"Jag, you and Martin go on without me," I tell them. Martin nods and begins to drive off.
"Mia's on the beach," Barney tells me, his arm around Lacey's back, she's stuck to his side.
"Hudson, she's okay," Lacey tells me and reaches out for my hand.
"Are you okay?" I ask as she squeezes my hand.
She shakes her head, tears swimming in her blue eyes. "My grandmother passed away."
I pull her into my arms, she wraps hers around my waist and rests her head on my chest. "I'm sorry for your loss," I tell her quietly, glancing at Barney who has a shocked expression on his face. He really needs to get a poker face, the ass. He's probably never seen me be polite to someone before.
"Thank you." She replies as I let her go. "Look after her Hudson, she's probably at the lowest she's ever been right now."
"Don't worry about Mia. I've got her." She gives me a sharp nod and climbs into Barney's car. "I'll talk to you all later on."
I walk away and toward the beach. I instantly see her as I step onto the sand, her profile lit up by the brightness of the moon. Her raven hair is blowing in the breeze, and the closer I get, the more I can see. Her heels are off, and to her side, her feet are digging into the sand. Her arms are around her legs hugging them close to her body. Her chin resting on top of her knees, her gaze focused on the beach in front of her. Lacey said she was at her lowest, to me she looks absolutely shattered. My woman looks broken and I need to fix it. No matter how broken she looks, she's still the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on, and I'm a lucky fucker to know that she's mine.
I sit down beside her, not saying a word. A lone tear falls from her eye and down her cheek, she just sits there and stares out onto the beach. I leave her be, just sitting here waiting for her to talk. I know she will when she's ready. My arm reaches around her back, and I hold her. Within seconds, she's leaning against me, still not saying a word.
"Is Lacey gone?" She asks, twenty minutes later.
"Yeah, she's with Barney. He'll make sure she gets home okay." A shiver runs down her body, "Are you cold?"
She blushes as she ducks her head into my chest, "No." She murmurs, her words low as she's talking into my chest. "Whenever you talk, I always get shivers."
I smile at her admission, "Are you ready to go back?"
She shakes her head. "I don't want to see her just yet."
I pick her up and put her on my lap, "Talk to me." I ask her as I wrap my arms around her.
Her head rests on my shoulder, and she places a kiss on my chin, "I'm probably being stupid."
I rub my hand up and down her arm. Goosebumps form and I love the reaction she has to me. "Let me be the judge of that, what happened?" I already know, but from what Tina told us, I want to hear it from Mia.
"Mom and I, we have these really honest discussions I honestly thought that she wanted to talk about us, I had it in my head that she knew about us."
"She does, Dad heard us last night." Her gasp makes me smile, "He told your mom, and she's not happy about it."
"Is your dad?" She questions, lifting her head off my shoulder. Her eyes wide and fearful. This is what she didn't want to happen.
"At first he was, then I spoke to him, you overheard that conversation."
Her cheeks flame, "I really didn't mean to." She bites her lip, "I promise I wasn't eavesdropping. You were practically screaming at one another. I never did hear you talk about us though."
I shrug, "I'm not worried that you overheard. I am sorry that you had to hear that your mom and my dad were having an affair, though." I honestly thought she knew. Everyone knew that my dad was a cheating fucking ass.
The smile she gives me is a wobbly one, her bottom lip trembling. "I don't really know who my mom is at all. Everything I'm finding out lately is shattering everything I thought I knew."
"What do you mean?"
She turns on my lap so that she's straddling me, "I grew up thinking my parents had the happiest marriage, that they were happy together. When my dad died, I hurt so bad. I was a daddy's girl. He was deployed a lot, but when he was home, they were the best times. God, I miss him terribly." She takes a deep breath, "So I went to college to escape the constant reminders that he's no longer here. I was so shocked when Mom called me to tell me she was married."
My eyes widen, "What? You didn't know they were getting married?"
She shakes her head, "No, I didn't even know they were serious. She told me she was dating, but that was it. I guess I never asked her. So when she called saying she'd gotten married, I was shocked. Fuck, I was hurt and pissed. It was as if I didn't matter. She couldn't be bothered telling her daughter that she'd met a man she liked, that she'd found love and was getting married. No, she waited until it was done before telling me."
Damn! Tina's fucking cold, she's not the woman she appears to be. I wonder if Dad knows she never told Mia?