Chapter 17
Knox
Lorelai was supposed to come with me to pick my mom and sister up from the airport, but at the last second, she’d gotten a call from Candace who needed help with something. She hadn’t divulged what it was, she just said it was important. So, after I dropped her off, I headed toward the airport and had just pulled up outside when I saw my mom and sister waiting. I climbed out of the car and waved.
“Hey, Mom! Peyton!” I yelled.
They looked over and waved, then made their way to the car. I hugged them both, then threw their luggage into the trunk of my car while they hopped in.
“How was the flight?” I questioned as I pulled away from the curb and headed back toward home.
“Fine.”
“It wasn’t fine, Mother. It was hell.”
I glanced in my rearview mirror at Peyton. “Did something happen?” I questioned.
“Nothing happened, Knox. Peyton is just being Peyton.”
Peyton was only twenty-one, thirteen years younger than me, and my half-sister. After my mother and father split, my mother stayed single for a long time and then got involved with an asshole of a man. She got pregnant and he split.
“Mother, please,” Peyton whined.
“How’s school?” I questioned, not wanting to listen to her whine anymore.
I knew my mother could never afford to send Peyton to university, so I’d paid for her to go. Mom worked a full-time job but struggled each month to make ends meet, so along with paying for Peyton’s schooling, I also sent money home monthly to make things a little easier for her. It wasn’t something I told people. Hell, the guys on the team didn’t even know, but it was my way of giving back to her. She’d sacrificed so much for me when I was growing up. It was the least I could do.
“Tell him,” my mother said from the front seat.
I glanced in the rearview mirror again to see Peyton glaring at my mother. “What do you need to tell me?” I questioned, putting my eyes back on the road.
“It’s nothing,” Peyton mumbled.
“Peyton, you promised.”
“Fine. Fine. I’ve had some problems with my professors and, well, last week…”
“Last week what?” I barked.
Peyton got quiet in the back seat, and I looked over at my mother to see her watching me.
“They kicked her out of school. I’m at the end of my rope with her, Knox. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
I pulled into my driveway and got out of the car. I had nothing to say now, especially not to Peyton. She’d always been irresponsible. I grabbed the bags from the back of the car and carried them to the front door.
“Knox, say something,” Peyton said as she stepped up beside me while I unlocked the front door.
“I have nothing to say to you right now,” I gritted, opening the door and stepping inside. “Peyton, you know where you normally stay. Take your bags,” I muttered, grabbing Mom’s bag and taking it down to the second guest room. “Get settled, then we will head out for breakfast. I need to go cool off,” I said, running my fingers through my hair.
* * *
Mom and I sat on a bench outside one of the stores Peyton wanted to go into. I took a drink of water while Mom sipped on her iced cap.
“I’m at a loss, Knox. I should have told you before we came out here, but she’s out of control. She got involved with this guy, and the moment it happened, all hell broke loose.”
Peyton had always been impressionable. She’d gotten involved with a bad crew in her last year of high school. The school year ended with her not graduating and having to spend her entire summer taking classes to graduate.
“What do you think you want to do about it?” I questioned.
“Well, the school refuses to take her back. She didn’t even want to come on this trip, to be honest, but I forced her. I figured getting her away from Tor might be the best thing.”
“Tor?” I asked.
“Yep, that’s his name.”
I shook my head and watched Peyton from where I sat. She was an attractive girl, smart, and I knew if she only took things a little more seriously and focused on school, she’d do well for herself. However, she also needed to do a lot of growing up.
“Leave it with me, let me sleep on it. I’ll figure something out,” I muttered as Peyton came out of the store and made her way over to us.
“So, where is your girlfriend?” Peyton questioned, sitting down beside me.
“Yes, I’ve been wanting to meet her,” my mother said, smiling at me. “Why isn’t she here with us now?”
I chuckled. “Her sister-in-law needed help with something. Plus, I think she might’ve been a little nervous about meeting you. She said she wasn’t, but I think she was just saying that. Our relationship has been tested over the last bit, and I didn’t want to overwhelm her.”
“Well, that is a pile of crap,” Peyton said, looking my way.
I frowned. “What?”
“It’s crap and you know it. You went to high school with her and her brother. You play on the same team as he does.”
My mother looked at me. “Is that true?”
I let out the breath I was holding and tried to come up with a way to explain things. “Look, it’s true, but it’s a difficult thing to discuss. Things are good, I adore her, and our relationship is finally in an amazing place. You will meet her while you are here.”
Peyton scoffed.
“What?” I questioned, growing annoyed as I turned my attention to her.
“What about all the gossip blogs?” she questioned. “Is what they are saying true?”
“What part?” I questioned, not sure what was going to come out of her mouth next.
“The attack.”
“Attack?” my mother questioned, putting her hand on her chest.
“A fan attacked her at the end of a game. It was horrible, but everything was taken care of. She is fine.”
“I don’t know how you put up with all this, Knox. I really don’t. How horrible it must have been for her.”
“It was, but I promise you she is fine.”
“What about the part that she’s a cheater?” Peyton questioned.
When I looked over at her, I saw the same smirk on her face that she’d had in the car. I seriously wanted to wipe it off her face. How dare she bring this up? I knew my mother didn’t read gossip blogs, but I should have known Peyton would be all up in that.
“Don’t believe what you read in that trash,” I said.
“Well, they say that you don’t fall very far from that path yourself.”
“Peyton!” my mother exclaimed. “That is enough.”
Anger flooded my body. I may have had fun over the years with different women, but I wasn’t and never had been a cheater; it wasn’t in my blood. I’d seen what it had done to my father and mother, and I swore that when I saw the hurt it had caused my mother I’d never be the same sort of man.
“Look here,” I said, turning toward Peyton, ready to grab hold of her.
“Whoa, calm down there, so uptight.” Peyton smirked again. “I was joking.”
“Peyton, it’s enough,” my mother scolded.
“It’s enough,” she mimicked.
I turned to my mother, ignoring Peyton completely. “Lorelai has done nothing of the sort. Don’t worry, it was a report to the blogs to get back at me.”
“Who would have done something like that to you?” My mother frowned.
“I’ll be back in a moment,” Peyton mumbled.
I was glad she’d taken off into the store. I didn’t want to divulge this to her just yet. Something was off about her, her behaviour. Never had she acted this way when she’d visited. I suspected my mother was right, this Tor person had gotten into her head.
“Knox, are you going to answer me?”
I turned and looked at my mother and smiled. “Mom, I’m telling you this in confidence. It was her ex.”
“What on earth? Knox, did you get in between the two of them?” my mother questioned, looking at me with disappointment.
“No, Mom. They were over long before we got involved. He’s just a bitter man.”
“I see. He must be to do something so hurtful. Have you told her you love her yet?”
I knew my mother knew I loved her, and I’d been prepared for her to ask me this question, she’d always been able to read me like a book. I looked at my mother, who was waiting for my answer, and shook my head.
“I’m in love with her, Mom, but I haven’t told her yet.”
“Ahhhh…” she said, grabbing me and pulling me in for a hug. “I knew it. I think it’s about time you tell her.”
Yeah, it was, she was right. Now I just needed to figure out how to tell her.
I wrapped my arms around my mother, and that was when the alarm went off in the store Peyton had gone into. Mom and I both looked up to see Peyton rushing our way.
“We’ve got to get out of here, now!” she said through clenched teeth.
Mom looked panicked. However, I didn’t move. I grabbed Peyton by the shirt and held her there, looking directly into her eyes.
“What have you done?” I growled as security came around the corner and approached us.
* * *
I lay in bed, the house quiet, trying to de-stress after the day I’d had. After the alarms had gone off and Peyton had wanted to flee, I’d refused. I’d grabbed hold of her and waited until security arrived. She’d tried to lift a pocketful of makeup, along with some jewelry.
After everything, we’d come home, and she’d spent the rest of the night in her room. I didn’t want to see her, and my mother was so disappointed she’d spent the evening in tears. I’d felt bad, but I’d done what needed to be done by making her stay and face the consequences, she needed to own up to her mistakes, and if this was the way it had to be done, I was glad to do it.
My phone vibrated on the bed. I let out a sigh as I picked it up and looked at the screen to see Lorelai had messaged. For the first time in hours, a smile came to my lips.
KNOX: Hey
LORELAI: How are things going? Thought I’d give you a little time with your mom and sister, how are things going?
I stared at the phone. How I wished she was here with me right now.
KNOX: Not going well.
LORELAI: What do you mean? Is it your mom?
KNOX: No. It’s Peyton. She got kicked out of school and today she shoplifted.
LORELAI: WHAT? Oh my god, Knox.
KNOX: Tell me about it. I had to stand there, hold on to her and let security have at her just to teach her a lesson.
I didn’t want to paint my sister as some sort of criminal, but I needed to talk about it.
KNOX: It was awful. I had to stand there and listen to her cry, beg and plead for help. My mom is a mess and doesn’t know what to do with her. Apparently, she is involved with some guy my mom doesn’t like and he is turning her life upside down.
LORELAI: Sounds like you did the right thing. Sounds like maybe she needs someone like you right now.
KNOX: I hope you are right, because I feel like she is never going to talk to me again.
LORELAI: She will appreciate it one day. As for the bad news guy, she’ll outgrow that too.
KNOX: Doesn’t feel that way right now.
LORELAI: I know.
KNOX: How is everything with Candace?
LORELAI: Okay. Her and Phil had a huge fight, she just wanted someone to talk to.
KNOX: You staying there tonight?
LORELAI: Yeah, I don’t want to leave her. Which means I’ll probably be late for dinner tomorrow night.
I tapped the edge of my phone. It was the last day I had with my mom and sister, and given the situation, I wasn’t sure it was wise for Lorelai to meet them right now. I wanted them to meet under better circumstances—when my mom wasn’t a mess, and my sister wasn’t trouble.
KNOX: Don’t take this the wrong way, but how about you meet them next time? They will be back for Christmas. Plus, Candace needs you.
I waited as she typed her response, watching those three dots appear and disappear, then appear again.
LORELAI: Don’t worry about me. We will meet up with your mom and sister another time. Right now, it’s important you are together and work through whatever is going on. I understand and want you to know I’m thinking of you.
My heart almost burst at her answer. I’d never had a woman I was dating to understand any family issue I’d had. She was the first one ever to understand that my family was important to me. She also knew it was important for me to be with my mom and sister.
KNOX: Thanks babe, see you soon. Night.
LORELAI: Night Knox.
* * *
I couldn’t believe the weekend was over already. We stood just outside the airport, my mother hugging me tightly.
“I’ll see you at Christmas.”
“I know, Mom. I look forward to it,” I said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
As she pulled away and blew her nose, I turned to my sister.
“Peyton, don’t hate me,” I said, wanting her to speak to me at least one more time before they got on the plane. I’d heard her sneak out last night, and I’d seen the lights from the cab she’d taken pull into the driveway when she returned. I had watched from the crack through my bedroom door as she staggered down the hall and fell into bed. She was clearly on a path of destruction, and I hoped it would end before it got more serious. When my mother had mentioned her being so tired this morning, she’d looked my way as if she knew I’d seen her, but I didn’t let on.
“Thanks for nothing,” she said.
I shook my head. “Peyton, one day you will thank me.”
“Don’t think so,” she said, turning to our mother. “Mom, I’m not coming back at Christmas. I don’t want to see him ever again.”
“Peyton, it’s enough,” my mother said, looking at me, seeing the disappointment in my eyes.
“No, it’s fine. If she would rather be with Tor, shoplifting and getting into trouble, that is fine.”
Peyton grabbed her bags and made her way inside the airport, leaving me and my mother outside. She placed her hand on my cheek and looked at me.
“I’ll deal with her, don’t you worry. I can’t wait to meet Lorelai, and I cannot wait to see you at Christmas. Good luck with the finals. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mom. Just watch her, and if you need me, call me.”
“I will.”