As I took my phone from my purse, I noticed a text message from Luke.
“I just wanted you to know that I can’t stop thinking about your beautiful, talented mouth, and it’s distracting me from my work.”
I smiled as I quickly responded.
“Good, that was the plan, baby.”
“Are you going to be coming to the bar?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there later. I have a few things that I need to do first.”
“See you later, Lily. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I tapped the contact button and asked Giselle for the number for Dr. Blakely. She rattled it off as she sprang from the couch and ran to the bathroom.
I dialed the number and waited for someone to answer.
“Dr. Blakely’s office, Janelle speaking. How may I assist you?”
“I would like to schedule an appointment to see Dr. Blakely, please.”
“Are you a new patient?”
“Yes.”
“I know this is kind of short notice, but do you think you can be here in thirty minutes? I just had someone cancel about an hour ago.”
“Wow. Yeah, I can be there in thirty minutes,” I said.
“Your name, please.”
“Lily Gilmore,” I replied.
Giselle emerged from the bathroom and sat down next to me. “I swear this kid is going to kill me.”
“Aw, don’t say things like that.” I smiled as I put my hand on her flat stomach. “Anyway, I have to go. Dr. Blakely’s office told me to be there in thirty minutes.”
“Wow! Who gets into therapy that fast?”
“They just had a cancellation.”
“See, it was meant to be.” Giselle smiled as she got up and walked me to the door.
***
I parked the Explorer in the parking garage of the Santa Monica Sunset Medical Center. Upon entering the building, I took notice of the large salt-water fish tank that sat in the middle of the lobby. I looked over to my right at the directory and found Dr. Blakely’s suite number. Upon entering the elevator and taking it up to the fourth floor, I suddenly became nervous. I hated the fact that I had to relive my past in order for Dr. Blakely to try and help me. As the elevator doors opened, I stepped out and took the long hallway down to Suite 413.
As I walked through the door, I was greeted by a small brunette who handed me a clipboard with paperwork and asked me to fill them out. I sat down, filled out the papers, and returned it to the desk. It was shortly after that when the small brunette called my name and walked me into Dr. Blakely’s office.
Dr. Blakely emerged from behind her desk, walked over to me, and extended her hand.
“You must be Lily Gilmore; it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She smiled.
I politely shook her hand, and told her it was nice to meet her as well. She told me to have a seat on the beige leather couch, and she asked me if I wanted some water or coffee. I opted for coffee as she walked over to where her coffee pot sat and poured me a cup. As I looked around her meticulous office, I couldn’t help but notice the burning of incense. I asked Dr. Blakely what the scent was. She told me it was sandalwood and that she burned it to help her patients relax. As she handed me my cup of coffee, she took a seat in the oversized beige chair that sat next to the couch.
“Why don’t we start by you telling me why you feel like you need therapy?”
I looked down as I traced the rim of the coffee cup with my finger. “For the first time in my life, I’ve met someone that I truly love, and I can’t let the effects of my past ruin it. I realized that last night when we had an argument, and I called him by my father’s name.”
Dr. Blakeley listened intently as she nodded her head and wrote things down on her notepad. I went on to tell her about Johnny and my childhood. Before I knew it, our time was up.
“I would like to see you at least three times a week to start, if that’s alright with you,” she said.
“Yes, that would be fine.”
“Take care, and I’ll see you in a couple of days,” she said as she put her hand on my shoulder.
As I walked out of the office and headed towards the parking garage, I pulled out my phone and saw that I had a missed call from Luke. I quickly dialed him.
“Hey, babe,” he said as he answered.
“Sorry I missed your call. I was in an appointment with Dr. Blakely.”
“Who’s Dr. Blakely?” Luke asked.
“A therapist,” I replied.
“You got in that fast?”
“Yeah, they had a cancellation. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“Are you coming to the bar now? There’s something I want to show you.”
“Yep, I’m on my way now,” I said as I got into the Explorer and shut the door.
“Good. I’ll be waiting, babe, and park around the back. I love you.”
“I love you more.” I smiled as I quickly ended the call before he had a chance to say anything.
***
I pulled into the back lot of the bar like Luke had asked, and he was standing there waiting for me. As I smiled and parked the Explorer, he walked over and opened my door. He leaned in, smiled, and brushed his lips against mine.
“I’ve been waiting to do that since this morning,” he said.
As I got out of the truck, Luke bent down and picked me up.
“What are you doing?” I laughed.
“Close your eyes. Make sure they’re closed tight because I don’t want you peeking.”
“Luke, what’s going on?”
“I want to show you something. Just do as I say, and keep your eyes closed.”
He carried me through the parking lot, and I did as he asked and kept my eyes closed. He stopped, put me down, and told me to open my eyes. When I opened them, they darted to the new bar sign that read, ‘Luke’s Bar & Grille.’ I covered my mouth with my hands in excitement as I stared at the artistry that officially made this Luke’s bar.
“It’s perfect, Luke!” I squealed as I threw my arms around him.
“They put it up this morning. Do you know how awesome it is to see my name up on that sign? I’ve dreamed of this for so long, Lily, and it finally happened.”
“I know, baby, and I’m so happy for you,” I said as a damn tear rolled down my cheek.
“Babe, don’t,” he said as he wiped it away with his thumb.
“It’s a tear of happiness. I love you so much,” I whispered as I hugged him tight.
“I love you more.” He smiled. “Come on, let’s go have some lunch. Are you hungry?”
“I’m starving,” I said as we walked into the bar.
As Luke walked to the back, I sat down at the bar where Maddie was putting glasses away.
“Hi, Lily.”
“Hi, Maddie. How are you?”
“I’m good. I’m glad to see you here today.”
I gave her a strange look, and then it dawned on me that Luke must have told her about last night.
“I’m assuming Luke told you about our argument.”
“Yeah; he was so upset last night when he walked in here.”
“I know, and I feel awful about that, but we’re good, and I’m seeking help to deal with my past.”
“You have no idea how proud of you I am. You’re an amazing person, and Luke is deeply in love with you.”
I smiled at her as Luke came up behind me. “What do you want to eat, babe?” he asked.
“I’ll just have a burger; you know how I like it.”
“Yes, I do,” he growled as he leaned in and kissed my neck.
“Ok, that’s enough!” Maddie smirked.
I got up from the bar and sat down at a table. I pulled my phone from my purse and there was a text message from Brynn. My heart started racing, and a sick feeling emerged in the pit of my stomach.
“Lily, please don’t be mad. I went through Mom’s phone and got your number. I really need to see you, or at the very least, talk to you.”
As I threw my phone on the table and sighed, Luke came walking over with our burgers. He set the plate down in front of me as he took the seat across from me.
“What’s wrong, Lily? You have that look.”
I picked up my phone and handed it to him. He looked at me as he set my phone down on the table.
“Don’t let that upset you,” he said.
“How can I not?!” I exclaimed as I leaned in closer to him.
“I hate to say this, Lily, and I know your therapist is going to tell you the same thing, but you need to talk to Brynn to let go and get closure. I told you the same thing about your mom, and look how that turned out. The two of you are speaking again and trying to put the past behind you.”
I took a bite of my burger and I looked at Luke. “OMG, this burger is amazing! Why is this burger so amazing?!”
Luke threw his head back and laughed. “I hired a new chef yesterday, and he uses some secret ingredient. It’s so secret that he won’t even tell me what it is. I’ll be sure to tell him that you love his burgers.”
Once I got over how amazing the burger was, I went back to the subject of Brynn.
“I can’t believe you would suggest I talk to her after what she did. Have you forgotten that she carried on a relationship with my fiancé, and then f**ked him in the church on my wedding day?!”
“No, babe, I haven’t forgotten that. But maybe you need to hear why she did it. You’re carrying an awful lot of anger around with you about Brynn and Hunter, and maybe it’s time you hear her out and let it all go. Besides, look at where you are right now. Just think, if you wouldn’t have found them in the church, you’d be living your dream life with a big real estate agent, in a big house with a white picket fence, pretending that everything was great, and I’d be sitting in my apartment, all alone and feeling sorry for myself. It’s called fate, Lily. You were meant to find out about them that day.”
A part of me knew he was right. Luke was always right, and it drove me nuts. I got up from my chair and sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face into my neck.
“You’re right, Luke. It’s time to let go,” I said as I kissed him.
“Do you think that you two could either go get a room somewhere or at least go lock yourselves in the office?” Maddie said as she walked over to us.
“Go away or you’re fired,” Luke mumbled.
Suddenly, we heard a crash. Luke looked up as Maddie dropped a glass on the floor and stared straight ahead towards the door. I got up from Luke’s lap and looked over to where she was looking at someone standing in the doorway.
“Who’s that?”
“It’s Adam, that motherfucker!” Luke said as he quickly got up and started walking over to him.
37
Luke
Lily grabbed my arm to prevent me from kicking Adam’s ass out of my bar.
“Don’t, Luke, please. Think of Charley,” she said as she tried to pull me back.
As I approached Adam, he put his hands up.
“Hey, Luke, I’m not here to cause any trouble. I just want to talk to Maddie.”