His mouth is open in shock, hurt flaring in his eyes. He doesn’t even try to deny it.
“I would never have thought you capable of this kind of deceit, Park. I see now that I was wrong. You are.”
37
THE BROTHER
Perry does not want to leave the two of them alone, but he doesn’t exactly have a choice. Park was raving mad, and Lindsey has done her best against him, but punching him seemed to have the desired effect. Park shut up and went cold as ice. Then he booted them from the house.
What a mess this is.
The media scrum lights up as they exit, shouting questions and sticking mics in their faces, but Perry muscles through and gets them to Lindsey’s car.
“My house?” she asks, beeping open the locks.
Lucía is already working her phone and gets into the back seat, leaving the siblings up front. He hears her say, “Draft an injunction immediately. Tell Judge Phillips we’re coming with enough paper to drown him. We’re going to shut this down before it goes any further,” and shrugs.
“Depends on how much Scotch you have,” he jokes.
“Enough,” Lindsey says grimly, easing away from the curb, careful not to hit any of the milling media, as much as he wishes she would.
It hurts him to see Olivia in pain. He didn’t realize how strong his feeling were for her, still, until he saw her bruised and pale, trembling against the pain. This is not a good situation. He’s feeling very protective of her, and it’s not his place. It shouldn’t have been him sitting at the foot of her bed like a loyal damn dog. He wanted to touch her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted her, period.
He wants so much that he can’t have, and now he’s cursing himself for being such a fool. You could have had her. And you walked away. You’ve stayed away. And now all your lives are a disaster.
Lucía gets out of the car at her office, still going hard at someone on the other end of the line. She’s promised to make things right, though Perry has no idea how she can, outside of a lawsuit, which will only draw more attention.
Lindsey lowers her window, calls to her. “It’s going to be okay.”
Lucía, face strained, nods, says into her phone, “Hold on,” and presses the metal against her chest. “I know. I’m going to ruin that woman and enjoy myself while I do it. I am sorry, Linds. I’ll fix this. I’ll see you later.”
She starts to leave, but Lindsey says, softly, “Hey.”
Lucía glances at Perry, smiles, leans in briefly, and kisses Lindsey on the lips. She hurries away, and Lindsey gives Perry a shy glance, but he’s grinning, ready to give her hell.
“My, my, little sister. An older woman. How long have y’all been together?”
“A while.” She backs up, whips the car around and into the street. “We met at a Bar function, right before the pandemic shutdown. Created our own bubble. She’s wicked smart and a lot of fun. You’re not seeing her at her best. Or maybe you are. She can be a cutthroat bitch when she needs to.”
“I’m happy for you. You could have told me, you know. You haven’t mentioned her once. And here I thought you were languishing alone in Nashville.”
“I wanted to see where things went. No reason to share every date I have.”
“But Lucía is different, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. She’s different. I haven’t told many people.”
“Including Olivia and Park. Why? Olivia’s your best friend. Why would you hold out on her?”
“Oh, she knows I’m seeing someone. They both do. It’s just…they’ve had so damn much going on, and it’s been so hard, so sad, watching them struggle, watching her lose baby after baby. I’m happy. I mean, really happy. Shoving that in her face seems counterproductive, you know? Especially because…well, we’ve had a couple of conversations about having a family ourselves. The idea of me getting pregnant while Olivia suffers…”
The thought of little Lindsey with a baby, with a smart, brave woman like Lucía by her side, makes him glow inside. “I think you might find that Olivia would be thrilled to have something to cheer for. And Linds, you can’t hold off on something this important if it’s your dream just because it might hurt her. She wouldn’t want you to, either.”
“Maybe. After today’s debacle, Lucía will not be their favorite person.”
“This whole situation is a disaster,” he says.
The strain is back on his sister’s face. “She’s changed, you know. The losses have warped her. She feels like Park blames her for not being able to stay pregnant. She doesn’t open up to me like she used to. She’s retreated inside herself. And I can’t do a damn thing to help her. Now all this.” She waves a hand above the steering wheel. “Sometimes I think maybe she’d be better off in a different setup. With a different man. A different life.”
A different man. Him. She should be with him.
“Whose side are you on? Our brother’s, or your best friend’s?”
“My God, Perry, there are no sides to take. I was just trying to explain why I haven’t been shoving Lucía down their throats. We should get some food. I haven’t been to the store, and I’m starving.”
They swing through Zo?s Kitchen, grab tubs of chicken salad, hummus, Greek salads, and lentil soup.
“Since when do you like hummus and goat cheese?” she teases Perry, trying to lighten the mood.
“You wouldn’t believe the things I eat. My palate has become more refined from my cheeseburger-only days.”
“Apparently so. Park hasn’t grown as much. He still gets pale when I cut open a steak that’s the tiniest bit pink. I prefer mine to moo, thank you very much.”
Back at the house, sustenance on board and the plates in the washer, Perry pours them both a hefty Scotch and they settle in the living room, sprawling on the couch, a quiet and thoughtful silence surrounding them.
“Olivia asked me why I never came back,” he says finally.
Lindsey sips her drink. “I think we’d all like to hear the answer to that.” She kicks him lightly in the stomach. “Butthead. I’ve missed you, too. What did you tell her?”
“I didn’t tell her anything. What good would that do now? Besides, I did come back, once.”
Lindsey sits up. “What? When?”
“I don’t remember the exact date, but it was before the Melanie Rich situation. Dad was going downhill, I’d spoken to him on the phone and he sounded awful. I knew Park was at school, so I wouldn’t have to see him. I’d hoped to surprise you and Olivia, but her mom said the two of you were gone for a long weekend. So I saw Dad, and good thing I did, because he died right after that.”
“I’m still furious with him for forbidding a funeral.”
“Me too. Maybe if we’d all gotten together over his grave, things would be different between Park and me. Anyway, I didn’t want to stay away like this. It’s just how things worked out. I like my life. I love my job. I miss seeing you, but that’s part of being an adult, I guess. We don’t always get what we want. At least we have FaceTime, right?”