She nods as I stare at her. Unbelievable.
I try to keep my tone steady, but it’s incredulous. “Lorna, I think you need to look deep into your heart of hearts and ask yourself one question. Can you do that for me?”
She rolls her eyes, but she doesn’t speak.
“What would your son want?” When she drops her gaze to the ground, I push on, but I’m a little riled up and wagging my finger now, too. “We both know because he’s already stated it. Levi is Duncan’s godfather and he’s going to make a great guardian. Fantastic one, really. You know when I was little, all I wanted was to have a family. A solid one that loved me for me and was there to support me and hang out for holidays, to show up when I was in the school play or got an award. To be at the talent show the year I got in for playing the flute. I was a foster kid and, unfortunately for me, I was one of the ones who never got to know what it’s like to grow up in a home like you probably created for your son, that Mary has made for the Porter boys, and like the home, fake fiancé or not, that Levi is going to give to Duncan.”
I stay in my place for a moment to see if she’s going to react. When she keeps her stare focused on the ground, I take it as my cue to go.
Turning around, I flick a hand in the air at Bex.
“You ready?”
Bex nods, and Lorna raises her head, a new fire of determination igniting behind her eyes.
“That was a nice try, but…” She reaches in her bag and pulls out her phone. “Between the alcohol I smell on your breath and that whole display you just treated me to, I’m having more doubts about where my grandchild will end up. I need to call my lawyer.”
Lorna then pivots on her heel and flounces away as Bex’s arm snakes around my shoulder and she pulls me close. A feeling of sheer horror ripples through me.
What have I just done?
SEVENTEEN
Levi
For the last ten minutes, I’ve listened to Georgie, without speaking, as she explains to me about her run-in with Lorna. My ear is sweating, we’ve been on the phone so long. Combine that with the allergy attack I’m having thanks to the cat sleeping in my room again, and I’m a hot Southern-fried mess.
Every other sentence, she stops to say she’s sorry, over and over, for being the one who let this slip, “and in front of all people, it had to be Lorna.” She’s riding a turbulent wave of emotions, and it’s all my fault.
She should know I can’t blame her. I’m the one who asked her to do this with me. For me. To “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” It’s like she’s Julia Roberts and I’m Richard Gere and I’ve forced her into this situation by saying I’d give her a place to stay if she just pretended that she was marrying me. I’ve managed to pull aPretty Womanon my best friend.
By the time I hang up, she’s calmer, but not by much. She has every right to be upset, but not at herself. At me. I’m the problem here.
I can hear Mom and Austin out on the porch, and the sound of a television set blaring upstairs lets me know that Duncan’s assumed his position playing video games. Once he’s been here longer, I’ll put more boundaries up around his screen time, but these days I simply want him to want for nothing.
Dialing Buzz, I question if that was a good idea in the first place, because wanting Duncan to only have the best has led to this moment. I let the phone ring and ring until finally Buzz’s voicemail picks up. How can I sum up everything I have to say succinctly and quickly in a fast message?
The answer to this is: I can’t. Instead, when his voicemail picks up, I can only beg him to call me back before disconnecting and throwing open the door to the porch. Time to talk to my people about this mess I’ve created.
“What happened to your face?” Austin asks, his jaw hitting the ground when I walk out, causing Mom to spin around from her seat only to stare at me in shock as well.
“Sweetie,” she says, rising to come over and look at my puffiness in all of its glory. “That stinking cat loves you so much.”
Another reason to move out soon, but I don’t say it out loud. “And I love Snickers, too, but that cat cannot come into my room anymore.”
“At least your bride-to-be is a dog person,” Austin says, making an attempt at humor but not realizing the mood I’m in. He catches on when I glower and look his way. “What’s going on? You don’t look like you’re in a good place.”
“Because I’m not in a good place,” I growl, filling them in on Georgie’s run-in with Lorna. It takes me a hot second to cover everything Georgie shared, but I get there in the end. As soon as I’m done, I pull a chair out from our outdoor patio table and spin it around so I can face these two and hopefully hear some good advice.
Austin’s the first to react. “Wow, Levi. I don’t even know what to say.”
Okay. Austin’s got nothing. I turn and look at my mother, who shakes her head.
“I didn’t think this was going to end well,” she says, but her voice is filled with understanding and not as much “I told you so” as I was expecting. “Have you called Buzz?”
“Did that before I came outside.” I slam myself into the chair and stare at the sky. “This is going to hurt my chances of getting Duncan, isn’t it?”
“Only Buzz can tell you that,” my mother shares, patting my leg. “I keep thinking that, of course, the courts will see that you get Duncan because of Tom’s wishes, but…”
