The Upside of Love (13 page)

Luke

It had been a week since Charley’s party and I hadn’t seen Lily. But then again, I hadn’t been coming home from the bar until the middle of the night. Lucky and Giselle were bringing the baby home next week, so Sam and I decided to get the nursery ready for them. Gretchen wanted to help, but she had to go out of town for a photo shoot. Lucky wasn’t very handy, and we didn’t trust him with paint and putting together the furniture. It was a Saturday afternoon and we were going to start painting. Giselle had all the colors picked out before she went into labor and had the paint delivered. So all we needed to do was get it up on the walls. We had just arrived and were laying down the plastic on the floor when we heard someone walk through the door.

“What are you two doing here?” Lily asked.

“Painting,” Sam replied. “What are you doing here?”

“I picked up some things for the baby, so I thought I’d drop them off. Plus, I was going to clean up around here. I didn’t know anyone else would be here.”

“Surprise,” I said.

She walked away and Sam’s phone beeped.

“Ah, shit. I gotta go, bro. Work needs me. Apparently, there’s a big problem with one of the accounts.”

“What?! It’s Saturday, man.”

“I know. Sorry. I’ll try to get it worked out and come back,” he said as he walked out the door.

I shook my head as I poured some paint in the paint tray and Lily walked in.

“Where did Sam go?”

“Work. Something happened with one of his accounts.”

“Oh.”

I rolled the paint on the wall and Lily stood there, staring at me.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Since Sam had to leave, I can help you paint if you want.”

“Nah. I’m fine.”

“I can paint, you know.”

“I never said you couldn’t.”

“You refusing my help tells me that you think I can’t paint a wall.”

“Where are you getting that from? That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Good. Then I can help.”

I sighed. “There’s an extra roller over there. Be my guest.”

I found myself having a little bit of an attitude with her because being in the same room with her, especially after not seeing her for a week, killed me. We still never talked about that night. She wouldn’t. I didn’t know what to do anymore to try and get her to listen to me. Sometimes, I felt like I just needed to give up, but the thought destroyed me.

****

Lily

He was Mr. Attitude today. Was I surprised? No. I hadn’t seen him for a week and it was the one of the longest weeks of my life. But then again, I wasn’t home much. I spent my days and most nights at the studio, editing the pictures from the photo shoot for
Prim
. I had delivered the photos to Adalynn and she loved them and immediately booked my services for another shoot next month. Things in my career zone seemed to be moving forward, but my personal life stayed at a miserable standstill. Silence filled the room. The only significant sound that was heard was the sticky noise of the paint being rolled on the walls.

“Are you going to be able to paint with your hand like that?” I asked.

“I’ll be fine.”

Luke put down his paint roller and turned on the radio. The song that was on was ending and “Don’t Fear the Reaper” began to play. That was the tune I heard Luke playing on his guitar that one night.

“This was one of Dad’s favorite songs. He used to sing and play it all the time. I always wondered about the meaning behind it.”

“It’s about eternal love,” Luke said.

“Oh. Then, clearly, my father wasn’t thinking about my mother when he would sing it.”

Luke laughed. “Lily!”

“What?” I smiled as I turned around and looked at him.

He stared at me for a moment, looking for something to say. “I’m hungry. Are you?” he asked.

“A little.”

“How about we order some pizza and take a break. The first coat is going to have to dry before we can put on the second coat anyway.”

“Pizza sounds good.” I smiled.

“The usual?” he asked as he pulled out his phone.

“Yeah. The usual.”

For the first time since that life-altering night, my stomach wasn’t twisted in a knot. It felt somewhat normal and I didn’t know what to think. As Luke called in our pizza order, my phone beeped with a text message from Sam.

“Is Luke pissed that I’m not there?”

“No. I’m helping him paint the room.”

“Oh. Thank you. I appreciate it. Unfortunately, I have to go out of town for a couple of days to smooth things over with this account, so I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Have fun!”

“You too!”

“The pizza will be here in about twenty minutes,” Luke said.

“I just got a text message from Sam and he said he has to go out of town for a couple of days for work.”

“Is that so?” He sighed.

I walked to the kitchen and washed off the spots of paint that were all over my hands. I took two paper plates from the cupboard and set them on the table. Luke walked in and went straight to the refrigerator.

“Beer?” he asked as he held up a bottle.

“Sure,” I said as I walked over and took it from him.

Luke took a seat at the table while I put the bags that I’d brought over on the couch.

“What did you buy?”

“Just some baby stuff. Towels, wash cloths, burp rags, bibs. You know, the usual baby things.”

“I still can’t believe the two of them had a baby,” Luke smirked.

I shook my head as I took the seat across from him. “I know. I sure hope they can stand each other long enough for that little girl.”

Luke threw his head back and laughed. “I was thinking the same thing.”

I smiled as I arched my eyebrow and held up my beer bottle. A few moments later, there was a knock at the door. I went in my purse and took some cash out and handed it to Luke.

“No, Lily. It’s on me.”

“No. Take it.”

He opened the door and it was Gary, our normal pizza delivery guy from the apartment.

“Hey, you two. Did you move?”

“Hey, Gary.” Luke smiled. “Nah, this is our friend’s house. We’re doing some work.”

I tried to hand Luke the money and he kept shooing my hand away. Gary looked at me and smiled.

“Lily, Luke always pays. What are you doing?”

“Exactly!” Luke smirked.

I sighed and took the pizza over to the table. Later, I would shove the money in the pocket of the hoodie he brought. We sat down and each took a couple of slices. It felt normal. Like the way things used to be.

“How’s your mom doing?” he asked out of the clear blue.

I took a sip of my beer before answering him. “She’s good. Why?”

Luke shrugged his shoulders. “I heard you tell Charley that you went back to Seattle. How did that go? You know with—”

“Brynn?” I interrupted.

“Yeah.”

“We talked and we cried. Same with Hunter, without the crying part.”

“You saw him?”

“Yeah. They’re still together and oh so in love. It made me realize a few things and see things in a different light.”

Instantly, I saw a change in his face. “So let me get this straight. You went all the way to Seattle to talk to your sister and ex-fiancé about their relationship and what they did to you, but you refuse to talk to me about us? That’s real nice, Lily,” he said as he got up from his chair, threw the plate in the garbage, and then walked out of the kitchen.

Great. Just fucking great. I didn’t know what to do. I cleaned up the table and put the leftover pizza in the refrigerator. When I walked back into the room, Luke turned around and looked at me.

“You can leave now. I got this.”

“Luke, please.”

“Lily, I mean it. Get the hell out of here, NOW!” he yelled.

I flinched at the anger in his voice. Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed some cash and threw it on the floor.

“Fuck you, Luke. Just fuck you!” I yelled as I stormed out.

Luke

I called Maddie and asked her if she could swing by Giselle’s place. I needed to talk to someone, because if I didn’t, I was going to lose it. It didn’t take her long to come over because she was shopping in the area. When she walked in, she came right into the bedroom and grabbed a paint roller.

“What happened?”

“Lily. That’s what happened. I just don’t get it, sis. She goes back to Seattle and makes amends with her sister and that scumbag ex-fiancé of hers and it’s okay, but she won’t fucking talk to
me
. She won’t talk about our relationship.”

“Luke, you need to calm down for a minute.”

“I told her to get the hell out of here, Maddie. I was so angry that she wouldn’t talk to me.”

She walked over to where I was standing and wrapped her arms around me. “There’s something else going on.”

“What do you mean?” I asked as I pulled back.

“I’m not so sure anymore that it’s about the things you said to her. Your love for each other is so strong and so pure that it should be able to overcome anything. I don’t know, Luke. Maybe I’m crazy, but there’s something else going on with Lily.”

“Whatever the hell her problem is, I don’t have time to waste anymore. I’m done and I mean it this time. If Lily doesn’t want to talk to me or discuss what happened, then fine. She can go off and live a happy life by herself because, obviously, it’s what she wants.”

Maddie and I didn’t say another word after that. She stayed and helped me finish the walls and then we headed home. Lily’s truck wasn’t in the parking lot and it was almost midnight. Not that I should have cared, but it wasn’t safe. I said goodbye to Maddie and I stepped inside my apartment. Sam and Gretchen were both gone and I was all alone. There was no way I was going to sleep until I knew that Lily was home safe. About an hour later, as I was sitting on the couch, I heard her door shut.

****

The next morning, I went back over to Giselle’s and helped Lucky build the crib. When I got there, he was sitting in the middle of the nursery, swearing up a storm with crib pieces and parts all over the floor.

“Dude, it’s about time. Do you have any idea how fucked up this is?”

I chuckled. “They aren’t that hard to build. Move over and hand me the directions.”

“How’s Lily?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Sam said she was over here yesterday, helping you paint. Oh, by the way, thanks for doing that.”

“Things were going good until she told me something and I told her to get the hell out,” I replied.

“Whoa, dude. Come on. What the fuck is going on?”

“She went to Seattle to talk to her sister and ex and she won’t talk to me,” I said as I grabbed the screwdriver.

“She talks to you. I’ve seen her.”

“She won’t talk about us. She can forgive and talk to the people who cheated on her and made her life a living hell, but she can’t talk to me about our relationship.”

“Well, you did tell her that she killed Callie.”

“Thanks for that, Lucky. I don’t want to talk about Lily anymore.”

Just as I was tightening one of the bolts, my phone rang. It was Cody.

“Hey, Cody. What’s up?”

“Hi, Luke. Sorry to bother you on a Sunday, but I think there’s a problem with the invoice for the liquor order.”

“It’s your day off. Why are you at the bar?”

“I had nothing else to do today, so I thought I’d come in. Do you think you can stop by later and have a look?”

“Yeah. I’m in the middle of building the crib for Giselle and Lucky’s baby. I’ll be there in a while.”

“Thanks. I’ll be waiting.”

I hung up and looked over at Lucky, who was staring at me. “Dude, she is so into you. You better be careful.”

“She is not,” I snapped.

“Yes, she is. I know when women are into guys. I know their tricks and, trust me, she’s into you.”

An hour later, the crib was built and put in its place and, after I helped Lucky clean up, I took off for the bar.

When I arrived, I walked straight to my office and saw Cody sitting behind my desk. She was holding the picture that I had in my drawer of me and Lily.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Oh, Luke. Sorry. I was just looking at your picture.”

“Why?”

“I couldn’t find a paperclip, so I opened the drawer and there it was. I’m sorry.”

I walked over and took it from her hands.

“It’s a nice picture.”

“I’m not here to talk about the picture. What’s up with the invoice?” I asked.

“I’m sorry. I already figured it out. I forgot to call you. But since you’re here, would you like to go grab a bite to eat?”

“No. I already ate. Since the invoice is fine, you can go now.”

“Okay,” she said with a sad look as she grabbed her purse and started to walk out the door. She turned around. “You’re a really nice and special guy. You shouldn’t be alone. If you would like some company, call me.”

I nodded. Maybe Lucky was right. I was going to have to keep a closer eye on her. After talking to Candi for a bit, I decided to go home. I couldn’t stop thinking about Lily and how rude I was to her last night. I needed to apologize. When I pulled in the parking lot, her Explorer was in its usual spot. I knocked on her door before going to my apartment.

“Luke,” she said as she opened the door.

“I need to talk to you.”

“I think you said enough last night,” she said.

“Please, Lily. I want to apologize for my behavior last night. I was way out of line and I’m sorry.”

She motioned for me to come inside.

“I just want you to know that I’m not going to try and push you to talk to me anymore. What’s done is done and obviously, I can’t change that night. I didn’t mean what I said and you are in no way responsible for what happened. I was a jerk and I was in shock. That’s all. I would give anything to rewind that night and do things right. I’m really happy that you talked to Hunter and Brynn because I know it had been weighing heavy on your mind for a long time.”

She stood across the room and listened to every word I said. She never interrupted and she never moved from her spot.

“I just wanted you to know that. I’ll leave you to whatever it was you were doing.” As soon as I put my hand on the doorknob, she spoke.

“Thank you, Luke. I appreciate you saying what you did.”

I nodded and gave her a small smile as I walked out the door.