Page 96 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
“I’m sure you do,” Andy said to placate her. “I’m here about Lucy. I wanted to show you a picture she took of me after she arrived.”
“Well,” she barked out. “Come over here and show me.”
His insides shriveled. He’d have to get closer to the hot tub. “Ah…could you please meet me inside to talk about this? I…don’t want to drop my phone in the water.” There. Genius.
“I’ll bend over the edge and put my hands out,” she responded. “Don’t be bashful, Hale. It's nothing you haven’t seen before.”
Why did people always say that? He had a license to practice medicine—not ogle naked people.
“Mrs. O’Brien, I’m really going to have to insist you put on a towel or robe.” He was going to hold his ground.
There was a grand huff behind him. “You really are a prudish man, aren’t you? I hope Lucy knows about this. Given how strong she is in her opinions, it might concern her that you’re uncomfortable looking at naked people.”
There was a small boulder in the garden to his right, and he had the sudden urge to bash his head against it. Was this what Lucy had to deal with? No wonder she’d lost her cool. Maybe he should just go.
“All right,” she called out. “I’m decent.”
He turned around, eyes half mast in case she was lying. She was wearing a short red kimono that skimmed her knees. He’d call it progress.
“Well! Are you coming over here or not? I’m growing cold here. I’m wet in some places.”
“Coming.” Anything to escape from this lamebrainconversation. Matt was going to laugh himself silly when he told him about it.
“I know you and Lucy have your opinions about things,” he said, “and I’m not here to get into that.” He’d grown up with three sisters, so he knew better. “But I wanted to show you this picture and tell you what it did for me.”
She grabbed her purple reading glasses from the picnic table. “Better not be one of those boudoir photos.” Then she barked out a laugh. “Not that I could imagine you posing for one after all your fussing about seeing me in the hot tub.”
He was so not going to mention the mind-blowing sex he’d had with her daughter last night. Three times. But he was tempted. God, she brought out the devil in him. “No, it’s this one.”
After drawing out his phone, he punched in his code and brought the photo up on screen. She peered closer before taking it from him.
“You look sad!” Ellen declared, thrusting it back at him. “And no wonder. I swear, I don’t think my kid can take anything but sad photos of people. In fact, I’ve concluded after talking to her yesterday that she’s flat-out lost her funny bone. And I’m sad for her. Laughter is what makes life worth living.”
Andy wanted to shove his phone in his pocket and storm out. But he loved Lucy enough to stay and defend her. “Your daughter is one of the funniest women I know. She can laugh in the face of life’s conflict and suffering in a way you rarely see in people, and I cherish her because of it.”
Her brows rose all the way to her hairline. “You’re really in love with her, aren’t you?”
“You’re darn right I am,” he said, his voice rising. “Lucy hasn’t lost her funny bone, and I’m sorry you two can’t set aside your differences enough to see each other. This photo she took captured my face when I was thinking about Kim.”
“That’s twisted,” Ellen said, frowning. “You’re dating!”
“It’s not twisted,” Andy said, his breath coming out hard now. “Your daughter has no problem letting me talk about Kim or how much I’ve missed her or how much I loved her. She never stops me from feeling what I feel.”
Ellen’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “Are you saying I don’t?”
He pulled himself back from that argument. “I’m saying that when I saw this picture of myself, I understood what my son must see when I talk about his mother. It made me sad to see it at first.”
“That’s my point!” Ellen said, thrusting her hand into the air in frustration. “No one needs those reminders. The past is the past, and dredging it up is a mistake.”
“It’s not a mistake. This picture helped change my mind about that. Sure, it captured my loss, but it also captured the love I had for Kim.”
She looked about ready to smack him upside the head. “Of course it did, you numbskull. Kim was your wife.”
He was bungling it. “You’re not hearing me. This picture captured the love I still have for her—even though she’s gone—and that’s…well, that’s a beautiful thing to remember. For me and my son.” So much emotion was coursing through him, he had to take some deep breaths to steady himself.
“I still don’t understand you. Did you need reminding that you still love Kim? Were you feeling guilty about being with Lucy?”
“This was before I started dating Lucy, but that’s not the point,” he said, pushing the phone under her nose. “This photo showed me I’m living with the loveandtheloss. This is what Lucy has captured for Jill and Rhett and Old Man Jenkins. She is capturing that life goes on, yes, but we still love them and miss them and wear silly costumes to commemorate them.”
