Page 24 of Keeping Lucy

Zara stepped into the kitchen with a filter coffee machine under her arm and a shopping bag in her other hand. “It’s not much, just your parents’ old machine, but they thought you might want to have coffee in your new house today.”

“Aww, thank you! That’s so sweet.” I took it from her, placed it on the counter and plugged it in. “Everything I need is in here, I’m guessing?” I asked, taking the shopping bag from Zara when she nodded.

I started the coffee while Matt told Zara he’d just gotten a text from his Dad and had to head over to help him with a job, but he’d be back in an hour. It was impossible to miss the tension in her voice when she replied, and I glanced over my shoulder to see her resting her head on his shoulder while he hugged her comfortingly.That fucking bitch mother of hers!Once Matt had gone, I thought about how best to approach the situation while the coffee was brewing. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. I knew what my instinct would be if it wereme, but I really wasn’t sure that was right for her. Frankly, she was a hell of a lot sweeter than I would have been in her circumstances.

I brought our coffee to the little picnic table and opened the Tupperware container she’d brought. “Lemon loaf! Amazing!” I cut us each a slice, then decided to get straight to the point. “So, I hear your mom’s being an asshole about the wedding.”

She flinched, then gave me a small, sad smile. “Oh, did Matt say something? Yeah, she is.”

“Tell me.” I leaned back in the chair, blowing on my coffee to cool it, while Zara told me all about her awful mother. There was a lot to tell. When she was finally done, I put my coffee mug down and clasped my hands together on the table, giving her a direct look. “Okay. I want to say something, but I’m worried it might upset you.”

“Go ahead,” she gestured with a listless wave of her hand. “It couldn’t possibly upset me more than I already am.”

“Okay. I just want to say, even though she’s your mom, you don’t have to keep her in your life, if you don’t want to.”

Zara stared at me, a small frown on her brow.

“I just feel that she always,always,makes you feel like shit, yes?”

“Yes.” A quick, unequivocal answer.

“You don’t owe her anything: not your time, not your energy, not your love.” I reached across the table and clasped her hand. “You’ve got all of us now, so you’re not alone, is all I’m saying. If you want to cut her out of your life, we’ll all be here for you.”

Tears shimmered in her eyes, but she blinked them back. “Thank you. I’ll think about it.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but I caught the strength there and pulled away, satisfied that I’d at least planted the seed of an idea.

“I’ll always be here if you need to talk about it. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t.” Picking up a piece of lemon loaf, she put it in her mouth, watching me intently while she chewed.

I laughed. “Why are you being so creepy?”

“Am I?” she asked when she’d swallowed. “Sorry. I’m just wondering what the hell happened in Seattle to make you decide to spend the whole weekend there. It can’t have been the weather.”

Don’t blush, don’t blush, don’t blush.But of course, I did. I knew I should tell her, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. “Nothing. I just thought it might be nice to give mom and dad some space over the weekend.” That didn’t sound at all convincing, but to my surprise, after subjecting me to a long, assessing look, Zara seemed to accept my story.

“That was nice of you. So, what did you do?”

“Oh, you know, this and that.”Dante and Dante, that’s what I did.“I went to a really nice restaurant for dinner, saw a movie, did a bit of shopping. Um…”And I had the most amazing sex of my life, an experience unlikely ever to be repeated,“Oh yeah! I got some hiking boots, and actually used them. There are some great trails around there.” I tried not to blush again at the memory of what had happened on the hike, what I’d done. But the fact was, I could still taste Dante on my tongue, smell him on my skin, see him in my dreams.Fuck. Get over it, Cooper, don’t make it weird.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that. It sounds great. It can’t have been easy, on your own like that. Good for you.”

“Thanks.” I heard Matt’s truck rumbling down the street and blew out a breath of relief as Zara got up and started clearing the table.

CHAPTER11

Dante

Iwas only half joking when I said I’d bring earplugs to the gig, because my sister’s band was nothing if not loud.But she did look amazing up there on stage, holding the crowd in the palm of her hand. We’d had a great week together, the most time we’d been able to spend together for years. I could see a new Stefania evolving from the sweet, precocious child she’d been, and I loved it. I especially noticed her maturity and focus, how she managed her illness these days, seeming to know instinctively when to slow down, rather than get frustrated and try to push through, like she’d done in the past. She was still bucketloads of fun though, cheeky and irrepressible.

But even enjoying her company as much as I had, it wasn’t enough to dull the ache I was trying my hardest not to acknowledge. I don’t know how many times in the past week I’d considered reaching out to Lucy. It would have been so easy. She had a consulting business under her own name and a website with her contact details splashed all over it. It would only take two seconds to text her and tell her I missed her.But I didn’t.

Instead, I hung out with Stef and waited, with increasing impatience, to get my next work orders. If I only knew where I was headed next, this gnawing restlessness might subside. But there’d been a holdup with my paperwork or some shit, so I’d been left hanging for far longer than was usual between postings. It made me jittery.

“Hey, big guy.”

I looked down to see a short, skinny woman with dark, spiky hair and big brown eyes smiling up at me. “Hi.”

She ran her gaze over me and licked her lips before getting up on her tiptoes and saying, close to my ear, “You here alone?”

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