For the Sake of Their Son (The Alpha Brotherhood #5)(41)
Author: Catherine Mann

Instead, there had been this quiet, painful realization that she was leaving him. No matter how many fairy-tale endings he tried to create for her, she’d seen through them all. After their crazy, out-of-control encounter against the door, they’d returned to the hotel. She’d packed. He’d arranged for his private jet to fly them home to South Carolina.

Lucy Ann had made a token offer to travel on her own, not to disrupt his schedule—not to distract him. The implication had been there. The accident had happened because his life was fracturing. He couldn’t deny it.

But he’d damn well insisted on bringing them back here himself.

The front door creaked open, and he looked up sharply. Lucy Ann’s aunt walked through. He sagged back in his swing, relieved to have the inevitable farewell delayed for a few more minutes. He knew Lucy Ann would let him be a part of his son’s world, but this was not how he wanted their lives to play out.

Carla settled next to him on the swing, her T-shirt appliquéd with little spring chickens. “Glad to know you survived in one piece.”

“It was a minor accident,” he insisted again, the wind rustling the oak trees in time with the groan of the chains holding the swing. The scent of Carolina jasmine reminded him of Lucy Ann.

“I meant that kidnapping stunt your friends staged. Turning your whole life upside down.”

Right now, it didn’t feel like he’d walked away unscathed. The weight on his chest pressed heavier with every second, hadn’t let up since he’d been pulled from his damaged car. “I’ll provide for Lucy Ann and Eli.”

“That was never in question.” She patted his knee. “I’m glad you got out of here all those years ago.”

“I thought you wanted Lucy Ann to stay? That’s always been my impression over the years.”

“I do believe she belongs here. But we’re not talking about her.” She folded her arms over the row of cheerful chickens. “I’m talking about what you needed as a teenager. You had to leave first before you could find any peace here. Although, perhaps it was important for Lucy Ann to leave for a while, as well.”

There was something in her voice—a kindred spirit? An understanding? Her life hadn’t been easy either, and he found himself saying, “You didn’t go.”

“I couldn’t. Not when Lucy Ann needed me. She was my one shot at motherhood since I couldn’t have kids of my own.” She shrugged. “Once she left with you, I’d already settled in. I’m on my own now.”

“I just assumed you didn’t want kids.” He was realizing how little time he’d spent talking to this woman who’d given him safe harbor, the woman who’d been there for Lucy Ann and Eli. He didn’t have much in the way of positive experience with blood relatives, but it was undoubtedly time to figure that out.

“I would have adopted,” Carla confided, “but my husband had a record. Some youthful indiscretions with breaking and entering. Years later it didn’t seem like it should have mattered to the adoption agencies that he’d broken into the country club to dump a bunch of Tootsie Rolls in the pool.”

Elliot grinned nostalgically. “Sounds like he would have made a great addition to the Alpha Brotherhood.”

And might Elliot have found a mentor with Lucy Ann’s uncle as well if he’d taken the time to try?

“I wish Lucy Ann could have had those kinds of friendships for herself. She was lost after you left,” Carla said pointedly. “She didn’t find her confidence until later.”

What was she talking about? “Lucy Ann is the strongest, most confident person I’ve ever met. I wouldn’t have made it without her.”

He looked into those woods and thought about the dream world she’d given him as a kid, more effective an escape than even his favorite book.

“You protected her, but always saw her strengths. That’s a wonderful thing.” Carla pinned him with unrelenting brown eyes much like her stubborn niece’s. “But you also never saw her vulnerabilities or insecurities. She’s not perfect, Elliot. You need to stop expecting her to be your fairy-tale princess and just let her be human.”

What the hell was she talking about? He didn’t have time to ask because she pushed up from the swing and left him sitting there, alone. Nothing but the creak of the swing and the rustle of branches overhead kept him company. There was so much noise in this ends-of-the-earth place.

Carla’s words floated around in his brain like dust searching for a place to land. Damn it all, he knew Lucy Ann better than anyone. He saw her strengths and yes, her flaws, too. Everyone had flaws. He didn’t expect her to be perfect. He loved her just the way she—

He loved her.

The dust in his brain settled. The world clarified, taking shape around those three words. He loved her. It felt so simple to acknowledge, he wondered why he hadn’t put the form to their relationship before. Why hadn’t he just told her?

The trees swayed harder in the wind that predicted a storm. He couldn’t remember when he’d ever told anyone he loved them. But he must have, a long time ago. Kids told their parents they loved them. Although now that he thought about it, right there likely laid the answer for why the word love had dried up inside him.

He’d told himself he wanted to be a better parent than his father—a better man than his father. Now he realized being a better man didn’t have a thing to do with leaving this porch or this town. Running away didn’t change him. This place had never been the problem.

He had been the problem. And the time had come to make some real changes in himself, changes that would make him the father Eli deserved. Changes that would make him the man Lucy Ann deserved.

Finally, he understood how to build their life together.

* * *

The time was rapidly approaching to say goodbye to Elliot.

Her mind full of regrets and second thoughts, Lucy Ann rocked in the old bentwood antique in her room at Carla’s, Eli on her shoulder. She held him to comfort herself since he’d long since settled into a deep sleep. She planned to find a place of her own within the next two weeks, no leaning on her aunt this time.

The past day since they’d left Monte Carlo after the horrifying accident had zipped by in such a haze of pain and worry. Her heart still hadn’t completely settled into a steady beat after Elliot’s accident. Right up to the last second, she’d hoped he would come up with a Hail Mary plan for them to build a real life together for Eli. She loved Elliot with all her heart, but she couldn’t deny her responsibilities to her son. He needed a stable life.