“No.” Pacing across the kitchen floor, I stop in front of the window and stare at Noah’s house across the yard. “He would believe me. All I have to do is explain, and he would believe me.”
“Really? You think he’d be that forgiving, after everything he’s been through? After everything his daughter has been through?”
“None of it’s true!” I yell, infuriated. “You know damn well those drugs weren’t mine!”
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
“Pictures lie. God, Mother.” Squeezing my eyes shut, I can feel a few tears slip. “Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just let me be happy?”
“You can be happy,” she says, her voice losing some of its edge. “With Mathis. You two are cut from the same cloth. Sure, he’s made mistakes. What man hasn’t? But he’s atoned for them.”
Running a hand over my face, I collapse onto a kitchen chair. “We’re talking in circles, and I really can’t do this wi
th you right now. I have company.”
“Mathis is coming to get you.”
Her words stop me cold. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why she keeps pushing him on me. Why does it matter so much to her?
“Excuse me?”
“He’s coming to Texas, and you will talk to him.”
“No, I won’t.”
“You will,” she repeats, a hard edge to her proper voice. “If you just listen to what he has to say, I know you’ll see things more clearly. You two can stay there for a couple of weeks, continue to let things die down, and use the time to reconnect. It’ll be good for both of you. And then you can come home and put everything behind you.”
“You’re not listening to me—”
“No! You’re not listening to me. Do you think it’s easy being married to your father? Living up to everything he represents? No. But it’s not about me. It’s about him. He’s given me the life I’ve always wanted—the sort of life Mathis can give you, if you’ll just let him.”
“Did it occur to you that maybe I don’t want that life?”
“Why on Earth wouldn’t you?”
My heart drops. She’s never been a big part of my life, popping in and out when it’s convenient for her, but it’s clear now just how little she knows about me.
“I shouldn’t have to explain it to you,” I say, and then I hang up.
Seconds pass, maybe minutes or hours. Who the hell knows? But our conversation plays on repeat in my head, and I know I need to talk to Noah. It’s time he learns the truth, and I’d rather it be from me than someone else.
My thoughts are interrupted by knocking on the front door, and I take a deep breath before I go to answer. Scary as the prospect may be, I resign myself to telling him as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
The door swings open, and Lennon’s usually vibrant face is flat, her eyes void of the sparkle I’ve come to expect and love.
Love.
There’s that word again.
It’s hard to believe I fell in love with her after such a short time.
But I do, I love her. I Love everything about her.
I love the way she smiles at me, all sexy and sated, after a round of crazy-hot sex. I even love the way she looks moving around my house like she owns the damn place. And let’s not forget how much I love the way she interacts with my daughter. Lennon is everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman—sexy, sweet, kind, loyal, funny, smart.
What’s not to love, besides the current look on her face?
“Everything okay?”