Chapter 2 #2
Lukas crept along the winding road that led past his home.
It was a massive ranch-style house that looked like it had been plucked from the pages of a magazine.
The exterior was made of dark rock and cedar, featuring huge windows that allowed for an unobstructed view of the sprawling acreage on each side.
White pipe fencing gave the illusion of a fenced-in yard, but it was little more than a picturesque decoration.
As we drove by, I noticed the darkened windows and drawn curtains. If it weren’t for the single light illuminating the porch, it would’ve looked deserted.
“She’s fucking subtle, isn’t she?” Lukas asked. I followed his gaze to where a figure sat in a rocking chair adjacent to the front door. She was hidden behind a cloud of smoke, but I didn’t need to see her face to know what lie behind it.
I turned away, feeling uneasy. Despite the dark tint, it felt as though our mother’s contemptuous stare was burning a hole through the window. Every ounce of her disdain and disappointment was evident. She might as well have put out her cigarette directly on my skin. “So much for quitting, huh?”
“Did you really think she was going to? She’s like a fucking freight train these days. One goes out, and she’s reaching for the next,” Lukas said, pulling up to my temporary home.
I didn’t bother with a response. Neither of us had ever believed our mother when she said she was going to do anything. Smoking had been a hot-button topic growing up. Lukas and I had begged her to stop, but she never did.
“So, you’ll need to get groceries because I haven’t had a chance to go to the store, but there should be plenty of drinks to choose from,” Lukas said, hopping out of the SUV and grabbing my bags.
“Are we talking water, tea, and coffee? Or something stronger?” I asked, trailing slowly behind him up the softly lit cobblestone path that led to the front door.
The guest cabin I was staying in matched the exterior design of Lukas’s house on the hill, but it had a cozy feel that the big house didn’t have.
It was small in comparison but still had two bedrooms and bathrooms for guests.
The living area was an open-concept space with tall ceilings that made the room feel larger than it was, and a small office was located just off the entrance.
Lukas keyed in the alarm code and flipped on the switch as we stepped inside. He set my bags down in the entryway. “You know I always have a premium selection on hand,” he said, smirking. “Especially when it comes to family reunions.”
I came up behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I love you,” I mumbled into his back. “I knew I was your favorite sister.”
He patted my hand, chuckling. “You’re my only sister.”
“Semantics,” I said, stepping back and brushing past him.
Lukas walked over and pulled two glasses from the bar cart in the living room. “Thirsty?”
I nodded vigorously before plopping down on the couch, letting out a lungful of air as my body sank into the plush fabric. It’d been one hell of a day, and the prospect of the days to come was already exhausting me.
The clink of ice cubes against crystal pulled me back as Lukas shook the glass above my face. “Bless you,” I said, grabbing it with both hands and sitting up. The amber liquid burned as it hit my tongue but finished smooth as hell. “Oh, this is the good shit.”
“Nothing but the best for the bigshot CEO. I know you’re accustomed to a certain level of luxury,” Lukas said, raising his glass.
“And you’re not?” I snorted, gesturing around the room. “I received the same inheritance as you did, Big Brother. Not to mention the very successful business you run.”
Lukas had always loved working with his hands, and Uncle John nurtured that.
With a little investment from our family trust and a lot of dedication on Lukas’ part, he started Hartfelt Homes—a premier construction group that specialized in custom houses.
When he inherited the ranch, he gave the main house a major facelift, and built this little cabin from the ground up.
Most of the homes in Pinecrest had Lukas’s touch to them in one way or another.
If something needed fixing, he’s who everyone called.
“Semantics,” Lukas said, smiling. He settled into the armchair across from me. “So, how long do you plan to stay?”
That was a great question. An excellent one, really. And the answer was complicated. While I knew I could easily take the time off given the situation, I wasn’t sure if I should.
I looked down at the glass, tapping the outside three times. “I don’t know.”
He shifted, furrowing his brows. “What’s that mean?”
“It means I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “It means my life has felt like a shitshow over the past few years. That this is the first time I’ve been able to disconnect and just exist in the silence.”
Lukas hummed, swirling the liquor in his glass. “Pinecrest has been good to me, you know. Good place to raise a family—”
I snorted. Lukas talking about raising a family was laughable. I’d never met someone so hellbent on living the single life. “What do you know about that?”
“Hey! I have friends who aren’t eternal bachelors.”
“Sure, you do,” I said, downing the rest of my drink, shaking it in my brother’s direction for a refill.
“You know where it is,” he said, gesturing toward the bar cart.
I rolled my eyes, pushing off the couch. “You’re the worst.”
“Thought I was the best?”
“I’ve changed my mind,” I murmured, snatching the decanter from the cart.
Lukas watched as I refilled both glasses. “Speaking of family men… Does your ex-husband know you’re in town?”
“Why do you say it like that? You make it sound so gross and horrible and miserable.”
“Sorry… Baby daddy?”
I scrunched up my nose. “Ew, that’s worse.”
“Divorcée it is then,” he said, leaning back.
“You know damn well we would still talk every day, even if Charlie wasn’t in the picture,” I said, pointing in his direction. “He’s my best friend. It was never like that between us.”
Lukas tented his fingers in front of his face. “And yet you have a kid.”
I gave him a saccharine smile. “You, of all people, know you don’t have to be in love to have a kid. We were lonely until we weren’t. Honestly, I’m surprised you don’t have any little ones of your own running around, given your proclivity for practice.”
My brother was many things, but a bachelor would forever be top of the list. I could count on one hand the number of relationships he’d been in over his forty-two years, and that included his girlfriend from the first grade.
He had quite the reputation around town as the kind to love’em and leave’em.
Sometimes, I swore he tried to live up to the rumors instead of squashing them.
I leaned back, taking a sip. “And, of course, he knows. I called him before I even boarded the plane. He offered to let me stay with them.”
Lukas snorted. “Isn’t that awkward? I mean, he’s remarried.”
“It’s only weird to you because you’re a forty-two-year-old manchild who can’t comprehend being in the same room with someone you slept with. I was the one who drew up the divorce papers. I was the one who told him to follow his dream.” I shrugged. “She was it.”
Grady’s and my relationship was long, but not entirely complicated.
We got married as a stipulation from Hartstrings’ board of directors.
Apparently, they believed the CEO should be married.
They said it painted a picture of stability, which was rich seeing as at least a quarter of the members were on their second wives already.
Grady was my best friend. Other than one drunken, lonely night that resulted in our daughter’s conception, it’d never been anything but platonic for us.
Our relationship was like one of those romantic comedies where two friends get married for some kind of mutual benefit.
Except, instead of falling in love at the end, we got a divorce and shared custody.
Our daughter may not have been planned, but I didn’t realize how much I needed her until I held her in my arms. I’d always love him for that gift alone.
Grady helped me take over my company, and I helped him get the record deal he deserved.
He’d given up so much of his life so that I could live out my dream.
Even if he had benefited from it too, it wasn’t the same.
The least I could do was finally set him free once I had it.
When he’d found his forever, I didn’t give him a choice.
I’d had the divorce papers drawn up and signed before he could stop me.
Not long after our divorce was final, Grady married his high school sweetheart. Cleo was wonderful. I absolutely adored her. It’d been a bumpy ride to get to where they were now, but I was so damn glad to see it worked out. If anyone deserved their fairytale ending, it was them.
“You were in the wedding,” he deadpanned.
“Did you know it only takes five minutes to get ordained online?” His unamused stare remained absolute. “Anyway, I told him I was grateful for the offer but that I would much prefer to drive my big brother crazy.”
Lukas snorted. “Charlie excited?”
“We haven’t told her yet, but I’m gonna swing by tomorrow morning—apparently on my way to get groceries—and pick her up.”
“And you’re bringing her here? With Mom so close?”
I let out a breath, deflating into the cushions. That was a great question. One I didn’t want to answer but knew there was no use in avoiding. “I don’t have a choice. I’m surprised she hasn’t stormed over to Grady’s house already and demanded to see her.”
“This is so disappointing. I bet your daddy’s rolling over in his grave right now.”
“You’re so selfish, you know that? How could you do this to me? How could you keep me from my only grandbaby?”
“All you do is think about yourself, Olivia. You never once consider how I might feel about your decisions.”
It’d been two years since Mom had uttered those words before storming out of my door.
They still stung like they did the day she said them.
My divorce was just one of the many things my mother had never been able to move on from.
The day I told her had been the last and final straw.
Apparently, it had broken something in her brain that caused her to malfunction as a human being.
Neither Charlie nor I had seen her since. I had wanted to keep it that way as long as I could, but now the situation had changed. There would be no avoiding this one.
It was almost ironic that Uncle John’s health was the thing that brought us back here. He’d tried to smooth it over countless times, but neither my mom nor I were willing to listen to reason. I guess he’d get his wish in the end.
“Well,” Lukas drawled, downing the rest of his drink with a grimace. “Here’s to family reunions.”