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I still at her words and my heart feels unsteady at the trust evident in her voice.
When her eyes don’t open, I retreat to the door.
Just as I’m about to leave, she says in a low voice that’s filled with sadness, “I wish it had been you.”
For a moment, I’m confused and then her words hit me like a blow, their meaning clear as a bell to me.
I glance at her, the yearning in my heart almost painful but then I turn around and close the door behind me, softly.
I retrieve the branded whiskey bottle from my car. I had gotten it on my way over, coincidentally, hoping to drink some tonight. I place it on Elise’s coffee table. Seeing a discarded ribbon on the floor, I pick up the red cloth and tie it around the neck of the bottle in a neat looking bow. “There,” I say to myself, grinning. “Now, she has sufficient reason to kill me in the morning when I pick her up.”
I pen a small note, telling her that I’ll pick her up around three in the afternoon and leaving it next to the bottle, I’m about to leave when a small filing cabinet in the corner of the room catches my attention. One of the top drawers is open and as I move to close it, without thinking, my eyes fall on some papers lying on the top as if they’d been carelessly tossed there.
On seeing the name on the top one, I pick them up.
A quick once over has my lips tightening.
“Is this supposed to be a pig in a blanket?” Lana asks me, holding up something that looks like a croissant baked around a tiny sausage.
I look at it curiously before taking it from her and popping it into my mouth. Smiling at her outraged look, I chew thoughtfully, remarking, “It’s really good. You should try one.”
She makes an outraged face and for a moment I fear she might try to hit me so I escape, heading over to where Kendall is talking to Elise, Oliver standing next to them, holding Sophie.
He’s been carrying Sophie around like a little princess since I brought her mother and her. He kept bringing her to Lana who’s just as besotted with the cheerful little tyke as her husband.
Even I’m getting the not so subtle hints that he’s sending his wife.
“Kendall, these blanket with pigs are fantastic.”
Seeing me, Sophie opens her arms, demanding to be transferred to me and Oliver has no choice but to release his tiny charge. Settling in my arms, Sophie puts her head on my shoulder as if that had been her intention all along.
She looks up at me with happy eyes and my heart tightens at this precious bundle.
Elise’s eyes are tired and she’s clearly hungover. She doesn’t move to take Sophie from me but her eyes linger on us for a few seconds before she moves her gaze to where Kendall is saying something to me.
I recall her words from last night and feeling Sophie’s weight in my arms, I wish I had some way of making them true.
However, when I picked up Elise in the morning, aside from being hungover and asking me to stop shouting, she didn’t seem to recall anything from last night. I would have believed that had she not passed by the expensive bottle of whiskey on her coffee table as if it had always been there.
But there are more pressing matters on my mind than her trying to get out of an awkward conversation.
“…Are you even listening, Lucas?” Kendall sounds annoyed.
I’m dragged out of my thoughts. “Sorry, I was thinking of something else.” I force out a laugh.
She gives me a strange look but doesn’t pursue the matter anymore.
A small child bumps into me and Kendall immediately grabs him, scolding, “Max, what are you doing running into people? Where’s Duke?”
Max looks around. “Dad said that he’d pay me ten dollars if I leave Mama to work alone in peace.”
Duke, Caleb’s chauffeur slash best friend, slash partner in every crime, and his cell mate in prison, had married Kendall’s best friend Tracy and her son had taken a shining to his new stepfather and preferred to call him Dad instead of by name. Those two were thick as thieves.
Max wrapped his small arms around Kendall’s waist and complained loudly, “I’m hungry. When is Caleb bringing the pizza?”
Kendall fondly runs her hands through Max’s hair and tells him, “We’re not having pizza today. Your mom’s making something. Go bother her.”
As Max runs off, conveniently forgetting about the promised ten dollars, I turn my attention to Elise. She’s watching me again and immediately averts her eyes. I can’t stop the tiny smirk from forming on my lips.
