Читать книгу The Hardest Fight - Amy Vastine - Страница 11

CHAPTER THREE

LUCY WAS LATE for Simon’s game and had no one to blame but herself. She’d spent the better part of the day talking Paige out of calling Mrs. Kerrington and taking her pathetic offer. Today’s meeting had planted dangerous seeds in Paige’s head and made all of the board members question if selling Safe Haven was the right choice or not.

The thought of Dylan and his sparkling blue eyes, pleading with Paige to think of all the good she could do with the money from the sale, was enough to make Lucy scream. As if he had any idea what it took to make a difference in the world working at Stevens and Ellis. Years ago, he had sworn he’d find a way to fight for those without a voice instead of selling his soul to his mother’s affluent and avaricious clients, but it appeared he had done just that.

Kendall waved to get her sister’s attention. Lucy smiled and began trudging up the bleachers. Kendall’s husband, Max, bounced their daughter on his knee. The man was completely smitten. Five-month-old Darcy had her father wrapped around her little finger already. Kendall was in for trouble when that one got big enough to ask for things.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said, taking the spot next to Max and holding out her hands for her turn with the baby.

“I just got here,” he protested. Darcy loved new attention more than anything and lunged for her aunt, so Max reluctantly let her go.

The baby girl’s screech was earsplitting. It was her way of saying hello. Lucy made a funny noise in return and Darcy giggled, showing off the two cute baby teeth in her mouth. Her adorable laugh always made Lucy smile. Kendall made amazing babies. The tiny, delusional part of Lucy’s heart that wasn’t completely convinced she didn’t have a family in her future ached a bit more than usual.

“Simon scored a basket.” Kendall reached across Max to give Darcy a toy. “Just before you walked in.”

Of course he had. Keeping Safe Haven from going into foreclosure wasn’t going to be easy, and every minute Lucy spent working was a minute she wouldn’t get to spend with her family. Lucy’s anger toward Prime Developments and Dylan Hunt resurged.

“Your little one dropped her toy,” someone said behind her.

Max snatched up the elephant rattle and shook it in front of Darcy, much to her delight. Lucy tried to push the negativity she felt aside. She was here to watch Simon and enjoy her time with Kendall.

“Thanks,” she said to the older gentleman behind them. The hair at his temples was gray and his beard was more white than brown. He gave her a nod and a gentle smile. Just as she was about to turn back around, Lucy made eye contact with the man sitting beside him and her temper flared. “Are you following me?”

Dylan sighed and readjusted the brim of his hat. “No, I’m not following you.” He dared to sound indignant. “Are you following me?”

Lucy handed Darcy back to Max. She wasn’t going to dignify his question with an answer. “What are you doing here, then?”

“I’m here to watch a basketball game. What are you doing here?”

She faced forward and tried to pretend he wasn’t sitting back there. If she ignored him, it would be as if he didn’t exist. Kendall made Max switch seats so she could be next to Lucy. She hooked arms with her sister.

“Is that who I think it is?” Kendall whispered, glancing over her shoulder.

“Don’t look at him,” Lucy demanded. She wasn’t surprised by her sister’s uncertainty. Kendall had lived out east when Lucy and Dylan were together. “And don’t let me look at him.”

“Well, aren’t you the queen of the cold shoulder? No one does it better than you, Lulu.”

How dare he use that name not once, but twice, today. As much as she wanted to keep her cool, exhaustion was making it impossible. She swung her head around to find Dylan glaring back at her.

“I’ve had just about enough from you,” she snapped.

“I’m sorry, but what exactly did I do that offended you so much?”

“Oh, like you didn’t know I was going to be there today! Just like you probably knew I was going to be here tonight. No one does more research than the almighty Dylan Hunt.”

His eyes narrowed into angry slits. “Hate to burst your self-absorbed bubble, but the world does not revolve around you. I had no idea you were going to be here.”

“Oh, that’s right. Your world revolves around your family’s money and power.” Lucy could feel her skin tingling with her own indignation. “I hope you know I’m not going to let the board sell Safe Haven today, tomorrow or ever. Whatever your big plan is, you can forget it because we’re not interested. You can leave me alone now.”

“I’m already done with you,” he sneered. Those words stung more than she expected. “You don’t really have a say. Your role at Open Arms doesn’t give you the power to decide what you do with that house on Western. Your board will realize Prime is offering them an easy out. There was more than one person at that table today ready to accept our offer even before Elizabeth sweetened the deal. I could tell.”

It burned her to know he was right. She hated that he could read people so well. Some of their fellow students in law school had actually believed he was psychic. Lucy knew better than to buy into that baloney. He was observant, that was all. Too observant.

“They’ll never sell, and if by some miracle they do, it won’t be to anyone associated with you. I’ll make sure of that.”

Kendall tugged on her arm. Hard. “Lucy, stop.”

It was unclear how many times Kendall had already said that before it finally registered. The quarter had ended and the referee walked up the bleachers, stopping before he got to Lucy’s row.

“I’m going to have to ask you both to leave. This isn’t the place for whatever is going on between the two of you. You need to take it out of the gymnasium, please.”

“You’re kicking me out?” Lucy’s embarrassment heated her cheeks.

“I’m asking you to leave the gym, yes.” The ref glanced up at Dylan, as well.

“Fantastic,” Dylan mumbled under his breath, which for some reason struck another nerve.

“Don’t act like this is my fault. You’re the stalker.”

“Get over yourself,” he said, rising to his feet and shaking hands with the man next to him. “Tell Jeremy I’m sorry I couldn’t watch him play. I’ll be at the next one—as long as we sit as far away from certain crazy people as possible.”

Lucy huffed and grabbed her purse. “I’ll be outside,” she said to Kendall.

The referee followed them out, waiting until the door closed before returning to the game. Lucy peered through the narrow window that offered her a partial view of the court. She could feel Dylan staring a hole in the back of her head.

“Don’t think seeing you again was easy for me just because I knew it was coming,” he said. His voice was soft, as it often sounded in her memory. “You left me, remember?”

She hadn’t forgotten, although it was more like she had left him before he got the chance to leave her. He would have left. Eventually.

Lucy swallowed down the emotion lodged in her throat. Her feelings for him had never really gone away, and they demanded to be felt right now. There had been a vulnerable side to Dylan that made her protective of him. A side that longed to break free from his mother’s expectations and demands. He had wanted to make a difference, to work beside Lucy as she made a difference, too. They were going to change the world...together.

She could deny it all she wanted, but part of her still loved the man who once climbed up onto the bar at their favorite restaurant and announced to everyone that he was madly in love with her. She still thought about the guy who had fallen asleep more times than she could count on her couch, surrounded by law books after a long night of studying.

Lucy searched for some courage and turned around, only to find the corridor empty. He was already gone. It shouldn’t have been such a shock. She already knew that the man she had fallen in love with didn’t exist anymore.

* * *

“I’M SORRY,” LUCY mouthed to Kendall when they finally emerged from the gym after the game. Lucy had been able to see everything that happened on one end of the court but not the other. The final score was still a mystery.

Her younger sister gave her “the look,” the one that said she forgave her but wasn’t the least bit happy.

“So, how’d you do?” she asked Simon.

The smile on his face spoke a million words. “We won by four points!”

Lucy held up her hand for a high five and he didn’t hold back. She shook her hand out to ease the sting. The kid was growing up too fast. Lucy could remember when he was as small as his baby sister. At eight, Simon was too heavy to carry and had feet that were almost as big as his mom’s.

“I think that means I need to take you out for ice cream to celebrate.”

“Yes!”

Max side-hugged Simon. “I have to head back to the restaurant, but you did awesome, buddy.”

Kendall had lucked out in the kid and the husband department, at least the second time around. Max wasn’t Simon’s father, but no one would ever know by watching the two of them interact. When Simon’s father died, so did the light inside of him. But then Max came into their lives, and he lit him back up and helped him shine even brighter than before.

As Kendall and Simon said goodbye to Max, Lucy watched as the older gentleman who had been sitting with Dylan walked by hand in hand with another kid on the team.

“Are you sure Dylan wasn’t mad at me for not making a basket?” the boy asked the man.

“No, no, no! He would never be mad at you for that. He’ll be at the next game, I promise.”

The guilt was like a stab straight through the heart. Dylan really had been there to watch the game. Not only was she embarrassed for the attention she had drawn to herself, but now she had to live with the fact that she had made a little boy doubt himself.

“Can we go to the Triple C, Aunt Lulu?” Simon asked, grabbing Lucy’s hand. Lulu was the name Simon had called her when he was just learning to talk. Dylan had thought it was cute, so he took to calling her Lulu, as well. The nickname always left her with mixed emotions.

She forced herself to smile for Simon’s sake. “Where else would we go?”

The Chi-Town Chilly Cow was an Everhart family favorite. Lucy remembered going there as a kid and wanting to order everything. Her dad would only let them get a one-scoop cone, so she would order a different flavor every time they went. Now she could get whatever she wanted, but ice cream was not part of her diet. Given the studies on dairy, there was no way she was giving her body any more ammunition to do her in.

Lucy let Simon order the craziest sundae on the menu. Something with chunks of brownies and chocolate chip cookies in it, topped with gummy bears and more chocolate. The girl behind the counter began to ring it up, when Lucy stopped her.

“There should be a note back there saying Lucy Everhart gets free ice cream for life.” Thanks to her idea that the Triple C go all organic, the owners had experienced an explosion in sales. They’d offered her a lifetime supply of ice cream as a thank-you. She rarely took advantage of the perk unless she was treating her favorite nephew.

“There is, but you’re not Lucy Everhart,” the girl said.

Lucy’s forehead wrinkled. “I’m not?”

“No, you aren’t. I’ve been working here for almost a year. Lucy Everhart comes in here all the time. She’s a really tall brunette. Comes in with this supercute guy. I know Lucy Everhart.”

“Emma,” Lucy said with a growl.

Kendall nodded. “I told her it was going to catch up to her one of these days, but you know Emma. She thought she could get away with it forever.”

Lucy pulled out her driver’s license. “I am Lucy Everhart. The woman you’ve been giving free ice cream to is my sister. Do me a favor and add an extra note back there that warns your coworkers not to be fooled by tall brunette frauds.”

The girl inspected the ID as if she was a bouncer at a college bar. She even tried to scratch the picture off to no avail. Once she finally agreed she’d been duped by the most conniving of the Everhart sisters, she gave Lucy Simon’s sundae for free.

Simon and Kendall took turns devouring the frozen treat while Lucy kept Darcy entertained. It didn’t take those two more than a few minutes to put the whole thing in their bellies.

“So...Dylan Hunt,” Kendall said, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“Don’t start.”

“I don’t remember him being so incredibly hot.”

“Don’t. Start.” Lucy didn’t want to think about how good-looking Dylan was or wasn’t. Of course, he was incredibly hot, just as Kendall had said. He was the most attractive guy Lucy had ever dated.

“You got kicked out of my son’s basketball game because you made a ridiculous scene. I get to start.”

“Fine,” Lucy huffed. “Dylan showed up at Open Arms today with his client—the developer that wants to buy the house we use as a shelter in Logan Square. I spent all day trying to convince Paige we don’t have to sell yet.”

“Yet? I thought that was why you were adding the auction to the fund-raiser.”

Lucy wanted more than anyone to believe that was true. “Right. The fund-raiser should bring in a lot of money.”

“Enough to pay off the house?” Kendall asked. Her hopefulness was almost too much to bear.

“No, but enough to get us by until I come up with another plan.” What that plan would be was beyond her.

“Things will work out the way they’re supposed to. So, back to incredibly hot Dylan—is he married? Did he ask if you were married? What’s he been doing the past five years?”

Kendall was obviously trying to punish her for embarrassing them all at the game today. This was some cruel payback. “I don’t know, no and I don’t care. There really is nothing to tell. He’s probably trying to think of a plan to convince Paige to beg the board to sell. He’ll fail. He’ll move on. I’ll never see him again.”

“And I thought I’d never have to see Max once I finished remodeling Sato’s,” Kendall reminded her. “And look how that turned out.”

“Fine, never say never. But it doesn’t matter.”

“Really?” Kendall could always tell when Lucy was hiding something.

“Really.” Even if Dylan wasn’t working for the enemy, she couldn’t let herself forget that she’d sent him away and he’d gone willingly. “Running into him twice in one day? Maybe the universe is trying to tell you something,” Kendall said although she knew Lucy didn’t believe in that kind of stuff.

“The universe doesn’t communicate with anyone.”

Kendall threw up her hands. “I don’t know what happened five years ago. You didn’t want to talk about it then, and I’m sure I won’t get it out of you now. But he was the only guy I ever thought had a real chance with you. You two seemed so perfect together.”

Lucy wasn’t perfect for anyone. She had been guilted into this conversation, and now it was over. Lucy didn’t let any man have a chance with her because what was the point? She was a ticking time bomb.

Cancer was always lurking around the corner. It was sinister, biding its time, waiting for Lucy to drop her guard and believe she was safe from its clutches. She’d beaten it once, but how long would it really be before it put her to the test again? She certainly wasn’t going to ask someone to commit to her when their lives might have very different expiration dates.