“So polite, I find that very sexy in a woman.” He reached over to grab the food from the cooler.
“It’s called manners, Noah.” She tried not to smile. “You should try it some time.”
“Never heard of them. Here, let me put some whipped cream on you.” Their eyes met and he could feel the connection. “I mean the strawberries. Unless you’d like to lick it off of me. I’m game if you are.” He dipped his finger in the whipped cream and tried to put it on her nose.
She lightly slapped him on the arm. “Just give me the strawberries and whipped cream and I’ll do it myself.”
“Oh, Lexi, you’re so kinky.” He inserted his finger into his mouth and closed his eyes as he slowly pulled it out. His tongue flicked the end of his finger.
“Okay, changing subjects, tell me about your family.”
Noah paused for a moment. “It was just my mom and me for as long as I can remember. My dad ran off when I was a couple of years old. My mom’s family didn’t approve of my dad, and he ended up proving them right, but they still disowned her and would have nothing to do with her.” He shrugged. It was just the way he’d grown up and there was nothing he could do about it.
Lexi had a hard time imagining what that would be like. “Oh wow, I take it you’re close with your mom then.”
“Yeah, she was great.” A beautiful smile spread across his face and lit up his eyes. “She really did the best that she could to support me with no one to help her. Sam and Martha tried to help, too, but they didn’t have a lot either. There were times when she was cranky, but she always took the time to listen to me, and I always knew that she loved me. She worked her fingers to the bone to make sure I always had what I needed or wanted. As a kid I never was disappointed at a birthday or Christmas, she always found some way to get me what I wanted. When I got older she always made sure I was able to make music lessons to have a ride to a gig.”
“When did she die?” Lexi moved closer to Noah and rubbed his back.
Noah stared off into the surf. “We didn’t even know she was sick. She just said she was getting old. One day, when I was nineteen, I came home and she was in bed. She’d been coughing a lot and that day she’d started coughing up blood. I remember she tried to smile and say that I should take her to the E.R.” He paused, lost in his grief. He cleared his throat. “She never left. She was dead from lung cancer within the week. The small-cell cancer had spread throughout her body so quickly, and we didn’t know it. She was my biggest supporter, always believed in me, and she never saw my success. Within six months, we’d been discovered and on our way to L.A. to make our first album. A year after, we had a number one album. If only we had known something was wrong sooner, she might still be with us, or at least, I would’ve had more time with her. I could have taken care of her. She did so much for me and I never had a chance to repay her.” His head lowered as he took a deep breath and looked over at Lexi. “I did a lot of things I am not proud of during that time. I used anything and everything to numb the pain. I focused on the music and blocked everything else out.”
Lexi wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so sorry, Noah. There is nothing that I could say, even after all these years, to make it easier.”
He raised his hand and covered hers with it. “It helps having you listen. I don’t talk about her that often. In fact, there are times when I don’t think of her for days, and then something will punch me in the gut and remind me. Even after all of this time.” He let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair.
Lexi sat there with her arms wrapped around Noah, silently crying. She couldn’t image what he’d gone through. She could only imagine how it would affect her if it had been one of her parents.