Chapter Thirty-Four

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Lily said as she and Holly and Callie walked out of the tattoo parlor.

She rubbed at her hip, feeling the bandage through the denim of her jeans. “I was expecting a lot worse.”

“You did great,” Callie complimented. “I think it looks awesome, and I think my brothers will think it’s damn sexy. They’re cave-mannish that way. To them it’ll be like they’re branded on you. Their stamp of ownership, so to speak.”

Lily laughed. “I’ll let them think that, anyway.”

“Now you’re catching on,” Holly said as they climbed into the Rover.

Callie leaned up from the back seat. “So, uhm, Mom, what did you tell the dads we were doing, anyway?”

Holly pulled into traffic and started back toward the hotel. “I simply told them that I was going to spend some quality time with my two daughters, and I might have gone a little overboard in the sense that I let them believe that you needed some mothering, Lily.”

“You’re so evil, Mom. I like it,” Callie said in a gleeful voice.

“A girl can always use mothering,” Lily said as she shot Holly a grateful look.

Holly reached over and squeezed her hand. “I know you do, honey. Now, what we need to do is get you back to the hotel so you can relax for a while. Then what do you say we order in room service. Get into our jammies and eat some yummy food while we figure out your plan of attack for the morning.”

“Room service sounds divine,” Callie said. “Jammies and girl time only make it better. I want to check out your tat again when we get back to the hotel, Lily. The artist there does such good work. I’m seriously considering getting something done. I just haven’t settled on just the right art yet. Maybe you could draw me something.”

Lily smiled back at her. “I’d love to. Whenever you have an inkling of what you’d like, just let me know and we’ll see what we can come up with.”

They valet parked at the hotel and went immediately up to the suite that Holly had booked.

“You girls get into your PJ’s and tell me what you want to eat. I’ll order it up,” Holly said.

“You pick for me,” Lily said. “I’ll eat anything.”

“Same here, Mom. You know what I like. Just get a lot of it.”

Holly smiled. “Okay, then. Hop to it. I’ll get our order placed.”

Callie followed Lily into the second bedroom of the suite they were sharing. “Can I see it again?”

“Sure,” Lily said.

She unzipped her jeans, peeled them away from her skin and let them fall to the floor. Then she stretched out on her side on the bed and carefully pulled the bandage away on one side.

“It’s amazing, Lily. Seriously. You have such talent. I know the guy inked you, but this is your design. It’s so intricate. It must have taken you hours to get all the detail you put into it.”

“Try days,” Lily said ruefully. “It’s all I’ve worked on for the last week. I drew and I pondered what I wanted to say to Charles.”

Callie grimaced and then plopped onto the bed next to Lily. “I admire you for doing this. I wish…I wish I had the balls to stand up and say, hey fuck you, you were wrong.”

“Is that what happened to you?” Lily asked softly. She replaced the bandage that the artist had told her to leave on for a few hours.

Callie hesitated for a long moment. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. I…I fell hard for someone. I thought he fell just as hard. I was wrong. He took what he wanted and then he was gone without a word.”

Lily eased up and then wrapped her arms around Callie. “I’m sorry. That must hurt so much.”

Callie hugged her back. “I’ll be okay. I ran home to lick my wounds, and to be honest, I haven’t had the desire to leave again. Maybe that’ll change or maybe I’ve changed. I’ve always been so restless. Ready to take on the world. See new places. Meet new people. Right now I like being surrounded by my family—people that I know love me and would never hurt me. That’s comforting, you know?”

Lily squeezed. “Yeah, I do know. Boy, do I know. I’ve felt that way ever since I met your brothers and was welcomed into your family. I’ll never be able to express to any of you just how much that meant to me.”

Callie smiled. “It’s going to be fun having a sister.”

“Oh crap, you’re going to make me cry,” Lily said with a sniff.

“We can’t have that. We have to keep you strong tonight so that tomorrow you can walk into your ex-husband’s home and kick his sorry ass.”

“My home,” Lily said softly. “Or at least it used to be.”

Callie gaped at her. “You mean that all that time you were homeless, that bastard was living in your house?”

“I couldn’t go back there. Tomorrow will be the first time I’ve been back since Rose’s funeral.” Pain still thudded in her chest as she imagined going back. Now. After three years. It seemed a lifetime and just like yesterday all rolled into one.

“I’d like to go with you so I could kick him in the balls,” Callie said with a ferocious scowl.

“Girls, the food’s here,” Holly called from the next room.

“Oh crap, we’ve been gabbing and still haven’t changed,” Callie said as she bolted up.

They hurried into their sleepwear and then went into the next room where Holly was arranging the plates on the small dinette.

“I have to say, Mom, you may not cook worth a darn, but you know good food,” Callie said as she surveyed the array of entrees.

Lily’s mouth watered as she looked from the filet mignon to the lobster tail to the grilled shrimp skewer and the jumbo fried shrimp on a separate plate. There were steamed vegetables, rice and bread rolls. And the piece de resistance: cheesecake with caramel topping.

Lily flopped into the chair. “Oh God, I don’t even know where to start. It all looks wonderful.”

“Which is why you take some of everything,” Holly said.

“A very sound idea,” Callie said as she reached over to snag a shrimp.

The women piled food onto their plates and chatted while they ate. Lily was glad she’d asked them to come. Not that Seth, Dillon and Michael wouldn’t have come in a heartbeat, but she wanted to surprise them with the tattoo. More importantly, she wanted to confront Charles on her own, and she was pretty certain the guys would never allow her to go near him. They’d want to be the ones to confront him, and it would probably be with their fists.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Holly asked gently.

Lily stirred from her thoughts and looked down at her half-eaten food. It did probably seem like she was distracted and maybe worried about the upcoming visit to her past. But in an odd way she was at peace. She’d already done the hard part.

“I’m not nervous about confronting him. I’m more nervous about seeing the place where my daughter was born and spent the first weeks of her life,” Lily said in a quiet voice. “It’s important to me that I don’t come across as a raving lunatic. I don’t want Charles to think he has any power over me. I need to be calm and rational when I tell him how wrong he was. Breaking down hurts my credibility.”

“You’re going to do fine,” Callie said firmly. “I don’t doubt you for a moment. When I think of all that you’ve endured and the fact that you still have such a warm, loving and generous spirit… It just amazes me. Most people wouldn’t even find the strength to go on. But you survived and you didn’t lose yourself in the process. You’ve given so much to my brothers. To our family. To me,” she added.

“You girls need to stop or we’ll all be crying,” Holly said.

Lily smiled. “I’m so glad I’ll have you as family. When I think back, I realize how meeting Seth was such a godsend. I truly believe that God sent him to me,” she said softly. “Or maybe He sent me into that soup kitchen that day. It’s not a place I went often, but that day I was lonely and hungry and for just a little while I wanted to be somewhere that filled both needs.”

“And I happen to think that God sent you to us,” Holly said as she squeezed Lily’s hand. “You brought Seth home to us, and for that I’ll always be grateful to you. You’ve united us again, Lily. My boys are happy.”

“Mo-om, stop,” Callie wailed. “For God’s sake, you’re the one who said we were going to make you cry. If we keep this up, we’re going to be masses of hormonal, deranged women.”

“According to your fathers, we already are,” Holly said with a grin.

“So what’s the plan tomorrow, Lily?” Callie asked. “Do you want us to take you to your old house?”

Lily slowly shook her head. “I’d prefer for you to stay here. I’ll take a cab. I don’t know how long I’ll be. I need the time to think. You’ve done more than you’ll ever know just by being here with me and offering your support.”

“Okay then. We’ll be waiting here in the lobby for you and if you need us for anything at all, you call and we’ll be there.”

“Thanks, Holly. I can do this, though.”

Holly stood and kissed both Callie and Lily on the forehead and stroked a hand over their hair. “Don’t stay up too late. Lily needs her rest. Tomorrow is going to be tough. We’ll go celebrate after she comes back from telling her ex to kiss her ass.”

Laughter rang out through the room, and Lily felt courage lift her in its firm embrace.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Lily stood on the sidewalk in front of the two-story house that had been her home for such a short period of time. She stared at it, gauging her emotions. Aside from nervous butterflies scuttling around her belly, she was numb. And maybe she had to be to get through what she was about to do.

It was a Saturday, but there was no guarantee that Charles would be home. He often worked weekends when they were married. Long nights. Seven-day weeks. He hadn’t known the meaning of family time. And he certainly hadn’t shared the responsibility of the child they’d made together.

For too long she’d willingly shouldered the blame for it all. But she wouldn’t do it any longer.

With a deep breath, she walked up the stone path leading to the front door. She knocked before she gave herself time to back out, and she waited, each second an eternity.

When the door opened, she was surprised to see a woman standing there, a baby that could be no more than eight or nine months old on her hip.

“Can I help you?” she asked in a friendly voice.

For a moment Lily couldn’t find her voice. She stared at the happy, gurgling baby who had his fingers wrapped around his mama’s hair. The woman gently pried his hand away and then refocused her attention on Lily.

“Does Charles Weston still live here?”

“Yes, he does. I’m his wife, Catherine. Can I help you with something?”

It hurt her more than it should. She didn’t want to react to the fact that Charles had obviously moved on and replaced not only her but Rose as well. But the pain was there, beating steady inside her chest.

“Can you tell him that Lily is here and would like to speak to him for a moment?” she asked in a soft voice.

Catherine’s entire demeanor changed. Her eyes rounded in shock and her mouth opened in surprise. “Lily?” she whispered. “Are you Lily Weston?”

Slowly, Lily nodded.

Catherine stepped back and opened the door wider. “Please, come in. I’ll tell Charles you’re here.”

Surprised by Catherine’s invitation, Lily hesitantly stepped inside the house that used to be hers.

“If you’ll follow me,” Catherine said as she swapped the baby to her other hip.

Lily took the familiar path through the foyer and past the formal living room to the family room on the other side of the formal dining room. As they approached, Lily saw a toddler scamper across the room with a squeal, and then she saw Charles sweep the child up and toss her high over his head.

She closed her eyes. Oh God, she couldn’t do this after all. Before the sob choking her could escape, she turned, ready to flee. Catherine’s plea stopped her.

“Lily, please don’t go. I know this must be hard, but please talk to Charles. Hear what he has to say. He’s looked for you for so long.”

Lily froze and carefully turned around until she faced Catherine again.

Catherine held out her hand. “Please, just come with me. Charles will be so glad to see you.”

Feeling like she had been plunked down in some bizarre alternate reality, Lily took a step forward and then another until she stood in the doorway just behind Catherine.

“Charles,” Catherine called softly. “There’s someone here to see you.”