Chapter 3 #2
Jen popped her head around the family-room door and grinned. ‘That’s no lady; that’s my sister!’
Lucy laughed. It was so good to have her big sister back — safe and here to stay. They’d grow old together.
‘You can go off people, you know,’ she said, pulling Jen into a hug.
‘You can’t go off me,’ said Jen. ‘I’m your emergency dishwasher.’
‘True,’ Lucy said, following her into the kitchen. ‘Plus, I’d miss those wonderful impersonations you do. Your Texan accent was to die for.’
She realised her mistake at once, catching the twinkle in Jen’s eye as she drew breath. Lucy slapped a hand over her sister’s mouth. ‘Don’t you dare. I’m about to go out, and I don’t want my good humour destroyed.’
‘Is that you, Lucy?’ her mother called from the kitchen.
Lucy released Jen, kissed her cheek and walked into the kitchen-family room, where their friend Megan sat on a stool at the bench, cradling a mug of tea.
‘It sure is,’ said Lucy, sweeping into the room. ‘Hey, you two.’ She looked from one to the other as Jen followed Liam out into the garden, where hammering sounded. Sam, no doubt.
Megan whistled as she looked Lucy up and down. Lucy obliged with a twirl. She had to admit she quite fancied herself in the white pantsuit and camisole. Smart but sexy. She wanted to strike the right note.
‘Where are you off to?’ asked Kate, miming a cup of tea. Lucy shook her head in mock horror.
‘I have been invited to dine at La Scala.’
‘Very fancy,’ said Kate. ‘By whom?’
‘By a very fancy man, as it happens.’
‘Anyone we know?’ asked Megan, exchanging a concerned look with Kate.
Lucy’s smile faltered. She hated that, unlike her, the people who loved her never quite forgot the fool she’d made of herself with a man who’d lied his way into her heart and her bed and then wrecked her life for a while. An experience never to be repeated.
‘Do you know anyone fancy?’
Kate smiled. ‘Yes, you’re right. Got us there.’ Then her smile faded into the kind of gaze Lucy could practically feel — a gentle palm cupping her face.
Lucy gave her mother a quick, reassuring kiss on the cheek. ‘You don’t know him. I only met him the other day. Never seen him before, haven’t seen him since.’
‘So is it wise to go on a date with him?’ Kate asked. ‘You know…’
Lucy turned away as Kate trailed off. She’d heard it all before and had no intention of revisiting her mistakes. She picked up her bag and turned back with a smile pinned firmly in place. She hadn’t come to be worried over — only admired.
‘After what happened…’ Megan added softly, her brows drawn.
Lucy’s smile dropped, and she let out an irritated sigh, stalking towards the door.
‘With, you know…’
Lucy turned back, hands on hips. ‘Laurent. You can say his name. Although I usually call him other things.’ Her lips twisted. ‘That was eight years ago. I’m a grown-up now, not a stupid, na?ve teenager whose heart can be broken.’
‘Darling,’ said her mother quietly, ‘I just don’t want you to be hurt again.’
‘And I won’t be, Mum,’ said Lucy. She tapped her chest. ‘I’ve made sure my heart is booby-trapped. I don’t think anyone will ever be able to bring it to life again.’
Kate and Megan both looked devastated, despite Lucy’s attempt at levity.
‘You mustn’t think like that,’ said Kate.
‘Why?’
‘Because you’re wrong, darling. You have the biggest heart.’
Megan nodded in agreement. ‘And it will always be vulnerable. So just go carefully, yes?’
‘I will. And I can assure you I will not get sucked in by the man I’m seeing tonight.’
‘How can you be so sure?’ Kate persisted.
Lucy dipped a finger into the bowl of dip, unable to resist, and tasted it. ‘Mm, not bad for a bought one.’
‘Lucy! How can you be so sure you won’t be hurt?’
They weren’t going to be diverted. She sighed and sat on a stool. ‘Because,’ she said, spreading dip onto a cracker, ‘there’s no way my heart will become engaged.’
Kate frowned, then her expression cleared. ‘He’s not vulnerable?’ She turned to Megan. ‘Lucy is a sucker for a sob story,’ she explained. ‘Anyone who’s vulnerable, an underdog, and she cracks.’
Lucy nodded, mouth full. She added a slice of cheese.
It was good. She knew it would be; she’d bought it.
‘Far from it. Oliver is not an underdog, and I doubt he even knows what the word “vulnerable” means. He’s confident, arrogant, gorgeous, looks like he’s made of money, and he just wants to have fun. ’
‘Oh, well then,’ said Kate, hesitating as she processed this. ‘Then I guess he might be all right.’
Lucy and Megan looked at each other and burst out laughing.
‘My mother,’ Lucy told Megan. ‘Must be the only one in the world who thinks it’s fine to date a bastard.’
‘Lucy has a point, Kate,’ said Megan, raising an eyebrow.
‘Bastards,’ said Kate, in the tone of someone delivering a verdict, ‘are easy to spot and easy to deal with. It’s men who are wounded who pose the real threat to my little girl. So, if this man isn’t wounded, then you have my permission to go out and have fun.’
‘Oh, well, that’s good. Because that is exactly what I intend to do. I must be away. I have seduction on the menu.’
Kate tutted. ‘I didn’t hear that.’
‘I did,’ said Megan, eyes wide.
Lucy glanced down at Megan’s pregnant belly and raised an eyebrow. She managed to close the door just before the cushion thudded against it.
‘Missed!’ she called as she walked back down the hall, her high heels clicking where the rugs ended.