Sex and Key Lime Pie (23 page)

“So did I, which is why I was four months pregnant before I knew I was expecting Sam.”

Miguel’s eyes rounded like two ping-pong balls. “You’re pregnant, Lizzy?”

She turned the strip toward him. “According to this.”

“How accurate are they?”

“Ninety-nine percent.”

He put an arm around her shoulder and led her to a chair. “You need to sit down. Do you want something to eat? Are you cold? Should I get you a blanket?”

Cheyanne laughed. “Oh, Lord, I’m getting out of here before you turn her into an even bigger princess than she already is.”

“No, stay,” Miguel insisted. “Have your tea.”

“I don’t drink tea, and you guys need to talk.” She gave him an encouraging pat on the back. “You might want to start the celebrating by rinsing the soap out of her hair. You know what white flakes will do to her in this condition.”

Tears shimmered in Elisabeth’s eyes. “I’ll call you just as soon as I wake up from this dream.”

Cheyanne backed up toward the door. “Trust me Lizzy, the first trimester is no dream.”

****

Luc arrived at the soccer field ten minutes before camp ended for the day. He had hoped to find Cheyanne. She hadn’t arrived yet. Adding to his bad luck, he saw Ray staggering toward the fence. The old man had never come to see his granddaughter play. Hell he hadn’t even been to see Isabelle since she had the baby. Luc would understand if his stepfather had been out on the fishing trawler, but he’d been spotted in his usual watering holes around town the past few days.

Alicia practically hid behind Sam and Ricky to avoid her grandfather. Before the drunken louse caused her any embarrassment, Luc intercepted him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Ray scratched his unshaven face. “I heard the good news in town and I came to see my grandson for myself.”

“Your grandson is back at the house with Isabelle. You didn’t even call her.”

He stumbled into the bottom row of the bleachers. “She had the baby? No one told me.”

Luc had trouble dealing with Ray in a sober state, let alone while the man was drunk. “If you didn’t know she had the baby, why are you looking for your grandson?”

“I meant your little bastard.”

Luc clenched his hands into fists. “You call him that again and you’ll be swallowing what’s left of your teeth.”

“No need to get mad. I’m told he’s the spitting image of you. I was just pointing out another similarity.”

No one else had dared to voice that opinion but Luc had to address it, and soon. As long as his son did not have his name, that word would be thrown at Sam. “Go home and sleep it off before the police pick you up again.”

“The roof leaked during yesterday’s storm. Everything is soaked. And my rotten son-in-law wouldn’t let me in his house for one night.”

Good for Tony! Over the years the family had tried to get Ray into a rehab center or A.A. meetings. They couldn’t help a person who didn’t want to be helped. Giving money and bailing him out of jail only added to the problem.

“Then you better start cleaning up so you have a place to sleep tonight. If I find out you’ve been around the kids again in this condition, I’ll make sure you’re picked up for violating parole. Then you’ll have yourself a dry bed in the county jail for a few months.”

Ray had dealt with Luc enough to know he meant business. Luc had finally convinced Isabelle to practice what experts called “tough love” and not enable her father to continue with his current lifestyle.

“Ungrateful bastard,” Ray muttered as he ambled away.

Luc would accept that title but his son didn’t deserve it. His gaze returned to Sam. He sensed that something upset his cousin and did his best to distract her. Once Ray disappeared, Alicia allowed Sam’s silly antics to make her smile. If he did in fact get his pride from his father, then he had gotten his sensitivity from his mother. No way in hell, Luc would let anyone destroy that spirit in Sam with cruel names or insinuations. No matter what it took.

Cheyanne arrived a few minutes later. She crossed the parking lot with long, purposeful strides. Her halo of corn-silk hair shimmered under the summer sun. The sight of her made him ache with desire. Damn, she’d only been gone two days.

“Isabelle said you wanted me to pick him up today.”

“I asked her to because I wanted to talk to you.” He watched her exhale a slow, calming breath, as if bracing herself for another round. No matter what happened, he wasn’t going to hurt her any more. Every time his anger got the best of him, he succeeded in pushing her further away.

“You could have tried something different, like calling me.”

He closed his fingers over her wrist in case she thought to make an escape. Her pulse was racing. “You keep hanging up. I wanted to make sure I could finish the conversation.”

“You’re not taking him from me.” There was no challenge in her voice but a firm resolve.

“I wouldn’t try. But I need to know if you’re staying.”

She nodded slowly. “As long as you agree that Sam is never put in the middle. You don’t ask him about me and you don’t talk about me. I’ll do the same.”

“That’s fair. But there’s something else.”

Her eyes narrowed guardedly. “What?”

“He’s got to have my name.”

A long silence followed. He tried to read her expression but she gave nothing away. “That’s doable,” she finally said.

“I think we should take care of it as soon as possible. Before he begins school. It’s better for him. I don’t want anyone to call him a bastard. It didn’t do much for me.”

“I agree.”

“He’s a tough kid, but there’s no point making his life harder. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I’m adamant.”

Cheyanne rolled her eyes. “I said yes, Luc.”

“You did?”

Her easy acquiescence made him nervous. They were doing what was best for their son. So why did he feel like the end of a relationship instead of a new beginning?

Her stare returned to the grassy field. “As long as Sam wants it.”

“Well I know if it was up to Sam, we would be married.”

“You won’t need to resort to that drastic measure. You just need to sign a voluntary declaration of paternity and an affidavit to amend the birth certificate.”

The air went out of his lungs in a rush. Did she think he would be relieved? In her scenario, they would be like any other divorced couple. He couldn’t negotiate her into his life like he did with Sam. Before he could decide on another plan of action, the camp ended and the children came running toward the sideline.

“Mom!” Sam flew into her arms and held her in a bear hug. While she’d been in California Sam needed constant reassurance that she would return even though he called her three times a day.

“I’ve missed you so much.” Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears and she beamed with pure happiness. Luc remembered a time when she had looked at him that way. After a few moments, she lowered Sam to the ground. “Let me see you. You look tired. Have you been staying up until all hours of the night watching soccer on ESPN?”

Sam shot his father a guilty glance. “It’s the summer, Mom.”

She laughed. “You know, Sam, pretty soon your dad is going to realize that there are rules and you’re not going to get away with everything. Especially once school starts.”

Sam’s smile faded. “I won’t be staying with him once school starts.”

“Yes, you will. At least half the time.”

It took Sam a few muddled seconds to catch on. “We’re staying?” Excitement lit his small face. “We’re staying!” He looked toward Luc for confirmation. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.” He hugged both his parents and sprinted back to his cousins, leaping like a gazelle and shouting, “We’re not moving to California.”

“I bet they heard him in California,” Cheyanne muttered. Despite her smile, an underlying sadness clouded her eyes. “Just so you understand: Pele belongs to Sam. When you have your son, you have the monkey.”

If she thought that would be a sticking point, she underestimated him.

“All right.” He could handle the animal. He just wished the little ape hadn’t taken a liking to the dining room chandelier.

“I better get going.”

“I thought we could all go to dinner.”

“Another time, Luc. I have a lot of things to take care of.”

He took her hand as she started to leave. “I thought you were going to stop avoiding me.”

“I’m not avoiding you. I just gave up my job, my place to live, and all the arrangements I’d made for Sam’s school and extracurricular activities. I have less than a month to get all that taken care of again.”

“You had to know I’d want him to stay once I knew about him.” After all, she had gone to the trouble of finding out how to legally give his son his name. Somewhere in her guarded heart she must have believed in him.

“I prayed you would for Sam’s sake, but I honestly didn’t know. You’ve been so angry with me for so long that I’m not sure you will ever fully let go. I didn’t want you taking that out on Sam.”

She was wrong. He’d been angry with his father. And himself. She was the collateral damage. Would he ever be able to make that up to her?

“We need to sit down together and figure out how we’re going to make this work. How’s Saturday?”

“Sam has a game in the morning and Alicia’s birthday party is that afternoon.”

She must have had a palm pilot implanted in her brain. Luc needed ten reminders a week for all these social events. Or maybe, he needed Cheyanne back in his life. As more than just his social secretary.

“Sunday, then.”

“Fine.”

That gave him three days to formulate a plan, cover all the bases, and convince Cheyanne to invest her trust in his vision of their future. It worked for him in business, but this was a bigger challenge than he’d ever taken on.

Chapter
Sixteen

The following morning Cheyanne parked in the visitor’s lot of Sportico Plastics and cut the engine. The old factory had gotten a facelift over the years. The new owners had recently hung their logo but she wished she had seen the place when the Allesandro name graced the building. She took in a deep breath for strength. She wouldn’t finish her business by sitting in the van.

Only eleven o’clock and already her schedule was shot to pieces, not to mention her nerves. A normally easy trip to the school for registration turned into an episode. School policy mandated that she could not register Sam until she was a resident. That left the task to Luc, but he would need to show a notarized letter of joint custody from her. She felt like she was going through the motions of a divorce. Especially after driving all over town to track him down like some crazy jilted wife.

Why wasn’t she surprised he was at work even while he was on vacation? Heaven forbid he relax. She grabbed the folder from the passenger seat and crossed the parking lot to the front door.

The receptionist was on the phone. When she finished, she glanced up. “May I help you?”

Cheyanne wiped her sweaty palms against her jeans. “I need to see Lucien Allesandro.”

“He’s not in today.”

His big, shiny truck, parked in the president’s space, was visible from the reception desk. “Not technically, but he’s here.”

“And not taking appointments.”

“Do you think you could call him? It’s important. Tell him Cheyanne wants to speak to him about his son.”

The young woman narrowed her eyes in annoyance and then nodded toward the security guard. “You’ll have to leave.”

Of course! Luc told the entire town about his son, but obviously not the employees. Her muscles tensed. If anything else could go wrong today, it would. Rather than wait for a guarded escort, she decided to leave. On her way out, she passed Miguel, on his way in.

“Cheyanne? What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Apparently nothing.” She swallowed hard and shot a pointed stare toward the woman at the front desk. She must be suffering PMS if she allowed some glorified door-greeter to upset her. “They think I’m a nut case.”

“Is there a problem?” the guard asked.

“No,” Miguel said. “She’s family and she comes in the building whenever she wants.”

“Yes, sir. My apologies, miss.” The man backed away.

He cupped her elbow. “Come on. I’ll take you to Luc’s office.”

“I’d rather not, Miguel.”

“You made it this far.”

She stood her ground. She was tired and she wasn’t up to another round. “I’ve gotten enough doors closed in my face today. If you could just give these papers to Luc.” She handed him the file. “He’s going to have to register Sam at school.”

“You’re staying?” His grin of genuine affection warmed her. “He doesn’t deserve it.”

“He doesn’t,” she agreed. “But Sam does. He wants to stay with his family.”

“We’re your family too, Cheyanne. Don’t let Luc make you feel otherwise.”

“I appreciate that. How’s Lizzy doing?”

“She’s miserable, and happy about it. We just came from the doctor. He confirmed she’s pregnant.”