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Long enough to let me know the answer was at the very leastmaybe. Maybe even yes. I stared at her hard. Would she really be so cruel? Abandon one child to have more with another man?
Was I so awful that Lucy wasn’t worth her time?
Yves cleared his throat. “You know, that’s sort of a personal question, Lucy.”
Lucy kicked her feet. “Well, this is sort of a personal situation.”
Cara hid her mouth in her hand to stop another laugh.
“You’re right, honey. This is a personal situation. Come here, would you?” Lisbeth invited Lucy onto her lap and held her close. “I brought Yves here because you two are the most important people in my life. And I want you to get to know each other. Is that alright with you?”
Lucy nodded and smiled.
Lisbeth was good with words. It’s why she was in law. And Lucy wasn’t yet able to distinguish that words didn’t matter if they weren’t seen in action. Where did Lisbeth get off saying that Lucy was so important to her when she barely made the time to visit unless it suited her? “Wesley, do you mind if we have a few moments together alone? To get reacquainted? I think in no time we’ll be the best of friends.”
My jaw hardened. I very nearly answered with a vehement “no” before I looked over at Cara. Her warm eyes were calling to me. Not at liberty to speak and tell me what she wanted, I had to rely entirely on her gaze.
Cara softened me. I didn’t know if it was a good thing at the time, but I decided to trust her, despite every nerve in my body adamantly wanting to pull Lucy out of Lisbeth’s lap and never let her go.
“Alright.”
Lisbeth’s lips curled up into a triumphant smile. The sight of her made me sick. She was viperous and manipulative. But I knew that if I kept Lucy from her, I ran the risk of Lucy holding that against me later in her life. “Thank you, Wesley.”
“Sure. No problem.”
Cara made the move to go, and I followed her, though my heart was sinking further and further into my stomach.
We went into the kitchen across the hall, not speaking. I stood near to the door so I could listen in on the conversation.
“You shouldn’t do that, Wesley.”
I glanced over at Cara, who was leaning against the counter.
“You’re not going to feel better if you eavesdrop.”
“I won’t feel goodnotlistening in, either. So what am I supposed to do?”
“Maybe this is a situation that doesn’t feel good either way.”
We stared at each other. I couldn’t help but get the feeling she was referring to what had been happening between us, too. On one hand, keeping her away was killing me and on the other, keeping her close tortured me.
Maybe life was all about choosing the lesser of two evils. Or wielding the double-edged sword. Regardless, I was losing.
Cara reached out her hand to me. “Come here.”
I went to her and put my hand in her open palm. She squeezed. And there was nothing more. She held my hand, comforting me, helping my pulse steady and my breath even out.
If Lisbeth or Yves or Lucy had walked in suddenly, I had every excuse to say I was nervous. That she was helping me. That we’d become friends. Close. We leaned on each other.
But even that broke my heart. Why would I need to make excuses? I was a billionaire, for Christ’s sake. I could do whatever the fuck I wanted. But for now, I knew it was best for Lucy to maintain my distance from Cara.Right?
We sat in our own silence, overhearing bits of conversation and peals of laughter. It must have been nearly an hour just sitting there. And Cara never let go. Never moved away from my side.
Why had I failed her so miserably?
“Alrighty!” Lisbeth’s shrill voice cut through the silence. “Wesley!”
I let go of Cara and leaped to my feet, eager to get back to Lucy. As I walked into the front hall, I found Lisbeth walking out of the living room with Lucy close at her heels. “We have to get going now, dear,” she said, running her hand through Lucy’s light blonde hair.
