by Diane Bator
Chapter 10 ~ Lucy
Lucy struggled to wake up, but seemed stuck under a thick layer of chocolate mousse surrounded by strange music. The air was heavy and humid. Suffocating. She clawed one hand out from beneath a heavy quilt and touched the bridge of her nose. Tears sprang to her eyes from the sharp pain. She remembered walking into the patio door, her face igniting in a burst of pain, then nothing.
Three feet away, Parker and Shawn laughed and jumped around the room. Gina clapped and giggled. Someone just out of her line of sight played a guitar playing video game and did an impressive job.
She sat up, blinking away the falling stars that sailed before her eyes. Her eyes and head ached from too much wine. As her eyes adjusted to the light in the basement, she realized who the cheering was for.
Clancy strutted across the room like a rock star, muscles rippling, and sweat streaming down his face. As he finished his song, he leaped into the air. His knee cracked against the floor when he landed. While he struggled to his feet, the kids swarmed him with high-fives. “Sh, you’ll wake your mom.”
“Too late.” She yawned. “What time is it?”
“Sorry, I guess we got a bit carried away.” Clancy flashed a sheepish grin and ran a hand through his damp hair. “It’s about four o’clock.”
“I’ve been out cold for three hours?” When she covered her eyes with one hand, she hit her nose. “Ouch. Geez, that hurts.”
Clancy handed Parker the plastic guitar then squatted in front of Lucy. He cupped her chin in his hand and examined her nose. “I don’t think it’s broken, but you’re getting a really nice bruise.”
“Are you a doctor too?” She had nowhere to look except directly into his face. A scar zigzagged across his lower lip and down his chin.
“I’ve been in a few scraps in my time.” He smiled and seemed to move a wee bit closer. “We should get you some ice.”
Lucy licked her lip, aware of the crusted blood.
Shawn lunged between them. “Clancy’s totally awesome at this game. He can play a real guitar too and he used to be in a real rock band. They played all these old songs.”
“Oh yeah?” She raised her eyebrows.
Clancy stood and rubbed the knee he’d hit off the concrete floor. “Yeah, well, they weren’t old then.”
“That’s so cool.” Lucy’s face burned. “I need to use the washroom. I’ll be right back.” As she stood up, the room spun around her. Reaching for support, she grabbed Clancy’s arm.
“Are you okay, Mommy?” Gina asked. “Can I get you some water or ice?”
“She probably has a headache after running into the patio door.” Clancy ruffled Gina’s hair with his free hand. “She’ll be okay in a bit.”
Lucy released his arm. “I’m fine.”
“Come on.” Clancy took her hand and walked behind her up the stairs. “We don’t need you falling down the stairs. Think of me as a police escort.”
Nauseous, she locked herself in the main floor bathroom and splashed her face with cold water. Her forehead appeared dirty, but when she couldn’t wipe the smudge away.
“Nice bruise,” she muttered. Her nose and lower lip were tinged with dried blood. How attractive. At least Clancy hadn’t run in terror.
Beyond the door, someone rifled through the kitchen cupboards. The kids wouldn’t bother looking for anything, they’d bang on the door to get Lucy to hunt through the kitchen for food. She eased the door open, folded her arms across her chest and leaned in the kitchen doorway. “Can I help you find something?”
Clancy spun around with his eyes wide like she’d caught him doing something he shouldn’t have. “I was just looking for something to feed everyone for dinner.”
She picked up a flyer off the counter. Since they were going away for the week, the kids had begged for pizza, except Shawn who wanted tacos for the third time that week. “The kids wanted pizza, but—”
“Pizza? Now, that’s my kind of cooking.” His grin made her stomach flutter as he tugged his wallet out of his back pocket. He handed her a twenty-dollar bill. “At least let me pitch in for dinner. It was partly my fault you had too much to drink to begin with.”
“No, I’ll pay. It’s the least I can do after you watched my kids all afternoon.” She was surprised he seemed obligated to stay to watch her kids after she’d knocked herself silly. “I can’t believe I did that.”
Parker bounced into the room. “Are we gonna order pizza? Awesome. Can we get a meat one?”
“Hey, that’s my favorite too.” Clancy gave him a loud high-five that ricochet through Lucy’s brain and hurt her eyes and nose. When Clancy winked, she got the impression he and her son were co-conspirators. “So, what do you like on your pizza other than meat?”
Parker perused the list and circled the toppings they usually ordered, then ran downstairs before he missed his turn on the fake guitar.
“You know I could learn to like kids after all. You okay with all that?” Clancy glanced over his shoulder. “The order, I mean.”
“Fine.” He seemed so comfortable both with her kids and in her house, Lucy wanted him to leave.
He tilted his head. “Are you okay?”
“How did I get onto the couch in the basement?”
Clancy fumbled to refold the flyer. “You ran face first into the glass door.”
She winced. “I remember that part too well. Wine mixed with crashing into a glass door is not a good thing. Lesson learned. I’ll never drink again.”
He groaned and grabbed her by the arm. “Lucy—”
Roger hadn’t touched her in a long time. Although unnerved by the warmth of his hand on her bare skin, she was determined not to let her anxiety show. She stared straight ahead, scared if she looked Clancy in the eye she’d do something else stupid. “What happened after that?”
“The kids heard the bang and wanted to take you to the hospital, but I didn’t think that was necessary.” He leaned on the counter. “Gina cleaned you up then I carried you downstairs so we could all keep an eye on you.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “They’re good kids.”
“Yeah, they are.” He hesitated. “I wasn’t sure if I should leave with you out cold, then the boys asked if I wanted to play video games and...”
“So you stayed.”
Clancy shuffled his feet. “Well, yeah. Parker challenged me so I hung out to play games while you had a nap. It was fun.”
“Thank you.” She faked a smile, trying to be gracious, and hoped she sounded sincere. Why was he being so charming? “You didn’t have to stay, you know, I’m glad you did.”
“Me too. You want a glass of wine?” He winked.
She stared, on the verge of slapping him, then laughed. “You really are a jerk.”
He flashed his perfect teeth and touched her upper chest with the tips of his fingers. “And you really got burned. You should put on some lotion.”
Lucy batted her eyelashes. “Lotion or ice?”
“Ice is good.” Clancy licked his lips and lowered his voice. “You’ll have to try sometime.”
She suspected he was flirting from the sensations that surged through her body, and tingling in places she hadn’t thought about in far too long. She snatched the flyer from his hands then picked up the phone. “I guess we’d better call for pizza before we have a rebellion.”
“Can’t stand the heat, huh? You’d better get out of the kitchen.” His voice became as soft as velvet as he murmured against her hair, “You wanna call for pizza or should I?”
Lucy swallowed hard and shifted away from him. The man could make anything sound sexy. “I’ll call. You keep the troops occupied. Shawn’s likely to melt down when he hears we’re not having tacos again.”
“And you’d rather not be in the line of fire.” Clancy’s voice sent a waterfall of shivers coursing through her entire body.
If she didn’t have the kids and a pending divorce, things might have been different. The urge to throw her body against his and g
ive in was strong. She inched away before she did anything stupid since she hardly knew the man.
“Deal.” He backed toward the stairs then paused. “But only if you take me on in that crazy snowboarding game later. I hear you’re pretty good.”
“What?” She liked the way he said “good” and gulped for air as he ran down to the basement. Her cheeks burned, an afterglow from having wine at lunch.. Nothing more. Definitely not an attraction she’d toss and turn over in bed later that night.
With dinner due to arrive in twenty minutes, Lucy found a dozen excuses to avoid going into the basement. She tossed the kids’ wet swimsuits and towels into the laundry then straightened the already tidy house. Her body moved automatically, her mind unable to focus on any coherent thoughts, let alone finish anything she started. Her thoughts remained in the kitchen with Clancy.
Two glasses of wine had loosened her up enough she and Clancy seemed to be allies. It was so sudden and unsettling she wondered if he had an ulterior motive. He seemed awfully chummy with the kids. Too chummy. Was he more interested in getting to know her or them?
The doorbell interrupted her impulse to check on the kids.
“Pizza!” A chorus of voices rang out from the basement and the kids thundered up the stairs like a herd of miniature elephants.
By the time Lucy paid for the pizza and returned to the kitchen, voices drifted in from the deck. Paper plates dotted the table and all three kids clutched an open can of pop in one hand. She had a hunch she’d lost control of the zoo, especially when dinner degraded into a relaxed festival of bad jokes. The kids seemed determined to tell Clancy every joke and riddle they’d ever heard. He, in turn, told his own bad jokes and harbored a sense of humor which rivalled theirs.
Shawn seemed to forget about the tacos as well as his anger at Lucy. He smiled more than he had in months. “Clancy said we could have a snowboard tournament after dinner.”
Clancy flashed a sheepish grin and shrugged. “How could I say no to those faces?”
“You can play too, Mom.” Gina smiled. “We’ll even let you win sometimes.”
The video game tournament was so much fun Lucy’s stomach ached from laughing. At one point, she sat side-by-side with Clancy, who leaned into her when his skier turned in her direction. She leaned into him until she knocked him over and they lay in a laughing, sprawled heap on the carpet.
“That’s it, Shawn wins,” Clancy announced, apparently not in any hurry to sit up. “Time for me to go home. You guys have worn me out.”
“Woohoo!” Shawn cheered.
“You can’t go.” Gina pouted. “We’re having fun.”
“So am I.” He laughed. “But I’m not used to entertaining kids all afternoon. I’m worn out. Isn’t it past your bedtime yet?”
Lucy yawned at the mere suggestion of sleep. “I know it’s past mine.”
“Look at that, you wore your mother out too.” Clancy patted Lucy’s thigh, his hand lingering for just a heartbeat before he stood. “You guys get some sleep. Maybe we can do this again soon if it’s okay with your mom.”
“Okay.” Parker sulked on the couch.
Shawn stopped waving his arms in the air and frowned. “But we’re going to the cottage with our dad. We won’t see you for a whole week.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to play again when you get back.” Clancy shrugged.
Gina blinked back tears. “I guess you’ll have to play with Mommy instead.”
Clancy met Lucy’s wide-eyed gaze as a slow, knee-buckling grin curved his lips. He swept Gina into his arms then hugged her and set her down. “Maybe I will, princess. We’ll see.”
Lucy walked him to the front door, careful to avert her gaze. “Sorry about that. Kids say silly things sometimes. Thanks for hanging out with them. With us. I feel bad for passing out.”
“Don’t feel bad, I had fun. You have great kids.” Clancy rested one hand on the doorknob. “And, for the record, you didn’t pass out. You lost a fight with a glass door. Face it, that was probably the best sleep you’ve had all week.”
“You’re probably right.” She folded her arms across her chest, her gaze on the floor, avoiding his. “I have a bad habit of writing or worrying and not sleeping.”
Clancy cupped her chin in his hand and raised her face until she had no choice but to look into his eyes. He was going to kiss her and she was helpless to stop the momentum. His voice faded to a whisper as he leaned closer. “Good night, Lucy Stephen.”
“Good night.” Lucy’s heart dance a breathless tango. Fixated on his warm, green eyes, she swore sparks ignited the air between them and she grew lightheaded.
All three wiggly kids swarmed the room and drove an instant physical wedge between their bodies. Choruses of “good night” and “thanks for a fun day” rang through the air before the pack of kids ran up the stairs. Lucy and Clancy were left alone at the door to stare after them.
Lucy took a step back and regained her composure. She covered her mouth to keep from laughing. “Perfect timing.”
“Do you think they were spying on us?” Clancy whispered.
“Do monkeys swing from trees?” She fought to keep her distance from the heat that rose off his body. A moth fighting an inevitable attraction to a hot flame. “I feel awful you put off your plans to help me and the kids. Thanks for sticking around to help.”
“Good night, Miss Lucy. Thanks for a memorable day.” He lunged forward and kissed her on the cheek then walked out the door with one last glance over his shoulder.
She closed the door behind him and fanned her face then walked upstairs smiling. All three kids sat fully clothed at the top of the stairs, their expressions so solemn she was afraid at least one would burst into tears. “What’s going on, guys?”
Shawn was the first to speak. “Are you going to marry Clancy and leave us too?”
“No.” Stepping back, she steadied herself against the railing. “Why would you think that? Clancy’s not my boyfriend.”
Gina folded her arms across her chest. “He was gonna kiss you.”
“And you know that how?” She raised her eyebrows.
“Because we’ve seen people act all gooey like that in movies.” Parker’s face turned red and he looked down at the floor. “We were only spying because we love you.”
“I love you guys too and I’d never have a boyfriend you guys didn’t like. I promise.”
Shawn’s nostrils flared. “You shouldn’t even have a boyfriend. You’re married to Dad.”
When the kids went to brush their teeth and get ready for bed, Lucy sat on the top step to catch her breath. Tomorrow, they’d leave for a week with Roger and his latest fling and she’d miss them horribly. She planned to fill her days with writing, gardening and job hunting, which sounded easy now, but she’d be a mess less than an hour after they left.
Gina swooped down from behind and squeezed her in a huge hug. “I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you, too, baby girl.” Lucy carried her to bed. Gina’s room, adorned with fairies and flowers Lucy had painted on the lilac walls, was her favorite. The only room Roger hadn’t criticized her for painting. “Go to sleep, angel. Tomorrow we’ll finish packing your bags before you go see Nana and Papa.”
“You have to pack too.” Aren’t you coming with us? Gina frowned. “You always come.”
“Not this time, honey.” She fought back tears, her throat tight. “This time it’s just you, your brothers, Daddy, and Tanji.”
“But we want you to come.” Parker hovered in the doorway, pajama bottoms two inches too short for his coltish legs.
She’d need to get a couple new pairs while he was away. At least that would give her something else to keep occupied with.
“Parker...” She trailed off and vowed to talk to him privately in the morning.
“Yeah, I know.” He bowed his head and kicked at a stuffed bear on the floor. “You guys are getting a divorce and we won’t be a family anymore.”
Lucy rubbed a ha
nd over her face. “I know this isn’t easy. It’s hard for all of us and I don’t know how to make things easier.”
“I do.” Shawn’s words startled her.
“How?” The instant she met his gaze, she knew she wouldn’t like his answer.
“Start loving Daddy again.”
Lucy closed her eyes, her heart pierced by his words. They’d had the same conversation at least three times a day since Roger left.
Parker put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Mom’s the one who kept us. Dad moved away to live with someone else.”
“Yeah, ‘cause she kicked him out.” Shawn scowled. “Well, I’m moving in with Daddy then you’ll have a room to yourself. I’ll be the only one he loves.”
When Lucy reached to hug him, he stepped back out of reach. She slammed her eyes shut and turned away since she couldn’t look into his face without bursting into tears. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning. You guys will have fun with Daddy out at the cottage.”
“I know.” Shawn’s face hardened and his voice grew cold. “You want us gone so you can have fun with Clancy. I guess you get your wish.”
Lucy sucked in a pained breath, but was determined not to cry.
“Good night, Mom.” Parker pecked her cheek, giving her a lingering hug while she sat on the edge of Gina’s twin bed. “I know you’ll do lots of great writing and find a publisher while we’re away. Then we’ll celebrate and have lots of money and you’ll be happy again.”
She held Parker tight. “I love you. Good night.”
“Good night.” Shawn snorted then walked out of the room without a look back.
With the kids tucked in bed and the lights turned out, Lucy sat on the stairs of the back deck with a cup of chamomile tea. The sweat that began to trickle down her neck at eight o’clock that morning had yet to stop at ten o’clock that night. All she wanted was to sit, watch the stars, and try to sort out her life.
Her mind reeled from the events of the day; going to the playground, lunch with Clancy and Mitch, knocking herself out cold with the patio door, nearly kissing Clancy at the front door, which was where her thoughts derailed and heat surged through her body.