Chapter 22

Azalea's POV.

I rushed to the car for a moment. I had forgotten Lucas was riding with me. I considered leaving him stranded here, but that would mean I ran away from my trouble. Nothing good ever came from running away from my troubles; I needed to face them head-on.

I could lie to him, tell him it was just a child I babysit, perhaps that I look after a friend’s child often for extra cash. I could easily lie if it meant protecting Lynn, but the problem was that I hadn’t reacted properly with Jakob. He’d now believe I was surely keeping something from him. Lying to him could end up badly since Lucas wasn’t exactly an idiot.

“A child?” Lucas asked as he entered the car. “Azalea, explain yourself,” he demanded.

“Just leave, Lucas. We already spoke and made things good,” I muttered as the engine started and I began driving away from the estate.

“No, you’re holding out on me,” Lucas decided, standing firm on his words.

“You’re not entitled to know everything,” I gritted my teeth.

“Azalea, you never mentioned having a boyfriend or...” Lucas trailed off with his words, and realization seemed to have hit him. “Oh my god.”

Lucas remained quiet for a few seconds before asking, “You had a child with Damon?”

There it was. He figured it out, and denying it could’ve been pretty easy, but I knew I’d have a hard time making him believe such, so I opted to remain truthful.

“Lucas, please, I have enough of your judgment. We just fixed things, and I don’t want to ruin it,” I requested. In the past, he judged me before. It affected our friendship, and we just started working on that. I don’t need him to judge me all over because, no matter what happened in the past or happens in the future, Lynn will never be a regret of mine.

“Judgment? Azalea, I am not judging you. I’d never judge you,” Lucas’ voice broke, and a frown formed on my face. “You trusted him, he begged for your attention, and when you granted him a chance, he took it for granted,” he explained, and I could feel my heart ache at the memory. I could still see how Damon acted all of a sudden, how he had changed. “I acted the way I did because I wanted that chance with you,” Lucas then confessed, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

“What?” I asked, feeling parched all of a sudden. A chance with me? It couldn’t be. He never treated me as such.

“I’ve always cared about you, Azzie,” Lucas confessed. I stopped at the red light and turned to look at him. “Beyond just being friends,” Lucas admitted.

“This is all confusing right now, Lucas,” I was quick to say. You’re about five to six years too late, Lucas. I had hoped so much for this in the past. Now this confession was good to hear, but too late to do anything with.

“You’re right. Now is not the time,” Lucas cleared his throat. “I’m upset with myself that I couldn’t have been there for you when you went through your father’s death and pregnancy,” he said, and I realized he truly wasn’t judging me like I thought he would. He had changed.

“It’s fine. I never told you, I couldn’t tell you,” I admitted, keeping it vague.

“Tell me more about your child,” Lucas then requested.

“You’ll meet her. I’m running late to pick her up,” I stated. It was already late, and I had to pick her up before the place closed up.

“What’s her name?” Lucas wondered.

“Lynn. She’s a smartie, that one,” I chuckled, thinking back on all the little mischievous things she had done. I told him a few of her incidents, especially when she meets with friends and manages to get them to follow her lead to cause innocent trouble.

“So you’ve been doing all of this on your own?” Lucas then wondered.

“I won’t lie, Lucas. I had help from many people. I met a friend, Clara, who is quite nice. Her mother, Ada, lives right across the hall, and she’s an angel. They are both the sweetest and helped me out so much. For Lynn, she has a grandma and an aunt along with a cousin,” I explained.

“She has a family. You gave her a family,” Lucas then realized.

“I did all I could to ensure she’d be a happy girl,” I smiled. Lynn was, so far, quite happy, so I was doing a great job.

“Wow, a child?” Lucas whispered to himself. “I still can’t believe it,” he shook his head. “You moved on with life, got a home, a job, back in school, and all whilst having a child?” he recalled and seemed to be quite proud of it all.

I spoke to Lucas. I didn’t want to pick Lynn up with a man she didn’t know. I dropped Lucas off and went to pick up Lynn. Lucas, of course, immediately chatted with me, asking if he could come by. I saw this coming, I was hoping he wouldn’t want that, but I guess he truly did want to meet her, and he was once my best friend. I gave in, and now we waited.

“Lynn, you have to pick clothes for bed,” I groaned when the little girl wouldn’t make a decision.

“But I don’t wanna,” she pouted and ran off.

“Lynn,” I warned, but she was already running, so I went right after her.

“I like playing chase!” Lynn giggled, enjoying every second of this.

“We’re not playing—” I tried saying, but she was still moving around every obstacle. “If I catch you, I’ll tickle the hell out of you,” I bargained, knowing where this would end.

“You won’t catch me,” she said with pure confidence. Oh, my little baby, you are easy.

“You sure about that?” I smirked.

“You can—” Lynn was so confident until I actually chased after her and picked her up in a bear hug. “Mommy, it’s not fair you’re so fast,” Lynn whined and hid in my chest.

“You should always bargain for deals you can win,” I told her.

“Okay,” she sighed and exhaled dramatically as she sat down. I began to dress her in her princess pajamas. I then did her hair for bed and kissed her cheek. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly.

There was a knock on the door, and I got up. Lucas was here. I inhaled deeply and went to open the door.

“I hope this is still your favorite,” Lucas said as he held up a bag from Kelly’s, my favorite fast food place. That certainly hadn’t changed. “I also grabbed a kid’s meal. I hope the nuggets were a good choice.”

“This is perfect. Lynn and I both love Kelly’s,” I smiled and stepped aside.

“Who is that, Mommy?” Lynn asked as she came to check on me.

“This is a friend of mine,” I said as I put the bag aside and pointed to Lucas. “This is Lucas. He and I grew up together.”

“On the farm?” Lynn asked excitedly as she looked up at Lucas. She studied him closely before giving a subtle nod.

“On the Belt, yes,” Lucas mildly corrected her.

“What’s a Belt?” She asked with a frown.

“Well, shortly explained, it’s many farms brought together as one. It’s a larger piece, and there’s a lot more going on on the Belt compared to a farm,” Lucas explained all so cheerfully.

“Do you ride horses?” Lynn asked with excitement in her tone. “He has a buckle!” She pointed to his belt buckle. He loved his buckle so much.

“I do ride horses, yeah,” Lucas bent down to her level and pulled out his phone. I noticed he had a photo of a foal. “I got a new one. I still need to name him, though,” he looked over at my daughter with a smile.

“Name him Blaze!” She asked sweetly, and Lucas nodded proudly. “Mommy, he’s a real-life cowboy! Even better than the ones from the movies,” Lynn looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Thank you, Lynn,” Lucas smiled and watched her. “You look just like your mommy.”

She truly did. The fiery red hair and sparkling green eyes were all mine. She was a bit tanner than I was, and her nose and chin seemed like her father’s, but that was all.

“I do. I’m beautiful,” Lynn smirked.

“Lynn, what do you say?” I looked down at her. Teaching this child humbleness was a journey.

“Thank you, Mr. Lucas,” she looked up at him then gasped. “Wait here, I have something for you,” she said as she ran off.

“I take it you never spoke about the Belt to her?” Lucas asked as he got up.

“Not much. I tried to keep that part of my life away from her, but all the photos I have with my dad are taken there, and she’s a curious little girl,” I said with honesty. “She’s supposed to be a city girl, but man, she loves all things country,” I sighed and shook my head. “One time I caught her trying to speak with an accent, and she giggled about it.”

I only tried to keep her from it because she shouldn’t go looking for her father. I kept her off the farms for only that reason. To never make her consider visiting that Belt for a second.

“She sounds incredible,” Lucas smiled. “But she seems very energetic,” he laughed.

“Oh yeah, Lynn always keeps me on my toes,” I laughed too.

Lynn came to hand him a drawing of a horse she once did.

“I love it! I’ll take it with me. Thank you, Lynn,” he said happily and hugged her.

We thanked him for the food and invited him to sit with us. After dinner, I excused myself and Lynn and went to get her ready for bed. I returned back to Lucas, nervous because now he had officially met my daughter.