Page 23 of Paper Flowers (Stonebrook #1)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

LUKE

N ina and William are upstairs with Sadie and I’m cleaning up the kitchen.

The tension between Nina and I have subsided since our conversation but I can’t help feeling guilty for hurting her.

I love Juliette but I also feel something towards Dayna.

She was the first girl I ever loved. I know I should have been honest with Nina from the start.

But how am I supposed to say my daughter got really attached to my ex-girlfriend who is now my boss in a town I had no idea she was in?

Things are so complex and I need to talk to someone. It’s late where my brother is so I bring up Caleb’s contact and write a new message.

Hey Caleb, I know you were just here but do you think you can come over, I need to talk to someone.

Caleb: Yeah, I’ll head over in a few minutes.

Thanks.

I run upstairs to check on Sadie and she’s laying down next to Nina on her bed watching a movie and William is reading a book on Sadie’s pink fluffy beanbag.

I walk in quietly and ask if they can keep an eye on her.

I’m going outside to talk to Caleb. Nina nods her head towards her granddaughter, “Sadie is fading, she’ll be asleep soon.

You go hang out with your friend. Why don’t you go and explore the town?

I’m sure you haven’t had a chance to do that. ” I look at her with questioning eyes.

William gets up from the beanbag and asks to talk to me in the hallway.

“I don’t want to wake Sadie.” I can feel like this is going to be painful.

William has always been guarded, but he has the biggest heart and can be really understanding.

For most, that is. We walked to the center of the landing where I have a small sitting area.

“Nina spoke to me earlier and I want you to know she just needs time. This isn’t easy for any of us. I know you loved my Jules and you’re just going through the motions of surviving each day.” He lets out a deep breath and puts his hand on my shoulder.

“Take it from me, I know what it’s like to lose someone you love.” I look at him confused.

“You do?”

“When I was a senior in high school, my girlfriend, Charlotte and I were in a car accident. We were coming home from a football game and a drunk driver slammed into us. I woke up in the hospital and she was gone. It took me years to forgive myself for something that was out of my control. I met Nina, and she eased my broken heart. I’m sure losing a girlfriend and losing a wife are two different things, but the pain is all the same.

” William’s eyes tell a different story than his usual hard stern gaze and I acknowledge the same hurt I see in myself in his eyes staring back at me.

“This woman, Dayna? Is she good to my grand baby?”

“Yes but?—”

“Luke, I know a heart is capable of loving two people and I know the guilt you can feel when you think you don’t deserve happiness, but you do.

If you’re happy then my grand baby is happy and she needs her Daddy.

You have been supportive all these years and have proven to be the man that you told me you’d be when you asked for my daughter’s hand in marriage.

It’s time for you to think of yourself and live.

Jules wouldn’t want you to feel bad for moving on.

” William leans over to shake my hand. I lean in to give him a hug.

I feel so torn but hearing the experience he went through has me feeling like maybe moving on is okay.

Sitting outside on the front porch I see Caleb’s car approaching and I wave to him as he parks. I walk to his truck and ask if he was up for a drink at the local bar I haven’t been to yet. “I could go for a beer.” Caleb says and we drive over to Lime A Dozen.

It’s a hole in the wall bar with a lot of character.

The bar is covered with framed photographs of former patrons doing keg stands and celebratory drinks.

There are several photos of a local baseball team with a giant trophy year after year.

The music plays at the perfect level you can tune out when you’re fully in a conversation.

In the corner of the bar there is a well loved Pool Table that catches my eye and I walk straight to it.

“You want to play a round?”

I’m not really any good at this but it’s something to do. I grab a pool stick and Caleb racks the balls in. As we are playing the first round of Pool, I fill Caleb in on all the things that have happened in the last month and a half.

“Dude. That was a lot to process. I can see why your mother-in-law is upset. She could easily think you moved here to be with Dayna but that’s not the case.”

“How does this affect Sadie’s therapy with Dean?”

“I hope Dean can put aside his personal feelings and do his job. If he can’t do that, then I obviously would find someone else to help my daughter. She comes first and I won’t have anything get in the way of her healing, even if it means I have to distance myself from Dayna. ”

Caleb scratches and I place the cue ball and aim for the solid 2 ball. “I think he can be professional and work with you. It’s not your fault Dayna never told him.”

I miss the solid 2 ball while Caleb sinks in a few.

I go to the bar and get us a couple of beers.

Sitting at the bar waiting for the bartender to get my order, I pull my phone out and check my messages.

I had one from Matt about Sadie’s gift receipt.

I looked at Dayna’s thread and we haven’t texted since last night.

The bartender finally brings over two beers and I walk back to the Pool Table. Handing Caleb the beer, we take a seat on the bar stools against the wall. He asks more questions about how Dayna and I were in high school and if I see this being more than just a few stolen glances here and there.

“Honestly, she deserves so much more than what I can offer her right now. I have the life I have now because I scared her away. Back then, we had each other, and it wasn’t enough, I wanted more. She broke up with me on our graduation night. She walked off that field and never looked back.”

“But now that we are both here in the same town, I can’t get her off my mind. I think about her constantly and I feel guilty about it. Juliette has only been gone for almost a year. How can I move on so fast?”

Caleb takes a swig from his beer bottle.

“You know, if I was in your shoes, I’d give it a chance.

See where things go. But let her know how you feel up front.

” I take in his advice and hold it closely.

“I will always love Juliette. I’m suffocating without her.

If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t give it a second thought, but it’s Dayna.

” Caleb gives me a sympathetic look and chugs the remainder of his beer.

I do the same and we play another round of Pool.

The bar is getting crowded, and we have been playing for a couple hours.

The overhead speakers begin to play Drops of Jupiter and it makes me think of Dayna.

That used to be her favorite song when we were younger.

It was playing on the car radio when I first kissed her.

Now I think about how I almost kissed Dayna’s pillowy lips today.

When she bit her bottom lip, it did wonders to my dick.

The way her body was standing so close to mine, I could smell her Strawberry shampoo.

Seeing her face as she left Sadie’s birthday party, I knew she was regretting what she was feeling if she was feeling something for me.

It’s after midnight and Caleb drops me off. Nina is sitting on the sofa and scares the shit out of me, I was expecting her to be asleep. “Nina, what’s the matter?”

“I couldn’t go to bed without talking to you first.”

I slowly make my way to the sofa and sit next to Nina. She starts crying and with some hesitation, I put my arm around her and hold her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

“I know that Slugger. I— I don’t want Sadie to forget about her mother.”

I hold her tighter and reassure her “No one is ever going to forget Juliette, I promise you that.”

The next two weeks are going to be the hardest to get through.

With today being so damn exhausting, I want to lay down in my bed and watch the Red Sox’s winning game from earlier.

I check on Sadie before I go to my room.

She’s fast asleep with the new throw blanket draped over her that Cara got her today.

Turning on the shower and watching the bathroom fill with steam, I get undressed.

I take off my Boston Red Sox t-shirt and throw it in the hamper.

I stare at it and I remember when Dayna tried so hard to get me to switch over to her favorite team.

I stepped in the shower and let the water fall on the top of my head.

She loved Boston so much because her grandpa Eugene was their biggest baseball fan.

He always asked if I was a believer yet.

Sadly, he passed away before “The Curse of The Great Bambino” was broken.

Ever since then she wore his favorite sweater during games and when she just needed a hug from her grandpa.

I never second guessed her loyalty to the Red Sox, but I did like to tease her and say I was a hardcore Yankee’s fan.

She’d joke and say our kids could never be friends with Yankee fans.

I used to love it when she talked like that.

Fuck, that was a lifetime ago.

I finished my shower and put on joggers and a hoodie. I checked my phone, just in case I had a message from her. But to my disappointment, there’s nothing new. I plug in my phone and watch the winning game from today before I fall asleep during the 4th inning.