Page 160 of Wild Blades

“You have a great laugh.”

“Nice eyes.” She points to mine.

“Same as my dad’s.”

“That’s crazy, right?” She scrunches her nose up.

“Feels surreal.”

“It won’t always feel like that. I promise. I’ve had time to process who my mother is, and it gets easier. And better. Look at us two now. I’m so happy.”

“Can I give you a hug?” I ask tentatively.

“I thought you’d never ask.” She throws her arms around my neck and squeezes me tight.

“I’m so glad you found me.” It’s weird how close I feel to her yet barely know her.

“I am too.” Her body starts to shake, and I know she’s crying, and hell, I might start too. It’s been an emotional month. Thelast several months have. “You’re such a nice guy. You’re better than I imagined.” Her tears wet my neck. “I’m sorry for what Graham did to you, Wade.”

“He screwed us both over.” I rub her back and enjoy being this close to her. “We didn’t deserve for this to happen.”

“We didn’t. If I had told you at the beginning, none of this would have happened. It wouldn’t have been quite so public.”

“There’s a lot of things we, including me, you, Graham, Marcus, and everyone could have done differently.” I leave my mother out of the lineup. She’s not getting any more airtime from me. I leave Kali out too because I am finally seeing what she did for me.

Protection.

Had I not had my head up my own ego-filled ass, I would have seen that immediately.

Lola leans out of our embrace. “We have so much catching up to do.”

“We have the rest of our lives to catch up.”

“I plan on you being in my life for longer than you were out of it.”

“I like the sound of that, Lola.” I pull a napkin out of the dispenser and pass it to her.

Dabbing the corners of her eyes, she pulls a little smile. “Thank you. I’ve been very emotional lately.”

“Tell me about it,” I say, and we both laugh together. “What a month.”

“Worst ever.”

“So, is this what we do now, eat ice cream together to mend our broken hearts?”

“If you would just pick up the phone, Wade. She misses you.” Tilting her head to the side, it’s the sad head tilt I hate and have seen more often than I’d like, from everyone who’s visited me.

I rub my new beard. It’s scratchy as hell and needs to go. “Can you do something for me?”

“Always.”

I pull a letter I've written for Kali out from the pocket of my jeans and lay the envelope on the table. “Can you give her this from me?”

“If you were to jump in your truck and drive for two hours, you could do it yourself.” Taking the letter from me, she slides it inside her purse. “But I will do it. For you. For now. Not forever. You have to come back.”

“I will.” I feel nervous suddenly. “I want to ask you something.”

“Oh-kay.”

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