* * *

Present:

“Just how long were you planning on sneaking around like—?”

“Don’t start, Mom. Not right now.”

“Don’t start? I swear you were never this disrespectful to me until that man came into your life.”

“That man is the father of my son—your grandchild.”

“Trust me, Lotus Petal, I’m not about to forget.”

“Then maybe you can try and give him a little respect. He is not his father, Momma. I’ve watched you open your heart to CC and Kayla. You even tried with Green’s ex—”

“I did not. You take that shit back right now. That woman was a wart on the ass of humanity,” Mom interrupts me.

“One that was festered and oozing pus,” Blue adds.

“She wasn’t that bad,” Green defends, looking uncomfortable.

“Name one redeeming thing about that cow,” Gray demands.

“Gray, that’s not a nice thing to call her,” CC mumbles.

“You didn’t meet her, sweetheart,” Gray answers.

“Yeah, but I did, and you’re insulting Hamburger by calling her that,” Mom injects, and several of us laugh. It’s pretty much true; there’s no point in arguing with her.

Luka comes over and stands behind me. He wraps his arms around me, and I lean back into him, breathing a sigh of relief. Mom’s giving me looks, but she’s not looking like she wants to kill either of us—at least not as much as I expected. I’m taking that as a good sign. Honestly, it feels good to not be hiding and keeping secrets. It’d almost be perfect… if Luka didn’t have a warrant hanging over his head.

“We’re waiting,” Jansen says.

The room gets quiet, and everyone is staring at me and Luka like we have answers. Maybe we should, but right now I’m at a loss.

“Yeah. Why does my daughter need protection?” Mom asks. She’s looking at Luka, and her face doesn’t have any discernable emotion on it. I can’t figure out for the life of me what she’s thinking. With Mom, that can be both good and bad…

“She probably doesn’t,” Luka hedges. I look above me to see him frowning. He’s uncomfortable and embarrassed and who knows what else. I hate it for him. I hate everything about this.

“But she might,” Black adds, and at once, the mood changes in the room.

“I don’t want to take any chances,” Luka finally admits. He goes to the empty chair in the room since my family has commandeered the sectional sofa and floor. He pulls me onto his lap, and I don’t try to argue. I need to be close to him, but I get the feeling he needs me close to him even more.

“Maybe you better start at the beginning,” Green says.

“My father… he’s not reacting well to Lo’ and I getting back together,” Luka says, his voice strained.

“I bet,” Mom snorts.

“He said some things… things about Lo’ that I wasn’t about to let slide.”

“I don’t think I understand. What does it matter what he says? What happens between you and Petal doesn’t involve him. What could he possibly say to upset you so much?”

That statement comes from CC which, not being from here, leaves her clueless to Luka’s father and the way he is.

“Honey, that old rooster thinks the sun comes up every morning just because he crows,” Mom chastises. “What did he say to my daughter?” she asks, ignoring me and directing her question directly to Luka.

“Mom, it’s not important,” I start, not wanting Luka to repeat the things his father said—for many reasons.

“Bullshit it’s not important. I spent too many damned years watching that family try and destroy you. I’m not about to watch you go through that shit anymore.”

“Luka is taking care of things—”

“He didn’t exactly take care of things before, now did he?”

“He didn’t know, Mom.”

“He didn’t want to know. He sure as hell didn’t want to listen,” she growls, and I guess I was just fooling myself thinking Mom seemed to have softened about Luka.

“That’s it. Mom—”

“Lo’, let it go. In this, your mother is right,” Luka says quietly, and in that moment everyone freezes in position. The difference is that noticeable. Tension spikes up around us, and I want to cry at the look of sadness on Luka’s face. He’s taking all of this on his shoulders.

“No. She’s not! I should have talked to you back then. You didn’t know—”

“I was busy wallowing in being the one who had been lied to,” he whispers, cupping the side of my face. “Whether it was intentional or not, I held that over you, honey.”

“Wallowed like a pig in mud,” Mom mutters, but I tune her out.

“I let you down, and even when I lost you, I didn’t try to fix it—to fight. I told myself I did, but I didn’t really. Ida Sue reached out to me back then, and I shut her down. I shut everything down.”

“I… What? She did?” I ask, completely confused. I turn back to look at my mother. “You did?”

“You loved him, and I hadn’t exactly been supportive.” She sighs, and that’s when I see the sadness in my mother’s eyes. Sadness and pain. I slide off of Luka’s lap and walk over to her. I go down on my knees in front of her and hug her tightly.

“I’m so sorry that me loving Luka caused you pain, Momma. I never wanted that, and sadly, I began to understand. I just never knew how to talk to you. I wanted to… I just…”

Mom wraps her arms around me and holds me close. We don’t talk. I figure that will come later—when we’re alone. For now, this is enough.

For a moment, now that I know I have my mother’s support, I feel like everything will be okay.

What is it about having your mother hold you close that makes you feel like she can save you from the world? That one hug makes you believe that somehow everything will be better in the ray of the sunshine and new morning.

I feel that way for a moment, and then comes the knock on the door. My eyes dart to Luka, and I see the dread there. He gives me a half-smile as if to reassure me.

“I’ll get it,” he says, standing up.

“No! Luka!” I stand up to go to him, but before I can, he’s already opened the door.

His deputy Daniel is standing there. “Man, I’m sorry about this,” Daniel says. “I couldn’t hold them back any longer.”

“It’s okay,” Luka answers just as I get to him.

“No. It’s not okay! Luka didn’t do anything wrong!”

“What’s this about Daniel?” That comes from Black. It’s then that I notice my whole family have come to the door and are circling around us.

“It’s not my choice I’m here, Black,” Daniel says, looking to Luka for reassurance.

“Then tell them no! Luka didn’t do anything to Roger Parrish! He was defending me!” I cry.

“Why do I feel like I should have been told this shit sooner?” Mom growls.

“What the hell is going on?” Black yells, the anger in his voice making me nervous. Black hardly ever gets angry—but when he does…

“It’s okay. I’ve got this handled. I knew it was coming. Just make sure Lo’ and River are safe. Take them back to your place, Ida Sue. I’ll be there as soon as I get this taken care of,” Luka assures us, trying to make sure everyone remains calm.

“I’m going with you!” I insist this time. He’s crazy if he thinks I am about to let him go through this all alone.

“Lo’, I need you to take care of our son.”

I want to cry, because as if on cue, River comes running out of his room.

“Daddy! Daddy!”

Daniel turns Luka around and takes out his handcuffs, and that’s the part that almost kills me.

“Why are you doing that? You don’t need to do that! Damn it, Daniel! You know Luka!” I yell just as River pushes through to get to his father. He is crying out for his father as I pull him back against me.

“Everything will be fine,” Luka assures me. I know he hates that River is watching all of this.

“I’ll take care of them,” Mom promises.

“And I’ll take my car and be right behind you, Luka,” Black adds. “I want to make sure you don’t get railroaded.” That makes me feel better since it already feels like that’s exactly what’s happening.

“I don’t have a choice,” Daniel says softly, and I can see that he feels bad about all of this, but still…

“Seems to me you’ve made your choice, Daniel Patton. Your mother is probably rolling over in her grave,” Mom complains.

“I’m just doing my job,” Daniel defends as he starts to walk Luka away. I pull River over to Green and run out to Luka.

“I would have quit before I agreed to do something like this,” Black says to Daniel in response.

“If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else,” Daniel answers.

“Then it would have been someone else,” Black responds, crossing his arms and refusing to back down.

“I’m so sorry, Luka. I’m so sorry. I should have paid attention to your father’s threats. I should have—”

“You shouldn’t have to deal with any threats, Lo’. The only thing you did wrong was not telling me sooner. We’ll get through this. You don’t see it now, honey, but trust me when I tell you the hard part is over. You and I have this… together.”

“Together,” I agree, wishing I wasn’t crying in front of him. I go up on my tiptoes to kiss him right before Daniel pulls him away.

“Don’t bend over to get the soap!” Mom yells out helpfully.

“Really, Lovey?” Jansen complains.

“What? I watch those crime dramas,” Mom mutters. I close my eyes, pulling my son back to me. I’d yell at Mom, but what she says next assures me she’s got Luka’s back. “I think it’s time we make sure our town mayor gets a little payback. If there’s any justice, picking up the soap will be the least of his worries in the big house.”

“About time,” Jansen says, hugging her close. “You’ve been holding this in for too dang long.”

“You’re right,” Mom agrees, but I can see the fear in her eyes. I don’t want her to have to relive her past. She should have the right to keep that to herself.

There has to be another way…