Lex and Lu (8 page)

Bewildered, Amber turned away from her, contemplating her news. Although Willa and Lu were different as night and day, they were close. That closeness added validity to Willa’s claims. But she knew there was more, because Willa wouldn’t have come to her unless she was sure. Turning back, she looked at Willa, “What else?”

Willa heaved a deep breath. “I saw them kissing.”

Amber was horrified. She loved Lex, because he made it extremely difficult to not like him. But he was leaving. And as smart as Lu was, Amber imagined that when she let herself love, it was going to be the sticking kind.

Jarred back to the present when Jo stood up to get more coffee, Amber waited for her to return. “I was just thinking about the day that Willa told me about them,” Amber told her.

“Yeah, I’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of days thinking about that time in our lives. Even more than I’ve thought about Mike. Maybe it’s avoidance.”

“Or maybe it’s the sense of resolution.”

“You think this will be resolved?”

“I think you started that ball in motion with your conversation with Lu yesterday.”

Jo could tell Amber was angry. “Are you going to go all Mama Bear on me?” she asked, sarcastic.

“No. The time for Mama Bear was eight years ago. I let you and actually participated in bullying my daughter. I won’t do that again.” Amber felt anger coursing through her, her shaking hands a reflection of its path.

“Hmph,” Jo grunted. “Guess my thirty-six hours of sympathy have expired.”

“Don’t pull that on me,” Amber hissed. “You deserve all the sympathy I have and you’ve got it. Being angry at you for attempting to browbeat Lu into doing what you want when you want is a separate issue. Why on earth did you order her to go get Nina?”

Jo cut her eyes at Amber. “Lu told you?” she asked, surprised.

“No, of course not. She would never talk to me about what to do about Nina, not after I didn’t help her. Willa told me.”

Jo got up from her chair, feeling the compulsion to move, something that she was sure Lex had inherited from her, not Mike. She wanted, needed, to explain to Amber.

“I was wrong,” she said, still pacing. “I was wrong eight years ago, and I was wrong yesterday. I really don’t expect to be forgiven for what happened before, but I hope you can forgive me for yesterday. I didn’t intend to say that. I wanted to ask her to not say a word, to be there for me, Pete, even Lex if we needed her. But to wait for Lex to get over the loss of his father first before she told him. I know, knew that this was all going to come to a head, even before Mike died. The guilt he felt was enough for me to be thinking of a plan to bring Nina to Lex when Lu was ready.” She paused and laughed, a brittle sound. “That’s bullshit—when I was ready.” She stopped again, making her way back to the lounge chair and sitting down heavily. “But when I opened my mouth, instead I demand that she go get Nina. Maybe I would have realized what I had done and perhaps even apologized, but she got up, regally, and left.”

Amber, stuck between loyalty to her daughter and sympathy for her best friend, didn’t know what to say. She longed for her husband to be by her side. She knew they could shoulder the grief for each other and that he could help her navigate this treacherous path. When he got back they would figure it out.

“Part of me,” Jo continued, “part of me needs to have Nina here. Mike loved her so much. She was the light of his life. Sometimes I think that if I could get past the guilt, guilt that I didn’t really know I was feeling, I could love her even more than I do. But when you look at her, she looks back at you with Lex’s smiling green eyes and you just can’t help but be happy. That’s always been Lex’s gift, aside from soccer: he just makes you happy. And Nina’s the same. And, selfishly, always selfishly, I wanted her here for me.” And then she broke.

All the angst, the sorrow, the desolation and devastation, the possibility of utter destruction overwhelmed her and she sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

Amber went to Jo and wrapped her arms around her, holding her while she melted down. Reduced to a shell of a woman who had lost her mate and was about to lose her son.

The day had flown by. Six hours of viewing had been filled with hundreds of people paying their respects to Michael Pellitteri. Overwhelmed by having so many people feel the need to say good-bye to his father, Lex spent the day in a euphoric fog, punctuated by the surprise appearance of a number of his teammates, past and present, and his agent, Caroline. Not once, throughout the day, had sadness descended—in fact, he existed in the glow of pride, humility, and happiness—the exact opposite of what he expected. Part of him knew it was because so many people obviously loved his father and they were surrounded with that love. The other part of him waited for the reality to set in, for the grimness of life without his father to take hold.

He didn’t let Lu out of his sight the entire day. Her presence was like a buoy in the ocean, keeping him above the water of sadness. Having her near kept him smiling. His teammates were enchanted with her, and even Caroline, who tended to skewer any woman in a ten mile radius of her athletes, gave Lu a wide berth. Lu radiated an inner joy and contentment that he desperately wanted. He hated that she had it already, without him. He wanted to be the one who lit her up from the inside out.

When his teammate Miguel made his way toward Lu and began his mating ritual, Lex found himself feeling possessive. When he had Miguel’s attention, Lex leaned in close and whispered, “Not her, she’s mine.” Miguel, a lover not a fighter, conceded with a roguish smile. “No harm, no foul,” he said. Lu, who was close enough to hear Miguel’s comment, looked at Lex quizzically. He merely cocked his eyebrow, smiled at her, and returned to the conversation he had walked away from.

Although the day had been far more manageable than he expected, he found himself watching his mother closely. Jo seemed excessively tense. And he was worried about her. The depth of her sorrow didn’t surprise him. She looked sad. But there was something else too—a fragility that was unexpected and troublesome. Jumpy and easily startled, she seemed to be waiting for something bad to happen. But even Lex couldn’t think of anything worse than the unexpected death of his father. He noticed that girls, Amber, Stacy, Cami, LeeAnn, and Natalie hovered around her like an honor guard of some sort, seemingly protecting her. Thinking about his and Lu’s long friendship, Lex watched as his mother looked up and caught his eye. A deep, penetrating look passed between them and she mouthed “sorry” across the space. Confused, Lex could merely respond with a questioning look. He swore she mouthed, “I’m so sorry,” again before she returned to the conversation swirling around her.

Lu appeared by his side right then, grasping his hand and squeezing, silently offering her support and comfort, almost as if she had observed the strange moment with this mother. Without really realizing what he was doing, he leaned down, as close as he could get to her ear and whispered, “I need to be inside you. Soon.” Then he dropped a light kiss just below her ear. He could feel her body stiffen, and she pulled her hand from his before he thought to hold his tighter. Before he knew it, she was across the room and out the door, running from him again.

He wasn’t sure what was going on with her. Unhappily, he gave in to the insecurities that had plagued him regarding Lu. He knew she—and, it seemed, everyone else—was keeping something from him. He didn’t know how he knew, but the pervasive feeling of a great conspiracy jumped to the forefront. He felt like everyone was in on it. An undercurrent seemed to flow in every conversation he had with people. And when they saw him in close proximity to Lu, he felt their curiosity. Perhaps it was merely
that
—curiosity. Would the childhood sweethearts find their way back to each other? Everyone loved a feel-good story. But then he would catch sight of Pete or Willa watching him, and he couldn’t help but wonder what they were holding back. He checked Lu’s left hand, searching for a sign of an engagement ring, something that would explain her reticence. He found nothing.

Then, ruefully, he thought of what he had whispered to her and he smiled. What was he thinking? Lu wasn’t some groupie. His comment had been bawdy and shockingly disrespectful to Lu. That was why she ran this time. But she wouldn’t be able to run from him. Not tonight. He needed her. And he was going to have her. Consequences be damned.

Ducking into a small, unused viewing room, Lu quietly closed the door behind her. Flinging herself into one of the striped wingback chairs, she leaned back and closed her eyes. She was trembling with a heady combination of desire and fear. Her run with Lex earlier in the day had set the stage for the rest. Their easy camaraderie had reestablished itself as their feet pounded over the packed sand. When he left her at 6:55, he’d dropped a kiss on her forehead, much like he’d done to Willa the previous evening. And while part of her wanted more than that, great appeal could be found in maintaining Lex’s friendship. The betrayal of a friend seemed so much simpler than that of a lover.

So when he’d leaned in close and whispered in her ear—what he’d whispered in her ear—shock and surprise overwhelmed her. And it had heated her. If she had stayed in the room, everyone would have seen the telltale blush run up her neck, she imagined, and creep over her cheeks. She’d felt everything in her body tighten and hum. So she fled. She expected Willa to find her at any moment as her panicked gaze had found her sister’s on the way out of the room.

Lu had to hold out. As much as she wanted Lex, she couldn’t allow herself to be with him in any way other than to support him. But damn he was irresistible, she conceded unhappily.

When she heard the door open, she looked over, thankful for her sister’s concern. But Willa wasn’t the person who walked through the door. It was Lex’s stunningly beautiful agent, Caroline Thorvaldsdottir. Lu didn’t know a lot about her, but she could tell Caroline was shrewd. Mike wouldn’t have entrusted Lex’s career to just anyone. The choosing of his agent had been a long, thorough process that Mike had agonized over for quite some time. In the beginning, he had managed Lex’s career and money. But he was more interested in being a father than an agent, so when Lex turned twenty-one, Mike bowed out. And from what Lu heard, it had been a good move for everyone involved.

Lu watched warily as Caroline found a chair and pulled it up, in an effort to facilitate some kind of conversation. She had been introduced to Caroline earlier and she seemed nice enough, but now, Lu experienced a sense of foreboding that perhaps this wasn’t a casual conversation.

Tilting her head, Lu acknowledged Caroline with a smile. “You must be exhausted from your travels,” Lu began.

Caroline returned her smile, making her seem even more beautiful, softer somehow when she relaxed. “I am. It’s been a long couple of weeks. Throw a transatlantic flight into any week and it’s enough to make one tired.”

Not having ever left the country, Lu nodded but didn’t contribute anything.

“Are you OK?” Caroline inquired.

Taken aback, Lu nodded. “Yes. Thank you. Just a long, sad couple of days.”

“It must be nice to have Lex back in town,” Caroline ventured.

Lu smiled before she could stop herself. “Yes, it is. We spent our childhoods together, and it’s nice to see him.”

Caroline nodded, understanding reflected in her ice-blue eyes. Lu felt at ease. “I can tell he’s looking to you for comfort. He hasn’t been able to take his eyes off of you and he seems to like having you close by,” she observed.

Caroline didn’t seem to be looking for a response so Lu didn’t offer one.

Caroline leaned forward, in a manner that made the two of them look like they were conspiring together. “When I took over the management of Lex, there were certain things already in place. And since Mike Pellitteri essentially hired me, I was bound by attorney-client confidentiality.” She paused, smiled briefly, as if contemplating what to say. “Mike was one shrewd bastard.”

“I think you might be the only person who knew Mr. P. who would think it OK to call him a bastard,” Lu said, her annoyance clear in her voice.

Caroline merely smiled. “Don’t misunderstand me,” she said. “I don’t mean it as a slight. Just that when it came to managing his son’s career and money, he did everything right. When it came to Lex, he drove a hard bargain.” Again, she paused. “He was a hard act to follow.”

Lu knew this to be true. She never asked for details from anyone, but she knew that Lex was worth a lot of money. His soccer career had been storied. Lex’s talent and his father’s business acumen were a profitable combination.

“When I began going through Lex’s accounts, which are vast, I noticed that a trust had been set up. Twenty percent of everything Lex made was funneled into the trust.”

Lu got very still. When she thought back on this moment later, she would regret that she let her poker face slip.

“Mike never did tell me what that trust was for, but I can see from your expression that you know what it is?” she said, questioning Lu.

Lu, regaining her equilibrium, said, “No, I don’t.”