Healed (16 page)

“Luke.” I squeal
ed as I pulled away from him and he laughed.

“Yes
, Lexi?” His eyes crinkled and I studied his jawline. It’s so strong and sturdy, just like him. I knew I would never get tired of staring into his eyes and seeing the love reflected there. There would never be too many soft but intimate touches between us, melding us together. Sometimes when we hugged I didn’t know where my body ended and his began. It felt like we were one. One big cosmos in the universe, joined together for life.

“You’re going to Boston you know.”
I spoke softly but firmly, changing the subject.

“No Lexi.”
He shook his head. “I’m not.”

“You have to go to MIT. That’s your dream. You’ve worked so hard for it.”

“That’s not my dream, Lexi. You are.” He pulled me towards him and kissed my nose. “You’ve always been my dream.” I felt his hand creep up my shirt and, as much as I wanted to make love to him and forget all the worries and concerns that were crowding my brain, I couldn’t.

“Luke, I want to know why you went to see a lawyer today.”
I shot out, unable to keep it inside anymore. “I want to know why you never told me you were adopted. I want to know why you bought this house. I want to know how you can lie to me and love me at the same time.” I pushed him away from me and felt bereft as his hand left my breast.

“Lexi.”
He frowned and shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say. How, how did you find out?”

“Bryce and I went to the attorney
, David what’s-his-face. I saw you earlier. I wanted to know. He wanted to know.” My words jumbled together, confusing and choppy.

“You were with Bryce?”
He frowned. “You didn’t tell me.”

“Yes, I ... we ...
we needed to talk. I wanted to make sure he was going to be okay. I owed it to him.” I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.“And I know about Shelby.”

Luke’s face showed me that he knew
what a big deal it was to keep Shelby a secret from me. “I didn’t want to keep her a secret from you, Lexi. But you never told me about your mom and the Mayor. I didn’t want to take that from you.”

“I was embarrassed.” I felt my face flush. “I didn’t want you to judge me or my mom. I just wanted to keep it a secret. I don’t even know why now.”

“You didn’t want it to define who you were,” he said, softly. “You didn’t want her affair to make a difference to your persona and your life.”

“Yeah.” I look
ed up at him with unshed tears. “I didn’t want to add on another thing to the ‘that poor girl’ list. I just wanted for us to be us, without that. We’ve always just been us. I wanted to keep it normal between us. Equal, you know.”

“I understand
, Lexi.” He sighed. “Sometimes there are things that you just want to keep away from your real main life. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want to think about it or even acknowledge it. But you know it never left my mind. I just dealt with it internally. Or at least I tried to.”

“You tried to displace it from your mind because you knew there was nothing positive to it. You knew that your parents loved you with every fiber of your being and that was all you needed. Sometimes hidden secrets and heartaches just need to stay hidden.”

“Yeah.” I looked at him suddenly. “Wait
, what did you say?” I frowned. “Are you talking about me or you, Luke?”

He sighed and sat on the grass and I joined
him, glad I hadn’t worn a pair of white trousers. “So, I only found out a few years ago.” He played with Bongo’s ears as he spoke. “I was volunteering at the orphanage. I had created some new software to streamline all the files to make it easier for everyone. That’s where I first saw Shelby’s file.”

“Oh, so that’s how you knew.” I nodded my head in understanding.

“And then I saw my file.” He looked at me with wide eyes. “And I felt a yearning I never knew I felt. You know? My parents, they’re the best. But I guess I had always, somewhere deep inside, wondered what had happened to my birth parents. Why they had given me up.”

“Oh
Luke.” I felt my heart go out for him.

“And so I looked in my file. My mom died, giving birth to me. She had been young, barely out of high school. She was beautiful.” He smiled. “I saw
her photo in an old Jonesville High yearbook.”

“You’ll have to show me.”
I brought his hand up to my lips and kissed it. “I’d like to see what your birth mom looked like.”

“But then I turned the page and I saw who my mom had listed as my dad. I felt like the
world was crashing around me. I wanted to scream and shout. I was so angry!” he shouted.

“You know who he is?” I looked at him in surprise.

He nodded and closed his eyes. “When I realized who my birth father was, I thought I was going to breakdown.”

“Who is it?” I stare
d at Luke with bated breath.

“Lexi, Bryce is my brother. My half brother.”

“What?” I frowned. “Wait, your dad is the mayor?”

He nodded and I fe
lt like I was frozen in a dream. How many people had this guy fucked up? “And it all made sense to me. He has many illegitimate kids that he has made women give up, Lexi. I saw the files. You wouldn’t believe how many women listed him as the father of their child.”

“OMG
.” I stared at him in shock and as I looked at him I could somewhat see a slight resemblance. I’m not sure if I’m imagining it but if I forgot the cosmetic differences, like hair and eye color, Luke and Bryce had quite the physical resemblance.

“So then I realized that Shelby was also my half-sister and I started to spend more time with her. And that’s how Mrs. Evans
and I became close.”

“She knew as well?”

“I think she suspected,” he sighed. “She knew her husband was a dog. She was going to divorce him and adopt Shelby. But she always made small comments to me about having such a wonderful family and things happening for a reason.”

“Wow,
” I gasped.

“And I realized that the best thing that happened to me was being adopted by my parents. I had always had this hole, wondering why my
birth parents didn’t love me enough to keep me. But the best thing that happened to me was not having the mayor as a father.”

“Yeah. Some people shouldn’t be parents.”
I sat back and thought about the words the psychic had told me about my dad. “You know, I think I’m lucky that my dad wasn’t in my life as well. He was a meth addict. I don’t know if I would have wanted to deal with that.” My voice trailed off.

“It makes you wonder doesn’t it?”

“What?” I looked at him, curiously.

“It makes you wonder if all the things we complain or worry about are actually blessings in disguise. Maybe we should just be happy with the lot we have and appreciate it.”

“You could be right,” I laughed. “I had you next door to me all these years, yet my heart always yearned for someone else. Someone who is great but not the one for me.”

“Oh?”
He grinned at me. “Who is the one for you?”

“
I think I’ll keep that a secret,” I laughed.

“You little terror.”
He started to tickle me and I could barely breathe.

“Okay, okay, it’s you
, Luke. It’s you. It’s always been you.” I giggled. “I love you, Luke Bryan. I will always love you.” He cuts off my words with his lips and, as we rolled around on the grass, I wondered at the fact that it had taken me so long to realize that he was the man of my dreams. “So are you going to tell me why you bought this house?”

“I knew that you felt like you had to stay here to support your mom. I knew that as long as you thought your mom needed you to help with the rent you would stay. I wanted you to be able to live your live Lexi. I wanted you to go and leave out your dreams. I wanted you to feel like you could do whatever you wanted to without feeling like you had to stay because of money.”

“I don’t know what to say Luke. I don’t think anyone has ever loved me or cared about me as much as you do.” I felt fresh tears glisten in my eyes.

“I want the world for you Lexi.” He kissed me again and stared into the very depths of my soul. I felt my heart singing out in joy that I had been so lucky to have found the best man in the world.

“So are you going to tell Bryce?” I questioned him as we stopped kissing.

“I guess I have to tell Bryce and Shel
by.” He smiled and then I groaned as it hit me.

“OMG
, you know what this means, don’t you?”

“No
, what?”

“We’re kinda brother and sister.”

“Oh, Lexi.” He grinned. “We are nothing like brother and sister.” And then his hand crept up to my breast again. “And in a few minutes I’m going to show you why.”

“Luke! I jump
ed up, squealing. Not outside.” I ran away from him, laughing and I heard Luke and Bongo chasing after me.

“I’m coming for you
, Lexi.” Luke grunted as he chased me. “I’m going to have my wicked way with you, Lexi.”

“I’m waiting.” I stop
ped and winked as he caught up with me.

“Good.”
Luke laughed as he grabbed a hold of me. “I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear those words.”

“Yeah?” I smile
d and he pushed me up against the wall.

“Well, since I was thirteen
at least.”

“Just thirteen
?”

“Well
, when you know you know.” He stared into my eyes as he spoke and I felt his breath against my lips as he talked. He turned me on and it took everything in me to keep my hands off of him.

“I’m glad you waited for me to get my act together.” I whisper
ed and I felt his lips against mine as I talked.

“I wasn’t going any
where.” His hands clasped mine and he blew on my mouth softly.

“I don’t think I
would have let you go anywhere,” I laughed lightly. “But don’t you ever die or make me think you’ve died, do you hear me?”

“I—
”

“
—I can not have another near breakdown like that.” I stared into his eyes, willing him to see my open heart and soul. “I couldn’t bare it.”

“I won’t.”
Our noses touched and I held my breath. Every nerve ending in me was tingling in anticipation.

“Good.” I smile
d and pushed my tongue out to lick his lips.

“I wrote a song for you.”
He looked at me, nervously and sheepishly, and he pulled away from me slightly. I moaned at the loss of his lips. “I remember once you told me how much you wanted someone to write a song for you.”

“You wrote a song for me?” I look
ed at him, teasingly.

“Yes.” His face fl
ushed red and I stroked his chin.

“Sing it for me. Please.”
I ran my hands over his jaw and he groaned.

“If
you keep touching me like that, Lexi, I won’t be able to do anything.”

“Sorry.” I grin
ned. “Sing me my song please.”

He cleared his throat and began
:

Best friends

That’s what we are

Best friends

That’s what we’ll always be.

There is no me without you.

There is no me without you.

I’ll wait a hundred years for your heart

You have to know mine won’t start

Without you.

Cos, there is no me without you.

There is no me without you.

I’ve walked a thousand years for your smile

I’ve loved you since you were a child.

Always and forever.

There is no me without you.

There is no me without you.

Did you know that sometimes I can close my eyes

And feel your soul in mine

I’ll never let you go.

There is no me without you.

There is no me without you.

Lexi, sometimes in life

There are things worth dying for,

People worth fighting for,

A love worth trying for,

And I will
never walk out that door, without you.

Cos, there is no me without you.

There will never be a me without you.

I can’t live without you.

I can’t see without you.

I can’t hear without you.

I just can’t be without you.