The Lake (The Lake Trilogy, Book 1) (15 page)

“So now what?” I ask.

“Now…we talk with Luke and Claire. I agree with you. The only way this has any chance of survival is if we have their backing.” His whole stance has changed. He’s oozing confidence and strength and my attraction for him skyrockets. He’s commanding and I feel how his protectiveness of me, of us, has becoming priority number one.

“Does anyone know? I mean, did you say anything to Gwen or Caroline, or the guys? I just wondered if anyone was safe.”

“Yes. They know. Next to you, they’re the people I trust most. They were here during the whole thing with Holly, so they’re pretty protective of me, but they don’t know the whole story. They know my father paid her dad off, but they don’t know about the threat to wipe them out financially. They just think Holly’s dad was a sucker. I’d like to keep it that way. I don’t want them to worry any more than they already do. They think the world of you and were really supportive of whatever I decided.”

“What do you mean,
whatever you decided?”

“Well…I decided that I didn’t want to be without you. But, I meant what I said, Layla. If I have to not be with you so that you don’t disappear on me, I’ll do that. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you in my life,” he says, pulling me closer. “Are you still sure you really want to do this?”

“Yes. I thought about it a lot. This is what I want.
You
are what I want,” I declare with joy. I love staring into Will’s ocean blue eyes, and now I feel like I’ve been given permission to stare as long as I want. This is my time. My penance has been paid and my reward has just enveloped me in his arms. “I hope it’s ok that I already told Claire.”

“I would have thought it
strange if you hadn’t. I’ve had several conversations with Luke over the past few days. He knows how I feel about you. He’s not completely jazzed about the idea of us being together, mainly because he knows more about my father than most. But…fortunately he likes me, and he’s willing to be supportive. More than that, he loves you and wants you to be happy. Of course, he and Claire don’t know what
you’ve
decided.”

I find it romantic that Will
has talked with Luke about his feelings for me. It makes me feel good to know that they’re supportive. If this is the journey I think it’s going to be, I may need a shoulder to cry on at some point.

Luke and Claire are still in the kitchen when we walk in. I know Claire has already talked with Luke, but I still need to explain my decision to be with Will. Luke is more concerned than Claire, but that’s ok. He knows things about Gregory Meyer that no one does and I’m sure he’s more scared than he’s letting on.

“You need to know that this is not my first choice, Layla. I’d prefer that you not get involved with Will romantically at all. No offense, Will.” Luke makes his position clear while Will nods his understanding. “But Claire and I will support you and help in any way we can. We’d rather know what’s going on than have the two of you sneaking around on us. We must have full disclosure from you both.”

“What do you mean
full disclosure
?” I ask.

“Don’t do anything stupid
. Keep us in the loop,” Luke says with a deadpan look. “We can’t help you if you keep
anything
from us,” Luke says seriously. “It will get messy if Gregory finds out. You need to be prepared.”
Messy?
What does that mean? I feel like I should be asking more questions but I don’t think I can wrap my head around this fully. I’ll just have to cross each bridge as we get to them.

We’re lucky that Luke and Claire like Will so much. I don’t think they’d have taken the risk for anyone else.

Will had already been at the house for hours helping Luke with the basement when I emerged this morning. Our conversation interrupted their progress and Luke declares it’s time to get back to work. I can only imagine the conversation between the two of them as they descend into the basement.

Will giv
es me a sweet wink as he passes through the doorway, and Claire and I follow Luke’s lead and return to a level of normalcy by doing the dishes.

“Are you certain this is what you want, Layla? You’ve been through so much. I just don’t want you to take on anything more than you can handle,” Claire says, looking and sounding more like a mother in this moment than she has before.

“I haven’t had control over any part of my life since my parents died. When I came here I told myself that this was my opportunity to start over, to revive the Layla that died a slow and painful death. Deciding to be with Will is just about the biggest way I can take back control. I’m so glad we have your support because there is nothing that is going to keep me away from Will. I would hate to lose you and Luke now, just when I got you.” I’ve shocked myself in the assertion of my position. Being that bold is not something that I thought came naturally to me anymore. And while I truly hope I haven’t offended Claire, I am pleased with myself that I didn’t falter.

“There’s the Weston passion I was looking for.” Claire smiles approvingly, joining us in allegiance.

I smile back at Claire knowing that I have shown both my resiliency and my heart. I held in so much for so long, any expression like this feels like emotional vomiting. Claire didn’t silence me, or even flinch. I have a feeling she has given her support much more freely than Luke has.

“You’ve got a few calls to return,” Claire tells me moving us forward into normalcy. “Gwen and Caroline called every day. So did Marcus Reynolds.”

How I had forgotten about Marcus is beyond me. He’s partly the reason all this came to a head in the first place. I need to talk to him. I was pretty rude to him and I need to apologize.

“Did he say anything?” I wonder.

“He said he was sorry and asked you to please call him.” She just looks at me, probably wondering what I’m doing to these poor boys.

“Did he leave a number?” I ask.

“He said you could call him at the bookstore…or come by anytime,” Claire says, handing me the keys to her car. Clearly she thinks I need to talk to him in person. The guys are going to be in the basement for a while so I take the keys and decide to go see him after a quick change out of my pajamas. I’ll feel better about apologizing in person anyway.

I walk into the bookstore and look for Marcus. There’s no one up front and I carry a twinge of hope that he’s not there as I walk in, but about halfway through the store I find him.

“The security here is a little lax, you know,” I say smiling, trying to make peace.

“Hey,” Marcus replies, quietly surprised to see me. “I’m glad you came. Layla, I’m so sorry. I got carried away with the information the other day. It’s still painful to think about the whole thing. But like I said, Will’s a good guy. Just be careful, ok?”

“No, I’m sorry. To be honest with you, I came here looking for answers and it all just blew up in my face. Will told me about Holly and I…well, I guess I just wanted to hear both sides. I’d still like you to tutor me…and I’d still like to be your friend, if the offers still stand,” I smile hopefully.

“Of course.” Marcus sticks out his hand to shake mine. “Friends?”

“Friends.”

“You know, you have a knack of showing up here when I’m getting ready to leave. I’m headed out on a break, you wanna join me?”

“Um…I don’t have a lot of time, but, sure.” I walk with Marcus to the Soda Shop where we sit outside while he eats lunch.

“You sure you don’t want anything?” he asks.

“No, thanks.” I pause, thinking if I should tell Marcus about Will and me or not. He has given such a stern warning about staying
just friends
with Will that I don’t see him responding well. I decide it isn’t a good idea, and to let Will determine who can and can’t know about us. So I continue to smooth things over with Marcus instead. “I’m really glad things are good between us. I didn’t like how we left things last week,” I say.

“Me, too. I like you, Layla. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better,” he says.

“Well there will be plenty of time to get to know me while you spend countless hours saving me from death-by-trigonometry,” I laugh. “I like you, too, Marcus. You know, Will had nothing but nice things to say about you and your family.”

“Really,” Marcus says, not as a surprised question, but with a tone full of nothing but skepticism.

“Yeah. He still feels terrible about the whole thing,” I say, cursing myself for not thinking before speaking.

“Good. He should. He knew his father would flip but he didn’t care,” he says sharply, his demeanor quickly morphing into defensiveness.

“C’mon, Marcus! Who could predict that his father would do what he did?” I feel myself getting upset. I’m not defending
just a friend
anymore, and I fully recognize that we can absolutely count on Will’s father flipping on us.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he says, calming himself. “How about we agree not to talk about Will Meyer? We’ll just take any conversation about him completely off the table. Ok?”

“I think that is an excellent idea,” I answer, relieved. Will is off limits so I won’t have any reason to tell Marcus anything.

“When does school start? We can get a jump on that trig…if you want,” he offers.

“Three weeks, I think. I’ll give you a call and get something set up. Or you can call me…whichever.” I stand up and grab my keys. “I’ve gotta go. Thanks for letting me stop by, Marcus. It means a lot to me that you called, too.”

“Thanks for coming by. I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again. Don’t be a stranger. You know where to find me,” he says.

“Bye, Marcus,” I say.

I walk back to the car and get in. I sit there for a few minutes thinking about Marcus. Everything is going to be ok. I can be friends with him and more with Will. I feel like things are beginning to settle down and fall into place. I have to take Will’s father out of the equation totally. If I focus on him I’ll completely fall apart. With that, I realize that for the first time in a really long time, I’m happy.

I pull out of the parking lot and get completely twisted around and find myself on a side street somewhere behind the library. As I sit getting my bearings I see that I’m sitting directly in front of the Law Offices of Meyer, Fincher and Marks.

It’s a beautiful old house that has been converted into an office. There is a round, gazebo-like covered porch, complete with a porch swing, and wooden slats that remind me of fish scales.

Staring at the house
-turned-office space I think about the deals made and the lives torn apart within its walls. As I bring myself back into the moment, I catch movement in my periphery. To the side, near the back of the house I can see the back of Gregory Meyer. He’s directing someone, or thing. He moves just enough to his left to conceal half of his body behind the building, and enough to reveal two men holding another man between them, shuffling mostly into view. That knot in my stomach has returned and I’m frighteningly aware that if I look any longer I may be witness to something no one is supposed to see.

I want to move, but I can’t. My foot won’t leave the brake.
Drive, Layla, drive! Just turn the wheel and get the hell out of here.
It’s no use because what happens next happens all too fast. The two men reveal themselves as thugs and begin taking turns punching the slumped mess of a man between them in the gut. It seems to be going on and on and on.
Oh my god!
Finally the man begins to vomit and the hoods release him into a crumpled mess on the ground, landing in his own sickness. Not that I can hear anything, but I turn the radio up in some attempt to tune out what I’m seeing. I can’t even begin to imagine what this man did or didn’t do to deserve this beating, but whatever it was, it surely was a betrayal that Gregory Meyer was not going to let go unpunished. Perhaps this is what happens when you refuse the
House Call
offer.

My heart beats faster and my foot has finally decided to obey the command I’ve been scream
ing at it. I turn the wheel and move as quickly around the corner and down Main Street as fast as I can without drawing attention to myself.
I’m a girl
, I think.
He wouldn’t do that to me…would he? And there’s no way he’d physically hurt his own son, right?
I spend the drive home telling myself that Will and I are different. Surely a father wouldn’t do anything so outrageous to his own son.

It’s after four o’clock by the time I get into the shower. It had been a long day already and I let the hot water rush over me longer than I usually do as I consider the scene I just witnessed. It feels wonderfully cleansing, baptismal. I spend the time rationalizing and convincing myself that while Gregory Meyer
is a ruthless man, he would never physically hurt his own son.

I step out of the shower, wrap a towel around me, and wipe the steamy condensation off the mirror. I’m looking at a girl who’s been missing for quite some time. This is a girl who is finally experiencing life and excited
about it. I’m taking control and deciding what
I
want…finally. Will is the best reward I could have received for having endured the last five years as I did. Having Luke and Claire is the bonus.