Riley took a shower letting the water wash away her tears before the twins and Auggie got back. She had to keep it together she still had their cake to make. She gets dressed putting on a sleeveless purple dress tying up her hair into a bun. She hesitantly walks downstairs and sighs in relief when she didn't see Lucas anywhere.
She wasn't in the mood to deal with his presence or his questions. She knew he would keep asking and wouldn't stop until he found out. She shakes her head and starts on the cake putting it in the oven when Auggie pulls up.
"Mama Riley look what uncle Auggie got us?" Charlie shouts walking towards her. He was holding up a picture of him and Rosie drawn like caricatures on little bicycles. She smiles at the picture mouthing a thank you to Auggie. "What did you get Rosie?" Riley asks seeing her coming out the car with costume jewelry on.
"Uncle Auggie said every girl deserves some bling." Riley gives Auggie a look who shrugs smiling at her as they all walk in the house.
All throughout the twins birthday party Lucas would look between his phone and watching Riley who had a sad smile on her face. He hadn't plan to go to their party but Rosie who after just a day and a half took an instant liking to him insisted he come much to the annoyance of Auggie who glared at him.
He sat in the corner of the barn watching as Riley danced with the twins. Doing a different dance with each like they had practice it beforehand. He couldn't wipe the smile from his face even with every eye roll and glare thrown his way.
He couldn't help it Riley seemed like she had the weight of a thousand worlds on her shoulders but they seemed to disappear with every giggle and smile from the twins. He got up to see if he could get a dance with her when Auggie's voice stopped him.
"Can I talk with you?" He turn towards him and points outside. Once he followed Auggie out he watched him walk down a little and saw him clenching and unclenching his fist. He knew what was coming and braced himself for it when Auggie stopped walking and turned around and swung hitting him in the jaw.
Lucas spit on the ground holding his jaw looking at Auggie. "Well I'd take your fist over a car anyway." He joked. "Leave Riley alone. Stay out of her business and stay away from her kids." Auggie spat at him.
"You and I both know I can't do that Auggie. I still love her." Auggie let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah sure Lucas you love her. If you really loved her you wouldn't have done what you and Maya did to her."
"We were just doing what she asked us to do." Lucas stumbled back not bracing himself for that second punch. "Are you serious right now?! Is that what you tell yourself to justify what you did? If you knew my sister at all or loved her you would have known what she really wanted."
Auggie walked back but stops with Lucas next question. "What did she want?" Auggie looked up and sighed he didn't turn around when he said his next words. "To prove to her she was the only one you really wanted."
Lucas slumped against the fence holding his jaw and knew he was right. He stupidly thought he knew what he was doing with Maya and in the end he loss the only girl he truly loved. "Here." He looked up and seen Riley standing in front of him holding a napkin filled with ice.
"Thanks I walked into a door." Lucas tells her chuckling and putting the ice to his lip. "I know it was Auggie, Lucas you don't have to lie." He looks up smiling at her. "I see he took up boxing." Riley folds her arms across her chest looking back at the barn. "He needed an outlet for his anger. He lost his brother."
Lucas looks down holding the ice out letting it drip. "Sorry I shouldn't have.." Lucas shakes his head cutting her off still looking at the ground. "No I deserve that." They sat there in uncomfortable silence until Lucas finally broke it.
"I'm sorry Riley." He looks up and sees her still looking at the barn. "Doesn't matter now that's the past." She starts to walk away but turns looking over her shoulder. "I'll have him come apologize."
Lucas stood up dusting himself and shaking his head. "No don't I deserve everything he needs to let out." Auggie was right to punch him to do a lot more than that since he in the process of breaking Riley's heart he did the same with Auggie.
With Josh away at college Lucas took Auggie under his wing. He was like the little brother Lucas always wanted and had until he destroyed that by abandoning him. Riley nods and walks back into the farm never giving Lucas a second glance.
His phone buzzes and he heads inside the house to his room pulling out his computer. "Hey babineaux how's married life?" Lucas asks chuckling as a little girl draws on him with a marker. " Zay had become a dance teacher in New York and got married to Vanessa when she agreed to move there and now they had a little girl who keeps him on his ballet toes.
Funny Luke watch when it happens to you." Lucas looks out the window watching Riley film the twins on a horse riding around with Cletus. "Yeah I don't see that happening Zay." He nods and puts his daughter down in her chair with a coloring book. "What's up Lucas you look like you seen a ghost fell in love with her just to lose her again."
Lucas turns back to the screen and Zay already knew the answer. He recognized the Riley trance Lucas would get when she was near him and ignored everyone and everything else. "Sorry man. I didn't know she went down there?" Lucas leaned back in his chair nodding.
"Me neither only reason I found out is because my trip was cancelled." Lucas rested his head on his arms looking at his computer. "What happened to your lip?" He let out a light laugh and says Auggie. Zay couldn't help but laugh still thinking of Auggie as that eleven year old who followed Lucas around like his second shadow.
"So what's your plan to get her back?" Zay asks clapping his hands together grinning like a madman making his daughter laugh. Lucas smiles but shakes his head sitting up. "There is no plan Zay. She's moved on and still hates me after all these years."
Zay shook his head and kept saying nope over and over again. "I refuse to believe that the story of Lucas and Riley ends this way I've have been invested in this story since forever and I'm not about to see it end now."
Lucas chuckles leaning his head on his hand. "The story is over Zay she has kids." "What?! Kids! How...What? Dude say no more I'm coming out there." Zay hangs up before Lucas can protest and say no. He wasn't sure how Riley would feel with him coming over.
She isolated herself from their friends after what happened with him and Maya and he knew with Zay coming that was just going to bring back all those old feelings that he knew she desperately wanted to stay in the past. "Hi." He looks up from his computer seeing Rosie standing in the doorway.
"Hi." He says smiling as she hesitantly walks in looking around with her hands in front of her. He smiles closing his computer as she stares at a picture of him and Riley from seventh grade on his shelf. "That's your mom when we were younger." Rosie shakes her head and pulls out her locket. "This is mom. That's mama Riley."
Lucas looked at her with a confused expression and walked over to her kneeling in front of her looking at her locket. At first glance you would think the picture was Riley but on closer inspection it was a woman who could have easily passed for her twin except with green eyes.
"What's her name?" Right when she was about to answer Riley comes in with a panicked look. "Rosie you can't just wander off like that you frighten me." She tells her clutching her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry mama Riley I was just showing Luke my locket."
Riley looks up seeing the look of curiosity on Lucas face and quickly closes it. "Well next time ask okay?" Rosie nod with a smile and waves at Lucas before skipping out the room. Riley makes her way to the door when he grabs her hand. "You aren't their mother?" Riley yanks her hand free glaring at him. "I am their mother."
She walks away slamming the door behind her leaving Lucas to wonder what was going on with her. Lucas walked out his room stopping when he hears Riley slowly singing once upon a December from Anastasia. Hearing her sing it brought back the memories of the last time he heard her sing it.
"Princess you know we can always go back inside?" Lucas tells her when he sees her slightly hesitate they had just walked out the door and onto the snow covered steps of her apartment. She shakes her head and turns his way with a mischievous smile on her face. "What?" He asks looking at her with a confused expression.
She had her hands behind her back and started to sway. "Say you'll forgive me?" He shakes his head and before he could answer her she launches the snowball she had behind her back at him. He wipes his face with his gloved hand and laughs as he sees her hiding behind the snowman her and Auggie built earlier that morning.
"I wonder where Riley could be?" He asks smiling when he sees her moving around the snowman. He raises his hand to throw the snowball when she gets him first. "No fair cheater!" He tells her pouting. She walks towards him holding her hands up smiling. "Come here big baby."
She throws her arms around his neck and kisses him. "Aah!" She screams when he puts snow in her shirt. "Lucas Friar I cannot believe you did that?!" He chuckles dusting his hands. "Oh yeah what are you going to do about it?"
Riley picks up some snow and runs towards him but trips on her feet falling on Lucas with a thud. "Princess you okay?" He asks cupping her cheeks. Riley looks at him biting her lip smiling. "Yeah I really am." He tilts his head about to say something he felt for a long time but Riley beat him to it.
"I love you!" Riley blushed and covered her face with her mitten covered hands. Lucas smiles and moves her hands from her face. "I love you too." Riley smiled and kissed him as the snow started to come down around them. "Can't believe you stole my moment." Riley giggled as she got up and started dancing under the snow.
"Okay dancing queen let's go inside." Riley shakes her head and starts to sing as she holds out her arms dancing. "Dancing bears, Painted wings, Things I almost remember, And a song someone sings, Once upon a December. Someone holds me safe and warm, Horses prance through a silver storm, Figures dancing gracefully across my memory."
Lucas watches her smiling and grabs her hand doing the dance from the movie that Riley made him practice with her after watching it. He spins her out making her giggle as she spins in humming along. "You know there are some moments you know you're going to remember forever this is one of them."
Riley looked up at him smiling remembering him saying that on their first date.
Lucas shakes his head hearing her giggle from the memory. He walks outside and sees the light on in the barn walking that way and seeing Pappy Joe and Cletus sitting down enjoying a piece of cake. "Okay just answers this for me?" Lucas says sitting down in front of them.
They share a look and Pappy Joe gestures for Lucas to go on using his fork. Lucas takes a deep breath and couldn't believe he was about to asks this. "Is Riley into girls and that's why she has that tattoo and the twins call her mama Riley and not just mom?"
Cletus and Pappy Joe look at him and then each other and then him again. They burst into laughter with Cletus falling off his chair. "Boy I swear a horse done hit you in the head. That was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard." Pappy Joe tells him chuckling between bites.
Cletus sits back in his chair and couldn't look at Lucas without laughing. "Lucas it's a good thing you're a vet cause you be one dumb detective. Imma go say goodnight to the kids." Cletus tells them laughing as he walks out mumbling into girls making Pappy Joe chuckle.
"So what she isn't or is?" Lucas asked watching as Pappy Joe finished his cake not saying a word to him. Lucas stared at him hoping he get annoyed and just answer his question. After twenty minutes of watching him slowly eat his cake Lucas pushed up from the table angrily.
"I don't see why you can't answer just one of my questions. I just want to know if I still have a shot with her?" Pappy Joe got up tossing his plate and grabbing the remainder of the leftover cake. "I think whatever happens is up to Riley and me answering questions I have no answer to isn't going to help you."
Lucas kicked at the barn door as soon as Pappy Joe was out of ear shot. He couldn't believe he was trying to pull the he doesn't know anything card. He forgets he used to pull that with Lucas dad when he would get in trouble and come over to the ranch to hide.
He goes upstairs to sleep preparing himself for hurricane Zay which knowing him would probably catch the red eye or the short flight just to get here and cause trouble. He falls asleep hoping tomorrow would bring him some answers.
The sound of his phone buzzing on his nightstand wakes him from his dream. He looks at the caller id seeing it was Zay. "Dude are you up yet?" Zay shouts into the phone sounding like he has been up since forever.
"What time is it?" Lucas yawns rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "Its six but before you complain you should be up anyway enjoying your best friends presence." Lucas looked at his phone and then glanced out the window seeing Zay waving as he watches the cab pull away.
Lucas hangs up and goes outside hugging him. "Zay you didn't have to come out here?" Zay chuckles attempting to squeeze him tightly. "Yeah I did. What kind of Cupid would I be still in New York?" Lucas lightly laughs and leans on the porch railing. "Might not need a Cupid anymore."
Zay looks at him weirdly and he smiles at him. "I think Riley may be into girls." Zay looked at him to see if he was serious and starts laughing. "Dude that's just crazy talk. Cotton candy face is not into girls trust me."
Right at that moment they see Riley running towards them. "What do you mean trust you?" Lucas asks standing up with Zay. Zay looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He looks at Lucas and then Riley and then Lucas again.
"Okay full disclosure me and Riley have been talking for a few years now."