“Hello, Lucas, I’m Helen.” She smiled and extended her hand. She was beautifulwith pixie cut blonde hairandbright blue eyes as clear as the Caribbean Sea. With her tall, slender frame, she did not look like a woman with a son in his thirties. He couldn’t help but stare and saw one reason why his father couldn’t resist her. A light shoveto his shoulder pulled him from his stupor.
“Um . . . yes, it’s nice to meet you, as well,” he said taking the offered hand.
“And I’m Ann-Marie, but you can call me Ann.” Her smile was also bright, but Lucas saw the slight tension between her brows. She was just as enchanting as Helen with long dark flowing hair and brown eyes. Both women were the same height, and with Seth standing between them with a happy smile on his face, Lucas got a chance to see how much he resembled Helen.
“And who is this lovely little one?” Ann-Marie said looking at Zoi.
“This is our daughter, Zoi,” he said turning around to look at Tucker and his daughter who had a very tight grip around his husband’s neck.
“Well, you are simply the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, isn’t she, Nellie,” Ann-Marie said stepping over to Zoi who seemed to loosen her grip just a bit. Helen stepped away from Seth and over to Tucker.
“I’m not sure if I should be jealous that your daughter has stolen my mums from me.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me your parents were so gorgeous?”
“I did tell you they were models,” Seth said to him.
“Um . . . no you didn’t.”
“Oh well.” Seth shrugged. “Now you know they were models before they opened up their fashion boutiques."
“Oh shit, dude, your moms are Helen and Ann-Marie Harrison of Helen Marie’s Boutiques!”
“Yeah,” Seth said unimpressed. “We weren’t going to come today.”
“Let me guess, my mother was very convincing?”
“Very,” Seth answered. “I called my parents the night you found out about my mum and Asher.”
Tucker was right, there were some things his mother needed to let happen naturally and stop meddling in everyone’s life. “Don’t worry about it.” He nodded and stepped around Seth and headed for the kitchen where he knew his mom would be. She was pulling a roast out of the oven when he entered the kitchen. “Did you invite them hoping we would be on our best behavior?”
She didn’t look up when he spoke. “I’d rather we air things out now and not let things fester like a sore.”
“Why can’t you just let things work themselves out?”
“How would you have done things, Lucas?”
“I don’t know what I would have done. But why can’t you just . . .”
“What?” she snapped looking up at him. “Ignore everything as if it didn’t happen? Well, it did. Your father cheated, hell, even I did to some degree. But what happened between your father and Helen gave us a young man I can’t wait to get to know.”
“So, you go and invite them to the family dinner as if nothing happened, as if they’ve been a part of this family from the beginning? Why do you always push others' boundaries when things aren’t going your way?”
“What the hell have I done that’s so bad? Is it wrong to want to see my family happy the way it used to be?”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to see your family happy, but you have to give everyone time to adjust to things. You never fucking listen to what others want. It’s always what you want.”
“So now you want me to put all of my faults on the table?”
“Don’t do that,” Lucas said. “Don’t try playing a guilt trip on me; it’s not going to work.” He stepped back and ran his hands through his hair.
“When are you going to let this go?” Lucas couldn’t give her an answer. She walked over to him and rested a hand on his left cheek.
“You don’t feel guilty at all for butting in, do you?”
“Not when it comes to keeping my family together." Lucas shook his head not understanding his mother. She always did what she thought was best for everyone, sometimes making the situation a bit worse.
“Listen to me. I get that you and your brother haven’t had years to deal with what happened as I did. But all I’m asking is that you guys listen and see things from their point of view.”
