"I'm beginning to feel like your chauffer," Andi said lightly as she turned Baze's Jeep on.
Lux smirked. "Really? I'd think you'd feel more like a-"
"Lux," Baze warned. "Andi's helping us."
Lux rolled her eyes. "She's helping you anyway."
Baze stared at Lux. "She drove me to pick you up when you ran out of gas. Now she's driving us to get Cate's car."
Lux crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly and stared straight ahead.
Baze hadn't been planning on asking Andi to drive them, but Jaime was passed out on the couch and Math was nowhere to be found. Now he regretted asking her. The tension in the Jeep was palpable.
The silence was driving Andi crazy. She turned the volume on the stereo up. Baze's Starship CD was still playing. She smiled when she heard Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, one of her favorite songs, and started singing along quietly.
Lux's expression was dangerous as she reached over and turned the stereo off in one swift movement. That was their song. The song Cate, Baze and Lux had sung on their family road trip. She didn't want Andi tainting it.
Andi opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she saw Lux's expression. They drove the rest of the way in awkward silence.
Baze filled Cate's Prius with gas. Lux automatically headed for the passenger seat, but Baze stopped her. "I thought you could drive."
Lux smiled and sat down in the drivers' seat.
"Pay attention. Not just to the road, but to your car. Your fuel level," Baze said pointedly as Lux pulled onto the road behind Andi.
"You're one to talk. You hit a truck filled with chickens," Lux retorted, smirking slightly.
"Touché," Baze said. "Seriously though, what would you do if this happened again?"
"Call you," Lux said immediately without thinking.
Baze smiled slightly. Maybe Andi was right. Maybe Lux had finally learned how to be the kid and let him take care of her. He liked the thought of Lux knowing he would take care of her. He knew he would do anything for her.
"If you couldn't get a hold of me?" Baze pressed, wanting to make sure Lux was prepared next time she had car trouble.
Lux shrugged helplessly. "Uh, call triple A?"
Baze laughed. "We don't have triple A. You'd just call the number on your insurance card."
"Thanks, Baze," Lux said softly.
Baze knew Lux was thanking him for more than just the helpful hints he was throwing her way. He grinned. "Any time, Kiddo."
Lux hesitated before asking the question that had been driving her crazy. She knew the question would make Baze relive painful moments and she hated that, but she also knew she couldn't bear to not know what had happened. Why she'd lost her chance at being a family with Cate and Baze. Why her childhood fantasy had been completely and utterly destroyed. "What happened yesterday? I mean, one minute you have feelings for Cate but won't tell her and the next you're crashing her wedding."
Baze's grin vanished. He sucked in his breath. "I shouldn't have shown up at the wedding."
Lux cast a sidelong glance at Baze. She sighed when she saw his pained expression. "Baze, Cate has feelings for you, too."
"She's married to Ryan," Baze said dully.
Lux bit her lip. She remembered her conversation with Tasha and frowned. She didn't know what the right thing to do was. It didn't seem like there was a right thing to do in this situation. No matter what Lux did, someone she loved would get hurt.
"Yeah, but she wouldn't have married him if she knew how you felt," Lux said desperately.
"You can't know that," Baze said. Even as the words left his mouth, he wondered if his daughter was right. He'd never know for sure now, he realized.
Baze knew his feelings must have made a difference to Cate. Otherwise why would she have come to talk to him the night before her wedding? If he'd just been honest the night before-no, Baze stopped himself. The what-ifs would drive him crazy. Cate was married now and there was nothing he could do to change that.
"Yes, I do!" Lux cried out without thinking. She swallowed a lump in the back of her throat. As much as she didn't want Baze to know that she'd been the one who convinced Cate to marry Ryan, she knew she had to tell him. "Cate, she wouldn't talk to anyone. She didn't know what to do." Lux shook her head. "I didn't think you were going to tell her how you felt. Ryan, he was crying because he knew I wanted you and Cate to be together. He even told me they could postpone the wedding if I wanted. I knew how much pain I'd caused him and Cate. And I was still gonna ask them to postpone the wedding…" Lux broke off on the verge of tears. She felt like the most selfish person in the world. She'd hurt everyone she loved and she was about to deliver a final blow to her dad.
Baze stared at Lux. Knowing he could have had Cate made it even worse to know he'd lost her. He felt as though he'd just had the wind knocked out of him.
Lux took a deep breath before continuing, "And then I saw Cate. Your wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life. But Cate, she looked completely miserable. I knew it was all my fault and I just, I wanted to make it right. I told her she should marry Ryan." Lux struggled to keep her voice even.
Baze looked down. It wasn't just Cate who had chosen Ryan. It was his own kid, too. He covered his mouth with his hand.
Lux's eyes filled with tears as she watched Baze's reaction. What had she done? How could she cause someone she loved so much pain and heartache? Was she a horrible person? "I'm sorry," she whispered.
Baze buried his head in his hands. Lux bit her lip. Her dad couldn't even stand to look at her. She couldn't help but wonder if Cate and Baze would be better off without her in their lives. "Baze? I'll understand if you can never forgive me," she managed.
Baze finally met Lux's gaze, his sparkling blue eyes piercing hers. "There isn't anything you could do ever that I wouldn't forgive you for. I love you." He said the words that were still so hard for him to say even though he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he loved Lux and Cate.