Stick Play (Boston Bucks #4)

26. Ash

26

Ash

G ina pales and takes a wobbly step back. I reach for her, worried that she’s about to collapse, and who can blame her after that blunt announcement? As I brace her against my body, Zoe just stands there and stares at the two boys, a completely confused look in her eyes. My gaze jerks to the two women at the table as they begin to shift uncomfortably.

Zoe shakes her head as I stand there and try to understand what’s going on. As my brain races to catch up, Zoe blurts out, “I don’t have a brother. Wait, did my wishing stones work?” She turns to look at Gina. “Mom?”

“Son,” Dad whispers, and gives me a nudge that pulls me from my stupor.

“What is this?” I ask in a deep voice as I hold a trembling Gina tighter.

The younger woman stands on shaky feet and grips the back of her chair for support. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out this way.” She shakes her head at her son. “Josh.”

Josh folds his arms, and even though he gives an unapologetic shrug, it’s easy to tell from his eyes that he’s as uncomfortable as everyone else. “Well, she is my sister.”

Gina studies the boys for a second, her body tight. I’m about to ask if this is some kind of joke, when a little gasp escapes Gina’s throat, and that’s when I realize she’s figured out what’s going on here. “Lucian,” she whispers. “You’re…you’re…”

Lucian…her ex. Zoe’s father.

“Maybe we should talk in private,” I cut in when I clue in to what’s happening.

I meet the woman’s eyes and she nods in agreement. “I think that would be a good idea.”

“Dad, why don’t you take Zoe upstairs. Make a snack.” He nods and takes her hand, hurrying her up the stairs to give us the privacy we need.

I put my hand on Gina’s back and set her into motion, desperate to figure out why this woman showed up out of nowhere, and what she wants. “Let’s all go into the kitchen.”

“Mom, can you stay here with the boys?” the woman asks.

Her mom gives a curt nod and the boys grumble something to each other as I lead Gina and the woman into the kitchen. Andre and Carla are just finishing the clean-up and as soon as they see us, and read the tension in the room, they take off their aprons and hang them up.

Andre holds the door open for Carla. “We’ll see you in the morning, Gina.”

“Drive safe,” she mumbles and steps away from me, gripping the counter behind her as she nervously bites her lip and stares at the other woman.

“You’re Lucian’s wife,” she murmurs.

“I’m Maria.”

“I didn’t know,” Gina retorts quickly. Strain lines form under her eyes and I’m guessing she’s considering her words carefully. “He…he lied about everything.”

Maria waves her hands. “I’m not here about Lucian. Well, in a way I am. I’m not mad at you and I don’t blame you is what I’m trying to say.”

Gina relaxes a bit. “I’m not a homewrecker. As soon as I found out…”

“You ran, with your unborn child. Lucas and Josh’s half-sister.”

Gina straightens and everything from the horror in her eyes, to the tightening of her face, tells me she’s going into mama bear mode. I’m right there with her.

“How did you find me?”

“I hired a private investigator a few months ago. It wasn’t until you were photographed with Ash….” Her gaze strays to me for a second. “Well, he was able to track you down after that.”

“Fuck,” I curse. This is all my fault. From the way Gina is looking at me, it’s easy to tell she thinks so too. “I guess that’s who’s been following you.”

Maria looks horrified. “I hope he didn’t scare you.”

“What do you want?” I don’t even recognize the cold defensiveness in Gina’s tone. “I won’t let you take?—”

“I don’t want to take Zoe from you,” she cuts in quickly. Her shoulders lift, tightening around her ears. “I just wanted to know her. I wanted the boys to know her. She seems like a lovely little girl. You’ve done a great job…by yourself,” she adds quietly.

Gina folds her arms. “Lucian didn’t want anything to do with her.”

“I know, and after I found out that he had a child in the world that he’d discarded, I didn’t want anything to do with him.” Her mouth twists like she’d just eaten something disgusting. “How can a man abandon his own child?” Tears fill her eyes, and Gina softens.

“I’m sorry, Maria. I never wanted to come between you two, and…I never ever meant to hurt you or your children.”

“You didn’t know. I understand that. I found out about his affairs a few months ago, and believe me, there were many.” She shakes her head, glancing at the polished floor, and Gina pushes off the counter, and takes her hand. “I asked around, at the hospital,” Maria begins quietly. “There were rumors…” She lifts her head. “About you, and a baby. You’d left abruptly, and when Lucian and I had a big fight, and I pressed him, the truth came out.” She sniffs. “I’m so sorry he did that to you. I’m sorry you had to run away like that. If I’d have known…”

“I’m sorry for what he did to us all,” Gina responds quietly as tears fill her eyes. I stand there, helpless, not knowing what to say or do. When they hug, and tears fall harder, I grab a box of tissues and hold them out.

“Thank you,” Gina whispers and pulls a few from the box to share with Maria. “At least now I know why Lucas was angry when he met me.”

“He’s going through a lot,” Maria explains. “We’re leaving California, and he’s a teenage boy, with teenage angst and hormones. He’s angry at his father, and the entire world, to be honest.”

Gina wipes her eyes. “Are you moving to Boston?”

“I don’t know. We’re in limbo, trying to figure things out. I have my boys and my mom to consider and need to do what’s best for all of us.”

I take in the dark circles under Maria’s eyes. “Did you travel in today?” I ask. She nods. “Where are you staying?”

“I haven’t booked anything yet. I came straight here. Our luggage is in the rental car out front.”

I catch Gina’s eyes and we know each other so well, she can tell what I’m thinking. “You’ll stay with me,” Gina says.

“How about we all go to my place,” I suggest. “There’s plenty of room, and the kids can get to know each other in the games room. I think they’d all like that.” As Maria glances down thinking about it, I eye Gina. “Gina?”

“I think it’s a good plan,” she agrees.

Maria dabs at her eyes. “I don’t want to be any trouble.”

Gina gives her a comforting smile. “It’s no trouble at all and I think Lucas and Josh are going to lose their minds if they get to stay at Ash’s place.”

A small smile turns up the corners of Maria’s mouth. “I didn’t expect you to be this nice to us.”

“You’ll stay?”

She nods. “Yes, thank you. Maybe Lucas won’t be so angry with me for dragging him to the east coast if he gets to stay at your place.”

“Good, it’s settled.” I drop the box of tissues. “Let’s get out of here before the roads get bad.”

Maria nods. “Okay.”

With that, I open the door for them to leave the kitchen, and the boys and her mother watch us with curiosity.

“Mom, this is Gina and Ash.” Maria glances at us. “This is my mom, Elena, and you’ve already met Lucas and Josh. Boys, we’re going to be staying at Ash’s place tonight. What do you think about that?” They high five each other, and instantly start texting. I guess that’s a good sign. Elena stands up, her hands linked together as she studies her daughter. “It’s okay, Mom. We all talked and I think it’s going to be okay.” She eyes Gina, looking for support.

“It’s going to be okay,” Gina assures her. “Come on, let’s go up to my place so we can talk to Zoe and get some things packed for a sleepover.”

We all head up the stairs, and Dad glances at me as I step into the living room. His worried eyes meet mine and I give a nod to let him know everything is under control. “Hey, Zoe. Want to stay at my place tonight?”

She jumps up. “Yes.” She stops jumping when she sees the others coming in behind me. “Are you my brothers?” she asks as she angles her head, completely confused.

Gina waves toward the sofas. “Please, everyone, have a seat.”

Maria and Elena sit and the boys perch on the arms of the sofa. I move to the loveseat and Gina drops next to me, calling Zoe over to sit on her lap. “Zoe,” she begins. “Lucas and Josh are your half-brothers.” Gina swallows. She’s having a hard time with this and I don’t know how to help.

Zoe slaps her palm to her forehead. “But they’re big. I wished for a baby brother.”

Gina chuckles nervously as the family of four watch us. “But isn’t it awesome to have two big brothers? You can show them Ash’s games room and you can play pool and pinball. I bet they’d love that.”

“You want to play?” she asks and they nod. “How do I have big brothers?”

Gina brushes Zoe’s hair back. “Why don’t we save that story for another time, and instead we can all get to know each other.”

She sits there for a second. “If I get a daddy, will he be their daddy too?”

“It’s complicated,” Gina tells her. “Why don’t we wait and see if it happens first before we answer more questions.”

Satisfied with that, Zoe jumps up. “Do you have a dog? I want a dog.” She shows the boys her wishing stones. “I’ve been wishing for a lot of things, and you can wish for things too. Where do you live? Do you know how to fix a Cadillac?”

“Okay, Zoe.” I rustle the hair on the top of her head. “No more questions for now. Let’s get going before the snow is bad, and then we can all get to know each other over pizza.”

“Pizza, yay?” She starts to jump up and down again, and her resilience still amazes me.

“Not with that fake meat,” Dad says and screws up his face.

“Oh, come on, you liked it,” Gina counters, her features soft again and maybe there’s a part of her that’s both relieved and happy about this situation.

“Do you want to follow us in your car?” I ask Maria.

“Yes, that’s a good idea.” With that, I open the door and they all file outside. The boys run down the stairs, anxious to get to my place, and while I felt helpless through most of this, I can at least help by giving them a place to stay and a safe place to talk.

“Zoe, run and get some clothes packed,” Gina tells her.

“I can’t believe I have brothers,” she mutters as she trots off to get ready and Dad makes his way to the kitchen. I guess he senses that I need to talk to Gina alone.

“Gina,” I begin and pull her into my arms. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. The pictures…” I shake my head. “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t picked Zoe up that night.”

“I think I’m happy it happened. I always knew Zoe had brothers. I never thought she’d ever meet them.” She grins. “Our little family is expanding.”

“It is.”

She shakes her head, her eyes once again filling with tears. “I can’t imagine what Maria is going through, though. How horrible for them all. I never wanted to see any of them hurt by what I did.”

“It wasn’t what you did. It was what her cheating, asshole husband did.” I brush her tears. “But she has you now, so that is going to make everything better.”

She smiles at me. “Thank you.”

“I’m really sorry about the pictures. Keeping a secret was the one thing you asked of me.”

“In the beginning, yes. I didn’t want to complicate things. Then after a while, it wasn’t so much that I was worried about being seen with you, it was that I just…in the back of my mind, I always worried that someday Lucian would change his mind and maybe want to see Zoe or try to take her. It was just a small worry, but a worry, nonetheless. I did tell him I was leaving, and he didn’t ask where, so I didn’t tell him. I guess I just wanted to keep a low profile.”

“You’re not worried about being seen with me, about our relationship getting out there?”

“If our relationship is getting out there.” She pauses to poke my chest. “I think maybe you and I should first figure out what this relationship is.”

I laugh. “You’re right. Will you be my girlfriend, Gina?”