Трейси Вульф – Deserving of Luke (страница 7)

“Must make it hard to discipline him.”

“You have no idea. No matter how in the right I am, I always end up looking like the bad guy. It drives me nuts.”

“It always did.”

Paige shot her a sharp look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, he’s like his father, Paige. Everything about him—from his looks to the sparkle in his eyes—screams Logan. No wonder the man had a fit when he saw him today.”

Paige didn’t answer until she heard the door to the room she and Luke were sharing firmly shut. Then she turned on her sister. “He doesn’t have any reason to throw a fit. He’s the one who dumped me when I told him I was pregnant. He’s the one who accused me of sleeping with half the football team. I told him Luke was his and he didn’t believe me.”

“A point I think you should bring up to him when you see him again.” Penny paused. “I assume you will be seeing him again?”

“He’s coming here later tonight, after Luke is in bed.”

Her sister cursed. “That was quick.”

“Tell me about it. I really thought I’d have a little more time before I had to deal with this.”

“Me, too.” She paused. “So what are you going to say to him?”

“That he hasn’t been around for the first eight years of Luke’s life and there’s no reason he needs to be around for the next ten years of it. Luke and I are doing fine without him.”

“Yeah? And do you think he’s going to buy that?”

“Of course he’s going to buy it. He couldn’t wait to be rid of the responsibility when I was pregnant.” Her voice cracked on the last word so Paige focused on emptying the bags in an effort to keep herself from freaking out. “No, Penny, I don’t think he’s going to be reasonable about this. You should have seen him in the diner. I thought he was going to blow a gasket.”

“Is that where you guys met up? At Pros pector’s?”

“Naturally. Hasn’t my dirty laundry always been aired in front of half the town?” She proceeded to tell Penny the whole sordid story. Her sister didn’t say anything through most of it, just made sympathetic noises.

When she was done, Penny crossed the kitchen and pulled her into a huge hug. “I’m sorry you’ve got to deal with this guy again, Paige. He’s a total jerk.”

“Tell me about it. Nothing like paying for the mistakes of your youth forever, huh?”

“Yeah, well, you don’t have to be young to be stupid,” Penny said with a grimace.

Paige knew better than to express sympathy for Penny’s current male-induced crisis—that was the quickest way to get her to shut down.

With a sigh, Paige rested her head on her sister’s shoulder and said, “What am I going to do?”

“Whatever you want to do.”

“I wish. If that was the case, I wouldn’t let Logan near my kid.”

“Then don’t. You don’t have to explain anything to that man. What he did to you is unforgivable and you don’t owe him a damn thing.”

“I know that.”

“Do you?”

“Of course I do. But it’s not him I’m worried about. It’s Luke. And I do owe him the chance to get to know his father, if that’s what he wants.”

“He’s eight. He doesn’t know what he wants. If he knew Logan the way we do, he wouldn’t be so quick to imagine how great his life would be with him.”

“It’s not that simple. Now that Logan knows about him, what am I supposed to do if he decides he wants to see Luke?”

“Tell him to buzz off. He had his chance nine years ago and if he suddenly decides that he regrets the choices he made, well, that’s tough for him. Some mistakes can’t be undone.”

Paige nodded her agreement, but as she put the milk and eggs into the fridge, she couldn’t help wondering if thinking that was unrealistic. Sure, she didn’t think that Logan had any claim to Luke. They’d broken up nine years ago, with Logan telling her he wanted nothing to do with her or her baby. Why should he get to change his mind at this late date?

But as the sounds of Luke’s video game console buzzed overhead, she felt a niggle of doubt. The Logan she’d known had been a cold bastard when it came to getting what he wanted—even at eighteen—but the man she’d met today had seemed downright frigid. If he wanted a part in Luke’s life, she wasn’t sure how she was going to stop him. Especially if he filed for custody here, in this town where everyone hated her. What if he actually succeeded in convincing a judge to take Luke away from her? She’d die. She would just—

Paige slammed a door on her thoughts, refusing to let them freak her out any more than she already was. If there was one thing her twenty-six years had taught her, it was that life would happen the way it was going to happen, no matter how much she worried about it. Besides, she had a lot better things to think about than the arrogant, devious ways of Logan Powell.

Even if she couldn’t remember what any of those things were right now.

“He can’t hurt you, you know,” Penny said. “You won’t let him. I won’t let him. Not ever again.”

Warmth filled Paige. “You know, for a bratty little sister, you’re pretty awesome.”

“For an obnoxious, know-it-all older sister you’re not so bad yourself.” Penny paused, and Paige desperately hoped for a shift in the conversation. But Penny didn’t give it to her. “But seriously, Paige, how are we going to handle this?”

“We? It’s my problem, Penny.”

“The only reason you came back here is because I totally screwed my life up. I’d say that makes it our problem.” She gestured to the paint cans and building supplies that filled up the living room. “I don’t know how I’d get this place together without your help.”

And there it was, the reason Paige had returned to Prospect even though it was the last place on the planet she wanted to be. She’d skipped out of town nine years ago, pregnant and devastated. But she’d left Penny alone with their parents, and though her mom and dad treated her sister a lot better than they’d ever treated her, it still hadn’t been a cakewalk.

But Paige hadn’t cared, hadn’t let herself care. She couldn’t if she wanted to survive. So she’d cut ties with her sister completely. And though Penny had reached out to her a year ago, trying to reestablish those ties, it had been slow going. At least until her fiancé had run away from her and this monstrosity of a house, leaving Penny almost broke and in a hell of a bind.

There had been no way Paige could leave her to muddle through on her own. Not when she was between set decorating jobs. She’d built in two weeks between movies to use as a vacation, but helping her sister was going to be so much more satisfying. And if she’d had to juggle things around and work like mad in order to make that two-week break a two-month break, well, then no one else had to know that.

“Luckily, you won’t have to find out.”

“But—and don’t take this the wrong way as you know I love that you’re here—but maybe you should go back to L.A. Get Luke away from Logan as fast as possible.”

The same idea had occurred to her, oh, about every fifteen seconds since Logan had chased her down the street. “I’m afraid he’d follow me. He seems really determined to see Luke.”

Penny snorted. “Yeah, nine years too late. But even if he follows you, won’t that give you home court advantage. Literally? He’s the sheriff here and one of the town’s golden boys. Wouldn’t it be better to fight this battle in a Los Angeles court?”

“I’m hoping it won’t come to that.”

“But if it does?”

“If it does, then yes. L.A. would probably be a better venue for it.”

“Then don’t feel the need to stick around here.”

“Penny—”

“No, I mean it. If it’s best for you and Luke, I want you to go back to California. As soon as possible.”

The thought had appeal. Definite appeal. And yet— “I don’t know if that’s going to work. It might already be too late.”

“How can it be too late? You just saw the man an hour ago.”

Penny was right, Paige knew she was. But the doubts at the base of her spine told her she was already in too deep. That if she ran now, it would destroy any chance she had of dealing with Logan in a mature, low-key manner. “It just is. Trust me.” She reached for a box of cereal. “Where do you want me to put this?”

“In my hand.” Penny all but ripped it away from her and shooed her toward the back door. “Why don’t you get out of here? You’ve had a rough day. I insist you relax for a few minutes while I finish putting this stuff away.”

“I don’t want to go relax. I’m so wound up that I might be able to orbit the planet under my own power.”

“All the more reason to get out of here. A walk on the beach will help you clear your head. Then we can make dinner together, before I challenge you to a virtual tennis match.”

This time Paige’s laugh was real. “We’ve been here less than two days and you’re already as addicted to that Wii as Luke is.”

“That’s because it’s all kinds of awesome. Now go.”

Paige headed out the door, but stopped on the threshold. “You know, Mike was a fool.”

“You won’t get an argument from me. Waiting until I sank all my money into this place to make our dream come true before taking off. He deserves whatever bad karma he gets—and I hope it’s a boatload. But I refuse to spend any more time being miserable over his disappearance. Not when it brought you back to me.”

Unsure of how to deal with the naked emotion in her sister’s eyes—honest, adult communication had never been one of her strong suits—Paige cleared her throat. “Maybe I will go for that walk after all.”