Page 23 of Acceptance
Hearing him call her mom makes her as happy as she can be considering the current situation.
“Who did I make hurt?”
His thumb points over his shoulder to Lex. “Her. The daughter you never fail to disappoint.”
Clearly, he’s been talking to Colt. “We just need to focus on finding Hailey,” Lex says, cutting off whatever excuse VP was about to say. She’s heard enough of them, and she doesn’t need another one.
“We will,” he assures.
“Then go do it,” Lucas snaps at him.
She kisses his temple as VP storms away, and she chuckles. “It’s not his fault this happened to Hailey, you know.”
“It’s his fault you hate your birthday and almost died at the hands of Zane.”
“My protector,” she whispers. “We’re going to get through this. All of us.”
“She thinks I abandoned her when I let you adopt me. I didn’t, Lex. I didn’t abandon her.”
Pulling him tightly into her arms, she sighs. “I know you didn’t. And she knows, too. She’s a tough nut to crack, but she knows she has us. If she didn’t, she never would have called Colt.”
He squeezes her, and the tears soak the shoulder of her T-shirt. She wishes she could take all of his fear and pain away, but she’s as helpless as he is right now.
“Was that okay?”
“Was what okay?”
“Calling you my mom?”
Lex leans back and locks eyes with him. “I may not have given birth to you or been there for the past fifteen years, but you are my son, Lucas. I don’t see you any differently than Calla or Noah.”
“Can I call you Mom?”
“If you want to. I love you and your sister, no matter what. And I’m not trying to replace your mom. Just like Colt can’t replace your dad. We just want to give you both the best life we can.”
“You protected us more than my mom ever has,” he says. “I can’t lose Hailey. I can’t… She has to be okay.”
Nodding, she gives him a small smile. “She’ll be okay. I feel it.”
She has to be okay. I don’t know if she can survive if Colt doesn’t find her. And it’ll completely break Lucas.
“Lex!” Felicity Short calls out and runs over to them with Gavin in tow.
Hailey and Gavin had a final breakup about a month ago, and that prompted the freeze out from Hailey with everyone in Griffin’s Beach, Lucas included. Lex has no idea what exactly happened, but she knows the relationship they had meant more to Hailey than she’ll ever admit.
“What happened?” Gavin asks, his hands shaking as he stands beside his mother.
No matter where the two of them stand, Lex knows Gavin loves Hailey. And she’s pretty sure Hailey loves Gavin, too.
“I don’t know much. She and her roommate were kidnapped last night, and she somehow called Colt to ask him to save her.”
Lucas whips his head and gapes at her. “I thought you said she asked Colt to help her.”
“Um, I think she actually said she needed him to save her. Is there a difference?”
He pales and leans back on the couch. His chest rises as he tries to take in deep breaths, but he can’t seem to fill his lungs. “No, God. No. No.”
“Lucas, breathe. Deep breath in and deep breath out,” Lex says, pulling him forward to rest his head between his knees. “Breathe, baby.”
