Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lucy
Brooke gently rocks me in her arms while her fingers stroke my back. Lucky has coiled herself around me, resting her chin on my shoulder, rocking with me. After my melt down in the front foyer, Brooke, in her very pregnant state, managed to get me upstairs and in my bed. Lucky blew into the house like a category five hurricane of hysterics. Sobbing, wailing uncontrollably, damning God and the devil, until finally collapsing on my bed. She was having the breakdown I should have been having.
“I used to wish for a day like this. Thinking that maybe the life I was living was a dream and that Colton was really alive. I’d wake up, and he would be there lying next me. Eventually, that delusional idea faded away. Colton was gone, and it was time for me to move on. Colton is alive.” All at once the morning’s events hit me. I spring up in bed. “Colton is alive. My husband is alive. Holy shit, my husband is fucking alive.” I jump out of bed and mumble to myself as I pace the floor.
“My husband is alive, and I’m in love with someone else. To top it all off, the poor guy shows up at my door and I turn him away like a stray cat. I wasn’t the only one who lost everything that day. Colton lost the life he built, too, and I’m just the selfish bitch that didn’t acknowledge the pain he was feeling. I am hateful and awful.” Colton hasn’t been in control of his life for ten years. The Colton I knew has been lost, trying to find his way home. He finally finds his way and he’s met with a cold wall. “And I am utterly confused by what I should do.” Back and forth. Back and forth. Does Colton want us to pick up from where we left off? And what about Hunter. Just hours ago, we were happy and in love, what does this mean for us. Colton and I are still technically married.
“Lucy, you were in shock. I don’t think anyone would have acted any better in that situation. There is no precedence for how one should react to their dead spouse coming back from the dead,” Brooke says.
“What would you do if Jake just showed up on your doorstep one day?” I ask.
“To be honest, I don’t know what I would do or say. Jake was a big part of my life, and a part of me will always love him, but Brian is my life now, and Jake coming back would never change that. Colton is still your husband and the father of your child. It’s a completely different situation. You are going to have to listen to your heart and your head on this one.”
“I know that is what I should do, but neither one of them seems to be thinking clearly at the moment. All I want to do right now is run and hide. Bury my head in the sand until I can figure this thing out. If I look at either Colton or Hunter right now, I am going to lose my mind and end up losing everything again. I love Hunter, and I want to start a life with him. I loved Colton and the life we had, but the part of me that loved him, died right along with him, and I don’t know if Colton being back will open up those old feelings again. Why is it, when I finally have something good in my life, the world shits all over everything?” I fall face first onto the bed. The bed shifts under me and a hand sweeps the hair out of my face. Lucky’s big green eyes peer at me.
“You have two options. Maybe see if Hunter and Colton are into sharing you. Could work out for some hot threesome action.”
“Jesus Lucky,” Brooke scolds.
“What? It could be a viable option.” Lucky shrugs her shoulders. “Or you could run. Go to your parents’ cottage in Bellingham. Take some time to figure things out before you make any rash decisions.”
“Lucky, I can’t just leave my kid and my job and run off.” Even though I would give anything to just get some distance between Colton and Hunter.
“I think this time Lucky has the right idea,” Brooke says, sitting up in the bed.
“Who heard that, please tell me one of you got that on tape.” Lucky smiles from ear to ear, proud that someone said she had the right idea.
“Just hear me out Lucy. You could send Bailey to go stay with her grandparents for a few days. Don’t tell them what is going on, just let Bailey enjoy the weekend before her world gets turned upside down. It will be easier to tell her that her father is alive if you are level headed. Lucy, you need this for your own sanity.” Brooke runs her hand through my hair. “This will give you time to clear your head and figure out what your heart wants.”
“My parents did ask if they could take Bailey for the weekend before they go down to Arizona for the winter.” This plan is sounding better and better. There is no way I am going to be able to think clearly here. Brooke is right about waiting to tell Bailey about her father until I know how he is going to fit into our lives. I sit up on my elbows and look back and forth between both Brooke and Lucky. “Okay, I’ll do it, but you both have to promise me that neither one of you will tell Hunter or Colton where I am.”
“Don’t worry about them, we got this. You just go and focus on you,” Brooke reassures me.
“Your secret is safe with me. Just don’t do what I would do and not come back for a year.” I’m glad Lucky has grown out of her running when life gets too hard phase. She can be a mouthy pain in the ass, but I need her around.
“You don’t have to worry about that. Thank you both for everything.” Lucky crawls on top of me and snuggle hugs me from behind. “This is really awkward.”
“Just go with it. Feel the love I’m sending you,” she softly says, then kisses my cheek.
Yeah, I need to get the hell out of here before she starts singing “Cats in the Cradle.” I just hope I can get my head around all of this. Right now, I am feeling very lost.