"I know." Steven took off his sunglasses and set them on the counter. "Can you take him somewhere so I can talk to her briefly?"
Lana studied him momentarily, "His name is Lucas, and yes, I can. I hope you don't screw this up. If you ever tell her that she cheated again, I will mess you up."
Steven tried not to laugh at the seriousness of Lana's expression, "Yes, ma'am."
"Good. She was in the shower. She should be out in a minute." She wiped off Lucas's face and pulled him out of the high chair. "I will give you thirty minutes once I leave the driveway."
"Thank you." Steven smiled at her.
"Don't thank me yet. I might have to pick up a shovel on my way home." Lana waved and chuckled on her way out the door.
"Great," Steven mumbled under his breath. He paced the length of the kitchen counter twice before he started cleaning up the mess Lucas left behind. He was still washing off the tray when Josie walked into the large open area.
"What are you doing here?" she shouted, moving quickly through the house. "Where is my son?"
"Our son is with Lana. She let me in and took him on a walk." Steven watched as Josie's face became even redder than it had been the night before when she had spoken to him on the phone.
"Why would she let you in here?"
"I bribed her with smoothies and muffins." Steven pointed and turned to go through the cabinets and find a plate for Josie to use. She stood with her arms crossed, watching him move through her kitchen. "The rest is for you and our son."
"Now he is our son?" Josie was appalled at his words, and he could see the shock written across her face.
"Yes, and I know what you are going to say…" Steven tried to continue but was cut off.
"Oh, do you?!" Josie slapped her hands down on the counter.
"Yes. I was a complete jackass yesterday." Steven set the tray back on the highchair. He was trying to keep moving so he did not have to look into her eyes.
"And every single day, you did not call or talk to me after you left." Josie's words caused him to halt all movement.
"Phones do work both ways." Steven was starting to get irritated, "I texted."
"Texting was not open communication. You left, and it became all about how our schedules didn't align and work. We never talked about anything real." Josie was calming down a little bit.
"So, why didn't you ever say something like we need to talk or tell me something happened?" Steven tried to mirror her demeanor so he would not be cut off from continuing. He wanted to keep going so they could get to the real point of the conversation, where they talked about Lucas.
"What would you have done? Shown up, been here, or gave in to your desires with the woman who was in your office hanging on you? Maybe you would have turned her down." Steven was trying to remember who was hanging on him when it hit him that she had come down at some point.
"You were there?"
"Yes, I was."
"The only woman I have been around in my office besides my number one Stacey was Mace."
"That was Macy?! You are still involved with her?"
"What?! No! She showed up and demanded money and VIP access to the club. She was hanging on me and flirting, so I kicked her out."
"Oh." Josie deflated a little bit.
"Why were you there?" Steven took a step around the island to get closer to her.
"I came down to tell you," She took a deep breath, "about Lucas."
"When was this?" I asked. It occurred to me that I may have seen her in the club for a moment without realizing it, which made me miss her. I don't remember seeing her, though.
"About five months after you left." Josie barely whispered it out. He almost missed it. She shifted back and forth on her feet, trying to pull herself back into the conversation.