The Risk: Scott's Story (Runaway Love Series Book 2) (13 page)

Drew walks around the truck and gets in while Maxine gets in the backseat.

“I don’t know why I have to be in the backseat,” Maxine grumbles. I just smile at her childishness. I need normality right now.

I start pulling out from the curb when I see Grace standing at the doorway watching me leave. I can tell her fingers are still caressing the necklace. I turn my head and continue driving off without acknowledging her. Of course, this shit doesn’t go unnoticed by Maxine.

“Doesn’t Grace look pretty standing at the door?”

I don’t respond and drive to the first place I met Grace - Ms. Allen’s. Don’t ask me why I chose to come here, but I just needed to stop by.

“Where are we at Scott?” Maxine inquires disdainfully.

“This is the group home I lived at before your dad took me to England.”

“You lived in this dump? Weren’t you scared?”

“Yes, I lived here. The outside looks pretty bad, but what was inside this house saved me from the violent, rebellious path I was going down. That’s what truly matters. I honestly don’t know what would’ve happened to me if I hadn’t come here.”

I’d planned to get out and walk around, but I couldn’t bring myself to get any closer to my past with Grace. Instead, I made the hardest drive of my life to my real home. Drew doesn’t say anything the whole ride there, but he understands my heart is hurting. The cowardly and selfish part of me wants to turn around and go back to the wedding and claim Grace for myself, but I can’t. I have to be the bigger person. And I need to stop avoiding my childhood and just face it head on.

I pull up to my old house and step out of the truck. I walk around and cross my arms and lean against my vehicle while I look at the place that gave me a few happy moments and many sad ones. Drew gets out and stands next to me. Maxine’s too afraid to leave the safety of the truck.

“This is your home, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is. My mom was amazing when she was sober. Did I ever tell you she used to be a singer?”

“Nah, I didn’t know that because you never talk about her. I bet she was a great singer.”

“Yeah she was, she recorded an album with my dad once, but I never bought a copy. When my dad left and went back to his family, I guess that when my mom starting going downhill. Her sadness consumed her until it had total control over her.”

“Yeah, I know how that feels. When my dad was cheating on my mom and she found out, she was very depressed. She would blame me for everything that went wrong in their marriage.”

“Yeah, my mom just thought he would’ve stayed with her.”

Without even realizing what I’m doing, I walk toward the house and knock on the door. What’s the worst that can happen? I turn around and look at Drew and notice he’s pointing to something behind me. When I turn around, there’s a seemingly pleasant older lady with salt and pepper hair standing at the door.

“Hi, my name is Scott Fordham. I used to live here a long time ago with my mom and for some reason, I felt like I needed to knock on the door and see if anyone was home. I’m sorry if I’m bothering you.”

“Oh, how sweet young man! Did you say your last name is Fordham?”

I am shocked when she says my last name like she knows it. “Yes, ma’am, it is. Did you know my mom?”

“No, sweetie, I never met your family, but I do have some mail I’ve been holding on to for years in case someone ever came back. Somehow I just knew I needed to save it. Come inside and have a seat. Do you want to invite your friend in?”

I turn around and wave for Drew to come in, but he shakes his head. I guess I’m doing this alone. I walk into the house behind the old lady. I feel a difference in my former home, but when I look around, I can feel my mom’s spirit around here. It’s oddly comforting, yet suffocating, at the same time. I don’t know how long I can stay inside this house. I sit down on the yellow couch and wait for the elderly lady to come back.

She comes back into the living room with a shoe box. “These are addressed to Elizabeth Preston. Is that someone you know? And there’s one in here for Scott Fordham.”

My heart aches more as it just drops to my stomach when she mentions my mother’s name.

“Yes, ma’am. Elizabeth Preston is my mother and I’m obviously Scott. My parents never married.” I don’t know why I feel the need to add the last part, but I can’t really control the thoughts swirling through my mind right now. She hands me the box, and I sit it on the table so I can take a peek inside.

I take the top off and look at several envelopes that are from my dad. I see another letter from him addressed to me. I want to open it, but I’ll wait until I have a full bottle of whiskey in front of me.

I go to pack everything back into the box when I see a picture of my mom, a man I assume is my dad, and myself at the bottom. I look at it and I think I’m going to cry, but I hold my tears back. I quickly stuff everything back into the box. I stand and hug the old woman.

“Thank you so very much for holding on to these. You’ve given me a precious key to my past. You’ll never know how much this means to me.”

“It was my pleasure, young man. My name is Charlotte, by the way. Please feel free to come back and visit me any time. I get quite lonely here by myself.”

“Well, thank you, Ms. Charlotte. If I’m ever in this area again, I’ll definitely stop by. I’m going to have to leave now, though. I don’t want to have my friends waiting on me forever.”

“That’s completely understandable.”

She walks me to the door and I turn around and hug her again. “Thank you so much”

She smiles and I turn and walk down the steps back to the truck. I see Drew’s already back in the truck on his phone, and Maxine’s looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. I walk around and get in the truck and honk the horn when I pull away.

We don’t talk at all on our way back to the bed and breakfast. I just want to go home and lock myself in my office and read through all this mail.

Drew breaks the silence. “How about we call up the pilot and leave today? The longer we stay, the more you could be tempted and might not want to leave.” I laugh because he’s so right.

“Maxine, go ahead and make the call, please.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

We go back to our rooms, and luckily for me, I didn’t unpack anything. I put my toothbrush away in my shower bag and put in my suitcase. Maxine has to take a shower, so I sit on the bed to wait for her. Her phone begins ringing on the nightstand. I look over and it says Gigi. No. It can’t be the same Gigi, aka Gloria, who I fucked. I look at my phone and see that it’s the same number.

Gloria leaves a voicemail, so I pick up Maxine’s phone and play the message. “Hey, Max! Girl, this is a complete bust with Scott. I don’t think he’ll have sex with me again. I noticed that you’re back at his apartment so you won’t be needing my services anymore anyway. He was a great lay, I can tell you that much. Although, you already know that. You’re one lucky girl! Have fun in the States. See you when you get back. Oh, I’m moving out of the apartment soon, so don’t wait too long to see me.”

What crazy, fucking scheme did Maxine hatch with Gloria? What am I missing in this little game? Why - ?

I place Maxine’s phone back down right when the bathroom door opens. I’m not going to say anything at all. If she wants to play, I can play also. I grab my suitcase and tell her I’ll meet her at the truck.

I don’t talk to Maxine the whole flight back to London. I look at Drew for conversation, but he’s been staring out the window the whole flight. I wonder what’s gotten into him.

We land and I tell Maxine I need time to myself for a while, so I ask Drew for a ride back to my house. I don’t want to stay at the flat. As we’re walking to the drop off and pick up area, Drew stops me before we walk outside.

“What’s up, Drew?”

I watch him run his fingers through his hair.

“Well… Danielle and my daughter are picking me up. We’ll give you a lift, but please don’t mention anything about what we talked about.”

I pat him on the back. “Man, come on. I’m not going to say anything! We’re bros.”

He laughs. “I know. Thanks. Just so you know, I did tell her we were in New York for a wedding.” He walks away with a smile on his face.

I laugh and jog to catch up with him. When we step outside, I see Aubrey hanging out the backseat window of an Audi R8. I watch as she screams, “Daddy!” and Drew runs over to get her out of the car so he can give her a huge hug. I watch the interaction between them, and I wish I could feel the same feeling he is right now. I shake the image out my head as I watch Danielle come out the driver side and open the trunk.

“Hey, Danielle. I have the luggage. You didn’t have to get out of the car.”

“Oh no, it’s fine. How are you doing?”

Danielle looks at me, like she’s heard some of the details about my trip to New York.

“Let’s just say I learned a lot from this trip.”

She smiles and looks at Drew and Aubrey.

“Do you think he’ll ever get it together?”

“I think it takes time, but I’ve seen some changes in him since he told me about you two.”

It gets quiet so I just start loading our things in the trunk to break the tension.

“Thank you for taking me to my house.”

“You’re welcome, Scott. I hope you get what you’re looking for.”

That’s all Danielle says before she walks back to the driver side. What did Andrew tell her about me? I know I vent to him, but man, she probably knows all my issues. Well, let’s hope not all my issues! I get in the backseat with Aubrey. I turn to look at her and she has hazel eyes, which could pass for green eyes on a good day, long curly hair, with her mother’s brown complexion. I notice she has Andrew’s eyes because they glisten when she smiles.

“Hey, Uncle Scott, Daddy talks about you all the time. He told me you and him play football together.”

“Yes, we sure do play football together. He’s a really good player, but between me and you, I’m better.”

She starts to laugh. I know she’s a sweetheart. Then she asks me the one question I wasn’t prepared to answer.

“Uncle Scott, do you have any kids? I want someone to play with.”

“No, Aubrey, I don’t have any kids. But if I did, I know you two would be the best of friends.”

“Like you and Daddy?”

“Yep, just like me and your dad.”

“Oh, okay.” I watch how Drew and Danielle look at each other. Yeah, he has told her about all my issues. I can’t even get upset with him because I completely understand. I’m a lot to handle, and he probably needed advice on how to help me.

I’m relieved when we finally pull up to my house. That seemed like the longest car ride ever.

“Okay, Miss Aubrey. It was very nice sitting next to you. Next time I see you, we can go out for ice cream. My treat. Danielle, thank you again for the lift.”

“Any time, Scott. Just so you know, Aubrey is lactose intolerant, so no dairy for my little one.”

I smile. “Okay, lactose free ice cream it is.”

I get out of the car and discover Drew has already grabbed my things out of the trunk. We walk down the walkway to the front door. I pause to appreciate my gardener’s excellent job of keeping up the trail of flowers I had planted to honor my mom. My mom always loved gardens and flowers, so of course I had to have a garden trail up to my front door. I open the door and walk inside toward the kitchen. I notice I have some mail and a note that’s probably from Maria. I turn and look at Drew.

“Thanks, man. You tell me to keep my mouth shut, but you’ve been telling Danielle a lot of things about me.”

“Oh yeah, about that, sorry. When Danielle and I are in a good place, I can openly talk to her and usually talk about you. Don’t worry - she completely understands everything and doesn’t judge you at all. I’m going to go. Call me if you need me.”

“Thanks. Be safe. I’ll call you later.”

I follow Drew to the door and lock it behind him. I turn the TV on before I pick up my bag and walk toward my office. I take a seat in my leather seat behind my desk and open my bag to pull out the shoebox.

I line all the letters addressed to my mother in one section and the single letter that’s for me on the other side. Instead of reading mine first, I open up my mother’s mail.

The first one I open is a check enclosed for five thousand dollars. I open the next one and it’s another check for five thousand dollars. So forth and so on, each envelope has a check for five thousand dollars from my father. I’d always been curious as to where my mother was getting money from when she was hardly working. The last one was a letter:

My Dear Elizabeth,

I know you don’t want to speak with me right now. I’ve been checking my bank account, and I don’t see you cashing any of the checks. I told you I’d help support you and Scott. I can’t leave my wife, but I don’t want to totally abandon you and my son. I’m so sorry and I apologize to you from the bottom of my heart. I know I hurt you, but you can’t let that pain control your life. You need to move on – if not for your sake, then for Scott’s. He deserves better.

You should’ve kept going with your singing career. Just because you have a child, it doesn’t mean you just give up on everything. You still have time to pursue your passion. Let Scott see the real you – the you that comes alive when she’s singing on stage. If you need help getting back into the industry, I’ll help you. No strings attached.