Page 95 of Chasing Fireflies

“You need to be getting on your way.”

“I don’t think that’s something you can decide. I think I’ll stay. I’ve always liked this little town. Plus, I need to pay a visit to a long-lost wife of mine.” He grins before he leans down and spits in the dirt.

“You get on out of here, Lucas, or I’ll have no choice but to bring you in. This is your one and only warning.”

He laughs. “What? You gonna tell the big bad chief on me?”

“I am the fucking chief,” I say, surprising him by grabbing the front of his shirt. His eyes grow wide. “And if you don’t get the hell out of my town, you’ll wish you never came back.” I toss him away from me and he stumbles backward. “Don’t let me see your face again.” I turn away from him and walk back to my pole. I grab it out of the water and toss it into the back of Old Blue before I get inside.

“Daddy, who was that?” Ellie asks.

“A mean man you won’t be seeing again.” I crank the truck and look over at him walking back to his car. I don’t move until he drives off down the road that heads out of town. I say that to Ellie, but I know he’ll be back. I put the truck in drive, and we make our way into town to pick up some fish from Sally’s Market.

“What are we gonna do about Mama’s fish?”

“We’re going to buy some.”

“Will they taste the same? I don’t want her to be sad.”

I chuckle sadly. “They’ll taste the same, baby. Don’t you worry about Mama.”

*

“How’s she feeling?” I ask Mama when I walk into the house.

“She’s sitting out back, said she wanted to get some air,” she tells me as she takes the groceries from my hands. “You didn’t catch any fish?”

“Nah, ran into a little issue, no big deal, but we ended up going to buy some instead.”

“Well, I’ll cook it up. Come on, Little Miss, and help Grandma cook.”

“Thanks, Mama,” I say, walking over to the fridge. I grab a beer and head toward the back door. I step outside, hearing the nighttime bugs and seeing Sara sitting at the table we have out here. She’s facing away from me, but I can see that she rests her chin on her bent-up knee. A gray sweater covers her arms, and her hair is wild as it falls around her back and shoulders. I sigh and walk over, taking a seat beside her on the bench. She doesn’t even look over at me, and I see the tiredness in her pretty face. I lift my hand and move her hair away from her shoulders so I can see her face better.

“Baby,” I say. I see her swallow before she looks at me. She gives me the smallest smile before she turns back toward the field. “I saw Lucas earlier.”

“What?” she asks.

“Yeah, I told him to get the hell out of here.” I take a sip of my beer. “I hope he listens.”

“I hope so, too,” she murmurs. I hear the back door open, and Little Miss rounds the table.

“Mommy,” she says, grabbing Sara’s leg. She hugs it hard, and Sara puts her hand on Ellie’s back.

“Hey, baby. Did you have a good time with Daddy?”

“Yes, but we saw a mean man and Daddy told him to go away. So we didn’t get no fish. But we went to Sally’s, and Daddy paid for them instead. He said they’ll still taste the same, Mommy, so don’t be sad.”

“Okay, sweet girl.”

Ellie removes herself from Sara’s leg and climbs up on the table. “Look at those lights out there,” she says, pointing toward the field.

“Those are fireflies,” Sara says.

“If you run inside and ask Grandma to give you a jar, we can go catch some like Mommy used to do when she was a little girl.”

“Catch them?” Little Miss asks. “But how will they breathe?”

“We can put holes in the top so they can breathe.”

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