Page 14 of Lucy Loves Him Not
“Me too.” I broke into a cry again. We embraced, both shaking with little sobs. One dream began and one dream, that I never even realized was a dream until I was being shaken awake, came to an end.
I had been Olivia’s defense squad since our dad left. Gracie was a one-year-old, I was only five, and then there was eight-year-old Olivia.
She cried a lot after he left and I would hug her tight, trying to make her laugh.
She’d whisper as we lay side by side in bed, “Why doesn’t he miss us?”
And I’d say fiercely in my small voice, “I don’t miss him.”
She’d ask, “Were we too much?”
And I’d shake my head no. “We’re perfect,” I’d say. To me, we were.
I cried when he left, too, but the impact and all it meant for us didn’t click for me until I was older. By then I was angry and protective of our little girl crew of four, five if you included Grandma. I hated the idea anyone could ever join our group and make us cry again, question ourselves, or hurt us. I always had my antenna up, in defense mode.
Even now, to me, we still were perfect and worth protecting.
I couldn’t stop everything. Ryans are inevitable, right? But I could hug my sister and let her go get her happiness, even if it wasn’t in the room next to mine anymore.Who knows, I thought as she started talking about her plans for the house,maybe it’s about time I do the same.
Six
Victor
Hi Lucy! This is Victor. Your mom shared your number with me. I wanted to sort out some details for our date this Friday. Looking forward to meeting, I’ve heard so many great things about you.
Ihad a date. I tried to stalk this guy online, as any modern woman would, but to no avail. My mother was too busy to get back to me and had given me so few details to go off. I was going on this date sight unseen.
The evening of the date I tried on multiple different outfits while Gracie lounged on my bed offering opinions from under my fluffy, yellow duvet. Olivia was packing her own wardrobe and popping in and out of my room to see my progress.
“I think the first outfit was the best one, except with the black shoes instead of the white,” Olivia decided for all three of us as I stood in front of my full-length mirror, a little out of breath from all the changing and anticipation.
I wore cropped, black wide-leg jeans, black strappy sandals, and a white bandeau top. “Hair?” I asked.
“I like it down like this.” Gracie gestured to the mess of untamed red curls falling over my back.
“There needs to be some order,” I said, grabbing at a handful of my hair.
“I agree with Gracie. Your messy curls arekind of hot,” Olivia said, then promptly marched off down the hallway. Stevie was hopping over the different piles of clothes dropped across my bedroom floor.
I blew a red curl out of my face. This messy hair and my messy self were going to meet Victor. “Who knows,” I said to Gracie. “Maybe I’m going to see the love of my life tonight?”
Iarrived at the restaurant a little early due to jitters with the whole years- since-my-last-date thing. Also, thanks to jitters, I sat in my car for a while taking a few breaths and messing with my hair until it was a few minutes past our meeting time. Finally, I left my yellow Bug.
I knew the hostess, Riley, from high school and she wiggled her shoulders excitedly as she told me my date was already waiting for me at a booth. “Right this way,” she said, her brown bob bouncing along with her. Riley’s enthusiasm made me wonder if people in town noticed I hadn’t been on a date in years.That feeling had to be in my imagination, right?
I followed her through the restaurant until my gaze landed on a familiar face waiting alone at a table.
I recognized the thick dark hair and the big, brown, puppy-dog eyes. It all clicked as I arrived at the table and Riley left us to get settled.
“So…you’reVictor.” I shook my head in disbelief. His name tag had said Victor Hernandez, hadn’t it? I knew theHernandezes—of course, my mom was right.Everyone knew the Hernandez family.
“And you’re Lucy.” Victor laughed heartily. “I actually kind of wondered if it’d be the same angry little redhead that stormed into my boss’ office.”
“I just keep running into people I know but don’tactuallyknow.” I plopped down beside Annoying Adam’s assistant. “Well, hi.”
“Hi.” He was grinning. His teeth were shiny and perfect. “Adam is going to love to hear about this.”
“He might fire you for dating the enemy,” I squinted gamely.
