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“You should stay at my house for a few days. You’ll be sore, and won’t be able to drive. Let me take care of you.”
I don’t give it a second thought. I want to be near her. “Okay, I’ll go pick up my things from the hotel. First, there’s something I need to take care of before I come back.”
* * *
I pull into the familiar gravel driveway, and the memories come flooding back as I stare at the worn out farmhouse. Most of them shitty, reminding me of why I left in the first place. Ben owns the house where we grew up now, and he can have it. When my parents died, I forfeited my half to him. I don’t need the money, the house, or the memories.
I climb the rickety steps of the wraparound porch I used to play on when I was a kid. Noticing the same weathered screen door, still hanging by a thread. I pause for a moment, trying to collect myself. I take a deep breath before I bang my knuckles on the wooden edge of the door.
“Yeah, who is it?” a familiar gruff voice rumbles from inside.
A second later, Ben appears on the other side of the door in worn jeans and a USMC T-shirt with a picture of a skull on the front. Between his size and all his tattoos, he’s a scary looking dude. I'm preparing myself for a well-deserved punch in the face, but when Ben catches sight of me, he swings the door open and steps aside, motioning me in.
The door slams shut and he marches past me. I follow him into the kitchen, neither of us saying a word. He snags two beers from the fridge, and I hold my hand up to decline politely.
“I can’t. I need to be back at the hospital.” He grunts, handing me a bottle of water instead.
“I heard…Sarah called me a little while ago,” he mumbles before taking a large swig of beer.
“Look, Ben, I—” He holds up his hand, cutting me off mid-sentence, which I’m kind of glad for because I’m not sure what to say anyway.
He pulls out a kitchen chair, flipping it around and sits on it backward. He motions for me to take a seat. “Look, Luke, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I should be kicking your ass right now, but honestly, I’m more pissed at myself. Should you have slept with my fiancé? Probably not, but we both know Sarah should have ended up with you and not me.”
“Ben—“
“We had a terrible upbringing, and I know it’s not an excuse…I mean somehow you overcame it, but I let it define my life. I was never the settling down type, but you, you'd make a good husband and a good father.”
“Ben, you are a good dad. That little girl loves you, and she needs you, she’ll always need you. I’m not here to take anything away from you. You’re her father.”
He takes another healthy swig from his beer and slams it down on the table, his glossy eyes staring down at the bottle. “Ashley is the only good thing in my life, and it hurts to lose that.”
“You’ll never lose her. She loves you, and she depends on you, that’s not going to change.”
“Look, Luke, I will always do anything for that little girl, you’re right, that will never change. But she needs stability in her life and so does Sarah. She’s always tried to make the best of everything, but I failed them both. I’m just not wired like that, and I hurt them.”
“Ben, you did the best you could.”
He cocks his head and chuckles. “Luke, I’m leaving again in a few weeks, and I need to know that they’re going to be taken care of. We both know I should never have married Sarah; it was a selfish thing to do. I’m not the settling down type. I took advantage of her, I ran away when things got tough, and I destroyed our marriage. I guess karma is a bitch. I need you to promise me you’ll treat them well, and take good care of them, the way they both deserve. If you want my forgiveness, then that’s what I need you to do. Promise me, Luke. They deserve to be treated like queens, and I know you’re the one capable of that. I was not…”
I hate seeing the pain etched on his face. He shrugs his shoulders, and pounds his finger to his chest. “I was not capable of that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see my little girl and wish her luck before her procedure.”
With that I’m dismissed, no handshake or bro hug, just a silent goodbye.
Luke
Soft, classical music hums through the speakers as I anxiously lie here on a gurney in the surgical holding room. An IV is being inserted into my arm by a focused redheaded nurse, while the chirpy one with short blonde hair checks my blood pressure.
“Looks like you have company.” The blonde nurse smiles up at me, just as the redhead pinches my arm with a needle.
I glance up from my arm, and my heart thumps in my chest at the enchanting sight. My sexy girl is standing there in a gray hooded sweatshirt, and formfitting yoga pants that hug her tight ass, showcasing her sexy toned legs. Her golden locks flow across her shoulders, and she looks like an angel. Her infectious smile always seems to brighten my day.
Standing next to her is Ashley, looking sweet in her pink pajama pants and a gray T-shirt with a huge smiley face on the front, shyly clutching her IV pole. My smile reaches my ears at the sight of them. These feelings I’m having are so enormous it makes my chest ache.
“Looks like someone planned a successful prison break.” I snicker, eliciting a tiny smirk from Ashley’s sweet face. Sarah cautiously moves toward me after the nurses excuse themselves, while Ashley stands in the background nervously bouncing on her feet.
“We wanted to see you before you go in,” Sarah mutters, her cheeks tinting with a lovely pink blush.
“I’m glad I got to see you guys too.” I reach for her hand. The warmth in her eyes is unmistakable, and it makes me hopeful.
