Chapter Forty-Two
Cole
Sweat covers my skin as I set the weights down on the mat, my breathing uneven and heavy.
I wipe the sweat from my face and eyes with my shirt before sitting down on the bench.
I woke up to a raging war in my mind over Lucy and decided to distract myself with a workout.
I can’t understand how Ren and Nash forgave Lucy so easily after she left us.
Shaking my head, I try to push Lucy from my thoughts.
When my breathing evens out, I stand up, making my way back to the house.
Stepping onto the porch, I hear laughter coming from the kitchen.
Anger and jealousy roll through my body as I reach for the door handle and step in.
I walk past Ren, Nash, and Lucy eating breakfast at the dining room table as I make my way to the kitchen to grab a cold water bottle from the fridge.
I turn back around, planning to take a shower when Ren speaks up as I get within earshot of the table.
“Want something to eat?” Ren’s looking at me with a smile when I glance over, and I almost stop until my eyes flick to Lucy. Her eyes are focused on her plate as she chews a bite.
“Nope,” I say as I keep walking.
“You need to eat something,” Nash’s voice raises behind me.
I throw my hand up and keep walking, not stopping until I reach my bedroom.
I’ve never been more thankful to have my own shower in my room than I am right now.
I let the water warm as I undress and step in.
The heat of the water feels good on my skin, and I stand under the stream for a long while before I start soaping myself up and cleaning the sweat from my body.
When I come out of the shower, I wrap my towel around my waist and step into my bedroom. I freeze when I see Lucy sitting on my bed with her back to me. I let out a quiet but frustrated sigh before walking around my bed to my closet.
“What do you want, Rich Girl?” I can feel her eyes on me, but I keep my back to her as I grab clothes.
“I want to talk,” she answers with a small voice.
I let out a chuckle and shake my head. “What could you possibly want to say?”
“I want to apologize,” she starts but stops when I scoff. “What?”
“You don’t need to apologize to me. Just leave. You’re good at that.”
“I don’t want to argue with you again, Cole.” Her tone is defeated, but I know there’s still a spark in her.
“Then leave,” I say with a bite.
I can tell she’s frustrated from the huff that leaves her mouth.
“I’m trying to tell you I’m sorry I left, Cole. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Her voice is pleading.
“You didn’t hurt me,” I grit out while I dress myself. The war between my head and my heart rages inside me, and I can’t tell which one is winning at the moment.
“You can lie to yourself all you want, Colson. I am sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I left you when I said I wouldn’t.
” Her voice cracks at the end, and guilt eats away at me while I glance at her over my shoulder.
Her head is down, but I can see the tears falling into her lap before she sniffles.
I let out a deep sigh and lean my head back with my eyes closed.
“I know I broke my promise about leaving, and I don’t expect you to forgive me, Cole.
I just hope that one day we can be friends again, because I can not imagine my life without you in it.
” Lucy’s eyes are bright as she looks at me when I turn my attention back to her.
Tears stream down her face as she continues, “I can’t imagine never hearing your laugh again, or never listening to your questionable taste in music. ”
She looks broken as she speaks, and in that moment, my heart wins the battle against my head.
“I don’t want to imagine what never spending another day alone at the creek with you would be like, or—”
She cuts her sentence off as I step towards her, her eyes widening at my movement. Pulling her up, I reach for her face, and our lips meet. I kiss her deeply. So deep I can feel her in my soul. Our kiss fills me with warmth, and when I pull back and look into her eyes, they soften.
“Does this mean you forgive me?” Lucy asks, biting her bottom lip.
“Honestly, no. I have my own shit to work out,” I answer, and her eyes flick to the ground. “But I want to have you in my corner while I do, if you don’t mind?”
“I love you, Colson.” A soft smile spreads across her face as she gazes into my eyes.
“I love you, Rich Girl.” My comment causes her to chuckle before placing a gentle kiss on my lips. I grab her and pull her body flush with mine, placing my forehead against hers.
“As much as I would love for you to take me here and now, I do have to get to the police station to give a statement.” Lucy’s voice is breathless, and I know it’s taking everything in her to stop this from going further.
“We’ll finish this later, then?” I ask with a smirk.
“Absolutely, we will.” Lucy smiles, and we walk out of my room, hand in hand.
Laughter fills the space surrounding us at the dining table while we eat and talk.
Lucy wasn’t at the police station long. They were already bringing in a new deputy from a few towns over for the investigation as a temp replacement.
It sounded like they were going to dig deeper into the whole unit to find out if anyone had known or was in on Bobby and Diane’s plan.
“I have to ask, Darlin’, were you just spewing bullshit when you brought up the next of kin thing to Diane and Bobby?” Nash asks before taking a swig of his drink.
“Nope,” Lucy pops the end of the word. “It started as gossip in town when Wayne was younger. Someone said he had a secret child with his first high school girlfriend, who ended up moving away their sophomore year. Most people said the move was a coincidence, but others say it’s because she was having a baby.
He always laughed it off whenever someone mentioned it.
” Lucy stops to take a drink from her beer bottle.
“Anyway, when I was getting ready to head off to college, I stopped at the bank to get some cash, and he was in there. He didn’t see me, but I noticed he was withdrawing a large amount.
Turns out, he was pulling out money for his secret kid. ”
“You’re kidding,” Ren says, his voice surprised.
Lucy shakes her head. “Not at all. He left before me, but when I walked out of the bank, I saw him with a kid around my age who looked exactly like him. I couldn’t believe it at first either, but when Wayne gave the guy a hug and said, ‘I love you, son.’ I swear my eyes almost fell out of my head.
I dropped my wallet, and the sound made Wayne look up.
He walked right up to me and asked me to keep it quiet, so I did. ”
A round of murmurs comes from Nash, Ren, and me before silence settles for a few minutes until Ren speaks up again.
“We really should thank Lawson somehow. He was an immense help with all of this,” Ren says, casually eating a french fry.
“I’m not sure how I’ll ever be able to repay him,” Lucy says with a sigh.
“Food is always a good start, Darlin’,” Nash replies with a smile before biting into his burger.
“So maybe a barbecue before it gets cold?” Lucy asks.
“We can do whatever you want, Love,” Ren says, picking up Lucy’s hand and placing a kiss on the top of it.
“Anything?” A devilish smirk crosses Lucy’s face as she looks between all of us.
“Dammit, Darlin’. We just ate. I can barely move,” Nash sighs, causing Ren and Lucy to chuckle.
Ren and Nash start giving each other shit as Lucy reaches over and grabs my hand resting on the table. Her eyes shine brightly as she looks at me, giving me a small nod. Returning her nod, feelings of gratitude and hope fill my chest, and I know everything is going to be okay.