Page 86 of Touch Me Not

They spent the afternoon lounging by the pool while her mother cooked them enough food to feed three armies. The twins were ecstatic to see Lily. She hadn’t spent a lot of time with them in person, but she did video chat with her mom and the twins at least two or three times a week. They tore into their gifts like little fiends and squealed with delight. What really broke Lily’s heart how shocked they were when she hugged them. She spent two hours just sitting on the floor playing with the munchkins, smiling like she hadn’t in a very long time.

Once everyone had been fed, Lily offered to help her mom with the dishes. Nikoli was content to sit and talk about baseball with her stepfather. She helped her mom gather up dishes and took them into the kitchen, where she started scraping them. Her mom ran some dishwater for the pots and pans. She refused to put pans in the dishwasher, proclaiming that was where all the nicks and scratches came from.

“Tell me about this young man of yours,” her mother said without preamble.

“I guess you could say he’s my saving grace. I would never have learned to control my phobia without him.”

“How did he do it?” her mother asked curiously. “What did he do that we didn’t?”

“It’s not that, Mama. You did everything you could. It was more me. I wanted to change, to be able to let someone touch me. It wouldn’t have worked if I hadn’t needed to change so badly. Nikoli just…he never let me give up. He pushed and pushed and pushed. Sometimes I wanted to strangle him, but he never pushed too far. He knew when to stop. But mostly, he was just there when I needed him.”

“He pushed you?”

Lily snorted. That was putting it mildly. “He pushed my limits, never let me give in to my fear, never let me give up,Mama, even when I wanted to. I never thought I’d be able to let anyone touch me ever again, but I can now, and it’s all due to him. I’m mostly healed because of that man.”

“Oh, baby, I’m so happy for you. I only wish I could have helped you more, gotten you better sooner. I’m so sorry.”

Lily put down the plate she was scraping and took her mother’s hands. “Don’t be sorry, Mama. This phobia of mine wasn’t your fault, and you did do everything you could to make me better. You’re a good mother, and I love you so much. No more tears, okay? Only smiles from now on.”

“It’s good advice, Mrs. Stanton.”

They both turned to see Nikoli lounging in the doorway. Lily felt her heart skip gleefully at the sight of him and cringed a little inside. Not out of fear, but the beginning of pain. This was their last weekend together. She knew it deep down. She couldn’t shake the thought. She wanted to curl up and cry.

Lily’s mother went over to Nikoli and wrapped him in a bear hug. He laughed and hugged her back. “What’s that for?”

“For giving me my baby back,” she said, a tremor in her voice. She was fighting not to break down. Nikoli smiled down at her.

Nikoli now understood where Lily got her kindness. Her mother was one of the sweetest women he’d ever met, coming in a close second to his own mother. He saw the gratitude in her eyes and felt himself blush. She had no idea why he’d wanted Lily cured, and looking into her eyes now, he almost felt like a heel. Almost.

“Don’t thank me,” he told her. “Lily is a beautiful woman who deserves to be happy. I only helped a little.”

“You are welcome in this house, young man,” her mother said, wiping her eyes. “Always.”

“Thank you.” Nikoli turned regretful eyes to Lily. “We need to get going, Lily Bells.”

“So soon?” Joanna asked. “It’s barely seven.”

“I have to be up early tomorrow,” Nikoli explained. “I have a race.”

“Race?” Joanna asked sharply.

“Yes, ma’am.” Nikoli nodded. “I came down to Florida to enter a race.”

“You race cars?” Nikoli watched Joanna’s eyes fill up with an emotion he couldn’t define. She had to be thinking of Lily’s father.

“I do,” he said, keeping his voice calm. “Lily has been helping me get the car ready for it.”

“Those damn cars.” Joanna shook her head. “Lily was forever under the hood of a car, even after her father died.”

“It kept me sane, Mama.”

“I know it did.” Joanna cleared her throat and turned to Nikoli. “Have you seen my daughter drive?”

“Yes, ma’am. I let her drive the car I’m entering back to campus when I bought it. She smoked me.”

“That’s my girl.” There was an edge to Joanna’s laughter. Nikoli knew she wasn’t at all happy about Lily in a race car.

“We really do have to go,” Nikoli said gently. “We still have to feed Luther, my partner in crime.”

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