Page 18 of Lore
Just another reminder of why no second chances will be happening.
“Come on, Rider,” I call out to my son, who runs over to me and hugs my leg. I check the monitor and keep it in my hands so I don’t miss it if Dove wakes up. “Do you want to go outside and check out the pool?”
He nods, but turns to stare at Lore before he takes my hand. He can sense the tension, and he’s unsure about leaving Lore. I just hope Lore sticks around. It would break Rider’s heart to give him this, only to take it away.
We walk in silence until we make it outside.
“Look!” He smiles, pointing to a hammock right by the pool.
I lift him and lay him in it, then pull up a chair. “We need to have a talk. About Lore.”
“What about my dad?” he replies, arching his little brow. “You were right, Mom. He looks just like me.”
He has always known Trent isn’t his biological father. And if he didn’t, he would have known with how Trent treated him so differently from Dove. I hated that. And I always made sure to make Rider feel loved and cherished by me. But when he asked about his real dad, I told him about Hunter.
When he asked where he was, I told him that I didn’t know.
“And how do you feel about meeting him?” I press, resting my palm on my cheek as I study him. “I know you probably are wondering why?—”
“He’s much nicer than Trent,” he says, shrugging his little shoulders. “And we have the same eyes. You always said I had special eyes.”
“You do.”
He pauses. “He’s nice, Mom. I want to spend more time with him.”
“You can, Rider. I’m so sorry…” I trail off. I really have messed up by keeping Hunter away from him, and I hate myself for it. “I made a huge mistake. I hope one day you can forgive me.”
I can’t go back, but all I can do is let them build their relationship from here on out.
Reaching out, I take his hand in mine. “You know, whatever happens, you have me. I love you, and we’re going to be okay.”
“You, me, and Dove?” he asks, and I nod.
“Us against the world, remember?”
“I remember. But now we have Dad too.”
Yeah, I guess we do.
I let go of his hand and nod toward the beautiful pool. “You want to go for a swim tomorrow?”
His violet eyes light up. “Yes! This is the best vacation ever!”
My smile slowly fades, a reminder of another lie I told him. But if he can take something good from this bad situation, I’m happy.
He got to meet his father.
But where it goes from here remains to be seen.
Seven Years Ago
Sighing to myself, I park my car in front of the old club I used to work at. It’s been four months since Hunter broke my heart, and in that time, he tried to text and call me a few times in the first week, but stopped pretty quickly. He did leave me a voice message, though, saying that he hopes I’m okay and that he knows this is the right thing for us.
That’s all that he gave me, and I heard women in the background.
I replied and told him to lose my number and to please never contact me again.
So he didn’t.
