Chapter 22
22
AIDA N
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
My gaze flies to the right, where Lyla sits in the passenger seat of my truck, clutching the ‘oh shit’ handle for dear life. “Angel, you have nothing to be worried about. Mama is gonna love you.”
I woke up holding Lyla in my arms this morning, both of us having crashed after we joined Crew back out in the fort, and for a few blissful seconds, I forgot that she wasn’t really mine. I got to imagine I was waking up in our home with my girl wrapped around me for the first time and that Crew knew everything.
Her shooting up and out of my arms to the other side of Crew was a rude wake-up call I wasn’t prepared for after the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had.
She sighs exasperatedly. “Of course you’d say that. You have no reason to be nervous! She’s your mother.”
A snort escapes, and I give her a sidelong glance. “Have you ever met a southern mom, Ly? She’ll be sweet as sugar to you and then turn around and hit me with the third degree the second she can get me alone. I promise Mama’ll be so enthralled with you she’ll try to have us married off before supper.”
“Yeah, Lyly! Memama always says me and Daddy need a pretty girl around to keep us in line!” Crew chimes in sweetly, making me laugh.
Apparently, our words didn’t inspire any confidence because her knuckles visibly tighten, turning white with how hard she’s gripping that handle in her tiny little fist.
What woke me from my state of bliss this morning was my Ma calling me demanding we come to the house for lunch today so she could meet Crew’s nanny. Little does she know she’ll also be meeting her future daughter-in-law.
Or she will be if Lyla doesn’t end up shooting me down after our little chat yesterday.
I’m still feeling pretty raw and emotionally wrung out after all the confessions yesterday, but as long as I don’t let myself think too hard about what had her running in the first place, finally knowing Lyla’s real identity is a huge weight off my chest. Learning what and who she’s been so afraid of, though? That felt like being kicked in the thigh by a spooked horse.
The moment our tires hit the old dirt road, I grip her free hand and squeeze it, probably harder than I should. Her head whips around, and she stares at me with wide eyes but doesn’t try to get me to let go.
“Aidan, what’s up?”
I shake my head, heart pounding in a staccato rhythm against my ribs. Every time I make the turn down this road, nausea bubbles in my gut, and my heart threatens to expel itself out of my body through my mouth .
“Even though Wes and I pooled our money together to tear the trailer down and build Mama a nice little house, she didn’t want to leave the plot of land where we grew up.”
Lyla reads between the lines and gasps, her eyes darting frantically around the road before finally landing on the only piece of this place that still holds power over me.
The two small pieces of wood threaten to send me spiraling into a mess of flashbacks every time I dare make the trek to visit Mama. I’ve asked her repeatedly to take it down, but if there’s one thing Shelly Black is firm on, it’s Southern fuckin’ hospitality.
So even though her piece of shit husband beat us all within inches of our lives on a regular basis, she won’t dare touch the handmade cross our local pastor put up to honor his memory. It’s not enough that the cross sits directly in front of the stump that we hit, but there’s also a fresh goddamned bouquet of flowers every time I pass it.
Mama’s never said outright if she was the one who left the flowers, but she also hasn’t denied it. That cross is the reason Wesley refuses to come down here unless he absolutely has to, and because he’s the prodigal son, she lets him get away with it and goes to him.
Whereas the one time I tried to get out of coming for Saturday lunch, she told Crew she couldn’t wait to see him and forced my hand.
Lyla looks back to check on Crew and then moves the center console up so she can buckle herself into the middle seat. Resting her head on my shoulder, she places a small hand on my thigh. No words are said, but as we pass the spot where my father lost his life, I breathe a little easier than I ever have before .
Soon enough, we’re bumping down the short driveway with the house clearly in view. Even though the land holds painful memories, I feel a sense of pride every time I see this house. Building our mother her dream home after she spent her entire life putting us first was something I never thought we’d be able to do, but it makes me even more grateful for the life I live.
“This house is darling!”
I smile over at Ly and place my hand on top of hers as we park. “When I was first drafted, I saved every cent I could in case I washed out of the majors and was left without a backup plan. I wasn’t doin’ too well in my college classes. I mean, shoot, I barely graduated high school. Thankfully, I didn’t wash out. My rookie year was amazing, but then Crew showed up, and I had a whole new reason to save.”
“At that point, Mama was still living in the trailer we grew up in with Wes, who was in his senior year of high school and being scouted by a few different teams. We got together and decided that if he was signed on with a decent contract, we’d pool our resources and tear down that godforsaken health hazard and build her somethin’ real nice. She’s been living here just over three years now and has the time of her life decorating it for every birthday, holiday, and season change.”
Lyla laughs lightly, and it seems like her nerves have faded some, which I’m grateful for because Mama is standing on the porch, bouncing on her toes in excitement. Her silver-blonde hair is pulled back into a long braid, and it makes her look a good ten years younger than she is.
I offer a reassuring smile and squeeze Lyla’s hand. “Just be yourself. I promise she’s going to love you. ”
She takes a deep breath and sighs loudly. “Let’s go.”
Mama rushes to the bottom of the steps and sweeps my girl up into one of her famous hugs, rocking her back and forth.
Lyla visibly tenses for only a moment, and then she melts into the embrace.
Pulling back, my mom holds her by the shoulders, closely examining her face with a look of affection. “I hear you’ve been takin’ real good care of my boys.”
A blush heats Lyla’s cheeks, and she shrugs. “I’m trying my best. They’ve been taking care of me too.”
Mama nods sagely, wrapping an arm over my girl’s shoulders. “Any woman who can wrangle my boys and make ‘em this happy is good in my book. Welcome to the family, young lady.”
Crew’s squealing laughter brings a wide smile to my face at the same time I feel a presence at my side. Mama sidles up next to me with her own smile, watching Lyla chase Crew around the huge swing set.
“She sure is a pretty little thing, ain’t she? Seems like Crew’s really taken with her.”
My smile gets wider. “He adores her. Hiring Lyla was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
She nods. “Mhmm, I’ll just bet it was.”
Glancing over, I see her with a mischievous smirk on her sun-weathered face. “What’s that look for, Mama?” I ask suspiciously.
“The way you look at her reminds me of those romance books Wren and I read for our monthly book club. ”
My eyes widen slightly, but I work to school my expression. “I don’t know what you mean.”
She snorts and smacks my arm. “Don't lie to your Mama, boy. I was there when you got your first crush, and hopefully, I’ll be around for your last. Either way, I know when someone catches one of my son’s attention. And like it or not, that woman out there has caught yours.”
The sigh that I let out is heavy with the events of the past month and a half, and for the first time in years, I feel like confiding in one of my family members. “I really like her, Ma. I might even love her. But she has a lot going on, and I’m worried she’s going to take off without giving us a chance.”
I watch her face closely for any disappointment, but the only thing I see in her eyes is pride. Her arm goes around my waist, and she guides me to the small swing on the back porch, where we’ll have a perfect view of Lyla and Crew as they play.
“Did I ever tell you about the man I almost married?
My head whips to the side, my eyes like saucers as I stare at my mother incredulously. “I thought Dad was your first boyfriend?”
She nods slowly. “And he was. But he broke up with me to go to college, and I started dating someone else. The man, Henry, was…” she sighs. “He was everything my parents wanted for me, and he was wonderful. He was kind, smart, wealthy, and incredibly handsome. I liked him quite a bit more than I expected to, but just a few short months into our courtship, I found out I was pregnant.”
If I thought my eyes couldn’t get any wider, I was wrong. “Wait, so Dad…?”
“Goodness, no. Unfortunately, David was your biolog ical father. I was nearly four months along when I found out, and Henry, the honorable man that he was, asked to marry me anyway. But I felt quite a bit of misplaced loyalty to David, so his father, your granddaddy, forced David to drop out of college. We were married in the courthouse two weeks later. I found out years later he was flunking out, and that’s the real reason he agreed to come home so readily. Wesley was the product of a family wedding and too much tequila, and by that point, I didn’t feel like I could leave.”
The light in her eyes dims, but her gaze on me feels more affectionate right now than it has since the accident. “I could never regret you, my boy. But I know I haven’t been a very good Mama to you the last decade. My entire identity was wrapped up in David, and once he died, I felt… an odd combination of devastated and relieved. It’s taken me much too long to come to terms with the choices I made, and for that you have my sincerest apologies, Aidan.”
My shoulders sag as I scrub a hand down my face and pull her into a tight hug. “I love you, Mama. I forgive you.”
Her blue eyes are a little watery, but she looks relieved that I’ve accepted her apology. Wiping underneath one eye, she beams up at me. “And I promise to be much more present in your life from now on. Especially if I’m going to have a darling daughter-in-law to spend time with.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, yeah? She hasn’t even agreed to be my girlfriend yet. She could still turn tail and run the other direction. After all, what fresh out of college twenty-three-year-old wants to hitch her wagon to a guy with a kid and a demanding career? ”
Mama smirks and uses her pointer finger to turn my head towards the swings, where I see Lyla staring at me with a soft smile on her pretty pink lips as she pushes my son. “One that looks at you like that ."