ABBY, page 9
Being this close and this connected in this moment with her is my absolution. And no matter what happens in the future, we’ll be okay, we’ll make it through it all. That’s how strong this love is. And one day…we’ll have our happy ending…one day.
“It’s so good to see you, son,” Latch’s dad says, giving him a big hug.
I smile waiting to greet him, noticing the distinct resemblance between the two. I don’t care what Latch says, they look alike. They have the same eyes, clear as day.
“Abby,” he says and embraces me. “It is so great to finally meet you and to see you up and awake. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you, Lance,” I tell him, hugging him back, getting a whiff of leather.
“Should we eat?” Maris asks.
“Absolutely.”
“How long are you in town for, Dad?” Latch asks him.
“Just tonight.”
“Oh.” He seems surprised.
We all take our seats at the table and Latch rests his hand on my thigh, giving me a small squeeze.
As usual, Maris made a feast. “I hope you all brought your appetites,” she says. We chuckle and she urges, “Well, don’t be shy, dig in.”
We begin plating our food and Lance asks me, “How have you been feeling?”
“Good. Better than I thought I would, to be honest.”
“That’s great. Now tell me where you two met.”
“The grocery store,” I respond and smile looking over at Latch. He’s staring at me, so engrossed in me and not in the conversation. Sometimes I feel like he’s still processing the moments. Taking it all in. Which I guess I would do that too, had I seen him the way he saw me and gone through what he did. For me…it’s all black. A blur of nothingness.
“Love you,” he whispers, leaning over and kissing me on my cheek.
“Love you, too.”
“You know, I met your mom at the grocery store, Latch.”
He shakes his head taking a drink of his water. “I had no idea.”
“Yeah, it was love at first sight. That woman changed my world.”
I can still see the pain in his eyes as he speaks about her, and I can’t even imagine what he’s gone through. I mean, the anger I hold inside of me towards Darrell doesn’t even allow me to feel a shred of remorse. Thinking of losing Latch is unfathomable, my world would end.
“Maris, where did you meet Latch’s grandfather?”
“I was a nurse in the army when I was young and patched him up. He had these eyes, they made me lose my breath, and from the second we met, I knew there was no one else for me.”
“Have you dated since he passed?” I ask, knowing he died over a decade ago.
“Nope, I’ve got my boys and was still working until just a few years ago, and now, dear…I have you.”
I hold back my tears, a smile etched on my face, completely taken aback by her words. “Thank you, that is very sweet of you.”
“It’s the truth, dear.”
As we finish our meal, the conversation flows, and I don’t care what Latch has said about his father – he seems like a really good man, inside and out. Clearly he cares a great deal for both Latch and Maris. He might not have the most honest profession, but until very recently, neither did Latch, and it never stopped me from seeing the good in him.
My phone rings during dessert, and I excuse myself to silence it. “Sorry,” I tell the table as I step away. But once I see who’s calling, I have to take the call. I’ve got to make sure everything is settled.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell them, answering my phone and walking off to the restroom. Maris waves at me, like it’s no big deal, but Latch gives me that look, the one he’s had since I snuck out yesterday morning and met with George.
“Hello?” I answer quietly.
“Hello, Abby,” George says in his usual professional tone.
“Hey, everything go through?
“Yup, I just need one more document signed to get the condo in your name. Could you stop by the office?”
“Not tonight.”
“In the morning?”
“Yeah, that should work.”
“Great! Also, I’ve notified Darrell’s family, and they aren’t happy about things, but…this is what Darrell wanted, and I stressed that to them.”
“Thank you. So once we get this document back, everything will be done?”
“Well, in essence, it’s already done. The account is open and you have sole access to it, like we discussed, so take what you need to cover your medical bills.”
Hearing him say I can take what I need lifts a huge weight of stress off my shoulders. Finally, I don’t have to worry about what Latch and I are going to do for money. Now I have the control.
“Thank you, George. I’ll be by first thing tomorrow.”
“It’s my pleasure. I’ll be in touch regarding the investments and some of the other final details.”
Hanging up the phone, I look in the mirror at my reflection and take a deep breath. “Abby, you okay?” Latch knocks on the door startling me. I jump and respond, “Yeah,” then open the door. He’s leaning on the outside frame, looking so fucking sexy.
“Who were you talking to?”
With my phone in my hand, I swallow hard, not wanting to lie, but now is not the time to tell him what I’ve done. I need him to understand why I did it, and here at dinner with his family is not the place to talk about it. “It was just my friend, Sasha, checking to see how I was feeling.”
“And you had to answer it while we were eating?”
“She’s hard to get a hold of, babe.” Standing on my tippy toes, I kiss his cheek. He wraps an arm behind me and looks far into my eyes, and my heart shatters lying to him, filling me with anxiety. But I’m going to come clean. Walking back to the table, I say, “Sorry about that.” I shake my phone in front of me and then set it on the table.
“It’s okay, dear. We were just talking about how when Latch was a baby, he refused to wear clothes,” Maris says.
“His mom used to duct tape his diaper around him,” his dad adds. “Do you remember that?”
“No, thank God! It sounds like child abuse.”
“It was either that or you’d piss all over the house.”
I can’t help but laugh at Latch, and he looks down at me and says, “Don’t you side with them. It was wrong. I’ll never do that to my kid.”
When he says, “my kid” a wave of sickness fills my body, because I’ll never be able to give him another child. Yeah, we can adopt, and now have all the money we need to explore that, but it’s not the same, and having been adopted, I know that all too well.
Our baby was a miracle and our only chance at creating life together. Now he already has a baby coming with Jessy, and I worry that the bond between them will grow stronger over time. After all, I’ve thought it before and still wonder sometimes, did he just settle down with me because I was pregnant?
Taking a sip of water, Maris and Lance don’t seem to notice how his comment affects me. But Latch does and whispers in my ear, “I didn’t mean to say that.”
Fighting back the tears as I blink them away and stare at my plate, I respond, “But you said it.”
After saying goodbye to my dad and grandma, Abby and I hail a cab, and as we drive home, the vibe seems off. It has been ever since I opened my fuckin’ mouth at dinner. She seems distant and I don’t like it. Rubbing my hand up and down her thigh, she looks at me and rests her head on my shoulder.
My phone rings and I wonder if we left something at my grandma’s, pulling it out. I’m pissed when I see Jessy’s name on the screen. Fucking bitch has been blowing me up lately with all sorts of nonsense. You’d think she was due any day with how often she’s been calling me. “You gonna answer it?” Abby asks me.
“No,” I respond and hit the ignore button.
“What do you think she wants?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care.” I hold her leg tighter and say, “All I care about is you. I’m sorry for what I said earlier. It really came out wrong.”
“I know,” she says still laying her head on my shoulder.
“Baby, even though you think you can never have kids, it happened once…it can happen again, can’t it?”
“No, it can’t, not with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Women like me don’t produce eggs. We’re lucky if our bodies ever make a single mature one.” She fiddles with her necklace and it kills me to hear her say those words. “I’m sorry I never told you, but I was so elated when we got pregnant and I didn’t want to jinx anything…” she trails off watching the buildings pass by. “But it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It does, baby.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“I didn’t even tell Dr. Rosland.”
“Well, maybe we do now? We could see him and discuss our options.”
“We’re out of options, Latch, don’t you see that?” It hurts to hear her say the words. I can only imagine how she feels, and no matter how much she pushes me back on this, I won’t drop it.
Arriving at our house, there is a swarm of paparazzi waiting outside. Which is not completely out of the normal, but at this time of night, it just seems strange. “What’s going on?” Abby asks me.
I shake my head and ask her, “Ready?” extending my hand to her.
She wraps her fingers around mine and I open the door, getting out with her in tow. The flashes of the cameras are blinding and the normal chants of, “Abby, Abby!” as they try to get her to stop are relentless, but we ignore it all, not stalling as we make a dash up the stairs. But they are close behind and one of them yells, “Abby, how does it feel to inherit all of Darrell’s money?”
She tenses, squeezing my hand, and I am stunned by the accusation, looking at her for clarification, not wanting to believe what I’ve heard. I freeze, standing with the keys to our home in my hand. She takes them from me and opens the door as another paparazzo asks, shoving a camera in our face, “It is true that you got over two hundred million dollars?”
Abby drags me inside and slams the door. I stand there with the wind knocked from my lungs. How can she deceive me like this?
“I can explain.”
“Please tell me they’re lying.” She doesn’t respond and I grip my hair, deceived by the person I trust the most.
“No!” I shout.
“It’s complicated.”
“Why would you do this without talking to me first?”
“I tried,” she says and touches my arm.
Looking down at her fingers on my skin, I am appalled by her betrayal. Pulling my arm away, I storm off to the bedroom and she follows. Before she can speak, I yell at her, “That motherfucker killed our baby and almost killed you.”
“And I’ll never forgive him for that.”
“Then why take his money or do anything that honors his wishes?”
“I’ve thought a lot about it and it was hard for me to make the decision, but really, we didn’t have another option. He left everything to me.”
“Then you could give it all to charity!”
“And how would we survive then?” Abby asks me, knowing that my money won’t last forever.
“We’d make it together, with our love and trust. Even if we had to live in a fucking cardboard box!”
“Latch, I don’t think you realize what I went through. Being married to Darrell was a nightmare. I was a prisoner for years, tortured day in and day out.”
“So that’s what this is about? Vengeance?”
“No, but at the end of the day, we deserve that money!”
“Fuck the money, Abby, I’ll burn that shit!” And I’m dead serious in telling her.
“What’s done is done. You can fight it, or you can try to understand why I did it.”
“I don’t even know who you are anymore, Abby. You lied to me.”
“Like you’ve never lied to me.” I look at her speechless, my back up against the wall.
Fuck…she knows!
“I know what you did after the accident. Maris told me how she found you and it breaks my heart every fucking day that you still haven’t told me.”
Why would my grandma do that? It wasn’t her place! “I can’t sleep, all I do is worry, and that’s part of the reason why I took this money. I want us to have security for our future, to be together every day, and do whatever we want. So if you wanna talk about lying, we’re in the same goddamn boat!”
“You knew?” I whisper, looking at her as she sits next to me.
She nods and asks me, “Why wouldn’t you have told me? Why did I have to pry it out of your grandmother? She wanted you to tell me in your own way, but we’ve both been so worried about you. I had every right to know, if for nothing else than to be there for you.”
“I wanted to tell you, really I did, but I was so ashamed of myself for almost giving up and leaving you. I couldn’t put that stress on you, or fear into you, especially when you were so fragile. You didn’t need anything more added to your plate. Losing the baby was enough.”
“Latch…I…” She’s breathless, unable to finish her sentence. “I appreciate you trying to protect me, I guess at the end of the day we were both doing the same thing. But you’ve got to always tell me everything, no matter how dark things get.”
“And so do you, baby! You can’t make decisions that change our future without talking to me first.” I realize how horrible those words sound in comparison to what I almost did when I held a gun to my head.
“I will, I promise from this point forward.”
“Thank you, baby. You have no idea how many times I wanted to tell you, but the thought of breaking your heart, or you being disappointed in me, was something I couldn’t handle.”
“Have a little faith in me sometimes.”
“I will. I’ll never doubt what you can take. You’re so strong.” I place her hand over my heart. It slams against the walls of my chest as I speak. “I want you to know that, no matter what, how dark or scary the future could be, I’ll never hurt myself.”
She scoots on top of my lap, staring into my eyes, and says, “I can’t lose you, Latch.”
“You won’t, baby.”
“Thank you for saying those words. I needed to hear them and to believe them.”
I kiss her tenderly, my hands forming around her sides, and she still holds her hand over my heart. Which she stole from me a long time ago. Her wet cheeks pressed against mine hurt me, but what pains me even worse is that I’m the cause of her tears.
Pulling away, there is a sparkle in her eye and she smiles saying, “I mean, how realistic is it to donate over two hundred million dollars?” trying to lighten the mood.
“It’s really easy. Especially when it’s his money.”
“Don’t look at it as his money. It’s our money and we have our whole lives ahead of us. Plus, with everything we’ve been through, we deserve this.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?
“I knew you would put a stop to it, and I sat back envisioning what our future looked like. And it scared me. Neither of us have any skills to get a job. So what? I’d be a waitress and you’d go back to being an escort? I couldn’t see after how hard we’ve worked, things would end that way for us. This will make our lives so much easier. We can pay off all of the hospital bills, move anywhere we want, and take care of Jessy and the baby.”
Hearing her words, I don’t know how I got so fortunate with this woman…but I did. I might not have been on board with the plan, and still am not completely sold, but she is so amazing, and I need to put trust in her and her decisions. “You know I’d never go back to being an escort. You’re my light, my salvation, and my sanity. I wouldn’t. No…I couldn’t do that to us.”
“So what would you do?”
“Well…I don’t have to worry about that because of what you did. Thank you for seeing things in a different light, when sometimes I can’t. I truly am the luckiest guy in the world.”
“I feel just the same, Latch,” she says, connecting our lips and threading her fingers into my hair. As we are in this moment, a wave of relief rushes over me. As much as I was against it, taking the money was the right thing to do.
Latch prods my neck, waking me up with kisses as he whispers, “I wanna fuck you.”
“It’s late,” I whine and pull the covers further up and around my chin.
“Come on,” he murmurs through a kiss and nudges his dick against my ass.
I moan, pushing my butt towards him, and he says, “Yeah, you want to get fucked, don’t you?”
When do I not want him?
“Mmmhhh.” He keeps rocking his hips and I move with him. The tip of his wet shaft has me ready to come from the sheer thought of imagining him inside me. Reaching back, I grip it hard then scoot down, under the covers. My hair is messy, and everything is hot, but I need him. Swirling my tongue around him, I take him deep into the back of my throat. Slowly, I suck him, loving his taste, and then he lifts the covers and the fresh air whips around me. For the first time since I woke up, I open my eyes, glancing up at him through tired lids. He’s so sexy and sleepy too, and I wonder why he’s awake. I could sleep the night away right now. Yesterday was so stressful; I don’t think either of us has fully recovered yet.
But I smile around his cock and keep pleasing him, getting lost so easily. Tiny noises roll out of me and Latch reaches for my pussy. Then pulls my body on top of him, so I am straddling his face as I am still sucking him. I enjoy the combined pleasure of what I am doing to him and his lips as they mold around my clit. His hands on my body and the simple touch from his lips alone, rock me to the core. Being with him like this is my heaven, my paradise. And as he pleases my body, I lose the grip that I have on him. Under the covers it’s becoming so hot that I can barely breathe. Sitting up, I rip them off me and grind my pussy against him. Quickly causing me to fall from this world, stumbling into a remarkable bliss. “Fuck!” I scream, enjoying every second of the pleasure he gives me.
