Chapter 2
“What’s wrong, Lucy?” Marshall asks, hovering over me looking down at the card.
“Nothin’,” I shake my head and swallow, swiping the card from the counter and turning to place it in my bag. I don’t want to lose it, and I sure as hell don’t want to use it. He can have the flowers.
“Are ya sure?” His head tilts as his eyes roam my reddened face.
Forcing a smile I nod, “I’m fine Marshy.”
“Well then,” he claps his hands together and looks around the space. “I guess I’ll be visitin’ around.”
Placing a swift kiss to his cheek, I head to the truck. I know there are more blooms left at my booth, but I can’t think straight enough to care. Most people will still pay, honor system and all.
I have to clear my head, think rationally. Walker is a common enough name, but around here? There’s only one family with that name and my stomach hits the floor.
Pulling open the truck door, it whines, I need Spencer to put some oil on it–add that to my ever growing list of things I have to get done. With a heavy sigh I reach across the bench seat for my cell phone. Dialing my brother’s number, I pull Reese’s card from my purse and flip it in my hands.
“Hello?” Spencer’s deep voice comes through the line, and my chest eases a little.
“Hey,” I start and my voice squeaks. Clearing my throat, I attempt to start again but I’m not sure how.
What can I say?
“Lucy Loo, you alright?” I can hear the clank of tools in the background, practically see him wipe his hands on the rag in his back pocket as he steps away from whatever car he’s working on.
“I’m not sure, honestly.” I thought I was over the past. But seeing Walker on this stranger’s card makes all of those old feelings bubble to the surface. Looking out of the windshield I bang my hand on the steering wheel. “Ugh–Why does he get to continue takin’ up space in my life?”
“Who?” Spencer’s voice takes a turn, an almost growl in his tone.
I didn’t realize I’d said it out loud, and Spencer won't let it go. He’s too protective for that.
“Levi,” I whisper.
“Levi? What’s he got to do with today, Lucy?”
Leaning my head back on the headrest, I close my eyes. “Reese Walker came to buy flowers today.”
He’s silent on the other side of the phone, until his audible sigh filters down the line. “And did you speak to him about Levi or somethin’? I’m not following, Loo.”
“No,” I shake my head, as if he can see me. Wiping the sweat from my neck and throwing my phone on the dash after turning the speaker on, I look around the street. Goldspur Ridge is busiest on Saturdays, with people running errands they usually can’t on weekdays.
Children run around down the street, at the little playground we voted to put in at the last town hall meeting. It’s amazing what a short four weeks can do in a town where people enjoy making it better.
“Loo,” Spencer calls as if he’s called more than once.
“Sorry, Spence. I’m probably just overreacting.”
“You sure?” He asks.
“Yeah… No, yeah. It’s not like he knows who I am.
It’s–I’m fine,” I definitely overreacted by calling him, despite my somber mood, the smile that tugs on my lips is genuine.
I love kids, their laughter is one of my favorite sounds, but helping my brother raise Briar after her Mama passed was enough for me.
Briar is amazing, honestly. Kind, intelligent, and so full of love, she’s the pillar of favorite child syndrome. I’m not sure I could love another baby like I love her, and I’m not sure I’d even be a good mother on my own.
Mawmaw would help, just like she did with Briar, but there’s a part of me that wonders if Briar would have turned out different if I hadn’t come back home after graduation.
“I’m sure it’s nothin’.” There’s a long pause on the other end of the line before Spencer agrees, and then promises to drop by the diner tonight with Heath and ends the call.
His husband, Heath, is the man who finally wore my brother’s defenses down enough to make him see that he didn’t have to spend the rest of his life hating himself for his wife’s death.
Her death was too sudden, too young, all the things people say at funerals because they don’t know how else to address a tragedy, and Spencer took it all to heart. It wasn’t his fault she had an aneurysm, it’s just the luck of the draw I guess.
Now he’s happy again, truly happy, and I really like Heath. It took a while for us to get here, but that’s not Heath’s fault, not really. Levi had me fooled, that no-good fucking cocksucker.
I should’ve listened when Brent told me all the things he’d found out about Levi after his body was found. I wasn’t even in love with him. I thought I was, but looking back… It was infatuation, puppy love, the kind that made me feel young. Not the kind that made my stomach bunch and heart flutter.
Levi’s proclivities, and the way he manipulated me, really cemented the walls I’ve built around my heart.
But the kind of love that makes a fire burn in your belly every time you even think about your person?
That’s what I want.
Eventually.