What the Lightning Sees: Part Three
Read What the Lightning Sees: Part Three Online
Authors: Louise Bay
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica, #Romantic, #Romance, #Romantic Comedy, #What the Lightning Sees Part Three
Published by Louise Bay 2015
Copyright © 2015 Louise Bay. All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.
ISBN - 978-1-910747-09-4
“The thunder drowns out what the lightning sees.”
Prince
Jake
As I approached the luggage carousel, I switched on my cell. The flight from Palo Alto had landed late and I needed to tell Haven I’d been delayed. I’d started my trip thinking I needed space so I could work out what I was going to do about Millie’s pregnancy, but I’d changed my ticket to come back early. I’d missed Haven. I hated the thought of her sleeping alone. Her warm, soft, naked body, without me next to it, just wasn’t right. Now that I was back in the country, I couldn’t put off telling her about Millie. I’d justified not saying anything to her so far because it wasn’t the sort of news I wanted to deliver over the phone, especially when I didn’t have a clue how she was going to react. There was a real possibility Haven would use it as an opportunity to run, to push me away and do what she did best: protect herself. But I had to take the bull by the horns. What I really wanted to do was get naked with her, bury myself in her, come up for air a couple of hours later, eat Chinese food and make her laugh. All I wanted to do was make Haven happy and my news was sure to do anything but.
I still hadn’t decided how I felt about the situation. I was sure that Millie as a mother spelled disaster. But under my worry about Haven’s reaction, my concern over Millie’s inability to think about anyone but herself and the real possibility that the baby wasn’t mine, there were parts of me excited to be a father. I pushed my hands through my hair. There was too much to think about.
One step at a time.
When Beth and I were young, my mother was always concerned about my father getting hurt on the job. Being a cop anywhere, but particularly in Chicago, wasn’t the safest of occupations. She was always trying to convince him to get a position in an office.
But he loved it and didn’t see the danger; he’d focused on the opportunity to make our city better. My father always used to say that we had to deal with what was right in front of us and not worry about things that hadn’t happened yet—one step at a time. It had
almost
become a family motto. He’d never said it again after Mom was shot.
My cell buzzed in my hand.
“Hey. I just landed,” I said to my sister, Beth.
“I’ve had a call from Marissa.” Neither Beth nor I had a good relationship with my father’s second wife, so if she was calling, it wasn’t for a casual catch up.
“What’s going on?” The carousel started moving and I walked up to where the bags were coming out.
“Dad has had a heart-attack,” she said.
My feet stuck to the floor and I froze. “Fuck. When? Is he okay?”
“Apparently he’s stable and will be fine after a small operation—they’ve got to put a stent in, Marissa said. It happened yesterday. I’m going to fly out to Chicago.” She sounded too calm.
“Do you think that’s a good idea? Should I come with you? This has been a shitty week.” I could get a flight; I wouldn’t even have to leave the airport. Beth was stronger now but something like this could set her back, could trigger her drinking. And Dad? He was always such a force of nature. It didn’t seem possible that he was lying in a hospital bed.
“You’ve got enough to deal with here. I can let you know how things are and whether or not you should come. Besides, if we both go right away, it might be a bit overwhelming for him. From what Marissa said, he’s stable and as long as he has this operation, he should be fine.”
“Have you spoken to the doctor?” My stomach started to spin. I was standing among strangers. I needed information. I should be with Beth, with Dad, with Haven. “I don’t want you going back there on your own. It’s too—” What would this do to Beth?
“Listen, I’m a different person now. I’m two and a half years sober. Going back is long overdue. My exams are over. It feels like the right time. A lot has happened and there might be a chance to heal the rift between Dad and us. Let me go and test the waters. I mean, Marissa called. That’s got to be a good sign.”
When Dad married Marissa, it was as though we stopped being part of his family. It was as if he put a period after us and started a new chapter. Beth had found it harder than I had. She’d felt abandoned, adrift. Since she had joined me in London, we’d formed a unit, a family of two. Reaching out to our father could lead to reconciliation, but it could just as easily bring pain. It was my job to protect Beth from that. Or it had been. Now she was stronger, and perhaps she needed to prove to herself as well as me that she was independent.
The fuzzy gray lines between decisions were so draining, and now I was faced with more of them. I wanted the right thing to be written in neon and flashing over my head. There were too many
ifs
and
buts
—consequences and compromises whatever options I chose. I wanted to be in Chicago with my Dad and Beth. I wanted to be in London with Haven and Elemental Energy. I wanted Millie to take a DNA test without having to ask her and feel like an asshole. I wanted to reach out to Dad with the guarantee he would pull us into a bear hug and not let go until we screamed as he had when we were little. I wanted someone to tell me it was all going to be okay.
One step at a time.
“Jake?”
“Yeah, sorry. I’m trying to take it all in.”
I spotted my suitcase on the carousel and tucked my phone under my chin while I hauled it off the conveyor belt.
“So you think you should go to Chicago on your own?” As much as I might want to keep Beth safe, she was an adult and needed to make her own decisions. And she was right. She was a different person. She’d handled Romano coming back onto the scene, however briefly, well. She’d graduate this summer.
“I do.” She sounded resolute and it was comforting. At least one of us knew what the right thing to do was.
“You’ll find a meeting in Chicago?” I asked.
“Of course I will. Believe it or not, my sobriety is more important to me than it is to you. Stop fussing.”
“I could fly out with you—”
“I’m going to book my ticket for later today, and you have things to do here. You need to talk to Haven.”
I filled my lungs and headed toward the exit. “I hope . . .”
“She’ll understand. It’s not the kind of conversation you can have over the phone.”
“It was just shitty timing with me being in California this week, and now this thing with Dad. Can I speak to him?”
“Apparently he can’t have calls. You concentrate on Haven. I’ll call you from the airport and when I see him. Then, if I think you need to, you can fly over. Let me see how things are.”
She was making a lot of sense. I was so proud of her. A couple of years ago she would have been a mess if this had happened. Now she was all over it—practical, thoughtful and caring. All the things that she had always been, but had hidden for so long under the alcohol.
“If you’re sure . . .”
“I am. Say hi to Haven for me. Speak later. I love you.”
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” I said as Haven opened the door to her apartment. Her hair tumbled across her shoulders. She looked at me totally unguarded, as if I might be about to make all her dreams come true. I loved this Haven. The one she hid away and only showed to a chosen few. I was glad she hadn’t disappeared while I was gone. I had been concerned that going away so soon after we were together, would make her withdraw from me.
“Hey,” she said, through a wide grin. “I’ve been waiting for you. Come in. Do you want a shower?”
My dick stirred at the mention of a shower with Haven in front of me, looking so Goddamn beautiful. “I’d love to, but I’ll just want to lose myself in you, and we should talk.”
“Oh,” she replied. “Do you want a coffee?”
“Let’s go out, grab some lunch.” Talking would be easier if I wasn’t kissing her, and not kissing her would be easier if we were in public.
“That sounds ominous for someone so focused on the physical.”
She was right. Talking was the last thing I wanted to do. “I want to share some stuff with you.”
“Let me get my bag.”
Reluctantly, I let her go. “Is there anywhere good near here?” I asked.
“For lunch? Sure. Are you sick?” she asked as she pulled the door closed behind us. “You look tired.”
