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Eden
“Now remember, anytime you need a babysitter, just call on your favorite Glamma.” Beaming, Bebe gave me a hug before opening her car door—a one-of-a-kind pink Bentley that I absolutely adored. “I’m keeping that name, by the way. I don’t care how much Luke makes fun of it, I am truly a Glamma, not a Gramma.”
“Without a doubt.” I laughed, adoring this irreverent, bawdy, truly glamorous woman who was my mother-in-law. “Cato and baby-number-two are so lucky to have you as their Glamma. I’ll be sure to remind them of that on a daily basis.”
“And I’ll be happy to remind my son how lucky he is to have you as his wife. Though in all honesty, I don’t think he needs it. I see it in his eyes every time he looks at you, and it makes my heart sing.” She glanced back toward the house, where Luke was saying his goodbyes to the Steele family. “I know he…”
When she hesitated, I touched her arm in concern. Hesitation wasn’t usually her thing. “What, Bebe?”
She wrinkled her perfect little nose. “I know Luke didn’t have what you’d call a conventional childhood, and in the back of my mind I always worried I’d made it impossible for my boy to find his way to a life that fully completed him. But when you came along and made all his dreams come true, I knew that he would be all right. So you know what that means?”
“That you did a good job in raising him?”
“It means I’ll love you forever for finding Luke, sweetheart. Finding him and completing him. When you did that, you completed me as well. You and Luke and my beautiful, brilliant grandbabies are my whole world. Is that okay for me to say that out loud?”
“It’s better than okay, Bebe. It’s everything.” I didn’t give a damn if she saw the tears that sprang to my eyes as I reached out to give her a full-on bearhug. Gone were the days when I changed my face to mask what I was really feeling. Whether it was pregnancy hormones or simply having faith in the people who now populated my life, I hadn’t thought about changing my face to mask the real me in ages. “Not only are you the best Glamma in the world, you’re the best Mom to Lukeandto me, and I love you for that.”
“Ooh, I love you too, honey.” Sniffing, Bebe hugged me back hard before sliding into her car. “Remember, call me for babysitting duties when you and Luke need some alone time, okay?”
“Absolutely, and thank you.” I waved her off as she slowly backed down the still-crowded driveway, only to catch my breath when I saw Kels strolling up from the street. He was dressed in a casual tan suit and a pale pink dress shirt, and in his hand he carried a large bouquet of hyacinths, zinnias and honeysuckle—all my favorites. “What in the world…?”
“Looks like I picked a bad time to drop in. I had to park out on the street.” With his frosted hair expertly sculpted, he offered the bouquet to me with a wry little smile. “Got a party going on?”
“Got a party winding down. It’s Luke’s birthday.” Taking the bouquet, I looked at it a moment before giving in to the need to wrap my arms around him. “It’s good to see you, Kels.”
“It’s good to see you, too. So much.” He squeezed back before taking a step back and casting a glance up at the house. Luke and Steele had moved to the edge of the porch, their attention clearly on us. Or, more accurately, on Kels. “Huh. There’s a nice, warm welcome right there.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised. Every invite and phone call I’ve sent your way has either gone unanswered or was quickly brushed off. You made it clear that your choice had been made—my father over me. That’s understandable, of course,” I added quickly, hoping I hadn’t sounded too judgmental. “I know you feel that my dad saved you and gave you a life worth living, so I get why your loyalty lies with him. I’m not even mad about it.” I followed his gaze and smiled at how ready Luke was to jump to my aid. “Luke’s not mad, either. I think he’s just worried you’re here to deliver a message or start some sort of game that my father’s cooked up.” I turned back and nailed him to the spot with a hard stare. “Are you?”
“What? No—”
“Because if you are, the person you should be worried about isme, Kels. Not Luke. I’ll do anything to keep my father out of my life, for the sake of my children.”
“Children?”
“I’m going to have another baby, due in March. This is what moving on with life looks like, Kels,” I added, trying to be gentle with that truth when I knew he was having a hard time with that very thing. The loss of HEG had been more than a loss of a job for Kels; it had been his home from the time he’d been a frightened kid on the streets. “I hope you can find it in you to do the same.”
“That’s why I decided to drop in to see you today, because I… well, I wanted to say goodbye.”
“What? Goodbye?” I couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d said he was becoming the next Easter Bunny. “Where are you going?”
“I’ve accepted a teaching position at a small college in Big Rapids, Michigan—pre-law and corporate law. I’m going across the lake.”
“Wow.Wow,” I said again before hugging him once more. This was huge, bigger than anything I could have ever imagined for him. “Does Dad know?”
“Oh, he knows. He didn’t take it well. He actually called me a traitor and my leaving a defection. But…” Kels shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Like you said, this is what it looks like when you move on with your life. HEG is over and your dad no longer needs me in a business capacity, so I’m out. You were right to get out when you did,” he added, surprising me. “After you told me everything he did to get you back, it was… a lot, Eden. Not gonna lie about that.”
“I know, Kels. But it was the truth.”
“Yeah, I know. I mean, I had trouble believing it at the time, because while I know your old man is a crafty old fox, I never imagined he’d pull that kind of violent, scary shit on his own daughter. But then I looked into it. I questioned Cobee, then went to Cook County Jail to talk with Leopold Driscoll, and it was everything you said. It made me realize we’re all just pawns in Tru Steadfast’s game, and I didn’t want to play anymore. I’ve been looking for a real, solid, long-term job to get me out of here for the past year, and I think I’ve found it.”
Oh, wow. “I’m so happy for you, Kels.”
“You are, aren’t you?” He shook his head and stared at me in wonderment. “Why are you always so good to me, Eden?”
That made my brows shoot up. “What?”
“You heard me.”
