Finding Our Reality (The Reality Duet #2)

Chapter 28

ELLA

Niece. Niece. Niece.

I keep repeating the word in my head.

He leans across the chair, rubbing his hand across my thigh. “Can you talk now? Or are you still in shock?” He nods at Laura as she swings from a tire swing hanging underneath one of the trees. She’s holding a baby doll in her hand and mumbling under her breath, her imagination fueling a conversation between the two of them. “Because I can tell you from experience, we only have about fifteen more minutes before she gets tired of swinging with the baby and wants to do something different.”

“I thought she was your daughter.”

Sitting back in his chair, he rubs his fingers across his stubble. “I gathered as much from our conversation last night. I assume you heard what I said to Brooke yesterday? I really wish you would’ve just talked to me when I kept asking what was wrong.” He cocks his head to the side. “Why didn’t you?”

I start to shrug and say I don’t know, but I decide against it, however wise or unwise that decision may be. “Because I was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“Scared of the answer. Of what you’d admit to me.”

“What if she were my child? We’ve been apart for twelve years. We lived our lives. You were married to someone else. What was so upsetting about the thought that I may be a father?” He narrows his eyes when I don’t immediately answer. “And so help me, Lulu, if you lie, I’m gonna flip my shit.”

“Because that was literally the very thing that I wanted. I wanted to marry you, have a life with you.” I look at the beautiful house behind us. “Fill our home with babies. For so long, that’s what I wanted.”

He stares at me, swallowing hard. I watch as a small bead of sweat rolls down his temple. “And now? What do you want now?”

I watch Laura swing back and forth. She’s singing. “I’ve done some amazing things with my life. So many things I’m proud of. My education, my career.” Sensing my stare, Laura looks up and waves. “So many things didn’t turn out the way I thought they would, though. When you met me, my life was black and white. And filled with sadness. Grief over Carrie, anger at my parents. And then, you made me see color… all of these bright and wonderful and sparkling colors. I dreamed of a life together. With you. After you left, I told myself it was just the foolish wishes of a young girl’s first love. I learned to live with that. Embrace it. Make it fact.” I stare into his eyes. “But then I see something like that.” I nod at the house. “And it makes me question everything I thought I knew. Question everything that could have been.”

He follows my eyes, appreciating the homestead before him. “The hydrangeas will look better next year. I just planted them this spring. I had decided to do green shrubbery instead,” he smiles, “but then you came home, decided to stay for a while. Back then, you told me you wanted hydrangeas in the front flowerbeds. That’s what you said, anyway, so I tossed the green shrubbery idea out the window.”

I cough, trying to dislodge the words from my dry and scratchy throat. “You saved my sketches.”

“Of course, I did.”

I nod, biting my lip.

“Go ahead and ask me. I know you want to.”

“What?”

“Don’t beat around the bush, Lulu. I like you when you get to the point.”

My words stutter. “Did… did you build this house for me?”

“Of course, I did.”

My heart drums against my ribcage, stealing the breath from my lungs. “But that’s crazy. How could you know I would be here to see it one day?”

He leans forward. “I’ve never been without you. You’ve always been here with me. Every single second of every single day. All I had to do was close my eyes and I could see you.” His thumb grazes the side of my leg. “I’m selfish. I kept you. I never let you go.”

I don’t have an opportunity to digest those words and formulate a response because Laura jumps down from the swing and races over to us. “Uncle Ry! Let’s show Miss Lulu our special place. Pleeeeaassse!”

Ry grins as the little girl crawls onto his lap. “Little Girl, it’s a hundred degrees out here. Why do you have to crawl on me like a monkey?”

Laughing, she squeals like a monkey and scratches her armpits.

“Fine, little monkey. We can show her.” She jumps off his lap and starts to run across the yard. “But not until that fishing stuff is put back where it belongs.”

Turning on her heels, she dramatically moans with attitude.

“Laura,” Ry scolds.

Her behavior quickly changes. “Yes, sir.” She holds out her baby doll to me. “Will you hold her, please? I have to get my stuff.”

“Sure.” I squeeze the toy in my arms.

Ry laughs. “Be right back.” He calls over his shoulder, “Baby’s name is Felicia Stinkbottoms, by the way.”

Well, that’s a suspicious name.

After a second, Ry and Laura return from the pond. She’s carrying her pink rod and reel and Ry’s carrying his rod and reel and the tackle box. I fall in step with them.

“Miss Lulu?”

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Why are you wearing Uncle Ry’s panties?”

My mouth falls open, and Ry bursts out laughing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh so hard in my life. Despite my embarrassment, I giggle.

He pats her on the head. “I’ve told you before. Guys don’t call their underwear panties . It’s just underwear. Got it?”

She nods. “So why are you wearing Uncle Ry’s underwear?”

“Well, I wasn’t feeling too good last night. I drank some bad medicine. He let me stay here, but all I had was my fancy work clothes. He didn’t know I was gonna wear his underwear. I took them out of his drawer without asking.” I wink at Ry. “I hope he’s not mad.”

She shakes her head. “Oh no, that won’t make him mad. He doesn’t really get mad as long as you use your manners and do your chores and don’t talk back.”

Smirking, Ry plucks the pink fishing pole from her shoulder. “Miss Lulu has a master’s degree in talking back.”

Laura giggles. “You mean the college degree? That’s funny.”

“Haha. Your uncle is stretching the truth, Laura.”

She reaches up, grabbing Felicia Stinkbottoms from my hands. “Yeah, he does that sometimes.”

Ry narrows his eyes. “Snitch. Make yourself useful and go open the door.”

Skipping ahead, she pulls open the large side door of the huge outbuilding. It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, but when they do, I nearly collapse in delight.

“Your truck! I mean, your grandfather’s truck! You still have it?”

“Hell yeah. That thing will probably run forever.”

I trace my fingers down the side and circle around to the tailgate. Vivid memories flash alive, pouring intense heat throughout my body. Ry sneaks behind me. Grabbing my waist, he tugs my ass against him as he whispers in my ear. “A lot of good times were had in the bed of that truck. I can still hear you screaming, feel you writhing with every lick of my tongue.” His cock jumps with every syllable he speaks.

Laura peeks around the corner, catching us. She smiles widely. “Come on, I’ll show you where Uncle Ry used to live.”

My T-shirt clings to my chest and my hair sticks to my neck. And I don’t think the summer heat has anything to do with it.

Untangling from his arms, I follow Laura, flopping my way through the garage workshop in the huge rain boots. The front of the garage holds the truck, some kind of all-terrain utility vehicle, a small tractor, and a riding lawnmower. Tools and yard equipment line the walls. At the back of the garage, there’s a door. Laura steps through it and turns on the light.

There’s a kitchenette, a small dining table, a couch, a twin-size bed, a dresser, and a TV. I lean inside another door, catching a glimpse of the shower, sink, and toilet.

In true Ry fashion, it’s neat as a pin.

“Uncle Ry lets me watch cartoons in here if he’s having to work in the garage and it’s too cold for me to play outside. I’m not allowed to have a TV in my big room at the house until I’m a teenager, and Uncle Ry doesn’t wanna be with me all the time because I’m moody and mean and want to kiss boys. Then, he says, I can hide in my room and watch TV.”

He chuckles. Bending down, he tickles her side. “Little Girl, you make me sound like a mean, old ogre.”

She races away, jumping on the couch and tossing her doll in the air.

“You lived here?” I ask.

“Yeah. It’s the Taj Mahal compared to my room at Harlan’s.” He nods for me to follow him. “Laura, we’re gonna fill up the side-by-side with gas. Be sure to use the bathroom before we leave.”

I watch Ry as he piddles around the garage, getting the all-terrain vehicle ready for me to see whatever Laura wants me to see. “You built this place first? Before the house?”

“Remember I mentioned that Harlan bought the land all those years ago? So Harlan left the land to me when he died. I tried to give it back to his son. Told him I would find a way to buy it from him, but he refused to go against Harlan’s wishes. After my injury, I stayed with Marcum and Nancy for about six months while my discharge and VA disability pay was getting sorted out. After that, I rented a small apartment. I sold ten acres, then used that money to start building this garage. It took a year for me to finish because I saved money and paid cash as I went. I moved into the garage here and started saving the rest of the money to build the house. It took three years to save and get all the workers and materials cost lined up. Found a bank willing to do a construction loan for me. It took eighteen months for me to finish the house. Fortunately, a lot of the cops and firefighters around here do construction jobs on the side, so I had a lot of help. This fall will be three years that I’ve been in the house. There’s still a ton of work that I wanna do, though.”

He places the gas can back on a shelf. Turning to me, he leans against a cabinet. The muscles in his forearms flex, calling to me, singing sweetly. “I hope it meets the high standards of the architect,” he says with a wink.

“Definitely. It’s amazing.”

“You checked it out before coming outside?”

“I just did a quick walk-through. Saw Laura’s room.”

He lifts his eyebrows. “Never thought I would paint a room pink. The color was called Baby’s Breath Blush . Can you imagine? But that’s the color she wanted. She was three, at the time.”

“How old is she now?”

“Six.”

“Close to Anna’s age.” Raylee’s daughter will turn six at the end of July. “Does Laura stay here with you often?”

He shrugs. “Not as much as I would like. Sometimes the job makes it hard for me to plan in advance, make arrangements with Brooke for Laura to come here. But Brooke’s a good mom. She’s attentive and loving. I just really want Laura to have a positive male influence in her life. That’s why it’s important for us to spend time together. She’s an amazing kid.”

“I can’t believe Trash didn’t even mention her to me,” I say. “We’ve talked about everything under the sun over the past few months during those interviews. I can’t believe he didn’t say anything about being a father.”

“That’s because he’s not. Not legally, anyway.” Ry’s jaw tightens and his mood shifts. He hates talking about his brother. “Brooke made the horrible mistake of tagging along with a friend to a party that someone had for Trash when he was released from prison. She was young, stupid, vulnerable. Looking for something forbidden. Her family life was crap. She started hooking up with Trash. Wasn’t long before she wound up pregnant. That’s when she realized things had to change. She showed up at the station one day, doctor’s report in hand, terrified and scared. I rented her a small, one-bedroom loft. Helped her get a janitor job at the station. I told Trash if he signed over all of his parental rights, then Brooke wouldn’t come after him for child support. He couldn’t get his hands on an ink pen damn quick enough.”

I knew Trash was an asshole, but this is a whole new level of being a dick. “I can’t believe he gave up his child, just like that. Does he ever see her?”

“Of course not. And I won’t let him. Brooke won’t either. Not that it matters, he hasn’t even tried to contact her. He wasn’t at the hospital when she was born. Just me. He doesn’t take her to dentist appointments, doesn’t go to school functions. Just me.” He looks back at the open door where Laura plays contently on the couch. “It’s my job to fill that void. I never want her to feel inadequate because her father isn’t in the picture. I refuse to have her grow up in a situation like I had with my parents.”

“How did Brooke care for a baby all on her own?”

Shaking his head, he clears his thoughts. “I helped Brooke get some public assistance for daycare after Laura was born. The university actually has a childcare center, and they offer scholarships to needy individuals. It’s open for the whole community, and not just enrolled students. Laura went there until she could attend Pre-K at public school. And I help out any way I can. Anything they need, I’m there for them. But Brooke’s doing okay financially. When Laura was a year old, Brooke got a new job as a dispatcher. It came with a good raise. She’s a super hard worker and is next in line for a new promotion at work.”

“And the glasses?”

He chuckles. “Well, glasses are expensive. Even though Brooke is doing good, flying volleyball hazards aren’t really in her budget.”

He walks over to me. I’m too absorbed in his story to move. Too engrossed in the movement of his predatory body. Taking my face in both hands, he caresses my jaw line, tracing his fingers down my neck, grazing my collarbone. “I’d better go get her. I highly doubt she has used the bathroom like I told her to do. Like someone I know, she has a mind of her own and can be a little defiant,” he teases with a wink. “I’ll grab us some waters too.”

My throat constricts. Lust boils in the pit of my stomach and tender affection circles my heart. I can’t let him walk away without telling him this. “Ry, you’re a good man. Laura’s lucky to have you.”

He smiles softly. “I’m the lucky one. She’s like a daughter to me.”

He turns and walks away.

A torrent of emotion is running though me. Equal parts love and hate at the same time. But how can I hate him? Look at what he’s doing for his niece, for this innocent child? All Brooke did was show up . She showed up and he did all these wonderful things for her and Laura. What if I had been given the chance to show up ?

That’s all I needed—the chance.

But Ry didn’t give me that.

He took away my chance when he left me.