In Search of Lucy: A Novel

by Lia Fairchild

  “You are coming back, aren’t you?” His voice was quiet, and he searched her eyes for the answer.

  “I hope so.”

  “I wish we knew each other back in high school.”

  Lucy laughed and shook her head. “No you don’t.”

  “I guess we’re both different people now.” Still holding both her hands, Kyle pulled her in closer. “I just hope I get the chance to know you better.”

  Lucy looked down at the sand. “Me too.”

  Kyle released one of her hands and gently lifted her chin until he saw the moonlight magnifying her shimmering brown eyes. Lucy was completely focused on him, and that moment, for once her mind was free from what had happened in her life—her regrets, her disappointments. It seemed like an eternity before he leaned down to her and their lips finally met. With waves crashing toward them, they both knew this moment could only last in their memories. For Kyle and Lucy, only time would tell if they had a chance for anything more.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Scrambled okay for you, Lucy dear?” Mrs. Allen said from behind the kitchen counter in her apartment.

  “I thought you said you were making waffles,” Lucy replied from the couch in the living room.

  “Oh, I am.” Mrs. Allen turned to the counter behind her and pressed a timer button on a black waffle maker. “But I wanted to make eggs too. Since I couldn’t get you over here for a nice dinner, I want this to be a special treat.” She went to the stove, picked up a bowl of beaten eggs, and poured them into the warm pan.

  “Please don’t go to any trouble for me, Mrs. Allen.” Fidgeting around on the dark green tweed couch, Lucy tried to find a spot that didn’t itch her or have cat hair on it.

  “Besides, Anne invited that nice young man Benny. I sent them out to get some tea right before I ran into you in the laundry room.” She continued to work busily and cheerfully around the kitchen as if she were a line cook in a diner. “So you see, this is turning out to be quite a little party now that you’re here.”

  “That’s nice, Mrs. Allen. Thanks for inviting me.” Lucy could see that having people around and feeling useful was what made Mrs. Allen happy. She knew better than anyone how incredibly lonely it could be without family in your life. Lucy scooted to the end of the couch to grab a closer look of a framed photo on a wooden end table. It was in one of those ancient-looking wood frames that looked like spray-painted gold. She recognized a younger Mrs. Allen standing next to a handsome man with salt-and-pepper hair. They were surrounded by half a dozen other people of varying ages all wearing Hawaiian shirts and leis.

  “That was our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary,” Mrs. Allen said, noticing Lucy studying the photograph. “It’s one of the happiest memories I have from when my Stu was alive. There’s nothing better than having all those that you love around you.” Balancing glasses on a stack of plates, Mrs. Allen made her way to the table and set the stack down.

  “Your family looks very nice.” Lucy jumped up and walked over to the table. “Here, I’ll take care of this.” She had begun doling out glasses and dishes around the table at each seat when she heard her phone text alert. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell. It was a text from Kyle. Just the thought of him brought a rush of overwhelming feelings that confused Lucy. She pressed the “view” button to read the short message: Can’t stop thinking about you. She didn’t even have time to consider what to say back before she heard the door open. Startled, she pressed the message away and jammed the phone back into her pocket.

  Benny bounded through the door with his usual big smile and loud greeting. “Honey, I’m home!” He was holding one grocery bag, and Anne was behind him with another. They both walked over to the kitchen counter and set the bags down.

  “What else did you get?” Mrs. Allen asked.

  “We got some fresh strawberries to go on the waffles,” Anne said, pulling them out of the bag.

  “And we got some lightbulbs,” Benny said, proudly holding up the package. “I noticed one of your kitchen lights was out.”

  “Thank you, Benny, you’re such a gentleman.” Mrs. Allen scraped the pan full of eggs out and into a big bowl.

  Benny showed a mischievous smile to Lucy, grabbed a strawberry out of the basket, and popped it in his mouth.

  “Okay all, let’s start getting this stuff over to the table, and then you kids can have a seat.”

  All three worked together to get everything from the kitchen over to the table. There was a stack of waffles with a warmer over them, a bowl of eggs, the strawberry baskets, a big pitcher of juice, and the bottle of iced tea from the store. Once they were all seated, they simultaneously looked over at Mrs. Allen and waited.

  “Well don’t wait for me,” she said, grabbing her coffee mug. “Dig in. I’m just getting my kick start for the day.” She poured herself some coffee and spooned in a little sugar.

  “Ladies first,” Benny said, looking over at Mrs. Allen for approval.

  “Suck-up,” Lucy said under her breath while snagging a waffle and putting it on her plate.

  Anne went for the waffles too and topped them with a few strawberries before adding the syrup. Benny went for the eggs first and poured himself some juice. Mrs. Allen brought her coffee to the table and sat down with the others. “So how’s your sister, Lucy? Anne tells me she’s ill with diabetes.”

  “She’s doing fine, thanks. In fact, she is going to be doing much better pretty soon.” Lucy peeked up from her plate to see if anyone caught on to her hint.

  “Why, did they find a kidney donor for her?” Benny asked and then shoveled a pile of eggs in his mouth.”

  “Yes, they did.”

  “That’s great news, Lucy!” Anne cheered.

  “It’s me.” Lucy continued eating as if the news had been nothing to pause for.

  “What?” all three seemed to say in stereo.

  “So you’re the match, Lucy?” Anne set her fork down and sat back in her chair.

  “So far, I’m the only option, and I’ve decided to do it. They can’t say a hundred percent until I get there, but looking at the tests I’ve done here, they’re saying everything should be a go.”

  Benny finally swallowed and chimed in. “Wow, that’s crazy.” Then he went back to eating as if someone were waiting to clear the plates.

  “But doesn’t your sister live in Kentucky or something?” asked Anne.

  “Texas. Fort Worth.”

  “So you just have your kidney taken out, and they fly it over there in one of those coolers?”

  “No. I’m going to drive there and have the operation in the same hospital as my sister.”

  “All that way, by yourself? That doesn’t seem safe. Why don’t you fly?” Anne asked.

  “I don’t fly.”

  “I’m with you on that one, Lucy.” Mrs. Allen held her coffee in one hand and stirred as she spoke. “I don’t fly either. Just can’t handle it anymore. Not since before Stu. But I agree with Anne. You, driving alone…” She shook her head. “That doesn’t sound like the best idea.”

  “Why don’t I drive you,” Benny said suddenly as if a light-bulb had gone off in his head.

  All three women looked at him as if waiting for further explanation.

  “What? I was just offering.” He turned to Lucy to speak to her directly. “I mean, my car is much more dependable than your heap, Lucy. I really wouldn’t mind. Plus you know I have a flexible schedule.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t know if that would work,” she said, thinking it out in her head. “I’ll need to be gone for a while…maybe a couple of weeks.”

  “It’s no problem. And you know what, I got cousins in Dallas,” Benny said, jabbing his idea out with his fork. “It’s only about an hour away. I could take you to your sister’s and then go back and stay with them for a while. They’d be so stoked to see me.”

  “Would I have to listen to your jokes the whole way?”

  “Very funny, Lucita.”

/>   “Let me think about it?”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Mrs. Allen said as she finished her last bite of eggs. “Now finish up, you slowpokes, ’cause I got Bunco this afternoon.”

  Not hearing a word of what her aunt said, Anne stared aimlessly over her shoulder. “I want to go,” she mumbled, still in a trance.

  “You never wanted to go to Bunco before, sweetie,” Mrs. Allen replied.

  “No!” Anne shook her head into alertness. “I want to go with Benny and Lucy.” She turned to the two of them. “Oh, it would be so fun.”

  “Here we go,” said Lucy.

  “Fine with me,” Benny declared.

  “Oh please, Lucy,” Anne pleaded. “I haven’t really been anywhere, and I don’t start nursing school until the fall.” Anne got up from her chair and walked over between Benny and Lucy. “And since I already planned to give notice at work for school, it couldn’t be better timing.” Anne held her breath, put her hands up in prayer, and then stared at Lucy.

  “I swear, if you two yell, ‘Road trip!’ and then high-five each other, you can forget the whole thing.”

  “Thank you so much, Lucy!” Anne gave her a hug around the neck. “Do you think your sister will mind if I tag along? Maybe I can help out, you know, since you’ll both be having surgery.”

  “I’m not saying yes for sure,” Lucy warned. “I’ll talk to my sister and Rick, but I don’t see why they would mind since I am saving her life.”

  Anne was done listening by that time and was already pacing the living room with wheels spinning in her head. “This is going to be so awesome,” she said to nobody in particular. She seemed to be forgetting that the purpose of this trip was of a serious nature. To her it was an opportunity to do something that most people her age had already done.

  From age fifteen to twenty, Anne Preston had worked for her father, Henry, in the family business located in Buena Park. It was a casual clothing store that sold mostly T-shirts and shorts, hats, and accessories. Anne loved being there and working with her dad, who had hoped she would one day run the business. Her good-natured ways made her agreeable to her father’s plan, but the older she got, the more her heart was somewhere else.

  Anne wanted to help people. Her true dream was to become a nurse, but she never had the heart to tell her father. Then, with the economic downturn, the store was struggling financially. Eventually, Henry had to sell the business. He and Anne’s mother moved to Detroit so Henry could work for his brother at a used car lot. That left Anne and Henry’s older sister, Mary, behind. Being the only two in the family still left in California, Anne and Mary Allen had grown close and formed a very strong relationship.

  Lucy leaned back in her chair trying to get Anne’s attention. “Anne, hello? Uh, maybe you shouldn’t make such a big deal about this. Being on the road can be kind of boring.”

  Still on her own track, Anne shimmied back toward the table. “Oh…my…gosh! What if we stopped in Vegas on the way?”

  “What?” Lucy exclaimed.

  “Uh, that’s slightly off our course,” Benny remarked thoughtfully. “It’s more direct if we head straight towards Arizona.”

  “Thank God.” Lucy was surprised at Benny’s knowledge and sense of direction, and she was starting to feel a little better about the whole thing. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a man along, even though she hated feeling so dependent. Anne, on the other hand, was a different story. Lucy didn’t know how she felt about Anne going along, but it seemed to be too late now. One thing was for sure, though, it was bound to be interesting.

  CHAPTER 18

  Packing for a trip was one thing, but getting ready to spend countless hours trapped in Benny’s Durango, alongside the cheerleader, was completely mind-boggling to Lucy. And that wasn’t even taking into consideration the fact that she had to improve her lifestyle, let some strange doctor slice her up, part with a vital organ, and then spend time with her estranged sister, after she saved her life that is. No problem, Lucy thought. I’ll just throw a suitcase together.

  She made lists upon lists so she wouldn’t forget what needed to be done in the next few days before they left. There was a list for clothes to bring, services to stop, bills to pay, errands to run, and even a list of CDs and things for the car ride. She had so many lists that she actually made a checklist for her lists.

  At the top of her to-dos: call Katie. As unbelievable as it sounded, the two had yet to speak on the phone. Lucy had plenty of correspondence with hospital staff both locally and in Fort Worth, and she had spoken to Rick once more. But Lucy had only tried Katie two times on her cell. The first time Lucy hung up, and the second time she left a voice mail, short and casual, asking for Katie to call her back. When Katie did call her, Lucy couldn’t get up the nerve to answer the call.

  Then last week, Lucy had received a letter from Katie. An actual, 3-D piece of paper with words and sentiments on it. At first she thought it was some logistical detail that needed to be taken care of or a test result, or maybe even correspondence about the trip. As soon as she unfolded it, her eyes scanned across the full-length letter, and she knew. Spilled out of her heart and onto the page was everything Katie had been thinking and feeling since the moment Carly was born. She finally understood about sacrifice and wanting to protect your child. She realized that Lucy had done that same thing for her all those years ago.

  Lucy couldn’t slow down her pace and was gliding across the words to make her way to phrases like, “I’m so sorry,” and “I realize now,” and “You were always there,” until the words grew blurry from a flood of tears. The last two lines said, “I don’t even know if I deserve to take this from you, but I have to do whatever I can to make sure I’m here for my daughter. Thank you, Lucy, for giving me this chance.”

  Lucy flipped through her lists and other papers as she leaned against the kitchen counter. At the bottom of the stack was the letter. She wanted to read it once more and bring it with her on the trip. Halfway through and the doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting anyone and didn’t feel like talking, so she ignored it. Next came a loud knock. Looking up in annoyance, she set the letter down and crept to the door. Through the peephole she could make out that it was Dale, but she had no idea what he could want.

  “I’m a little busy right now, Dale.” She stepped back, shouting from behind the door.

  Dale smiled up to the peephole and waved, thinking she was looking. Then he bent down and picked up something from the ground. “I thought you might want this package.” He held it up. “I signed for it yesterday.”

  Lucy unlocked the door and opened it a foot. Creepy Dale was never to be trusted.

  “It’s pretty heavy. Wonder what it is.” He turned the flat square package sideways as if he needed to slide it through a chained door.

  Lucy opened the door all the way and grabbed the package. “Thanks for bringing it over.” She tucked the box under her arm and started to close the door.

  “Need anything else, Lucy?” Dale gleamed his gray-gold smile through the closing space of the door.

  “No thanks,” Lucy said just as the door closed.

  She walked over and set the package on the counter. Her initial guess was that it was something from the hospital, until she saw the return sticker: DST Marketing. That sounded vaguely familiar. The weight was sufficient enough to be something exciting, so she ripped open one of the end flaps and revealed a clump of bubble wrap. Holding the box with one hand, she gripped the protected object and slid it out onto the counter.

  It can’t be, she thought. Who would be sending me a…laptop? She unwrapped the portable computer and stared dumbfounded. Could it be some sort of mistake, or maybe a marketing gimmick? Marketing! It hit her like a bolt of lightning. DST Marketing is where Kyle worked, but it still didn’t make any sense. They had spoken at dinner about technology and how completely out of it she was. Maybe she mentioned she didn’t have a laptop, but that was no reason to send one over. She would have to call him for an exp
lanation.

  Lucy went over to her purse to get her cell phone and the business card Kyle had given her. With her eyes still glued to the mystery gift, she dialed the number.

  After only one ring, she heard a young male voice answer: “Good afternoon, DST Marketing.”

  Although it was perfectly fine for her to call Kyle, she still felt a sense of nervousness. She tried to make her voice sound professional. “Hello, could you please connect me with Kyle Benson.”

  “One moment please. May I say who’s calling?”

  “This is Lucy Lang.”

  “Of course, Ms. Lang, I’ll connect you.”

  Expecting to hear some kind of boring Muzak, she was impressed by the upbeat tune transmitting in her ear. Within seconds she recognized “Pressure” by Billy Joel, but she didn’t get a chance to enjoy it.

  “Hey.” Kyle came across sounding happy and surprised. “I’m glad you called.”

  “I think you were expecting me to call.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Lucy could hear the smile behind his words. She thought it was cute but was impatient and wanted answers to come more quickly. “C’mon, Kyle. I got the computer…but I don’t get it.”

  “Didn’t you open it?” he said, a bit confused.

  “What do you mean? Of course I opened it—that’s how I knew it was a laptop.”

  “No, I mean the laptop itself.”

  “Oh, hold on a sec.” She walked back over to the counter and balanced the phone against her ear with her shoulder. “I’m opening it now.” It took a couple of tries before she found the piece that released the top, and then she popped it open. Lying on the keyboard was a piece of paper: kbenson@dstmarketing. com. Please take care, Lucy, and keep in touch. Kyle

  The long silence triggered some second-guessing from Kyle. “I hope you don’t think I’m…a stalker or something.” He flapped his green and blue tie against his desk. “I got a new laptop and thought you might want my old one.”