Sex and Key Lime Pie (21 page)

“What the hell is your problem today?” Miguel grunted.

“I haven’t got one.”

He dropped into a leather chair. “Right. Then you’d be the only friggin’ one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Something’s going on. Lizzy came home crying last night. She won’t talk about what happened.

According to Tony, Isabelle wasn’t much better. “What about Cheyanne?”

“What about her?” Luc asked.

“Did you see her last night?”

“Yeah, I saw her.” He had noticed that she seemed upset when she returned to the house, but the conversation got sidetracked very quickly. He never did find out what she’d wanted to talk about before Sam came into the room.

“And?”

“And what?”

Miguel groaned. “What’s going on?”

Luc didn’t have the time or the patience to figure out the problem between the three friends. He had his son to think about and how to make up for the years of being an absentee father. “What do you think about Sam?”

“What does he have to do with it?”

“Does he remind you of anyone?”

“Oh, so that’s what’s going on.” Miguel’s laughter held no humor. “He looks like you, Luc. There isn’t a person in the Cove who’s seen the kid that hasn’t wondered. Christ, you’ve said yourself that he’s a lot like you.”

“Apparently more than I realized,” Luc muttered.

“So she finally told you he’s your son?”

His tension mounted. “Oh, he’s mine. Only she wasn’t the one who told me. It came from Sam. I can’t believe she lied to me all this time.”

“Lied about what?”

“About Sam.”

“Did she ever tell you Sam wasn’t your son? Did you even ask?” When Miguel decided to play devil’s advocate, he was impossible to deal with. Luc was not the guilty party this time.

“I’m not arguing semantics with you. I have to pick him up right now.”

“What does he think of all this?”

Thoughts of his son allowed him to relax slightly. “He seems very happy.”

“Which should tell you something important.”

“Like what?”

“It tells you what kind of picture his mother painted of you in Sam’s mind. Be careful you do the same, or he might not be very happy anymore.”

Luc had already learned that lesson. As long as he didn’t ask Sam anything about his mother, they got along great. For Luc, that would be business as usual. He’d been keeping his thoughts and feelings about Cheyanne to himself for more than a decade.

****

An hour later, his righteous anger had not subsided. He needed answers. Answers he apparently wouldn’t get from Cheyanne. He entered the back door of Isabelle’s house. Ten trays of food on the kitchen island were ready to be transported to the restaurant for the dinner shift.

“They’re on the counter,” she called.

“It’s more than I can eat.” Luc walked into the living room. Despite his humorous comment he wasn’t happy. That seemed to be the general mood of the day.

“What are you doing here?”

He dropped into the club chair across from her. “I can’t visit my sister?”

“I thought you were picking up Sam today.”

“I did. I just dropped him off at practice with Miguel.” Luc shook his head. “Is there anything she doesn’t tell you?”

Isabelle shrugged.

“So you knew about Sam?”

She transferred T.J. to the bassinet next to her. “She didn’t tell me until yesterday. But I knew the minute I saw him.”

“It didn’t occur to you to tell me?”

“No. You weren’t ready to know. I’m not even sure you are now.”

He raised his head and leveled a self-righteous glare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You still haven’t forgiven her for marrying someone else after you broke her heart or you would have seen it yourself. Or maybe you didn’t want to consider it because then you might have to admit you had been wrong about her all these years.”

“That’s not true.”

“Do you care about her at all?”

His hands gripped the arms of the chair. “I’m furious with her. I have every right to be.”

“What gives you the right? Did you ever once tell her you loved her? Last I heard you told her she was your whore and her only interest to you was as a means of getting back at your father. Wouldn’t that have been the ultimate revenge? Get her pregnant and dump her, just like Harlan did to our mother?”

Luc winced. He had blocked those vicious accusations from his mind. At the time, he would have said anything to make sure he destroyed any feeling she’d had for him. Apparently he’d succeeded. “That was never my intent.”

“I know. But she didn’t. She bought every word you said.” She paused and wiped away a tear. “Your pride got the better of you nine years ago. Don’t let it get you again.”

“She kept my son from me.”

“Oh, get off your high horse and be honest for one damn second. You would have beaten the crap out of any guy if he’d treated me the way you treated her and you would have locked me up if I tried to go back to him, no matter what the circumstances. You broke her, Luc. Don’t blame her for letting someone else pick up the pieces.”

His jaw sagged and his eyes rounded. “How long have you been keeping that in, Izzy?”

“Nine years, five months, and seven days.” She paused for a calming breath. “I love you, Luc, but you manage to live up to your bastard stigma all the time. Find a way to forgive her or find a way to tell your son exactly what you did to her. Because one day, very soon, he’s going to be asking the question you refuse to answer.”

“What question is that?”

“Do you love my mother? No matter what you feel for her, she is still the most important person in his life. So you better think of a damned good excuse as to why you don’t love her too.”

****

Cheyanne lay across the hotel bed and stared at the ceiling. California in the summer was beautiful, but she just wanted to get back home. She still disliked hotel rooms, even when staying as a guest. Her body ached with fatigue. In another hour she would be on her way to the airport. She had finished her business sooner than expected.

The director at the college had been very understanding. They accepted her resignation without the sixty-day written notice required by contract. She lost the security deposit on the condominium but she had gotten Sam’s records back with enough time to get him enrolled in school in the Cove.

The ten days leading up to her trip had been exhausting. When she told Luc he could take his son whenever he wanted, she hadn’t considered he would take Sam for days at a time. Yet he managed to make her feel guilty when she asked him to keep Sam while she traveled. The only thing that kept her going was how excited and happy Sam had been the past couple of weeks.

Sleep was a rare luxury lately. As her mind drifted into weary slumber, the unique ring of her cell phone jerked her back to reality. Although nine o’clock in California, it was midnight on the east coast. She fumbled for the handset in her pocket and answered quickly.

“What’s up, Sam?”

“Mom?” His voice was a whisper.

“Is something wrong?”

“No.”

“Where are you?” she asked.

“The bedroom.”

He always referred to the room in his father’s house as the bedroom, not his room. Mixed emotions of guilt and relief washed over her. Home, in his mind, was still with her but she didn’t want him uncomfortable with Luc either.

“What are you doing up so late?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Why?” Before he answered, she heard a crackle of thunder and a muffled gasp. Not much scared Sam except lightning storms. “Sam? Are you still there?”

“Yes.”

“Where is Luc?”

“In his room.”

Since she had never been in his house, she had no idea of the layout. For all she knew, they were on different floors. “Why don’t you ask if you can sit with him?”

“He’ll think I’m a baby. Can’t we just talk?”

“Sure we can. But I have another call.”

“Don’t go.”

“I won’t. But I’m just going to put you on hold for one minute. You stay on the line. Okay?”

“You’ll come right back?”

“I promise.” She put her phone on mute and reached for the hotel phone to dial out. Don’t let me get an answering machine, she silently prayed.

“What?” Luc grunted into the phone. Hell, she probably woke him.

“Please don’t hang up.”

After a short pause, he asked, “What can I do for you?” His tone wasn’t angry, but the formality hurt just as much.

“I forgot to tell you that Sam is terrified of storms. Especially lightning.”

“Then it’s a good thing he’s sleeping through this one.”

“No he’s not. I’m on the cell phone with him right now.”

She heard the rustle of blankets and the creak of the bed. That got his attention. “Why didn’t he come to me?”

At last, a show of emotion!

“Must be some of that tough guy pride he inherited. He’s afraid you’ll think he’s a baby if he tells you he’s scared.”

“Well, what should I do?”

“Go to him. You’ll figure it out. I have to get back to him on the other line.”

“Cheyanne...”

She disconnected without answering. She’d given him more help than he deserved. If she wanted to be a bitch, she would have stayed on the phone with Sam and talked him through the storm, but he would never want to spend a night in the house again.

She returned to Sam. “I’m back.”

“You’re not going away again?”

“Nope. So tell me what you did today.”

“We won our game. I scored two goals. We’re undefeated.”

“That’s great.”

“Oh, and Alicia got nailed with the ball right in the stomach. I thought she was gonna cry.”

“Did she?”

“No. She got so mad she kicked the ball and it scored a goal. It didn’t hurt after that.”

“I guess not.”

“Just a second, Mom...” She heard the low rumble of conversation, but couldn’t make out the words. Apparently, his father had arrived. “Mom. Dad can’t sleep. He doesn’t like lightning either so we’re going to go watch a soccer match on the TV.”

How quickly she was replaced! Well, neither she nor Sam were telephone people anyway. Except during thunderstorms. “Good night, Sam. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”

“You’re coming back early?”

“Let me talk to her a minute...” She heard Luc’s voice clearly this time. He must have lifted Sam from the bed.

“Gotta go, Sam. Love you.” She disconnected again. Conversations that didn’t deal directly with Sam, always ended in disagreement. She wasn’t up for it. She gave him what he wanted. At the end of the summer she would officially be among the ranks of the unemployed but his son would stay in the Cove. She didn’t have any more to give.

****

Luc stared at his son, sleeping peacefully on the king-size bed. When he’d gone to the boy’s room earlier, Sam had been huddled under the covers. Outwardly, he was so tough, it was hard to imagine anything could scare him, but Sam was still a child.

A shared snack and soccer match had eased his fears. Once the storm ended, Sam reverted to his normal, happy self. It was worth the mattress full of popcorn kernels to have had the past hour of time with him. His kid had an active social life, and Luc spent more time chauffeuring from camp, to practice, to friends’ homes than they actually spent alone.

He owed Cheyanne one. She could have said nothing and he would have slept though the night, unaware of Sam’s fears. So maybe he owed her more than one. Sam’s small revelations about his childhood and what his mother told him about his father left Luc worried he might not live up to the hype. Why had Cheyanne let Sam believe Luc supported them all these years? And how had she reconciled that with the fact that he didn’t know about his son?

Isabelle was right. He should have seen it sooner. All the signs had been there. Sam was ninety percent Allesandro and only ten percent of his mother. But that ten percent made up the best part of him.

Luc hadn’t made it easy for Cheyanne to come to him with the truth. He had taunted her, baited her and seduced her. He had even tried to manipulate her, but he’d never talked to her. Was it any wonder she was in a hurry to get away from him?

He needed to speak to her but he didn’t know where to find her in California. In the six weeks since she’d been back, he had never taken the time to get her cell number either. He grabbed Sam’s phone from the nightstand and double clicked the send button to redial the last number called.

On the third ring, Cheyanne answered. “What’s wrong, Sam?”

When Luc heard the concern in her voice, he felt guilty. “Don’t hang up...please.”

A long pause lingered.

“Are you still there?”

“Yes.” He barely heard her choked voice. “Is Sam all right?”