45 - Haley
45
Haley
Lucas Hollister, my ex-boyfriend, the father of my son, stood tall in the middle of the front lawn. He was holding Bran’s toy speaker at his side, with the corded microphone held to his mouth with the other hand. The tinny sound, amplified and distorted by the toy, drifted in our direction as he spoke.
“Haley Mercer, I need to talk to you. Please come out, Hales.”
“Lucas!” I shouted.
He tilted his head up, flinching when he saw me. A shiver went through my body as our eyes met, the first time since that night two weeks ago. All the emotions I’d been shoving down, deep down, came erupting back up to the surface like Old Faithful.
I gripped the railing of the balcony tightly and shouted, “What are you doing here?”
Lucas took a deep breath, let it out, then stood up a little straighter. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry to interrupt your home buying experience. But I need to make a pitch of my own.”
“Do you know this guy?” the husband behind me asked. “Is this part of the open house?”
“I think so!” the wife said excitedly.
I ignored them and focused on the man standing on the grass below.
“When we first dated way back in high school, I was impulsive,” he said through my son’s toy speaker. “I reacted without thought. I went through a lot of my life that way, driven by emotion and instinct. It got me into a lot of trouble. You know that more than anyone.”
Pedestrians were walking by on the sidewalk, slowing down to watch the spectacle. Several people inside were trickling out onto the lawn, murmuring to themselves.
“Let’s speak privately!” I shouted down to him.
Lucas shook his head. “I need witnesses to hold me accountable. Otherwise, I’ll chicken out!”
Oh my God. How was this happening right now?
“My impulsiveness is something I’ve worked hard to change in the years since we dated,” he continued, raising the microphone to his mouth again. “Taking my time to really think before making any decision, whether big or small. I know it’s probably driven you crazy, but that’s what I’ve been doing for the past two weeks. Trying to process my emotions, instead of reacting immediately.”
Oh, so we’re really doing this here? I thought. Then so be it .
“But you did react immediately!” I shouted at him. “You were furious to find out Bran was your son! I’ve never seen you that mad, even when we were teenagers! And that’s really saying something, because you were always a pissed-off teen!”
“I wasn’t angry to learn Bran was my son,” he replied. “I was angry you hid it from me for so long. I was angry you waited until we shared a special moment, when I was vulnerable and had just poured my heart out, for you to tell me. Trust me, Hales, I’m not angry to find out Bran is my son. He let me borrow this toy.”
He grinned up at me, and my heart absolutely melted.
“When we played mini-golf, that was the first time I’ve ever gotten a taste of what it would be like to have a family. And I loved it. I spent the rest of our date realizing that I do want children. Before I even knew the truth, I decided I was ready to be a stepfather to him. But when I discovered he was my actual son? My flesh and blood? It was like finding out Santa Claus is real.” He lowered the microphone and beamed up at me.
Below me on the front porch, a little boy suddenly asked, “Santa isn’t real?”
Lucas’s smile disappeared in a flash. “Shit. I didn’t mean… crap . I said crap, not shit.” He groaned into the microphone, and then spoke again with renewed enthusiasm. “Of course Santa is real!”
“Is that true, Dad?” the boy asked the man next to him, who was pinching his nose in frustration.
Lucas gazed up at me again. “Obviously, I need some practice at being a good dad. But I’m here, standing on this lawn at your open house, to tell you this: I’m in , Hales. Whether you want a boyfriend, or a partner, or a father for Bran, or even just a fuck-buddy, I’m in.” He winced, and added, “You didn’t hear that, kid.”
The boy looked up at his dad again. “He said a bad word.”
“Yes, he did,” the man said.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to fix this,” Lucas concluded. “I’ll eat kale salads for dinner every night, even though kale tastes like waxy paper. I’ll grovel and beg in front of all these nice people. Just tell me if I still have a chance. If I don’t, then I’ll walk away. I’ll be heartbroken, but I’ll delete your number and leave you and Bran alone. But if you do give me another chance…” He swallowed heavily. “I’m all in , Hales. Now, and forever.”
My vision shimmered with tears. It felt like he had thrown a rope around my heart and was tugging me in his direction. After two weeks of silence, he was saying everything I wanted to hear.
He was giving me a future I had only dreamed about.
But was I acting with my heart, or my head? Grand gestures were great and all, but that couldn’t be the foundation for a real relationship. Especially one that involved my son.
Lucas held his phone up to the microphone, and music began drifting out, warped and distorted by the toy. I frowned while trying to decipher the words.
“ There’s some whores in this house. There’s some whores in this house. There’s some whores …”
“Is that… WAP, by Cardi B?” the wife behind me asked.
“Lucas what are you doing!” I shouted.
“Crap,” he muttered, fumbling with his phone and the speaker. “I was trying to play our prom song. Perfect , by Ed Sheeran. Sorry, little boy, you shouldn’t have heard that.”
I covered my face with my hand.
“Excuse me?” someone loudly said downstairs. “Does anyone know where the real estate agent is? I have a question about the kitchen…”
“Wait your turn!” someone else shouted at them. “We’re all invested in this!”
The open house was ruined, but I didn’t care. Lucas was offering me everything I’d ever wanted. And more importantly: it wasn’t an act. He wasn’t just saying what I wanted to hear. He was totally genuine.
This was the man I had always hoped Lucas Hollister could be.
“I’m not giving you a second chance,” I called down.
Several spectators gasped. Lucas stiffened.
“Because you never lost your first chance,” I added. “If you’re all in, then so am I.”
“Really?” he asked.
I ran downstairs, tears now dribbling down both cheeks. Everyone in the house got out of my way, and all the spectators standing on the front porch parted before me. I was sprinting then, running toward Lucas, toward the potential for a new life.
He tossed the speaker to the side, catching me as I leaped into his arms. He swirled me around, hugging me tightly, holding me like he was never going to let me go.
“Take notes, son,” the father told the little boy behind us. “This is how you win a girl back.”
Lucas lowered me to the ground, and I gazed up into his dark eyes. “Your first tip on being a good dad: don’t break your son’s toys.”
He glanced over at the speaker, which had broken into half a dozen pieces when he tossed it to the ground. “That feels like it should have been an obvious one.”
“I’ll give you a pass. This time.”
He pressed his lips to mine, sealing our promise to each other with a kiss. A little old lady walking by with a cane let out a cheer, but she was the only one.
“There’s something I have to tell you,” I said, pulling out of his embrace. “I…”
“If you tell me I have another son, I’m going to faint,” Lucas said with half a smirk.
“You definitely don’t. At least, not with me.” I took a breath to gather my thoughts. “I… have feelings for Jordan and Shay. Not as strong as my feelings for you, though. Rekindling this is my top priority. But I may need to avoid seeing the two of them for a while, just so things don’t get awkward.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt an immense sense of loss. I liked Jordan and Shay a lot. I’d enjoyed having them in my life, and in Bran’s life. I would distance myself from them if I had to, obviously, but it was going to hurt.
Lucas only smiled at me. “Actually, I talked to them about that last night. We have an idea. But it can wait until after the open house.”