Page 132 of Playing for Keeps

I knocked on the door and, when Alison answered it, plastered on a smile. There wasn’t a hint of one on her face though. But then, I hadn’t expected there to be.

“Theo’s on the trampoline,” she said.

I followed her down the hallway into the kitchen. Out the French doors, I could see Theo happily bouncing on the trampoline. On the kitchen table was a half-completed drawing and a scattering of crayons.

Alison must have noticed where my attention had gone, because she said, “He was drawing a picture for Char of Uncle Luke playing rugby.”

“Oh. Right.”

Alison crossed her arms. “Did Luke tell you about the Auckland contract?”

I nodded. “Yeah, he told me.”

There was a pause as she fixed me with a hard stare. “Let him go, Ethan. I’m saying this for the good of my son, my daughter and my grandson. Let him go.”

My breath whooshed out of me. Oh my fucking god. I felt like a kid again, being scolded, like the time she’d caught Luke and me turning her best set of sheets into parachutes.

“Char’s too fragile to handle you and Luke being together. And it’s not fair on Theo,” she continued.

Oh fuck. That was below the belt.

I just stood there, gaping at her. What the hell could I say to that?

Anthony came into the room and stopped short, as if he’d instantly sensed the mood. “What’s going on?”

“Ethan and I are having a little chat,” Alison said coolly.

Anthony’s gaze flicked to me. I have no idea what he saw on my face, but suddenly he was glaring at his wife. “What the hell are you saying to him?”

A combative look crossed Alison’s face as she met his gaze squarely. “I was telling Ethan he should be encouraging Luke to go to Auckland.”

“That decision is up to Luke and no one else,” Anthony said.

Alison’s nostrils flared. “For fuck’s sake, it’s not always all about Luke!”

Anthony and I both blanched. I’d never heard Alison swear before. It was like hearing the Queen drop an f-bomb.

“You’ve always done this! Your focus has always been on Luke. And look where it’s gotten us! A daughter in rehab. How do you think Char will handle it if she finds out about them? You think that’s what she needs for her recovery? You think our grandson needs that confusion?” Her voice rose and I flinched.

“I know I’ve failed Char.” Anthony’s voice shook. “But Luke shouldn’t have to suffer because of that.”

God, seeing the defeat on his face gutted me. The man I’d looked up to for so long, the only real example of a father I’d ever had.

It cut at me, like somehow Anthony’s pain was my fault too.

I took a deep breath. “I’ve already told Luke I think he should go to Auckland,” I said quietly.

Alison blinked at me. “You have?”

“I told him that because I want the best for him.” I squared my shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “Because that’s what you want when you love someone as much as I love Luke.”

Finally. The words were out there. I was standing here as an adult, facing her down, telling her I was in love with her son.

Alison’s face paled.

“Now excuse me,” I said. “I better get Theo home before it gets late. It’s a school night.”

I was trembling as I walked past her, out through the French doors, onto the lawn.