Only Her

“I didn’t sweetheart. I would have told you.”

“He’ll be there in ten minutes,” Skylar told her.

As soon as Luka left her Skylar knew she had to give Luna a head’s up that he was on his way to his mother’s house. He had nowhere else to go. He would want explanations. She wanted Luna to be as prepared as possible with such short notice. Skylar knew how angry he was without him telling her.

“I guess it is time to face the music, love. We kept this from him for ten years. That is a lot of time to keep a man’s child from him.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“Do you still want me to watch Ava tonight?”

“Of course I do, if you don’t mind. I need to be at the town square meeting and at least part of the square dance.”

“Skylar, I’ll come over there instead of you bringing her here. Less drama that way,” Luna offered.

“Thank you. I would appreciate that.”

They talked for a few more minutes. Both women filled with regret at the path they had taken. At the time, Skylar couldn’t see any other way.

“I hear his truck coming up the drive Skylar. I’ll see you at eight.”

“I’m sorry Luna. So sorry I put you in this place with Luka.”

“You didn’t twist my arm and force me to keep this from him.”

“I didn’t but I still feel responsible.”

“I’ll handle Luka, sweetheart. Don’t you worry.”

They disconnected the call. Skylar placed the phone back in its cradle. She laid her head against the wall next to the phone. Luka Shaw was back in Haley Cove.

**

Luka slammed his truck door when he got out. He slammed it so hard the window rattled in the frame. He was always careful with the expensive vehicle but right now he was furious.

He glanced around at the farm where he had grown up as the memories flooded his brain. His life here had been hard. His father was an unfeeling, mean man who drank too much. Only one t

hing softened him and that was the four Bradford sisters.

He hadn’t wanted to be like him so he left Haley Cove to avoid becoming a bitter old bastard who hurt his family. He took a few steps and he faltered. The old barn had been repaired. The woodshed to the back of it where Jacob Shaw had doled out punishment with a heavy hand, switch or a wooden paddle had been torn down. The sadistic fucker enjoyed it, Luka was sure of it. He was happy the structure was gone. He might have enjoyed having a hand tearing it down to the ground and burning the remnants.

He remembered the whooping he had had gotten time and again sometimes because he said I don’t know instead of yes sir or no sir. He had never known what to expect out of his father or what mood he would be in.

As he got older, it was a punch to the face when he was too old for the belt or the paddle if his father thought he was back talking him or looking at him the wrong way. The sad part was he was too much like the old man. That is why he had run away from Skylar. He had his temper.

What he had discovered living away from Haley Cove was that he didn’t have to be exactly like him. Every time he stepped inside that cage, he let go of some of the rage that consumed him. Luka knew he would never strike a woman, never strike Skylar the way that his father had hit his mother. He knew that he would never strike his child the way that his father had hit them. He wasn’t his father’s son after all. Luka was his own man.

He wiped his hand across his brow. The ghosts of his past were haunting him though, which is why he had left in the first place. Now they were asking him why Sky hadn’t told him she was pregnant before he left? He dropped his head towards the ground and rubbed his hand across his jaw. So much regret filled him.

He heard the familiar squeak of the front screen door and he turned his gaze in that direction. There stood his mother Luna. Part Hispanic, part Native American, part Scottish. An odd combination that created such a beautiful woman. He still thought so after ten long years.

She was wearing her hair short now, an almost pixie cut that showed off just how white her hair had become. Peppered in was her natural, nearly black hair. He and Ava had gotten their eyes from his mother. His brothers had brown eyes like their father.

Luna was taller than most women at five feet nine inches there was hope still for his daughter. She was still slender even though she had given birth to five boys. She always said it was them that kept her so tiny. She was always chasing after one of them. “You’re home,” she said. He nodded.

“For good or is this just a visit?”

“I promised my daughter I was home for good. A daughter I didn’t know that I had thanks to my family keeping it from me.”