“Thirty-love,” Gage calls, shaking his hips from side to side and punching his racket high into the air. I hate cheaters, and although Gage isn’t cheating, per se, he isn’t giving the kid a fighting chance.
I step out from the confines of the tree just as Lucian pulls out his wallet. “Boo!” I call, at which Gage, Lucian and Rocky turn to face me. “Foul ball,” I continue.
Lucian’s face transforms into a big smile. “We’re playing tennis, not football.”
I feign ignorance. “You can’t play two against one with a weaker player. That isn’t fair.”
The truth is, I am very familiar with the rules and lingo of tennis. I played a lot of sport growing up—tennis, football, and even cricket. My mother called it my tomboy phase, but it was a way for me to spend some one-on-one time with my big brother when my father wasn’t around. I was so desperate to have a positive male role model in my life.
Lucian raises a brow. “What do you suggest?”
I narrow my eyes. “What I suggest is that we play against Rocky and Gage.”
Gage lets out a laugh. “You’re hardly going to play tennis in that fine dress and those shoes.”
I slip off my high heels and stand directly in front of Gage. “I mean, if you think you’ll lose, then…”
Gage eyes me speculatively. “I’m not scared of losing. You’re on, blondie.” He grabs Rocky by the collar of his T-shirt. “Kid, you’re with me.”
We leave the tennis courts after two games. Technically Lucian and I won, but we may have let Rocky think he beat us. Either way, it was a good game, and Gage returned Lucian’s money to him.
Gage and Rocky walk ahead while Lucian and I fall steps behind. Lucian’s hand finds mine, and we walk like this is perfectly normal. As if he belongs to me, and I to him. How the lines have blurred in the small amount of time we have been together, but despite everything, I’m happy living in this blurred version of reality.
“She’s okay,” I say, and wait for Lucian to reply. When he doesn’t, I continue. “Julie. You should give her a chance.”
I look to Lucian and keep my gaze trained on his profile as we walk. Strands of wayward hair fall over his brow, and he pushes them back into place. “And I will, just not today. I don’t know what it is, but being inside Freesdon Hall knowing it will be sold hurts more than I thought possible. Like Father, I thought maybe selling the house would finally offer some closure, but contrary to that, it feels like I’m losing my mother all over again.”
His pain becomes my pain, and slices through me like the sharp edge of a blade.
“I admit that today isn’t the best timing, but it isn’t Julie’s fault. You owe it to your father to at least try.”
Lucian stops walking and faces me. “How do you do it?”
I rub my hand over my arm. “Do what?”
“See the good in people. Even if those people don’t deserve your kindness. Tyler, my father, and even me, and yet you believe we are worthy of your time, worthy of redemption.”
I shrug. “I guess I just like to believe there is good in everyone.”
Lucian leans in close and strokes my cheek with the back of his hand. “If only I could see the world through your eyes. If only for a day.”
If that were possible, he would know how truly magnificent he is to me. He would know how deeply I have grown to care. He would know my innermost thoughts and my weakness, and that is something I will never allow.
“Okay,” Lucian says, and opens his arms. “I will speak to Julie. I will take the time to get to know her, but not for my father. I will do it for you.”
Slowly we retrace our steps, through the opening in the long row of bushes and past the vegetable garden.
“Grandma,” Rocky calls, and makes a beeline for Julie, who stands in the marquee chatting with Farrah and Malachi.
I look around for Duncan, but don’t have to look far as he and two other men emerge from the house. One of the men I recognise as Josh, the other a tall elderly man with a walking stick I haven’t seen before. Lucian’s father and the old man stop walking, whereas Josh waves in acknowledgement and heads our way.
“What the hell ishedoing here?” Lucian spits out.
“He’s joining us to play poker,” Gage chimes in.
“I wasn’t talking about Josh,” Lucian says. “Wait here, Chelsea, I’ll be right back.”
Lucian releases my hand and walks toward Josh, passes him and continues to his father and the elderly gentleman.