Beyond the Orange Moon (Mathews Family Book 2) (22 page)

“What’s the story with him?” Lucy asked Dylan.
 

Dylan looked out the window and smiled. “He was my dad’s best friend. We never see him anymore.” A frown crept slowly over her mouth as the thought hit her. “Mom, why doesn’t Mike come around anymore?”

“A cupcake stand!” Linda yelled a bit too excitedly from her place on top of a chair, where she had been digging through the cupboards above the refrigerator. She displayed it proudly as she flashed her white teeth.
 

“Good job, Mom,” Dylan said with a laugh.
 

“See, I knew Meredith had to have more than what you found. Do you remember that bridal shower? They got a ton of things for entertaining.” Linda handed the stand over to Lucy and turned back around to continue searching through the cupboards. “I bet there’s lots of good stuff in here. Charlie probably never looks in these cupboards.”

Lucy wiped down the cupcake stand and began to set it up. It was like a puzzle, with one long rod and five tiers that each needed to be screwed into place. She was able to get two dozen cupcakes on the stand, which really freed up room on the platters.
 

Once everything was all set up, Lucy took a step back and crossed her arms. “It’s missing something,” she said, and bit her lower lip as she thought.

“What are you thinking?” Dylan asked, eyeing the cupcakes.
 

“Ah!” Lucy exclaimed. She raced over to the counter where she had seen toy cars by a jar full of pencils. She grabbed all five and placed them around the platter, with one on the stand. “Voila!”

Dylan smiled as she took in the sight. “Perfect.”

“Oh!” Linda said as a crash erupted.

Dylan and Lucy both spun around to see the last of the things falling from the top of the refrigerator. A pink index card fluttered down after them, but Linda managed to grab it before it hit the ground. Upon seeing what it was, her hand flew up to her mouth and tears sprung to her eyes. Without saying a word, she handed the card over to Dylan.
 

Dylan gave her mother a strange look, but reluctantly took the card. As she scanned it, her eyes welled up with tears, too. “Charlie’s favorite chicken,” she whispered, and covered her mouth.
 

“Do you remember that?” Linda asked, her voice hoarse with grief. “Do you remember what she said?”

Dylan nodded and wiped away a falling tear. “She marked all of Charlie’s favorite dishes down on her recipe cards in case … in case …” She let out a small sob and took a seat on the stool behind her.
 

“Oh, honey,” Linda said, and got down from the chair she had been standing on.
 

Lucy looked over Dylan’s shoulder and snuck a peek. Sure enough, right on top of the card, in what she assumed was Meredith’s handwriting, was written, “Charlie’s Favorite Chicken.”
 

“What did she say?” Lucy asked, not really wanting to know, but needing to know at the same time.
 

“She said that in case anything ever happened to her …” Linda paused to take a breath and wipe away her tears. “She wanted to make sure that someone still fed her Charlie Bear all of his favorite meals.”

Lucy’s eyes widened.
Charlie Bear?
Ah, that made sense. It was one of those slap-your-forehead moments, but she would do that later when she was alone.
 

Dylan shook her head as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. “The worst part is … do you remember us laughing at her when she told us she did that? Do you remember how ridiculous we thought it was? Oh, God. I feel horrible, Mom.”

Meredith had loved Charlie with a fierceness that Lucy hadn’t comprehended until just now. Her heart felt like it had been split in two as she understood the selflessness of that love. Meredith Mathews had been beautiful, both inside and out.
 

Lucy’s chin quivered as she attempted to control her nerves. All she needed right now was to burst into tears with these women who she barely knew over someone she’d supposedly never met.
 

“She sounds like a really special person,” was all Lucy could say.
 

“She really was,” Dylan said, but then chuckled. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, she had her princess moments. But her heart was made of pure gold. She would have done anything for anyone.”

Linda sniffled and then nodded in agreement. “She was an extraordinary woman.”
 

Lucy contemplated that word: extraordinary. It was something that she would never be—a description she could never be worthy of if she continued down this path with Charlie. He didn’t deserve this and she needed to find a way to stop everything that had begun.
 

Meredith Mathews didn’t plan for a liar to make those dishes for her husband. She intended for an honest, selfless woman to continue taking care of her Charlie Bear.
 

Lucy was not that person.
 

She looked between Linda and Dylan. She was even deceiving them; she was misleading all the people in the Mathews’ world who thought she was the one who could heal Charlie’s broken heart. It was almost too much to bear.
 

“Uh, you know what?” she began, tears threatening her eyes. “I have to get back to the café and finish up a few things.”

Linda let out a few more sniffles. “You have to leave?” she asked, and rose from her chair. “We haven’t even sung ‘Happy Birthday.’”

“Lucy, don’t go,” Dylan pleaded, her expression showing that she didn’t believe the work excuse. “I’m sorry if we just made you uncomfortable.”

Lucy backed toward the hallway. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice cracking. “I really do have to go, though.”
 

“Bee!” she heard from below her.
 

She looked down and there was Jackson, the chef hat still on his head and his arms raised to her. His little grin was the perfect reflection of his father’s, and it tugged at her heart like nothing she had ever felt before.
 

She picked him up and hugged him tightly, whispering in his ear, “Thank you, Jackson, for bringing me back to life.” She kissed his little cheek, and said, “Your mommy was so special.”
 

She placed Jackson back on the floor, and raced down the hallway to Charlie’s room. She picked up her purse and couldn’t bring herself to take in the details like she had before. She just had to get out of there.
 

She snuck back down the hallway and waited for her moment to leave. Everyone was making their way to the kitchen, so it was safe to slip away through the front door. With her hand on the knob, she turned once more to look at Charlie. He had found Jackson and put him up on his shoulders the way he had at the park.
 

Her chest ached as she watched the two of them, Jackson cuddling his daddy’s head with complete trust. They were a team, one being whole with the other. They weren’t her team, though. They could never belong to her; she would never deserve them.
 

Dylan approached Charlie and stretched to whisper something in his ear. From the way his face fell and he looked around the room, Lucy was sure she had just told him about her abrupt exit. He lifted Jackson from his shoulders and handed him over to Dylan, who nodded and said, “I’m sorry.”

He was coming to find her.
 

That was her cue to leave.

She walked out the front door and raced to her car. As she hurried along the pavement, she fumbled around in her purse in search of her keys.
 

“Lucy!” she heard Charlie yell behind her.
 

Her hands shook as she pressed the unlock button on her keypad until her headlights flashed. She struggled to open her car door and then threw it open when she finally got it right.
 

“Lucy! Wait!”
 

She sat down in the driver’s seat as he ran toward her, getting closer and closer. The tears were really falling now as they poured from her eyes and flooded her wet cheeks. She turned the key in the ignition and threw her car into drive before he could get there.
 

As she zoomed past him, he threw his hands in the air and yelled her name once more. She watched him grow smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror. He didn’t move from the middle of the street.
 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered through a sob. She covered her mouth and blinked away more tears. “I’m so sorry.”

Chapter Ten

Ben snuck up the stairs of the Mathews’ home and made his way into Dylan’s old room. It was a familiar journey that left him all warm and fuzzy inside. It was ridiculous, really, but he loved every second of it because he loved where the journey ended—with his Dylan.
 

He closed the door and saw the little lump in her bed that he recognized immediately. That lump, after all, was soon going to be his wife. He watched to see if she was moving, even though he knew she was probably awake and waiting for him to slide in next to her. Some things never change.
 

He undressed down to his boxer briefs and stood above her bed. He pulled back the sheets and looked down at her lovely body, in nothing but a tank top and a pair of lacey boy shorts.
Mine
, he thought and smiled to himself.
 

He slid into bed and pressed himself against her as he pulled the sheets over them.
 

 
“Hi,” she said sleepily.

“Hi, baby,” Ben breathed into her ear and placed a gentle kiss on her neck. “Miss me?”

“Mmhmm,” she groaned. “I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow.”

“I couldn’t wait any longer. I changed flights so I could surprise you in your old bed.”

Dylan giggled and flipped onto her back so she could look at his face. “Just like old times,” she whispered.
 

“Exactly,” he said, and lowered his mouth to hers.
 

Dylan ran her fingers through his hair and sighed into his kiss. He could never tire of this perfect woman and the way she loved him. Some days he wanted to pinch himself just to make sure it was all real.
 

He pulled back and smiled down at her. He lifted a smooth strand of her hair and twirled it around in his fingers. “Mrs. McKenna,” he whispered, and flashed her a dazzling smile.
 

Her hand cupped the side of his face. She ran her thumb over his lips and just stared at him, taking in every ounce of him. “I love you,” she said, so quietly that it made him tilt his head in question.

“What’s wrong?”

“Charlie,” she whispered, and nearly choked. “I think I messed up.”

Ben sighed and shook his head. “What happened with the cupcake girl?”

“The cupcake girl,” she repeated and tried not to laugh. “Lucy,” she corrected. “Her name is Lucy. I said it twenty times on the phone the other day.”

“Okay, sorry … what happened with
Lucy
?”
 

Dylan sat up a little and Ben rested his head on her chest. He would listen to this story, but only if he could put his cheek on her breasts. “She came to Jack’s party. She didn’t seem to want to, but I, of course, made her feel bad until she agreed to come back.”

“Strike one,” Ben teased. He slid his hand inside her shirt and rested it on her stomach.
 

“Shhh,” she scolded. “It gets worse. Everyone likes her: my mom, Hugh, Jonah, Jackson … Charlie, obviously. Anyway, things were going great until we went into the kitchen to set up the cupcakes and Mom found one of Meredith’s old recipe cards with ‘Charlie’s Favorite Chicken’ written on the top. From there, we were blubbering and going on and on about how perfect Meredith was and blah, blah, blah.”

“Ouch,” Ben said. “And Lucy heard all of this?”

Dylan groaned and nodded. “Yep.”

“Doesn’t she know that Charlie lost his wife?”

“She knows, but that doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable.”

Ben lifted his head and rested his chin on her chest so he could look at her. “Baby, when you go after a guy whose wife passed away, you just have to accept that her memory will be everywhere. That’s just how it is.”
 

Dylan frowned. “I don’t think it was jealousy, though, Ben. And she isn’t going after him; it’s more like they’re being pushed together … by meddling people like me.”

Ben suppressed a smile. “You’re meddling in your brother’s life? Hah.”

Dylan put her hands over her face. “Ugh. I know. I’m even annoying myself, now.”
 

“My, how the tables have turned. I love this story.” Ben raised his eyebrows. “So, what happened after that?”

“She looked like she was going to burst into tears and she left so fast she was like a little blur traveling through the house. Charlie went after her, but he couldn’t stop her.”

“Is he going to try and see her again?”

“That’s the worst part. He said he doesn’t want to drag her into anything that will hurt her, so he’s just going to leave it alone. He doesn’t want to see her cry again.”