He didn’t know what kind of car Serena drove or if she’d already arrived. Had he thought far enough ahead, he would have gotten her number from Lacey. As it was, he would wait outside for her. If she didn’t show up, then he’d call his cousin.
The pizza joint wasn’t busy for a Friday afternoon. Maybe kids didn’t go after school to celebrate the week’s end anymore. He sat on a bench to the right of the front door, away from the middle-aged man smoking a cigarette.
Several cars drove in, and Lucas shielded his face from the afternoon sun and looked for Serena. After five cars came and no sign of her, he pulled out his phone, prepared to text Lacey. As he was about to hitsend, he saw Serena exit a late-model modest sedan. She slung a purse strap over her shoulder and kept a grasp on it.
When she came within several feet, he stood up. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”
“Did I have a choice?” Her eyes were red and swollen, and he wondered that she hadn’t tried to hide it with makeup.
“There’s always a choice.”
She winced, apparently catching his double meaning. “Let’s get this over with.”
They went inside, and he requested the corner table. “Do you still like sausage and peppers?”
It annoyed him that he remembered that detail about her.
“Yes, but order whatever you want. I’m not really hungry.” She sat with her back pressed ramrod straight against the booth as far from him as possible as though he might reach across and throttle her at any second.
“I won’t bite.” He absently spun his phone in circles with a finger. “I only want to talk.”
“What do you want to know?”
Their waitress came to the table, and he ordered two cokes with a large sausage and pepper pizza.
Only when they were alone again did he ask the burning question. “Why?”
She wouldn’t look at him. “I was going to have an abortion, even went to the clinic in Baton Rouge where I thought no one would recognize me. I sat in the parking lot and cried for an hour, but then when I went to go in, I couldn’t open the door. No matter how hard I pulled, it wouldn’t open. Finally, a lady came and pushed it open for me, but I couldn’t do it. I never wanted the abortion, but I was terrified. I was seventeen and you know how my dad was.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“You’d already left town by that time. I didn’t want to interfere with your life.”
He glared at her. “You could have gotten in touch with me. It’s not like I left a sweatshirt behind or something piddly. You had my child.”
“What do you want from me?” She pressed a hand against her opposite elbow.
“The truth.”
“That is the truth.”
He waited until the waitress left their drinks then pointed to her elbow. “You only do that when you’re nervous and scared, and it has nothing to do with your nerves regarding this conversation because you didn’t start until I asked you why. So, let’s get this straight. You tell me the full truth here and now, or I’ll go find a lawyer, file for custody—which my cousin informs me I’d have a good shot at winning—and we can hash this out in court.”
The blood drained from her face. “You wouldn’t.”
“Don’t test me.” The truth was, he had no intention of hiring a lawyer. He did intend to eventually share custody, but he wasn’t going to give up his bargaining chip quite yet. “There have been thirteen years of lies I didn’t even know existed. Aren’t you tired of them?”
She swirled her drink with the straw. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked at him. “I didn’t know there were protestors at the clinic that day. My mind was preoccupied. Little did I know, many of them had worked with my father. They recognized me and told Dad.”
Now they were getting somewhere. “What happened next?”
“Dad screamed and called me names that would make a sailor blush.”
“Some preacher,” he muttered under his breath.
She laughed a bitter laugh. “That’s one thing we can agree on.”
“What else, Rena? Tell me everything.” Only after he went silent did he realize he’d reverted to the old nickname he had for her.
