“You’ve been talking to your mom?” Lawson’s voice vibrated with emotion, so many different kinds I couldn’t pin one down.
Luke lifted his chin, defiance shining in his eyes. “You can’t keep me from talking to her.”
“Wanna bet?” Lawson clipped.
“She said I could go to a judge. That I’m old enough, and they’ll listen to what I want. I could ask to live with her.”
Pain struck through me. For Lawson. For the agony I knew Luke’s words inflicted.
“Have you seen her?” The emotion was gone from Lawson’s tone now. His voice was completely empty. Devoid of everything.
“No. But she wants to come visit. You can’t keep me away from her.”
Lawson studied his son, and even though he was trying to hide it, I could see the brutal pain in those blue eyes. I wanted to go to him, to wrap my arms around him and give him a fraction of the comfort he’d given me.
“Did you go looking for her?” Lawson asked.
“She messaged me on Insta,” Luke mumbled. “She misses me. All of us.”
Lawson stared at his son for one beat, then another. “How long?”
Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “I dunno. Like a year. Is it a crime to talk to mymomnow, too?”
A year. I remembered Lawson telling me that Luke had seemed to change overnight about a year ago. It couldn’t be a coincidence. And I could only imagine what Melody might be filling Luke’s head with.
“She told me that you screwed her in the divorce, too. That she’s gotta work two jobs just to pay for a shitty studio apartment,” Luke went on.
Lawson’s jaw tightened, his back teeth grinding together. “She ask you for money?”
Luke’s gaze jerked away, and I knew we had the answer.
“How much?” Lawson whispered hoarsely.
“None of your business,” he snapped back. “It’s my money.”
“Money that you get in allowance fromme.”
Luke whirled back toward his father. “I do stupid-ass chores for that money, so it’s mine. You hate her that much? She’s ourmom!”
Lawson stared, unseeing. “Gave her every penny.”
My gut twisted, anger flaring again at Lawson’s ex. A woman who would take all the money her kid had. Who would fill his head with lies and cause him untold pain.
Luke glared at his dad. “It’s beyond fucked up that you told her she can’t see us.”
“A judge told her that,” Lawson growled.
Luke blinked a few times as if this were new information for him, but then he brushed it off. “Yeah, ‘cause you’re the police. They’ll always take your side.”
“They didn’t takemyside, Luke. They took yours. They took Drew’s. They took Charlie’s.”
“Not letting us see our mom isn’t taking our side. That’s stealing from us.”
The muscle along Lawson’s jaw fluttered as he struggled for words.
I reached out, grabbing his hand and squeezing. My message was a silent one, but I hoped Lawson could hear it. Luke needed to know the truth. It was the only way he’d truly heal.
It didn’t surprise me that Luke didn’t remember. It had been a trauma. He’d blocked it out, even being ten years old at the time. I understood that. There were still holes in my memory from my time in the cave. Things I’d never get back and didn’t want to.
