AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Look, I know you’re trying to be nice, but I’m good. Okay? I’ll change, we’ll fix the greenhouse, and then we’ll talk about how I can help out with the kids. I told you I would.”
Lucas lifted a shoulder. “Sure. I’ll try not to be so neighborly.”
“Well, considering you’re not actually my neighbor that could be best.”
Something flashed in his eyes. She’d pissed him off.
“Good point. Don’t worry yourself with helping me. Let’s just fix the greenhouse.” He turned and walked away… just like she wanted, making her feel like a total bitch.
Her fear, those stupid memories of having no control, had once again won. This is what Robbie had done to her. The man might be behind bars, but his “messages” had done more damage than what she wanted to admit.
She squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a deep breath.
Then she went inside to do what she said she would do.
Addy’s words had surprisingly hurt him. They shouldn’t have. He didn’t know her beyond a couple of hours spent with her at most. But somehow her defensiveness when he’d tried to be helpful, tried to nurture a stable relationship with the only rational nearby adult, made him feel less than what he was.
He was honorable, damn it. And no one had ever called him nosy. He wasnotnosy.
Aunt Flora bumbled out the back door and gathered the children, directing Michael and Chris to unload pots out of Addy’s car and giving Charlotte a spoon for worm digging. The three-year-old made a strange face but allowed the older woman to lead her to the compost pile in the corner of the yard.
Addy disappeared into the house.
For a moment, Lucas stood grappling with having his feelings hurt. What the hell was wrong with him? He was a man who rarely cared what others thought of him, a man who rarely cared that he pleased others.
But he knew one thing—something had made Addy fearful.
The phone attached to his belt rang, and Lucas glanced at the screen to check the caller. He’d been waiting on the director of a Manhattan gallery to call him about some canvases for a renovation at a New Jersey Women’s Hospital. But it wasn’t Gerald. It was Courtney.
Dread knotted in his stomach.
Was she calling to check on the kids or had his brother worsened?
“Hey,” he said, darting a glance as Addy reemerged from the house still wearing the dark dress and casting an apologetic glance at him. Something moved within him at that look in her eyes. He turned away.
“Hey,” Courtney said, her voice weary. “Thought I better call and check on the kids while I had a chance. They’re changing Ben’s bedding and I’m in the waiting room.”
“The kids are fine.”
“Are they? I’ve been worried. I left without saying goodbye.”
“Wasn’t ideal.” He’d arrived early Monday morning. Courtney had taken a cab to the airport minutes later, leaving him with sleeping kids and a page of instructions that didn’t cover things like smart mouths and trembling tears on lashes.
“It was the best way.”
“Not sure about that, but you can smooth things over if you tell the kids about Ben’s illness. It would be easier-”
“How?” She interrupted, her voice a mixture of annoyance and weariness. “Look, I’m truly grateful you came to help us. I know it was hard for you. But, I can’t tell my kids that their father may be dying over the phone, Luke.”
He hadn’t been called Luke in many years, and the sound of his name on her lips confused him. It swept him back to a time when he loved hearing her say his name. But as quickly as that thought came, another took its place—betrayal. And that ate away any pleasure in hearing Courtney call him Luke. “I understand, but I’m a stranger to them. Not knowing what’s going on with you and their father only makes it harder on them. Notme.Them. Courtney, you need to tell them something more than what’s been said.”
Michael rounded the corner, followed by Addy’s Aunt Flora. He noted Lucas talking on the phone, and some kind of internal homing signal must have gone off. The boy walked toward him, frowning as Lucas stepped back into the shadows.
“Is that my mom?” Michael asked, moving closer.
Courtney dropped a curse word. “Tell him no. Please. I’m not ready to talk to him about Ben.”
Lucas pulled the phone from his ear and turned to head off Michael. “This is my call, and you’re being rude interrupting it.”
