasn’t been six years, mama. Lucas is in New York. We work for the same company.”
I was keenly aware of what she didn’t say. She hadn’t told her mother we were in a relationship. Did that mean we weren’t? Were we ever since reuniting in New York?
Her mother looked at her. “I don’t recall you telling us this.”
Torryn sighed. “I’ve barely been home.” Then to me, she said, “Come in Lucas.”
A part of me wanted to take her in my arms and kiss her, so it was clear to both her and her mother what the real deal was between Torryn and me. But I held back.
“I’m here to apologize to Torryn.”
“After six years—”
“I’ve already apologized for that,” I interrupted Mrs. Williams. “This time it’s for being selfish the other day.”
Torryn’s eyes narrowed and I wondered if she wanted to keep the extent of our relationship a secret. Then her eyes softened. “How’s your mother? Is everything alright?”
I was reminded of Torryn’s kindness and once again I felt bad for questioning her. “She is. There was a match and she’ll have the procedure next week.”
Torryn’s breath hitched, and then she smiled. “Oh, I’m so glad, Lucas.”
“She also lit me up about how I’d treated you.”
“Your mother?” Mrs. Williams looked confused.
“Yes, mama. Lucas found his mother and it turns out she didn’t leave him. His daddy stole him away.”
I smiled at how Torryn’s southern accent started to get more pronounced now that she was home.
“I never thought much of your daddy, Lucas. I’m sorry to say it, but—”
“That’s okay, Mrs. Williams. I never thought much of him either.” Then I took a deep breath. “But I think the world of Torryn.”
Both women’s eyes widened. Mrs. Williams turned hers on her daughter.
Torryn bit her lip and then smiled. “Yes, mama, Lucas is the man I told you I was seeing.”
Relief flooded my chest.
“Why didn’t you say so?”
“It’s only been a week. I haven’t had time.”
“Is there a convention in the foyer?” Torryn’s father, a kind looking man that I knew doted on Torryn and his wife, came into the room. His eyes squinted as if he was trying to figure out who I was. “Lucas?”
“Yes, sir.” I extended my hand to shake with him.
He took my hand but glanced at his wife and Torryn as if to find out if it was okay that he was welcoming me into his home.
“Lucas and Torryn work for the same company,” Mrs. Williams explained.
“Oh? Well, that’s—” he didn’t finish his sentence.
“It’s been great.” Torryn put her arm through mine. “Can we have a minute to talk?” She lifted her brows towards her parents in a plea to leave.
“Yes, of course. Will you be staying for dinner, Lucas?” Mrs. Williams asked.
“I don’t want to impose.”
“Yes. You need to stay,” Torryn said. “Like a Band-Aid, you need to just rip it off and get it over with.”
I’d have rather ripped a Band-Aid off than endure her parents’ scrutiny after what I’d done to her. But if that’s what it took, I’d do it.
“I’ll go set another place.” Torryn’s mother and father left us alone in the foyer.
I desperately wanted to hold and kiss her, but I settled for taking her hand. “I really am sorry Torryn. I was an ass.”
“I can’t believe you’re here.” She smiled up at me. Then she cocked her head to the side. “Did your mom make you come?”
I sighed. “She insisted I fix things with you now.”
&nb
sp; “Hmm…so if not for her you wouldn’t be here?”
“I would have been sitting outside your apartment when you got home. Not because I wouldn’t want to come—”
“I know you don’t want to leave your mom. She must have been pretty persuasive.”
I was relieved that she understood. “I didn’t have much choice.” I stared at her. “God, Torryn, I really want to kiss you.”
She flashed that beautiful smile. “No one is stopping you.”
“Thank God.” I reached out and took her in my arms. But I didn’t kiss her then. Instead, I held her, inhaling her sweet scent, feeling her lush body against mine. Then I held her face in my palms and pressed my lips to hers. To think I could have lost this drove me crazy.
I ran my tongue along the seam of her mouth, coaxing her to open and let me in. Just as her soft tongue brushed with mine, the doorbell rang.
I groaned as I pulled away.
Torryn smirked and patted my ass as she headed to the door.
“Dinner time chicka.” Charlie blew into the foyer. She stopped short when she saw me. “What the fuck?”
My body tensed as I prepared for whatever she’d do. I didn’t put it past Charlie to kick my ass.
“Whoa there Charlie.” Torryn stepped in front of her friend.
Charlie looked at her. “I thought you said—”
“He’s here for me.”
Charlie turned her hard eyes on me. “Groveling, are we Simmons?”
“Yes.”
She put her hands on her hips and glared at me. “At least you admit it.”
“I don’t lie.”
“No, you just leave people. Why don’t you just stay gone?”
“Charlie. Stop.” The humor in Torryn’s eyes at the tongue-lashing Charlie was giving me started to fade. “We’re going to have a nice dinner with my parents, just like in the old days.”
“Whatever.” Charlie snarled as she pushed past me toward the dining room.
Torryn slipped her arm through mine and looked up at me. “Well, that went well.”
“I still have all my limbs, I suppose.”
“But do you have your dick? That’s what Charlie would go after.”
I winced. Then I leaned over and whispered in Torryn’s ear. “Perhaps you can check later to make sure it’s still there.”
