Beauty from Pain(74)

A rubdown by Lachlan? Being sunburned is sounding better and better. “That sounds perfect.”


He’s right. The cool shower feels really nice. I notice my shoulders are a little tender to the water pelting down on them, but it’s nothing too uncomfortable.


When I’m finished showering, I pat my skin dry and step out to find Lachlan waiting for me with a bottle of aloe vera lotion. He holds it up and gives it a shake as he grins. “Do you want me to do it in here with you standing, or would you rather I do it with you lying on the bed?”


Hmm, that sounds dirty. “I don’t know. Both options sound appealing.”


“I vote for the bed.”


“Then, the bed it is.”


“Here. Mrs. Porcelli sent these for you.” He holds out two pills in the palm of his hand. “It’s only ibuprofen to help with the discomfort.”


“But it doesn’t hurt.”


“It will, so please take the medicine. I don’t want you to be in pain.”


I take the pills and the glass of water he offers. I’m terrible at swallowing pills since I’ve made a habit of avoiding them. These aren’t big, so I manage to get them down, but not without some unattractive sputtering. When I’m done, I pass the glass back to him. “Happy now, Dr. Henry?”


“Very.”


I twist my towel around my hair before I crawl up onto the bed to lie on my stomach for my post-sun care. I rest my arms over my head and I feel the bed dip when Lachlan crawls up. “This may be a little cool, but it’ll feel good.”


He squirts it directly on my back and I arch. “Shit, that’s cold!” I squeal.


“It’s not really. It just feels that way because your skin is feverish.”


He rubs the cool lotion into my skin and it’s very soothing. My entire body goes lax as I enjoy what feels more like a massage than a post-sunburn lotion application.


I’m so relaxed, I’m almost asleep when I hear “Jolene” playing on my phone. My eyes pop open and I feel Lachlan leave my back. “I’ll get it for you.”


He passes my phone to me. “Hey, Mom.”


“Laurie, I’ve been calling you for hours. Have you not checked your phone?”


She sounds panicked, which panics me, and my first thought is that something has happened to Nanna or Pops. I sit up in the middle of the bed, preparing myself to hear the worst. “What’s happened, Mom?”


“I can’t believe you haven’t heard. It’s been all over the news.”


Okay, nothing has happened to my grandparents so I shift to my aggravation mode. “Mom, what’s going on?”


“Jared Beckett was killed in a skiing accident today.”


I should’ve known this would somehow involve the sperm donor. “And this is emergency news for me because?”


“Because he’s your brother, Laurie.”


“Whom I’ve never met.”


“He’s your father’s son.”


“Again, whom I’ve never met.” Am I the only one hearing the common denominator here?


“You need to come home.”


Good grief. “This isn’t a reason for me to come home.”


“You need to pay your condolences, Laurie.” Oh, hell. This is about getting me in with the sperm donor. What does she think is going to happen? He’s going to suddenly want me in his life now that he’s lost his only child?


I realize I’m stark naked and talking to my mom about the death of my sperm donor’s son when Lachlan holds out one of his T-shirts for me. I mouth thank you to him and slip the shirt over my head while my mom chatters nonsense about the need of being with family in times like this.


“We share DNA, but I’m no part of their family. They wouldn’t know me if we passed on the street.”


“Your father is going to want to know you.”


I stopped fantasizing about him wanting to know me a long time ago, but she never has. I’m almost twenty-three years old and she’s still holding out for something—I don’t know what. Maybe she thinks he’ll want to meet his daughter and it’ll lead him back to her.