Page 28 of Lucky Mother Pucker

She stands there, her mouth agape as she watches the guy drive off.

Tears fill her eyes, and her lip trembles. She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “This can’t be happening,” she mumbles, her voice barely above a whisper, gazing in the direction that the truck drove.

I stand there, watching her, feeling like I’m intruding on a private moment.

But I can’t walk away. I can’t leave her here to deal with all this alone. Not when she’s struggling so much.

Tears fall down her cheeks. She doesn’t bother to wipe them away. She just hugs her arms around herself, her shoulders slumped, like she’s broken.

“Lucy,” I say softly.

“What do you want?” Her tone is weak and defeated. I hate hearing her sound like this.

“Let me help you.”

She closes her eyes and lets out a sad laugh, still not looking at me. “You can’t help me.”

I take a step toward her. “Yes, I can. I’ll drive you to the tow yard. We’ll get your car back tonight, no problem.”

Another sad laugh falls from her lips. She sniffles. “I can’t get my car back.”

“Why not?”

She finally turns to me. Those big blue eyes are red and swollen from crying. She looks so small.

“Because I don’t have the money to get my car back. Not if I want to get an apartment. Not if I want to get Wally back…”

Her voice catches right as she starts to sob. She covers her face with her hands and slumps forward, crying softly.

My chest feels like it’s cracking in half seeing her like this.

I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know who Wally is or why she doesn’t have enough money.

All I know is that she’s struggling. That’s clear as fucking day. She’s working her ass off, and it seems like she can’t catch a break.

That guilt I’ve felt since the second I saw her in that coffee shop slices through me.

I’m the reason why she’s in such a shitty position. Yeah, I didn’t cause all of it, but I’m the reason she lost her job. I’m the reason she started working at the diner, which means I’m the reason she parked her car here and it got towed away.

I caused this problem for her. And I need to fix it.

Gently, I touch her arm. “Lucy.”

Her hands drop to her sides. She’s staring at the ground now. Her face is red and wet with tears.

“Let’s go,” I say softly.

“Go where?”

“To get your car.”

She closes her eyes and takes a breath, like she’s calling on some inner reserve of patience to speak to me. “I told you, Leo. I don’t have the money to get my car.”

“You’re not paying for it. I am. Now let’s go.”

Chapter 12

Lucy