Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Imogene
Artificial light shone brightly overhead as I made my way through the bustling crowd of Atlanta airport on Sunday morning after a restless red-eye flight. When I finally emerged from the secure area, my tired body was instantly enveloped in a sense of peace, and I couldn’t deny the relief of being back in a familiar place.
I could only hope this break would give me the clarity I needed.
Or that my mother would talk some sense into me. She was always good at that.
As I pulled up the rideshare app on my phone, a few excited voices sounded from behind me.
“Is that Lachlan Hale?”
I snapped my head up, coming to an abrupt stop when I saw my step-father signing autographs for eager fans a few feet away. Even though it had been years since he’d played professional baseball, people still recognized him, especially in Atlanta. He was a legend around here.
As he handed a hat back to a little boy who couldn’t have been more than six, he caught sight of me. He politely excused himself, offering his apologies, then headed in my direction.
“Hey, kid,” he greeted in his familiar Australian accent.
While it was much more Americanized than when I first met him fifteen years ago, it was still there. I hoped it always would be. It reminded me of home. Of family.
“You didn’t have to come get me,” I told him as he pulled me into his chest, kissing the top of my head. “I would have taken an Uber.”
“Your mother worries about you enough as it is. Letting you get in the car with a stranger you book on the internet?”
I rolled my eyes at his overprotective nature, especially considering I was now in my thirties. In his eyes, I’d always be the awkward teenager he once bribed with pancakes in order to win me over and let him date my mother.
“I’d rather stay on her good side.” With a wink and a smile, he reached for the handle of my roll-aboard. “Let me get that for you.”
“Thanks.”
“Anytime, kid.” With a playful nudge, he steered me toward the airport exit, waving at a few people who recognized him as we passed.
The second we stepped through the sliding glass doors, a wall of humidity assaulted me, even at nine in the morning. I could already feel my hair curling despite straightening it yesterday.
“I bet you don’t miss this weather, do you?”
“Actually, I do.” I inhaled a deep breath. “Don’t get me wrong. I love California and don’t miss running in this kind of humidity, but there are quite a few things about Atlanta I miss.”
“Like a Varsity dog?” he asked, referencing the famous Atlanta spot he often took me during my teen years whenever he picked me up from school.
“ Definitely a Varsity dog.” I laughed, following him into the parking garage, the two of us falling into a comfortable silence as he led me toward his SUV, the scent of exhaust and wet concrete heavy in the air.
“How are things with Gideon?” Lachlan asked once we were on the freeway toward the house he shared with my mother. Even though it was Sunday, there was still quite a bit of traffic. Thankfully, I was used to it. “Is he treating you right?”
“Of course.” I plastered a fake smile on my face, praying he couldn’t see through my lies.
What was I going to tell him? That the reason I took an impromptu trip home was because I’d just accused him of being Samuel and was now questioning everything?
That, after finding a photo of Samuel with the same burns and birthmark, I’d been so convinced he was Samuel.
That I felt like an ass when he accused me of only being with him because I wished he was my dead boyfriend.
That I was certain I’d overreacted until I learned he’d been watching me for weeks before I approached him outside The Daily Grind.
That I still didn’t know what to think.
One second, I was convinced I was letting Liam manipulate me into thinking the worst of Gideon. The next, I couldn’t help but feel like there were too many coincidences for everything to simply be a series of unrelated events.
Or fate.
Which was why I needed to get out of California, even if only for a few days. I needed to get off this emotional seesaw that had me constantly second-guessing everything. Needed to be somewhere without any reminders of Gideon, even if I’d be surrounded by countless memories of Samuel.
Maybe that was what I needed, though.
“He better be,” Lachlan replied sternly. “If he doesn’t, you let me know and I’ll be on the next flight out. So will Nikko.”
“Pretty sure that would have him pissing his pants.”
Lachlan’s cousin, Nikko, was a two-hundred-plus pound Samoan MMA fighter. To say he was huge would have been an understatement. Lachlan was a pretty big guy. He’d have to be in order to play professional baseball like he did. Next to Nikko, though, he looked like a toothpick.
No doubt Gideon would, too.
“That’s the point.” Lachlan winked, giving me a conniving grin before returning his attention to the road. “But seriously, Imogene. He better treat you right.”
“He’s the perfect gentleman.”
It wasn’t a lie. Gideon was the perfect gentleman.
Although I had a feeling Lachlan may not consider Gideon choking me as he fucked me all that gentlemanly.
But I wasn’t about to go into detail about my sex life with my step-father.
“Then I’m happy for you.” He reached across the center console and grabbed my hand. “After everything you’ve been through the past few years, you deserve it.”
“Thanks.”
He gave my hand one last squeeze, then returned it to the steering wheel.
Thankfully, he didn’t mention Gideon again during the thirty-minute car ride to the Chastain Park section of Atlanta. Instead, we kept our conversation relatively light. He asked about Ollie and how I liked working for the soccer team. I asked how retirement was treating him. Although it was hard to consider him retired, since he was often asked to commentate, especially for some of the bigger games toward the end of the season. Between that and his numerous charities, he kept himself busy.
“I was actually hoping to talk to you about something, but I didn’t want to do it last weekend, since I know how difficult it must have been for you,” he said as he drove the familiar streets leading up to his house.
It reminded me of the time I rode my bike all the way out here from my mom’s house in Brookhaven after they’d gotten into an argument and I decided to act as a mediator between them.
I knew my mom would never have let me come on my own. Lachlan was pissed, too. I wasn’t used to that. Wasn’t used to having a father figure in my life. That was the moment I knew he was perfect for my mom. And after I helped him win her back, he forgave me for recklessly putting my life at risk.
“What’s that?” I glanced his way.
“My charity is planning to build another ball field here in Atlanta in order to expand the program. Make it even bigger. I’d like to name the field in Samuel’s memory. I know Liam kept his charity going in his honor, but I wanted to do something, too, considering all the hours he volunteered for my organization while also running his own.”
“He’d like that,” I said without hesitation. “He loved giving back to the community whenever he could. And he definitely loved baseball.” A subtle laugh escaped my throat. “I’ll never forget the look on his face when he realized you were my step-father.”
“He was always good to you.”
“Yes, he was.”
Swallowing hard, I shifted my attention out the window, watching all the familiar houses pass by.
“I’m glad you’ve found someone who treats you just as good as Samuel.”
“Me, too.” I managed a small smile, pushing away the nagging thought that maybe it was because Gideon was Samuel.
“Come on,” Lachlan said once he pulled his car into the massive garage attached to an even more massive house. “Your mum has been baking up a storm.”
“Please tell me she didn’t stay up all night baking because of me,” I groaned as I opened the door and stepped out of the car.
“Not all night.” He opened the trunk and grabbed my suitcase, meeting me by my door. “You know how she is. She loves to spoil people with food.”
“That she does.”
I followed him toward the door leading into the house, and he held it open, allowing me to walk in front of him.
“We’re home,” he called out, his voice echoing against the high ceiling and pristine hardwood floors.
The aroma of sugar and vanilla surrounded me, reminding me of home. Even when my mother wasn’t baking, the scent still seemed to cling to the air.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” my mom said as she rounded the corner from the kitchen, wrapping me in a tight hug before pulling back, her eyes scanning over me in the way only a mother could. “How are you? Are you all right? How are Liam and James?”
“As good as can be expected.”
“I didn’t even care for Alton that much, but I never would have wished anything like this on him.”
“Me, neither.”
“Will you give Liam our condolences the next time you speak to him?”
“Of course.” I gritted a smile, not wanting to tell her I hadn’t spoken to Liam in over a week. That we’d gotten into an argument over Gideon and now I was questioning whether Liam may have been right about him after all.
“Are you hungry? I made some danishes and muffins. Or I can whip up some eggs or a frittata.”
“Honestly, I’m more tired than anything right now,” I admitted around a yawn.
“Why don’t you go upstairs and rest? Then maybe tonight we can have a girl’s night. Go have some drinks and catch up without any distractions.”
I sighed, tension rolling off my shoulders. A night out with my mother was exactly what I needed.
“I’d like that.”
“Good.” She gave me another hug and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. “If you need anything, let me know.”
I turned from her, climbing the familiar stairs to my old bedroom, not surprised to see that Lachlan had already dropped off my suitcase. Exhaustion settled in my bones, and I collapsed onto the bed, relishing in the feel of the soft duvet against my skin.
But despite having barely slept more than a few hours over the past several days, I still couldn’t quiet my mind enough to fall asleep.