“Oh, honey, are you crying? It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here now,” Lucy said in a soothing voice.
I knew it might be emotional for Sarah, but I didn’t know it would be emotional for me too.
Lucy bobbed down to the level of her daughter and wrapped her arms around her.
I had to turn away for a minute because I still felt protective over Sarah.
They hugged for a couple of minutes.
“Mom, are you staying? Are you better now? I don’t want you to be sick anymore.” Sarah poked out her lip and swayed a little bit as Lucy handed her a little soft toy. It looked like a giraffe. Sarah took the soft toy and hugged it to her chest like it was the only thing in the world.
I motioned Lucy in as they talked some more. Mississippi sunlight shone on her silky, dark hair giving me the insatiable urge to caress the loose strands, but all I could do was let my eyes linger a little longer on the renewed beauty that stood before me, casting her luminous glow. I coughed to clear my throat, glad Lucy couldn’t read my mind. “Sarah, you wanna go grab your things, then we can head to the park and you can play for a little bit?”
“Sure thing! Be right back, Mom. I have so much to tell you!”
I smiled slightly at Lucy, stuffing my hands into my jeans stiffly. “She can get a little out of hand sometimes when she gets excited. You’ll see.” My chuckle came out a little strange. I stepped out of the house a little and into the sun, which wasn’t so bad today. Mild for the ‘Sip.
Sarah came back with everything she needed and we walked to the park. She ran ahead to hit up the play equipment as Lucy and I walked side by side.
“How is the club going? Are you still enjoying pool?” Lucy asked with trepidation.
I walked slowly in time beside her. “I love it. Nothing’s changed there. I’ve got this pool competition running and a few good players I’ve been up against. You used to be pretty decent. Still remember the shots I taught you?” I asked quietly.
“Umm. I haven’t played for a while. I'm still a little rusty,” she admitted, biting her lip.
We walked a little further, and my hand swung at the same time hers did – making our little fingers touch. I felt the spark and drew my hand back, but I really wanted to keep it there. “Might have to play a game sometime and bring you back up to speed.” I chuckled lightly as the breeze lightly picked up. I glanced over to the playground.
Sarah was waving at us both. She seemed the happiest she’d been in months.
“Maybe…anything else at the club?”
“Hmm, a few things…we’re looking to acquire the Red Stone Casino and we’re having trouble with the Devil Riders trying to infiltrate our turf.” I took a deep breath as we rounded the corner of the path. “Angie wrote like this exposé on us as a club and it painted us and Red Stone in a pretty bad light. We convinced her to tell the real story of the Rebels from a different angle, so yeah we are working together.” I tried to keep the part about Angie light, but I still noticed the distant look in Lucy’s eyes.
“Wow. Sounds like a lot to handle. I’m so grateful to you for taking care of Sarah. I know Teresa was helping out, but I’m grateful. I know it hasn’t been easy, and we made the decision a long time ago…” She trailed off, chewing her bottom lip, which made her seem more endearing to me.
As she spoke, I felt the guilt seep in for giving her a hard time. She was in front of me now and I could see the result of her healing. I could bear witness to the benefits of her going away. “It was difficult at first, I’m not gonna lie. I wanted to quit some days, but I don’t know…” I confessed. I turned again to look at the beautiful woman standing before me. “You being here now and healthy is what matters. Do you…feel like you have a handle on things?” I didn’t want to make her feel like I was investigating her, but at the same time, I wanted to make sure our daughter wouldn’t get hurt, if Lucy fell into a dark hole again.
She sighed as if talking about it all was a heavy weight to lift. “Yes, I feel good now. I’m not concentrating on what other women look like, just what’s good for me. And yeah, I feel good inside my body now. I’ve had a lot of support on my journey. Holbeck is opening up a whole new chapter for me.” She laughed, and her whole face brightened. She was watching Sarah climb the flying fox with another kid and buzzing across the line to the other end. Her eyes were wistful as we settled on the park bench to watch Sarah.
“You look great, you really do,” I commented as I watched Sarah showing off. “Damn. She’s growing so fast, I’m trying to figure out who took my kid.”
We both broke out into a light chuckle.
“You and me both!” she exclaimed.
Sitting beside her felt like the old days, the days when we used to just enjoy one another’s company and talk about our future plans.
“Mom, come over here! Come on! I want you to go on the flying fox too. It’s so much fun!”
Now that Lucy was here, the tantrums would finally leave. She was back to the fun-loving, goofy kid I loved and adored. Like I assumed, she needed her mother’s touch.
Lucy gave me a pitiful look with her shoulders hunched up as she moved towards her daughter.
I laughed. Yeah, I knew how she felt, playing on children’s swings was quite a challenge.
We stayed at the park for another hour and picnicked together. Sarah ran most of the show for that. I could barely get a word in edgewise, and that was fine by me.
By the time the hour was up, Lucy looked at her watch. “I’m blown away, the time has flown and I have a few things to do this afternoon.”