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CHAPTER THREE
Two weeks later
“How are you doing, Lucy?” Grace asked.
The other woman had her legs stretched out in front of her on the comfortable lounge chair that sat on the deck of Melina’s beautiful home. Lucy had arrived in Vegas earlier in the day and the three of them were enjoying some alone time together while Melina’s twins, Charlie and Tabitha, slept and while Max and Rhys made final preparations for the opening of their new magic theater the next night. Lucy figured Jamie was also in town, but she was trying to put that fact out of her mind.
Unfortunately, she had too many things she didn’t want to think about; obviously her sister’s death was number one on the list. It was virtually all she’d been able to think about and for the first week following Gail’s death, Lucy had hibernated in bed with her shades drawn, crying more than she’d ever thought it was possible for a human being to cry. She’d been overwhelmed by grief and regret and guilt…but even though she’d asked them not to visit or come to the funeral, Melina, Grace, and Jamie had kept in touch.
They’d been the support she’d needed to finally crawl out of bed and start living again.
Today was the first time she’d actually seen Grace and Melina since Gail’s death and funeral, and she knew her friends were worried about her.
“I’m doing okay. It’s been tough. It’s weird, you know…we didn’t have a relationship for the past fifteen years, but she was my first best friend. In spite of our differences and all the years that went by, I never stopped loving her.” Even to Lucy’s own ears, her words sounded hollow. If she’d loved her big sister so much, why hadn’t she put aside the past and mended fences with her? One lousy phone call in fifteen years hadn’t been much of an effort. She hated that hurt feelings and pride had come between them, but she also knew it had been more than that. Her sister had not only chosen Mason over her, but in doing so, she’d helped Lucy feel like a pariah—even though her sister had known how hurtful that would have been to Lucy, who’d often cried in her arms because she never seemed to fit in.
As Lucy was speaking, Melina brought out the iced tea. She handed Lucy and Grace glasses, then sat on the other side of Lucy and took her hand.
“What about the baby? Have you been able to see her?”
“Not yet. She wasn’t at the funeral.”
Lucy stared into her drink as even more guilt and regret overwhelmed her. It made her so sad that she hadn’t known about Milly while Gail was alive. There was no way of knowing, but sometimes she thought if she had known, the baby would have been the thing to bring the sisters together again.
She took a sip of her tea then looked up and smiled at her friends, who were watching her with worried expressions. “All I can do is move forward, right? I’ve called Mason’s sister Diana a couple of times and she’s let me talk to Milly on the phone. She’s a gurgler and cooer just like your babies, Melina. I’m hoping to get to visit her soon.”
“That’ll be wonderful, Lucy,” Melina said.
“How was it at the funeral?” Grace asked. “I wish you’d let us go with you.”
“You know I appreciated the offer but…” Lucy shook her head. “I needed to go alone. Most people didn’t even know who I was.”
“What about your parents?”
“I could actually see the pain etched into my father’s face. He ignored me, but my mom…she grabbed me and hugged me so tight when I got there.” Lucy closed her eyes at the memory. “I wanted so badly to ease her grief but it just didn’t seem to be my place.”
“I’m sure they felt the same way, Lucy. That they knew you were hurting and wanted to comfort you, too. Did you get a chance to talk about a future visit?” The hope in Grace’s voice was obvious. She’d often said Lucy was only hurting herself by allowing the rift between her and her family to continue after all these years. Lucy knew she was right, but how could she even begin to repair fifteen years of separation at a time when her parents had just lost Gail? No, it was best to let them grieve in peace.
She simply shook her head, but Grace didn’t let the matter drop as she’d expected her to.
“Maybe this is the time, Lucy. I know reconnecting with them isn’t going to be as easy as sliding off a greasy log backward, but they’ve already lost one daughter for good.”
Lucy couldn’t help smiling at Grace’s words; it was always a treat when she threw a southern idiom into her speech. But even though she knew her friend meant well, she’d never experienced being an outcast in her own family. “I can’t replace Gail and I’m still not the kind of daughter they want.”
“Lucy—” Melina began
Lucy interrupted even as she blinked back a sudden rush of tears. “I’m sorry, ladies, but I’d rather not talk about it. I appreciate the two of you always being here for me more than I can say, but let’s talk about something joyful—like the grand opening tomorrow.”
After several seconds of awkward silence, Grace said, “Jamie will be there.”
Lucy let out a genuine if slightly watery laugh. “You’re like a bulldog, aren’t you?”
“What?” Grace said, innocently. “I was changing the subject, like you asked.”
“He’s in town already,” Melina added. “Rhys told me they had lunch earlier. He’s here for his sister’s fiancé’s bachelor party tonight. He and his friends were in the limo when they picked up Max and Rhys.”
“Those men are all so different yet all so incredibly sexy,” Grace said.
“Different how?” Lucy asked, surprising herself by how curious she was about Jamie’s life outside the university. “I mean, he talked to a few of his friends on the phone sometimes when we dated. I even saw a picture of one of them—a cutie in a fire fighter’s outfit. But he never told me much about them.”
