35. Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Five
Griffin's Beach Colt
T he hotel restaurant is surprisingly empty this Friday night as Colt sits with Lucas and Hailey. Lex had something with Margaret at VP's house, and she's coming as soon as she finishes that. The poor girl has been spending more time at her grandfather's house than her own since her mother was buried two weeks ago, and Colt wants to go out and find Zane to knock his head around. Something has to put sense back into him.
Lucas and Hailey keep glancing towards each other, and he waves a hand. "Okay, stop that."
"Stop what?" Hailey asks.
She has much more sass today than she's had recently, and Colt's nearly at the end of his rope. Luckily, Lex usually handles the brunette. "Having whatever telepathic conversation you two are doing right there. It's kind of freaky."
The hostess pointing in their direction catches his attention, and he sighs a breath of relief as Lex hurries over. "Sorry, I'm late. It was... You know what? It doesn't matter. My brother is who he is, and I can't change him."
"That bad, huh?"
"Is there really any other way when it comes to Zane and me?"
Lucas and Hailey exchange another glance, and Colt points at them. "What did I just say? Speak out loud or not at all."
Tilting her head, Lex looks at him. "Huh?"
"Never mind."
"We're pretty sure why you brought us here," Hailey says.
"Oh, really? Why's that?" Lex asks and leans back in her seat. She looks almost amused, and Colt can't figure out the dynamic between the two older women in the house.
A deep breath comes from Lucas, and he shoves his hands under the table. "This is a nice restaurant, and Noah and Calla aren't here. This means it's something big. And big news usually means bad news. For us."
"Serious discussions happen at fancy places," Hailey says, her jaw set as she glares at them.
Chuckling, Lex nods. "It is a serious discussion, but it's not bad. The two of you have been such a big help with everything that's been going on lately, and I really think I may have lost my mind if you weren't around."
"So... You're not sending us back to our old house?" Lucas asks.
Realizing what they thought, Colt shakes his head, his jaw dropping slightly. "Never."
Both visibly relax, but Hailey works harder to hide it. Her relief changes to sarcasm. "Then what's the serious discussion? Are you pregnant? Because the way you go at it, I wouldn't be surprised."
Lex laughs, and Colt chuckles as he bites his lip before saying, "We've come to see you as family. Noah and Calla look up to you like older siblings, and you're part of the support system of this family."
The server walks over with a bright smile. "Hello, everyone. My name is Emme, and I'll be your server tonight. What can I get everyone to drink?"
"I'll have water," Lex says with a smile.
"We'll have sodas," Hailey says and points between her and Lucas. "Regular, not diet. Whatever brand you have is fine."
"I'll take a beer," Colt says, suddenly nervous. "Regular. Mexican brand of any kind is good."
"Sounds great," Emme says and writes on her notepad. "Are you interested in any appetizers?"
Before he can say no, Lex nods. "We'll take the shrimp, fried pickles, and the cheese plate."
Excited at the prospect of a large tip, Emme beams. "Perfect. I'll get that put in and come back with your drinks."
"Hungry?" he asks, thankful her appetite is returning.
"It all sounded good. It's been a while since anything sounded appetizing. I'm also getting a burger. I may explode later from being so full, but the picture online looked amazing."
Smiling, he wraps his arm around the back of her chair and rubs her arm. "Order dessert, if you want. I like seeing you eat."
"We'll see," she says and rests her hand on his thigh.
The simple touches between them have become more comfortable and relaxed rather than needy and comfort-seeking. There's no desperation to feel better or disconnect from reality, and Colt almost feels guilt for being happy to have his wife back. To be able to make love at any pace other than frantic. The only reason this has come about is because someone in the family died, and it's a confusing feeling. Pushing it out of his mind, he decides to just be happy there's less pressure on Lex.
When she turns to look at him, he has to shift in his seat at the look in her eyes. Dessert will be at home, and when she runs her tongue over her teeth, he knows it'll involve her on her knees. Her hand sliding up his thigh to graze the crotch of jeans with the featherlight touch makes him hard, and he pinches her shoulder to let her know he understands the message.
"Okay, now that you're done flirting, what are we doing here?" Hailey asks.
"We're having dinner," Colt says, his tone matching hers. Snot.
She rolls her eyes, and her patience becomes thinner and thinner. If it wasn't just towards Colt and Lex and directed at the kids instead, he would have said something. Lex told him to let it be last night when he mentioned it to her, and he knows Lex sees herself in Hailey. He's agreed to let her run with the hard conversations with the bratty teenager because he's bound to lose his temper.
"What are we here to discuss with overpriced food and drinks?"
"Hailey, be nice," Lucas hisses and hits her arm. "You're going to college next year, but I'm still living with them. I'd like to not go back to that house."
"Maybe. I didn't get any funding for it," she says and sighs. "I might be stuck with you because I'll be attending community college."
That's the issue. She's had her heart set on college to get away, and she thinks she's not going.
"You're going to college, Hailey," Colt says.
"I don't know if I'm willing to take out a hundred thousand dollars in student loans just to do it," she says and looks at the table as Emme drops off their drinks. "I thought I'd be a shoo-in for financial aid considering the parentals, or whatever they are, have next to nothing."
"It's our fault," Lex says. "Because you're in our care, we're the reason you got turned down for financial aid. But you're going to college. I saw the acceptance envelopes come in last week. The big envelopes are the good ones. Congrats, Hailey."
Her eyes narrow. "How are you the reason I didn't get it?"
"We don't qualify," Colt says when two servers drop off the appetizers. "Too much income."
Lex immediately grabs for the shrimp, and he takes a piece of cheese from the plate, popping it into his mouth. His eyes stay on Lex's mouth as she chews, his mind wandering to the activities later that night. He plans to make good use of her mouth before making her squirm with his.
"From the auto shop?" Hailey asks, suspicion in her tone.
She knows a little bit about the club, but they've kept most things secret. The less she knows, the better. "And the strip club. You'd be surprised how much money that brings in," Lex says. "That's just the start of Drifters portfolio. We're very diversified across the board."
Lucas's eyes widen as he seems to understand what she's saying. "You're paying Hailey's tuition?"
"I set the money aside when you first told us about your plans. When I saw the envelopes, I looked up tuition and made the necessary adjustments. You don't have to take out loans, and you're going."
"I can't... That's too much," Hailey says, her head shaking. "That's generous, but—"
"You just got to decide which college you're going to," Colt interrupts. "I've already gotten the check written out. I just need to know who to address it to."
Beaming, Lucas taps his sister's shoulder. "Hails, thank them!"
"What do I have to do for it?" she asks, eyes narrowing.
"Nothing?" Lex says with a shrug and grabs a fried pickle. "Eat, guys."
"No, things like this don't come for free."
Colt looks at Lex with an eyebrow lifted. This girl seems to be their trial run before Calla turns into a temperamental teenager. "Were you like this as a teenager?"
"Probably," she says with a shrug and pops another fried pickle into her mouth. "But I had a chip on my shoulder the size of Texas because I was taken from the club. My mom was the enemy whenever I got upset. I might've been worse, actually."
"Nah, I don't think you were this suspicious."
"Are you kidding? I'm still suspicious. Of everyone."
Holding a hand up, Hailey waves at them. "What do I have to do for this?"
"Nothing," they both say.
"Really? Nothing ?"
"I mean, don't waste it. Don't use the money to go party and flunk out. That might upset us," Colt says and takes another piece of cheese.
Holding a finger up, Lex smirks. "You can still party, but don't major in it. There's a balance to find. It might've taken me a semester or two, but I figured it out eventually. And Colt barely got his GED, so he can't talk too much about grades."
"So, why's Lucas here? He doesn't need to be involved in conversations about college tuition. For me, anyway."
Such a fucking brat today. "Well, you're right. That wasn't the reason we brought you here. You brought up college tuition."
She grinds her teeth, and Lex holds back her chuckles as she coughs and takes a drink of water. He just prays Calla isn't half as bad.
"Colt and I have been talking," Lex says, cutting off whatever Hailey decided to say when she opened her mouth," and we would like to adopt you."
"If you want," Colt adds. "You can say no."
"And if we say no, does that mean this college tuition goes poof ? And Lucas gets shipped back to Iris and Harold?"
Sighing, his wife shakes her head, a strange look of pity on her face instead of the frustration Colt feels. "Nothing changes if you say no. We understand if it's not something you want, but we'd like to do this if you do."
"We do need you guys to pack, though. We're moving to a bigger house. Everyone gets their own room," Colt says.
"But I'm supposed to be leaving soon," Hailey says. "Graduation is right around the corner. That means Lucas could take the room I'm staying in."
"And you'll still come home on breaks. Holidays. You always have a room in our home, Hailey," Lex says. "I know you're not used to stability, but you have that with us. Always. No matter what you decide."
She shakes her head. "I don't want to be adopted."
"That's fine. You're eighteen, but that doesn't change how we see you. Whether you like it or not, you're family."
Lucas looks at the table and plays with his fork. Colt notices and reaches a hand out to stop him from fidgeting. "If you don't want to do this, Luke, we don't have to. This is your decision."
"He doesn't want to hurt your feelings," Hailey says. "He doesn't take after me who doesn't care. But everything has a catch."
"Hailey—"
"Colt," Lex warns. "I hope one day you can stop being so jaded, Hailey. There's no catch. Nothing changes. We're not going to suddenly turn you into Cinderella . We love you both, and we're not going anywhere. No matter how much you try to push us away, we're here. Test the boundaries all you want, but it won't change anything."
That's what it is. She's trying to push us to break. Probably to keep herself from getting hurt again. How the fuck did Lex see this?
"Do I... Do I have to change my last name to Nichols?" Lucas asks, his eyes not quite meeting theirs.
His heart sinks, but Colt shakes his head. For some reason, this hurts more than he expected it would. He hoped to have another Nichols in the family. "Not if you don't want to."
"It's just... My last name is the only thing I have left of my dad."
"You can keep your name as is, baby," Lex says and reaches out to take his hand. "And if you'd rather we not adopt you, you can say no. I promise, nothing changes."
"No, I want you to," he says, earning an outraged look from Hailey. "I just don't want to hurt your feelings by keeping my last name. My dad's name. I'm not ready to stop being his son."
Colt's hurt disappears immediately when he sees the fear and pain on the younger man's face. "You'll always be his son. And we don't expect you to call us Mom and Dad. You're welcome to regardless of what happens here, but we know you had parents. We're not trying to replace anyone."
"I can't take your mom's place, Hailey, but I'd like to help out where I suspect she would if she was still here. We know better than anyone that family isn't strictly about DNA, and you always have a home with us. A home that doesn't come with pain. Physical or emotional. Home is supposed to be a safe place, and that's what we want for you."
"I like this family," Lucas says, his voice quiet."
"We love this family," Colt says and smiles.
Emme walks towards them as Hailey stares daggers in their direction, and Lex signals for her to come back later. Bracing himself, Colt decides to remain quiet and let Lex handle the angry eighteen-year-old.
"I don't want to be adopted. Lucas can do what he wants, but I'm eighteen," she says, her arms crossing over her chest.
"Hailey," Lucas hisses. "They've been nothing but good to us."
"They've used us for childcare, Lucas. That's not nothing."
"We like the kids," he counters. "Besides, we have beds, clean clothes, three meals a day, and no Harold punching us when he gets drunk. Watching the kids is basically nothing."
Leaning back, Lex mirrors Hailey's pose, her arms crossed over her chest. "No more watching the kids unless we pay you."
"No, don't pay me," Lucas says, his hands on the table. "I don't need it. I'll watch them for free."
"I don't want to watch them for free anymore." Hailey's eyes never leave Lex's, and they appear to be having some type of staring contest slash showdown.
Colt glances to Lucas who stares with fear and confusion at the standoff, and he's glad he's not the only one unsure about what exactly is taking place here.
"Twenty bucks an hour," Lex offers.
Her face scrunches up in response. "What's your angle here, lady?"
"No angle. Like I said, I hope you can learn that you don't have to be jaded one day. Trust me, it makes you miserable and your life far more difficult than it has to be. But you've been through more than most, and we'll roll with it. You don't want to watch the kids for free? Done. We'll find other arrangements or pay you. Deal?"
"Deal."
"Now, look at your menu and decide what you want to eat."
The air still feels tense, but Hailey gives a small nod of respect to Lex before taking a fried pickle and chewing on it thoughtfully. Lex smirks and takes a shrimp from the plate. Lucas looks scared, and Colt just stares in awe.
Maybe Lex was as difficult as Hailey is when she was a teenager because she can counter or deflect everything Hailey spits at them. Or maybe it's her maternal side coming through. Either way, Colt suspects Lex will break through Hailey's walls one day. It may take years, but his wife is nothing if not persistent. And she refuses to give up on people she cares about. Colt's proof of that.