Chapter Twelve – Max
I walked out to the mailbox after work one evening, noticing Lucinda doing the same. We smiled at each other as Riley babbled about something and pulled out the bills and ads while I flipped through the pile. I came across a large, thick envelope and smiled as I recognized Cameron’s return address. He was getting married. I started to walk to the house and asked Lucinda to come over for dinner. I glanced at her, seeing her holding a similar envelope. The only difference was that hers had a stamp on it, indicating that her address had changed. “You know Cameron?” I asked as she gave me a guilty look and pressed her lips together.
“I do. He’s my brother.” I stared at her as memories of then and now blurred together in my head. Lucinda took Riley’s hand and led her to the house as I watched her, my mind blown.
“That’s why you’re familiar,” I told her as she paused by my front door. “You’re Lucy!”
“I knew the first time I was at your house,” she told me as I opened the door and let her inside. “I just didn’t have the heart to tell you and I forgot about the wedding with everything going on.” She gave me a long look as Riley asked what was for dinner. “We’ll talk about this later.”
Lucinda made spaghetti and I mixed the salad as I played back our first kiss in my mind. I never forgot it and I hated my best friend for a while for interrupting it. It was the best kiss of my life, apart from the new ones from Lucy. Lucy, not Lucinda – her last name was different. Why the hell was her name different? Did she get married?
She looked at me as we ate, begging for me to be patient. I looked at her ring, sparkling in the light as I sipped a beer and tried to focus on my daughter. She was what mattered and this engagement was just to keep her. I’d leave it behind me now, knowing that Lucy lied to me about everything.
She gave Riley her bath as I did some work on my computer, still seething. I was half-tempted to call Cameron and ask him why the hell his sister changed her last name, but he would be busy with wedding preparations.
This was between me and Lucy.
I did think about how much she’d changed. Back when we were both in school, Lucy was a brunette with glasses. She was pretty in a librarian kind of way but kept more to herself. Now she was older. She had grown into herself and was a gorgeous, curvy woman. She had obviously lightened her hair and ditched the glasses. I assumed that she worked out. Even though she was curvy, she was fit and had the body of a woman. I remembered how hot I thought she was when I was going to be leaving school, but now she was stunning. Sadly, she didn’t see it in herself. I wondered if her ex had something to do with that.
Lucy came to stand in the office doorway once Riley was asleep. I glanced up at her. “Is she asleep?” I asked her as Lucy nodded.
“I’m sure you can go say goodnight, but she was tired tonight. I also assumed that it might be the last night I had the chance to tuck her in.” Lucy twirled her ring around her finger.
“Why didn’t you tell me? You had to know that I’d find out eventually,” I told her as I stared at her in confusion.
“I knew when I saw you, but I hoped that we wouldn’t see one another too much. That was my plan. I was going to try to get my new lab going at another place and never see you again. Then, I met Riley, you and I kissed, and you were asking me to marry you. I still kept telling myself that we would be over before we ever had to tell anybody about this.” She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Max.”
“I’ve never forgotten about that kiss, Lucy. Never.” I told her as she stared at me. “Had it not been for Cam, it might have gone further.”
“I never forgot about the kiss, either. You were the one that was supposed to be my first. You were supposed to be my everything, but you left. I just went on with my life and… things changed.” Her voice faded as pain crossed her face. I stood to stalk over to her.
“Why did you change your name?” I asked her, cupping her face as I stared at her. Looking at her now, she was the Lucy I knew. I held onto her as if she was going to disappear.
“My ex was stalking me. I had to get away from him and start over. I just changed my last name and used my full name. I don’t think you ever knew it before this.” She smiled weakly at me as I shook my head. “I should have told you from the start.”
“Lucy. I wondered what happened to you, but your brother didn’t seem to want to talk about it.”
“He was trying to protect me. Cam lost it when he found out about Braden. He was already in Montana, so I told him to stay there. Once I changed my name and left Long Island, I felt like I’d be safe. I dyed my hair and changed my style a little bit, too. It was refreshing.” She smiled at me. “Seeing you is refreshing. I trust you, Max. I like being with you.”
“I can keep you safe.” I told her, knowing that this was more than a fake marriage now. I never stopped thinking about Lucy and, now that she was here in my life, I had so many questions to ask her.
“You don’t want me to leave?” she asked as tears filled her eyes. “I got prepared for you to ask for your ring back and end this. You want me to stay?”
“I want to get to know you again. I still need a wife, and what better wife could I find than the girl that used to keep me laughing through the hard times? You were always so damn funny and sharp. Why did you hide from everyone else?” I asked her as I took her hand and led her to the couch to sit down.
“I was shy then. I was a nerd – just happy to live in my little world. I think I am more so like that now after Braden, but I feel better knowing that I have a new identity.” Lucy shrugged and looked at me. “My family members are the only people that know about that. That’s why Cam has been quiet about me. They were scared that something was going to happen to me after I left Braden. It was so scary when he was following me everywhere… I didn’t know if I was going to become a statistic. The odds are low in those kinds of relationships, but Cam helped me out here and the name change went through. I was already working at the lab and I increased security measures, but it still burned down. I was glad that it was owned by my parents and couldn’t be traced back to me under my old name. I just don’t know if it was an accident or arson. They’re taking their time looking into it.”
“What did Braden do for a living?” I asked her as she frowned at me.
“He was a police officer in Long Island,” she replied as understanding crossed her face.
“Do you think someone is holding it up on purpose?”
“Maybe. I hope that you can get your new lab without an issue.” I looked at her. “I guess you’ll keep this name when we get married?”
“I didn’t even think about that. Do you want me to have Riley’s last name?” I asked him as we moved closer together.
“If you want it. We get to announce this to our family in a few weeks, so it might help it look authentic.” I looked into her eyes as she laughed.
“Oh, God. Do we surprise them there or tell them now?” Lucy asked as she leaned into me.
“We can decide that later,” I assured her, still irritated by everything a little bit. I understood, though. She was keeping herself safe. Now that was my job, too.
I kissed her, knowing that it was Lucy. I knew her personality and her past and I got to know her future. We took it to the bedroom, kissing in just our underwear. I moved down her neck. I didn’t want to stop this time.
Lucy pulled away from me, breathing heavily as she rolled onto her back. I stared at her hard nipples and forced myself to calm down. She closed her eyes and smiled as I curled my arm under a pillow.
I wanted her more than ever now that I knew who she was, but I also wanted to respect her wishes. Cam’s wedding was coming up, and after that we were supposed to be married. I’d give her that.