Looking Out for Lexy (26 page)

             
“They drank themselves into an early grave.  I was still a kid when they were killed in an alcohol-related accident.  They never gave me a chance to love them.”  He watched her gravely.

             
“Can you understand now how I feel about love, Lexy.  It isn’t that I don’t want to love, I don’t know if I would know how.  I have no memories of being loved by my parents. It’s tough to feel something you have never really experienced.”              

             
Lexy tightened her arm his neck, running the fingers of her free hand up and down his chest.  “Do you remember the night on the beach after the spring fling?  I loved you so, Jack.  I had never met anyone like you.  It was so exciting to be with you.  You were so different from anyone I’d ever known.”

             
“I remember, Lexy angel.  You were so innocent, yet so sexy.  I wanted you so badly.  You were the pieces that were missing in my life.  I wanted to fit in somewhere.  You always made me feel like I did.  I thought that might be love.   Until...well, you know.”  Silence ensued as they both remembered.

              He rolled on his back, gazing intently at the star-studded sky.  “Why didn’t you ever try to see me again?  You knew how I felt about you, Lexy.”

             
She raised herself up on one elbow, her other arm lying across her stomach.  “I did try to see you again, Jack.  I wrote you a five page letter.  My friend, Jenny, told me she gave it to you.  When you didn’t acknowledge it, I figured that either you didn’t want to see me anymore or Tom was making sure we didn’t see each other, outside of school.”

             
Jack's eyes collided with hers.  “I never got the letter, Lexy.  I thought you still cared, but I figured you had made your choice, and it wasn’t me.  Besides, what chance did we really have?  You couldn’t even tell your parents about me.  I can see it all now.  Their pride and joy riding up to the house on a Harley with her arms around the rebel with the black leather jacket and tight jeans.”  He laughed a short, bitter laugh.  “The cheerleader and the hood.  It would have gone over like a lead balloon.”

             
“I wouldn’t have cared about that, Jack.  I...I loved you.  That was all that mattered.  When you didn’t try to contact me, I figured....well, you had gotten what you wanted.  I was humiliated.”

             
He rolled up and cupped her face gently.  “I did call you.  Your mother told me you were marrying Tom, and not to call again.  I cared a great deal for you, Lexy.  Don’t ever think I was just out to see what I could get.  You were the only person who made me feel good about myself, except my aunt.  I didn’t think you wanted me, which is why I left town the day of graduation.  It wouldn’t have worked out for us then, Lexy.  You know it as well as I do.”

             
“My mother never told me you called.  All these years, Jack, and I thought you didn’t care.  Until I saw you again at the party in New York.  I could see then, that you still had some feelings for me.”

             
Jack snorted.  “Feelings?  I wanted to take you in my arms and kiss you silly.  It took all my effort not to.  It killed me to see you walk out of my life again.  When I got your letter, I didn’t know what to do.  All the old feelings came back, and I didn’t know if I could handle seeing you.  That’s why it took me so long to answer.”

             
A deep sight escaped Lexy's lips.  “You are right, you know.  Things would not have worked out for us back then.  The odds were against us.  Maybe Jenny did us both a favor.”  She gazed at him, her eyes the color of indigo.  “I was miserable the rest of the year in school after that night.  Every time I’d see you in the hall, my stomach would do flip flops.  Especially if you were talking to another girl.  There were a lot of girls who liked you, you know, Jack.”               

             
He knew.  He’d dated a few before he'd started seeing Lexy.  But he wasn’t about to let Lexy know.

             
“Make love to me, Jack.  Now.”  She brought him close, her mouth searching out his.

 
              He made love to her then, under those very stars that they had shared so long ago, in another place, in another time.

             
They spent the next day exploring his ranch on foot.  Lexy told him all about her children, while he told her more about his childhood.  Lexy had held him when he had to choke back tears as he talked about his parents.  Her own father had died of alcoholism.  Hand in hand they spoke of the love and pain they had each experienced in their young lives.  It felt good to both of them to be rid of some of their emotional baggage. 

             
Lexy did not bring up Tom again and Jack didn’t ask.  He figured when she was ready, she would tell him.  The guy must have been a total idiot to let her go. 

             
As the sun began to go down, they returned to the ranch house to get ready for the party that neither of them really wanted to attend. 

              Lexy came down the stairs from the second story room where she had changed.  Jack was walking out of the dining room buttoning the sleeves on his dress shirt.  She could see that he was not particularly comfortable in a tuxedo.  He looked up as she was coming down the stairs and stopped in the middle of buttoning his sleeve.  His eyes widened as he drank in her loveliness.  Her hair was loosely piled on her head, wisps of hair curling down the sides and back.  He was admiring her ample rounded breasts with a hint of cleavage showing.  She was wearing the blue silk dress he had given her.

             
“My God Lexy, you’ll be the envy of every woman there.  I will have to protect you, not the other way around.  I can safely say at this moment, you will not be out of my sight all night.” 

             
Lexy smiled as she came to the bottom of the stairs.

             
“Let me help you with those.”  She found her hands were trembling as she buttoned his sleeves.  He could barely take his eyes off of her as he helped her with her coat.  He held out his arm as they stepped out the door.

Twenty-Six

             
Jack watched from a distance as Lexy Latton walked up to receive her diploma.  Cherry red hair flowed from beneath her cap.  The dark-haired boy shook his head at her proud, sturdy profile.  A thing of beauty beyond his reach.  He had chosen not to walk through the line with the rest of the class. 

             
The beating he had gotten from Tom Kane’s boys that last night on the shores of Lake Michigan had been severe enough to keep Jack out of school for a couple of days, but he’d gone back, proud, head held high.  Lexy had steered clear of him, bending her head so her flowing locks covered her face.  He had no doubt that if he tried to go near her in school, that “the boys” wouldn’t be far behind him.  Kane hadn’t been so stupid after all.  Although Lexy had been careful, and Tom had seemed to believe her excuse to leave the prom that night, apparently he suspected their clandestine plans to meet.

             
He sighed as she returned to her seat.  He would attempt to call her one more time before he left.  Jack had decided to put off school for a year and go to Nashville to try and peddle his songs.  If he got lucky, he might hook up with the right people who could help him.  All it would take for him to change his mind would be one word from Lexy.  They hadn’t spoken a word for over a month.  Her mom picked her up every day after school and she never answered the phone.  It was always Brenda or Bill Latton and Jack would hang up, knowing it was fruitless to ask either one of them to speak to their daughter.  Turning around, the boy hopped on his cycle and drove off, knowing this last attempt to call would be the most important one in his young life.

             
Lexy knew he was there.  Seeing him in the distance made her heart race.  The girl knew he still loved her.  Lexy was so in love with Jack and she had to let him know.  Besides, she hadn’t been feeling well lately and her monthly cycle had come and gone without showing up.  She was both nervous and excited at the same time.  If she were pregnant, the baby was Jack’s.  Even though Tom had tried to rape her the night he had caught Jack and Lexy together, the big football player had been so drunk, he’d fallen asleep before he could finish the job.  Lexy had slipped out of the car and ran home.                Sobbing, she had related the whole incident to her parents.  Brenda’s daughter had been stunned when her mom and dad had taken Tom’s side, saying that Jack was just using her and that Tom was just being protective of her.  After that night, both her parents and Tom made sure that Jack never got anywhere near her.  Lexy knew that Jack had tried to call by the way her mom or dad looked when the phone rang and one of them answered.  The person on the other end always hung up and the one who answered had a disgusted look on their face.

             
She had taken her seat after receiving her diploma.  Glancing back in his direction, Lexy saw Jack get on his bike and leave. Her heart was breaking.  Word was that the Wyatt boy was leaving soon.  She had to get to him before he left.  Lexy knew that if Jack was aware of her feelings and that they might soon be parents, he would never leave her.  They would work something out, even if it meant running away together.  She held on to the thought that he would try and contact her before he left. 
I’ll make sure we see each other before he leaves
.
  The young red-haired woman turned her attention back to the rest of the ceremony.  Miss Lexy Latton would soon learn how wrong she was.

Twenty-Seven

             
Lexy clutched his arm tightly as they walked up the steps of the stately mansion.  He patted her hand and leaned over to whisper in her

ear.  “Don’t worry, angel.  I’m right here.  You’ll knock
em' dead.  Stick with me kid and you’ll be fine.  Did I mention that Chris will be here?” 

             
She glanced up at him with a look of distaste on her face.  Lexy didn’t like Chris Brandt, but he was Jack's friend, so she would be nice to him.  “Oh.  Did I forget to mention Thea will be here?  I know you two haven’t seen each other for a while, so I asked her to come.”

             
Lexy threw her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss.  “Jack, thank you.  You must have known how nervous I’d be.  You are so good to me.  I love you!”

             
The doors opened and they stepped in.  Lexy felt like Cinderella, only she already had Prince Charming by her side.  Everyone had turned to stare.  There had been rumors that Jack Wyatt was seeing someone outside the  music industry.  It certainly looked as if it was true.  Lexy spotted Thea immediately. 

             
“Thea.  Thea!”  She moved over to her quickly.

             
“Lexy!  I couldn’t believe it when Jack called and said you were here.  I think you have a lot to tell me, don’t you?”  She took her by the arm and led her over to a sofa where they could sit and talk.  A waiter came by and offered them a drink.

             
“Well, out with it.  To say that I’m shocked would be putting it mildly.”  Thea glanced at Jack, who was speaking to his manager, and was also keeping an eye on the two of them. 

             
“I wrote to him after you told me he had been asking about me.  He called and asked if he could see me.  I went to New York and we have been seeing each other, off and on since then.”  She turned to face Thea.  “I told you he wasn’t really like that.  Like you said, a jerk.  Maybe he was at one time, but not now.  He’s good to me.”

             
“I’d heard that he was seeing someone on a more regular basis, but I never thought it was you, honey.”  Thea hugged her then.  “I hope this time it works out for you, Lexy.  You deserve to be happy.  And, if I find out he isn't being good to you, he'll have to answer to me.  How are the kids.?”

             
“They’ve been fine.  They are in Vail with Edie for the week.  You know how they love going out there.”

             
“Oh, oh.  Here comes the she-devil with Jack.  He doesn’t look too happy.  Just be yourself, honey.  Maybe she will go away.”  Thea whispered in her ear as she pulled Lexy up.  Jack and an older, over-dressed woman dripping with gaudy jewelry, approached them.

             
The barracuda moved in immediately.  “Jack darling.  Who is this lovely creature?  For shame.  You have been holding out on me.  Aren’t you going to introduce us?” 

             
Jack looked pained but resigned himself to his fate.