In Your Honor (33 page)

The yard, overgrown with wildflowers and
honeysuckle, stretched out in front of him from the window at the
top of the stairs.

When he had bought the
house, part of him had held a selfish desire that they would figure
it out and maybe he could bring her here, and it could be
their
home
.
She'd
leave Frank, and Blake would be able to say all the right words and
do all the right things and she'd come back to his arms. Where she
belonged.

But there wasn't anything to figure out. God
had truly given him a gift and he had squandered it. Now, she would
bring light to someone else's world. She was across the country, in
another man's arms. And yet, she was here with him. Always
surrounding him and reminding him of everything they could have
been.

It was here, at the top of the stairs,
looking out over the flowers and into the blue Oklahoma sky, where
Blake finally understood. Where he surrendered to the burning in
his chest that had plagued him for years, that had sent him running
to the booze to prevent it from happening. But there was no cure.
Only acceptance. And he finally let it happen.

He sank to his knees, his eyes burning. He
couldn't remember the last time he had cried and he vaguely
wondered if his tear ducts still worked properly. Hot tracks made
their way down his face and he wiped them away in denial. But there
were too many and he gave up. His vision blurred and he leaned his
back against the wall, holding his head in his hands. It hurt so
bad. This was the part where the pain was unbearable, and normally
he'd go find a nice bar to distract him. But not tonight.

A guttural cry tore from his throat and
echoed in the empty house. He threw his head back against the wall
with a thud and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to block out
the distressed sound of the organ that was beating on the inside of
his ribcage.

“
What have I done?” he
called into the house. He'd ruined everything, that's what he had
done.

Guilt impaled him with a fiery arrow,
burning his insides and reducing his heart to ashes. He couldn't go
back. He couldn't fix it. The reality of his choices collapsed in
on him and he cried out in physical pain.

“
God, forgive me.” His
rough whisper was the deepest confession he had the strength to
give, and he hardly recognized his own voice as it slipped from his
lips.

Can a man change in a day? Can he become
something new?

Blake wasn't even sure if he counted as any
kind of a man at all.

Shane awoke to the sound of Lucy's joyous
laughter downstairs. He rubbed his face, trying to reorient
himself. Grabbing at his phone on the floor, he checked the time to
see if he had slept in. No, the alarm wasn't supposed to go off for
another half an hour. He quickly switched out his pajama pants for
jeans and jogged downstairs.

“
Dude, put a shirt on. You're making
me look bad.” Adam held up his hand to block his view like he was
disgusted. Shane ignored him and his eyes swept along the breakfast
bar in search of his travel companion.

She was sitting in the middle. Adam, Steve
and Kip to her right, Bo and Brady to her left. Serge was manning
the griddle and making what appeared to be pancakes. Lucy cradled a
coffee mug in between both hands, her dark, wild hair tumbling down
her back and over her one bare shoulder. The white, gauzy shirt she
was wearing seemed to glow against her freshly bronzed skin.

But it was her smile that drew Shane in.

He walked around the bar and came up behind
her, sliding his hands up her back and resting them on her
shoulders. She leaned against him, tipping her head back with a
welcoming smile, and he placed a kiss on her forehead.

“
How long have you been awake?” he
asked softly, looking around at his friends who were being way too
chummy with his date.

“
A little while. I'm still on bus
time.”

“
Lucy was telling us about being on
tour,” Kip filled in, pushing back his thinning curly hair. He
wasn't that old, probably close to thirty. But he'd been fighting
his premature balding since high school. Of course, his steady use
of marijuana didn't exactly help matters.

“
Why are you guys up so early?” Shane
narrowed his eyes at them collectively.

“
I was already out this morning,”
Serge commented from his post at the griddle. “When I came inside,
Lucy was making coffee.”

She grinned up at him again. “I have to have
coffee. Sorry, babe.”

Babe, she called me babe. Don't get too
excited, Brookings.

“
Yeah,
babe,
” Steve curled his lip, “girl
has got to have her coffee.”

“
Don't be a dick, Steve,”
Lucy said, rolling her eyes, and Shane chuckled. So, she didn't
just get along with his friends, she didn't take their shit either.
Good to know.

“
Apparently,” Lucy said
with a single arched eyebrow, “surfers wake up to the smell of
coffee.”

“
Plus, she's like the
coolest chick I think I've ever met,” Kip added, which caused Lucy
to roll her eyes again.

Shane looked at his friends skeptically. It
was true, Lucy was the coolest chick around, so he understood the
appeal. It still made him nervous. Maybe unnecessarily, but
still.

“
You could have woken me
up, I wouldn't have minded,” he said, against the shell of her
ear.

Her mouth crooked up on one side and he
noticed the color change in her ears.

“
I'll remember that for
next time,” she promised quietly.

“
How do you always end up
with the hot chick?” Steve bemoaned as he stood and got a refill of
his coffee.

“
Aren't you here with
Harmony?” Bo asked, elbowing Brady, who chuckled.

Bo and Brady were brothers who were only a
year apart, but they could very well have been twins. They had the
same blue eyes, and blond hair that they kept long and shaggy that
was permanently bleached by the sun. The surfer boy stereotype
definitely held up.

It was common knowledge that they didn't
like Harmony.

“
Yeah,” Steve rubbed his
forehead anxiously, “but she's kind of a handful.”

“
I'll take her off your
hands for you,” Adam volunteered. Adam had easily moved into the
role that Shane used to occupy. He was suave, charming, athletic,
and had absolutely no moral grounds whatsoever. But he also didn't
judge anyone else's motives either. “Live and let live,” was his
motto, and it was working out for him so far.

“
You think that now,
but...” Steve shook his head and the guys laughed.

“
You
had
to have her.” Kip shook his head
in disgust.

“
She was throwing herself
at me, what else was I supposed to do?” Steve protested.

“
Um, have some standards?”
Bo suggested with obvious cynicism.

“
C'mon guys,” Lucy
admonished. “She's still a person.”

Shane looked down at her, surprised. He felt
himself smiling, she was so good. She was as beautiful on the
inside as she was on the outside.

“
You don't know her yet,”
Brady warned dryly. “Give it a couple of days.”

“
Still.” Lucy's pretty
face was scrunched in a frown, clearly upset by their talk. “No one
needs to be blasted behind their back.”

“
Damn you, Brookings,” Bo
exclaimed, “why you gotta be bringing the girl that makes me feel
bad about myself?”

Shane shrugged as he squeezed Lucy's
shoulders warmly. What else could he do?

“
Beach day?” Brady asked
with a head tilt.

“
Yeah, I promised Lucy I'd
teach her how to surf. We'll probably practice pop-ups all day and
paddle out tomorrow.” Shane went to get his own cup of
coffee.

“
Right on.” Brady stood
up, pushing his coffee cup away. “Well, children, I'm gonna get my
own start.” He winked at Lucy. “Looking forward to seeing that
little bikini again later.”

Shane glared at him on his way past, but
Brady only laughed.

“
I should get going, too,
before Harmony wakes up,” Steve said with trepidation, and drained
his cup quickly.

“
I told you, dude.” Bo
pursed his lips. “I frickin' told you.”

“
Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Steve
waved him off and they both followed Brady down the
hall.

“
Pancakes?” Serge offered
the remaining group as he doled out the product of his early
morning cooking venture.

“
Pop-ups all day?” Adam
questioned around a huge mouthful.

“
She's never done this
before, I don't want her to get hurt.” Shane took Bo's vacated seat
beside Lucy and poured syrup onto his stack.

“
I'm not even gonna
pretend to know what y'all are talking about,” Lucy
muttered.

“
You will by the end of
the day.” Adam shook his head. “Your legs are gonna be on
fire.”

“
Shane knows what he is
doing,” Serge offered calmly. “You will do fine.”

“
Mmm, do I smell
pancakes?” Harmony came sauntering into the kitchen in booty shorts
and a tank top. No bra. Her over-processed hair was gathered in a
tight knot on the back of her head and mascara was smeared across
one side of her face.

“
Help yourself.” Serge
waved at the counter top, his mouth making a hard line. Even the
level-headed Norwegian struggled slightly with the vibe that
entered with Harmony.

“
Where's Steve?” Harmony
looked around at the remaining faces.

“
He already went out,”
Adam filled in, a glint in his eye. “Why don't you come sit by me,
sexy?”

Harmony's feline smile sent chills down
Shane's spine and he faced away from her, focusing his attention on
the prairie flower next to him.

“
How did you sleep?” he
asked Lucy, noticing the refreshed look on her face.

“
Great.” She nodded
enthusiastically. “That bed is huge, I really got to stretch out.
It was a nice change from the cramped bunks.”

“
You couldn't have had
that much room,” Kip quipped. “Not sleeping next to this guy.” He
jerked his thumb at Shane. “How tall are you dude? Six-five,
six-six? Not to mention the wingspan.” His whistled under his
breath before he took another sip of coffee.

“
Oh, um...” Lucy's ears
were bright red and she looked back down to her cup. Shane had no
problem with being honest. The last thing he wanted was for her to
feel awkward. Of course his dipshit friends thought they slept
together. That's what he did. That's who he was. Or who he used to
be.

“
I'm only six-four. And I
slept on the couch,” he spoke up, all eyes focusing on
him.

“
Why?” Harmony's
condescending tone made him take an extra breath. Imagine being
judged for
not
having sex.

“
None of your business,
Harm,” he said calmly. Harmony rolled her eyes but kept her mouth
shut. He was glad for that. It wasn't her business or anyone else's
for that matter. If and when that happened shouldn't be up for
public discussion or ridicule. That was between Shane and
Lucy.

The conversation turned to other things
after Shane's abrupt answer. Kip and Adam began asking Serge how
the swell was this morning, and Shane saw Lucy relax as she
listened to Serge's descriptive report. She began asking questions,
and the boys were more than happy to teach her the lingo. He
decided to get another cup of coffee.

“
You talk weird.” Harmony
zeroed in on Lucy again the moment Shane had walked
away.

“
What do you mean?” Lucy
looked confused by the sudden interruption.

“
Are you from the
country?” Harmony asked. Her smile too innocent, her eyes too
cunning.

Lucy's gaze dropped to her cup again as she
replied, “Small town in Oklahoma.” Small, like her voice just
now.

“
It's so cute, your little
accent,” Harmony tittered.

“
You finished with your
breakfast?” Shane cut in. He could see where this was
going.

“
Yes,” Lucy answered,
crisp and clear. He immediately felt bad that she was now
self-conscious of her words. He liked her slight drawl and the way
words came out from between her lovely lips.

“
Harm, since you were the
last one up, you have to do the dishes.” Shane didn't know if that
would work but he didn't care. He really, really did not
care.

“
What?” Harmony pouted,
and Adam laughed at her.

Shane nodded with his head for Lucy to join
him. She got off the stool and circled around the bar. He caught
her around the waist, seeing Harmony's calculating eyes, and
quickly led Lucy back upstairs.

“
Damn, that girl has
legs,” he heard Kip say as they left the room.

“
Well, duh, we
all
have legs,” Harmony
snapped.

“
Don't be jealous, Harm.
It's not a good color on you,” Kip retorted.

Shane wanted to laugh but he kept moving
silently, not wanting Harmony to cause his flower to wilt any more
that morning. She was too good at the game, and Lucy didn't play
games at all. It wasn't a fair fight.