Page 102 of When the Time Is Right
She smiled weakly and took a step outside, quietly closing the door behind her. “Do you remember when I told you I was pregnant?”
I narrowed my eyes. Where the hell was she going with this?
“Can we go back a step?” I asked. “What do you mean you told Mark you aren’t moving with him?”
She ignored me. “I’ll never forget when those two little lines turned pink. I was still in college, had drunken sex with my friend, and created a life. That was not at all how I wanted to start a family. But year after year, that’s exactly what you gave me—a true family.” She paused as tears filled her eyes. “We were never in a relationship so to speak, but you have been the best partner I ever could have imagined, and I don’t think I’ve ever properly thanked you for that.” Tears spilled from her blue eyes.
I gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You don’t have to thank me. He’s my son too. It’s my job to be here.”
“For him, sure,” she croaked. “But he wasn’t even alive when you beat the shit out of Doug Goodman when he called me a prude in tenth grade. And he wasn’t with me when you drove three hours in the pouring rain to pick me up when my car broke down a few years back. And he wasn’t there when you lost your mind on my home inspector for not checking my roof before we closed on the house, nor was he there when you had a crew show up the same day to fix it. If I’ve ever needed something, Hudson, you have always been there for me. But, recently, I haven’t been there for you and I’m so sorry for that.”
Utterly stunned, I stared at her. Hope flooded my veins as though I’d been hit by a tidal wave, but I refused to get excited before I had all the facts. “What are you saying? I need you to spell it out for me real clear, Lauren.”
“I’m saying your girlfriend is crazy.”
I nodded because that much I knew.
“Last night, she came over here and read me the Riot Act about how selfish I was being, and as pissed as I was, I laid in bed all night, trying to come up with all the ways she was wrong. You know what I came up with? Nothing.”
“Jesus,” I whispered. Yeah. That sounded like Lex.
“That woman loves you so much, Hud. And if there has ever been a man who deserves that kind of love, it’s you. And Jack too, because she loves him just as much.”
My chest swelled. “I love her too, ya know. I think maybe I always have. Even when I was too damn blind to see it.”
She rested her hand over my thundering heart. “And after everything she’s been through, she deserves that kind of love too. That’s why I can’t ask you to move.”
My chest exploded, an avalanche of emotions crashing into me. “You’re staying?”
“I’m staying. Portland is a me-and-Mark issue. Not a Jack issue. Not a Lex issue. And sure as hell not a you issue. You and me, we’ve made good partners for the last few years, but Lex is your other half. Go get your girl, Hud.”
“I can do that,” I whispered, overwhelming relief making my head spin. “I can so fucking do that.”
“Get out of here.” She took a step toward the door. “You can see Jack in the morning if you want. Or if you need some time alone with Lex, that’s fine too. Just let me know and we’ll make it work.”
“Hey,” I called. “What does this mean for you and Mark?”
She stood in the doorway and smiled. “That’s not your problem. But whatever it means, from here on out, you have my word that it will happen in Atlanta.”
My feet remained rooted on her sidewalk for several seconds after she’d shut the door. Thirty years of fighting and searching for where I belonged in the world finally became clear. And as much as I loved my son, that place was not standing in the dark outside of his mother’s house.
Not many things in my life had gone as planned, and as I ran to my truck, peeled out of Lauren’s driveway, and then sped across town to the only place I ever wanted to be, I knew this would be no different.
I parked in my driveway, the lights in my house lit up like a damn runway. She’d always been shit at remembering to turn them off when she left a room, and I was so fucking stoked to spend the next sixty years arguing with her about it.
Adrenaline ravaged my system, but the ear-to-ear smile covering my face could never be matched. I was going to fuck this up, but I was too damn happy to care.
