Chapter 13 Lucy #2
‘Come on, Chucky.’ The heavy truck door squealed as she opened it, and Chucky ran out to terrorise some bunnies.
‘Yeah, I was taking the boy out for a country drive, and we thought we’d stop by and make sure you’re fully hydrated and staying out of trouble.
’ She bet good money her dad knew she was lying – she rarely stopped by unannounced. But right now, she needed her pops.
His red cheeks showed beneath his two-day-old, salt-and-pepper scruff. He tugged off his muddied gloves and waved her in. ‘Well, come on then. Better get some lemonade.’
Inside the house, he dropped the chives into a small bowl and washed his hands. ‘Hot as the devil out there today.’ He took off his brimmed hat and dried his hands and face with a towel.
‘What are you going to make with the chives?’ She dug in the fridge for lemonade.
‘Found a recipe in a magazine at the barbershop. Potatoes and chives. I almost ripped it out when I remembered I could take a picture with my phone.’ Sunlight burst through the blinds and Lucy snapped them shut.
Her dad slid a stool out from under the table and slumped down.
After gulping back the lemonade Lucy handed him, he wiped his mouth with his wrist and eyed her suspiciously.
‘Hope you’re not looking for steak tonight, ’cause I just took them out to defrost. Won’t be ready until tomorrow. ’
She’d never dream of ruining their Sunday-night steak routine.
‘Nope, we’re still on for tomorrow.’ She sipped her drink and watched Chucky from the window roll in the dirt.
Ah, the life of a dog – carefree, consumed with chasing, playing, and sleeping.
She was a tad jealous of her canine companion.
Her dad stood, grabbed a cookie tin from the cupboard and pushed it towards her. He said nothing, and she appreciated it. She plopped her head into her hand and zoned out, her eyes lost in the view of the field outside the window, nibbling at her favourite sweetened shortbread.
‘I took the first big shot for Drew. Remember, I told you after the belly shots, I had to do the huge one?’
Her dad leaned back in the chair and tapped his fingers on the bottom. ‘Well, you’re still walkin’, so must’ve been okay, huh?’
She shrugged. ‘I had to have a friend come over and do it.’ Her father broke his usual stoic face with a slightly raised eyebrow, and her ears turned warm.
‘Uh, I had a hard time doing it myself this time. I’ll totally get it tonight, though.
I just got spooked.’ The words rushed from her lips.
Hopefully, she’d get it tonight was probably more accurate.
She really did need to do this on her own.
They had only a handful of days prior to transfer, and then the entire first trimester, where she’d have to stick herself.
But the thought of Jade being there last night, her firm hands steadying Lucy, the concern flushing Jade’s face that she seemed to try to hide but couldn’t …
Lucy guzzled half the lemonade and avoided her dad’s gaze.
He turned to watch Chucky barking at a branch. Several long moments passed until he folded his arms and took a quick breath. ‘Your mom hated needles.’
A shot pierced Lucy’s chest. Maybe her dad was more intuitive than she thought, and knew she needed something, even the tiniest morsel, to connect her with her mom right now. ‘Oh, yeah?’ Play it cool. Too many questions and he’ll bolt.
He grabbed a cookie from the tin but only played with it in his palm. ‘You know, when we went to the hospital to have you, she was so damn worried about needles she refused to get the spinal shot. What do you call it?’
‘Epidural?’
‘Yeah, that. She took twenty-two hours of labour, crawling on her knees, me rubbing her back, hot towels, everything. Damn near broke my hand when she was squeezing it through the contractions. But she couldn’t stomach the idea of letting someone stick that thing in her back.
’ He cracked off a piece of cookie and chewed. ‘She was the strongest woman I knew.’
A small, dormant hole within Lucy seemed to fill. Her dad abruptly stood, and she knew the conversation was done. After giving him a moment, she met him at the sink and leaned her head on his shoulder.
‘Your mother may have been the strongest woman I knew,’ he said quietly. ‘But you got her beat. Proud of ya, kid.’
Warmth flooded Lucy. So few words and yet, this was exactly what she needed. She leaned up and kissed her dad’s rough cheek.
He grabbed his gloves and clippers. ‘Come on now. Your fat dog is going to eat all my strawberries if we don’t get out there.’
She swallowed down the knot in her throat and followed him outside.
***
The afternoon sun cast a golden hue through Lucy’s window and reflected against the TV.
She was halfway through a murder-mystery marathon, which had taken a weird, dark turn that was making her more emotional than usual.
She turned the channel to a The Price Is Right marathon to cleanse the creepy vibes.
A pink-haired woman who vaguely resembled Jade jumped up and down before spinning the wheel.
Lucy grabbed her phone and eyed Chucky, who was snoring at her feet. ‘What do you think, bud? Should I go for it?’
Green eyes, purple hair, and a perfect heart-shaped mouth had captured her thoughts since yesterday and she couldn’t shake the images.
The memory of those long, strong fingers gripping her naked hip had almost kept her up as much last night as the knot in her side, and even though the moment had theoretically been so deeply non-sexual, somehow she couldn’t stop replaying the image.
She was so close to being implanted. For the next year she’d likely be pregnant, and then postpartum. That was the plan, the same plan they’d had for years. And she was so freaking excited about the plan.
So yeah, it made no logical sense for her to pick up the phone. She bit her lip as she typed the message. Her stomach fluttered. She hit send.