Lex and Lu (5 page)

Lu felt a little like a stalker. She watched him come out of the garage, mesmerized by his grace. He danced with the ball into his spot and performed a routine worthy of the stage. He’d gotten better, more fluid and sure. Floored by his persistence and determination, she couldn’t look away. So she watched, struck still, while he practiced. She missed her mother walking in the house and leaving to head to the Pellitteri’s. She missed it until Lex finished and headed into the house. She noticed her mother then. She took in the conversation. It worried her that she lost herself in Lex—that easily, just like when she was sixteen.

“Lu, we need to head over,” Willa called, shattering the spell.

Steeling herself, she walked upstairs.

“I don’t think I can go over there, Will,” she stated, sitting heavily upon Willa’s bed.

Willa finished messing with her hair and turned to her sister. “You can and you will. You’re not going to be able to avoid him tomorrow. Might as well get it over with tonight.”

Heaving a huge sigh, Lu fell on the bed. “I don’t want to go.”

“You’re acting like Nina. You realize that, right?”

Lu smiled. “But I’m a bit more dramatic, wouldn’t you say?”

“If it will make you feel better, I’m sure Nina would be proud of your two-day pout. Now, why don’t you make me proud—get your ass up off the bed, put on something cute, and get control of this situation.”

“You know I hate you right now, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Fuck! Can we at least come up with a code so I can let you know when I’m ready to go?”

“Don’t we already have one?” Willa said, smiling at the memory.

Lu returned her smile. “Yes, but somehow I don’t think ‘Can I borrow your pink pants?’ is going to work.”

“Probably not. Why don’t we just agree to stay for an hour? We have to clear out of here anyway tonight. So let’s just agree to one hour. Everyone will understand. I don’t think this is meant to be a throw-down anyway.”

Lu sat up, nodded her head, and held out her pinky to Willa. “Pinky promise—one hour.”

Rolling her eyes, Willa wrapped her pinky around Lu’s. “One hour.”

The Supper Clubs often ended at the Pellitteris’ house because the kitchen was a wide-open, inviting space that seemed to draw people to it. An L-shaped breakfast bar provided a break between the kitchen and the family room, which had an amazing barrel ceiling. The back of the room opened out onto the patio through a series of sliding glass doors that slid into the walls like old-fashioned pocket doors. The sprawling back deck and pool area made the space seem far larger than it truly was but also provided plenty of area for all of the families to congregate.

Even though she’d been to the house this morning, when Lu entered she was struck again by the loss of Mr. P. That, coupled with the prospect of seeing Lex, had her stomach churning. Willa immediately pushed a glass of wine into her hand. “Drink this,” she ordered. Lu complied, feeling a little like Alice in Wonderland. Everyone around her was familiar, shades of her childhood coming at her in various colors. She looked around cautiously, thinking she wasn’t quite ready to see him.

A pair of arms encircled her waist and she almost jumped out of her skin. “It’s just me,” Pete said.

Smiling sincerely, Lu turned and embraced him. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as she hugged him harder. “So sorry.”

He pulled back and looked at her. “I know. But I appreciate it. How are you?”

“I’m OK,” she answered honestly.

“Don’t worry; he’s talking to my mom. You’re safe for a bit.”

He saw her visibly relax.

“How are you?” she inquired, feeling remorseful for letting him see her worries rather than letting them go so that she could be there for him.

“That is a very difficult question to answer. Too many emotions to wrap my head around one.” Drawing her aside, into the bar between the kitchen and dining room, they leaned back on the counter that housed the ice bucket and the open and empty bottles of wine. Because of their location, there wasn’t much hope for a private discussion, which neither of them really had the stomach for. Heads together, they chatted about any inane subject they could think of in an attempt to avoid discussions of death, reunions, and uncertainty. And that was the sight that greeted Lex when he came out of the den with his mother.

His mom had spent the last thirty minutes giving him the rundown of the events over the next couple of days. Although she attempted to cover her annoyance with his schedule, tension had run through the entire conversation. Annoyed and overwhelmingly tired, Lex wanted everyone out of the house. He had managed to hide from everyone up until this point, but he had aunts, uncles, and old friends waiting to greet him and his mother. He opened the door for his mother and held it for her, allowing her to set the pace through the small gathering of people. He could see how tired she was, and while being with her family provided a soothing balm, she wasn’t up for a long night. Situated at the front of the house, across from the dining room, his father’s den afforded him an unobstructed view of the proceedings.

As they prepared to leave the sanctity of the den, he bent toward his mother’s ear. “How long can you go?” Glancing at her watch, she looked vaguely surprised. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Maybe an hour? I think Amber will be ushering my family out of here in a bit, so we should be able to make that happen.”

“We’ll make it happen,” he assured her.

From his vantage point in the doorway of the den, Lex had an open view of kitchen and hallway. Without meaning to, he surveyed the rooms looking for Lu. He didn’t see her at first. Disappointed, he decided that both he and his mother needed a drink. “Want some wine?”

Grateful eyes met his. “Absolutely. Pinot noir, please.”

Attempting to take the most obscure way to the bar—not through the kitchen but backtracking through the dining room, Lex turned the corner and stopped as he got his first look at Lu.. The lighting in the bar was dim, but he could make out her features perfectly. Blue-black hair reached midway down her back falling in a straight line without an ounce of wave. Growing up, she had worn her hair either long or short. She would let it get long cut if off for “Locks of Love” and then grow it out again. But when he had left, it was short. She had always been tiny, but now, compared with his six-foot-two frame, her demure height of five foot two left her standing a foot shorter than him. She looked like a pixie, with her delicate features and her big, blue eyes.

All the angst of seeing her evaporated in the midst of a rainfall of memories. She was what was good about his childhood. She, like his father, had molded him into who he was. Without any hesitation, he moved quickly through the dining room and grabbed her. Wrapping her up in his embrace, he lifted her off the ground.

“Louisa May Knight, you have no idea how good it is to see you,” he said. Reveling in the feel of her, he noted the changes in her body. She felt delicate but by no means did she feel fragile. Curvier than her sixteen-year-old self, she had filled out in all the right places and his body responded to hers almost immediately. Holding her in his arms, he met his brother’s surprised look with the smile that made Lex Pellitteri Lex Pellitteri. But had he been able to process anything other than what it felt like to hold Lu, he would have noticed Pete’s expression of concern.

Eight years fell away. Overwhelmed by the feeling of being in Lex’s arms, Lu sighed deeply, breathing him in. His scent was different from the sweaty boy smell she associated with him. His tangy, fresh scent wafted around her and she knew she would forever attempt to remember it. The sinewy feel of him disappeared under the hard-worked muscles he had developed over the last few years. This wasn’t Lex the boy she had known so well. This was Lex the magnificent man whose boyish angles had been traded in and up. Though she felt breathless in his embrace, there was a sense of relief when he set her down. Being in his arms felt too good.

Lex looked much like she had envisioned when she was a little girl. His dirty-blond hair still sported two very blond spots at his temples. Just as when he was a boy, those spots on his head stood like beacons of his time in the sun. Sprinkled across his nose and cheeks, freckles lent a boyish quality to an otherwise chiseled man. Set perfectly and fringed in amazingly straight black lashes, his green eyes still twinkled with constant mischief and irreverence.

“God, I am so glad that you are here,” he practically gushed, boyish in his enthusiasm. “I have to go say hello to everyone, and bring my mother some wine, but I want to have some time to talk to you before you leave.”

“I’m actually headed out soon, but we can catch up tomorrow,” she said, too quickly.

He looked over his shoulder at her as he poured two glasses of wine. “Absolutely not. I’ll deliver this to my mom and be right back. Don’t leave or I’ll show up at Willa’s in the middle of the night,” he said with a wink before he took off to find his mother.

Horrified, Lu turned to Pete and said, “I have to go. Can you grab Willa for me and tell her to meet me at the house?”

Pete, looking dazed, responded slowly, “Lu, you might as well just talk to him now. You know his ass will follow you to Will’s just because he’s Lex. Don’t force his hand on this one.”

“I can’t, Pete. I just can’t tonight. I’m exhausted and confused. I can’t have a casual conversation with him. I need to fortify myself. Please just tell Will that I’ll be waiting for her.” With that, Lu made a break for the garage door through the kitchen—knowing it was the easiest and quickest way out. She hurried across the well-worn path between their two houses, yanked on their side door, and flew up the stairs to her room, where she grabbed her bag. She headed back downstairs and threw her bag next to the front door. Fighting against the pull of the past, she exited out the back door and followed their porch around to the opposite side of the house. From there, although hidden from view, she could see Willa’s approach.

Sitting heavily in one of the white rocking chairs, Lu allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. Leaning her head back on the chair, she resisted the urge to rock. The big fat wooden planks groaned and creaked with the slightest movement. Paralyzed by her reluctance to give away her location, she sat stiffly, waiting impatiently, impotently for her sister to make a more graceful exit than she had. With a slight smile she remembered the look on Pete’s face as her panic blew up on him. He had to wonder how she managed to mother his niece when she could barely manage to control her emotions.

Heaving a wavering sigh, Lu shut her eyes and concentrated on the night sounds all around her. She was searching for some quiet for her overactive mind. But the quiet allowed all of the memories in, and before she could stop herself from going there, Lu was remembering the moment she became friends with Lex. They had never attended the same school. Lex and Pete’s parents had sent them to the Catholic school down the street. Lu had skipped second grade and found herself at the gifted school by the time she entered fifth grade. That move had earned her the nickname Harvard—another moniker from Lex. It was right about that time that Lu realized that Lex was a lot smarter than he let on to everyone.

“Hey, Harvard, how was school today? Did you skip any more grades this week?” he had teased. The teasing from Lex was merciless but mostly harmless. On this particular day, though, Lu wasn’t in the mood.

“Shut up, Alexander James,” she yelled because she knew the use of his full name annoyed him as much as the use of her nicknames annoyed her. “Why can’t you just be normal?” she screamed. God, she mostly hated him, she thought as she took off toward the wooden play set at the back of her yard.

He juggled his soccer ball, flipping it up into his hand. With his other hand, he grabbed her arm, cocking his head to the side and said, “What exactly is normal?”

It wasn’t that profound a statement. And being in the snit that she was in, she was surprised when her blue eyes met his green ones and she knew there was a lot more to him than she thought. Shrugging him off, she started to walk away.

“Come on, Harvard. Whatcha got?”

She kept walking toward the play set, Lex in tow. They sat up in the fort that day, just talking. Had anyone in the neighborhood seen the two of them, they wouldn’t have believed it. The two became each other’s confidant that day. And from then on, if Lex was in town and didn’t have a game, Lu wasn’t far away. She couldn’t help it as a smile spread across her face, lost in the memory. Distracted.