Then, promptly, she got arrested again.
During the total eleven hours of flights, my mom had ignored me, and we hadn’t been seated together. Seth and I had talked about his future, and I knew she heard me say ‘I want to be friends’. I thought that wasn’t inappropriate given the circumstances. Seth agreed before going on abrutaltirade about desperately wanting to be a photographer, complete with tears and more than a few tissues.
The whole journey made me so sad for him.
My thoughts were interrupted when my mom pulled my headphone away from my ear, and I tensed as the fine hairs on my cheek bristled. Smacking her hand away, I glared hotly at her as her aged, long face twisted in hurt, and her gasp rang loudly through the terminal. It was ten p.m., and the few people that were milling around were trying their best to get to sleep. Few eyes turned to us, and I twisted to put my back to my mom fully.
My headphones weren’t connected to my phone, so if she did say something, I’d hear it as a muffled garble. I hoped she didn’t talk, though— my mom had said everything she needed to say and more. Being in a relationship with a good man that I didn’t love was what she wanted for me, and after years of getting the ‘well, you don’t want to be single and miserable’ line forced down my throat, I was done.
You’re an only child. You’d think she’d care about your happiness.Mateo’s words floated up from the depths of my mind, and I pursed my lips thinly as I scrolled down on my phone. Did my mom care more about my happiness or about how she perceived my happiness? Was she so afraid of me being like her, alone and bitter because she has bad taste in men, that that fear superseded what I wanted?
It really was a shame that I knew the answers to those questions without having to ask.
“Lucy!” I jumped as my mom’s shout right in my ear, leaping from my chair and stepping on my dog, and Marshal’s shrill bark of shock jarred my bones. Whipping around, my body stopped but my hand didn’t, and thesmackof palm on cheek echoed louder than even my heart beating in my throat. Clutching my phone to my chest, I stared at my mom through wide eyes as she held her cheek, jaw nearly on the floor. Ripping my headphones off, I clenched them tightly in my fist just to have something to hold onto, so I didn’t hit her again.
“What the fuck!Go away! I don’t know you! Security!” Screaming at the top of my lungs, I made as huge a commotion as I could, and my mom went beet red at my accusations. “Security!”
“Don’t avoid me, Lucy. I’m your mother, damnit!” Some random dude came sprinting full throttle from the other side of the hallway, and I didn’t stop glaring at my mom as she popped up from her seat. Her red cheek turned tomato-esque, almost purple, and she wagged her finger in my face. “I want to talk to you about the wedding, and—”
“Security! Somebody, this lady’s crazy!” We were outside the terminal, and the guy reached us as I called out again to position himself between us. He washugein a bulky, muscular type of way, but no shorter than myself at maybe five-foot-five. Hiding behind him as I grabbed Marshal and hoisted his scared butt in my arms, I backed up while he held his hands up and blocked her way.
“Lucillia! I’m trying to talk—” She didn’t get another word out before huffing and glaring at the guy between us, and Marshal hugged me as he shivered from what just happened. He was a very sheltered dog. I hadn’t ever so much as accidentally stepped on his paw, and he just got a heel to the ribs.Damnit!
“Ma’am, back away or we’re gonna have a problem.” Security guards came bustling out from the terminal as the man spoke in a deep rasp, and my mom stomped her foot indignantly.
“That’s my daughter, and we’re having a conversation that doesn’t involveyou!” I must’ve screamed pretty loud for security to react that fast, and we were suddenly surrounded by four more men. Clearly, the situation didn’t need an explanation, and one man told my mom that she needed to leave immediately. Watching it gave me such an ugly sensation, and I looked at my feet as my mom stormed off without much fuss. She was followed by two of the guards, but the guy not uniformed turned to me to scan my terrified dog critically.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think. I just . . . ” My explanation turned to ash on my tongue, but he didn’t seem at all put out as I stroked Marshal’s back soothingly. “I’m sorry.”
“When anyone screams for help, I just run. It’s nothing to apologize for. You want to talk about it? I heard the word ‘wedding’. That can’t be good.” Rolling my lips between my teeth, I sat down to hold Marshal in my lap, and he’d stopped shaking but wouldn’t stop whining a pained, faint sound that broke my heart. The guy sat next to me, and I inhaled a deep, shuddering breath before opening my mouth.
“Ten months ago, I got kidnapped and held hostage for seven days. My mom doesn’t know. I told everyone I went soul-searching, but I was locked in a concrete room almost the entire time. There’s been a lot of problems between my mom and I already, for a long time. I’ve been with this guy for almost eight years too long because our mom’s just torture us until we get back together. We were supposed to get married the day before yesterday, but we didn’t. My mom, she told me to suck it up and settle, and basically that my happiness didn’t matter.” Raising thick eyebrows in surprise, he frowned darkly, and I grimaced as I scratched Marshal’s head. His weight was comfortable against me, and he hid his whole head down my shirt before I cleared my throat to continue. “So, I told her that she wasn’t allowed in my life anymore. Anything she has to say, she could’ve said it at any point in the last eight years. She could’ve even not done anything to apologize for in the first place, but . . . ”
“Ah, shut her up for the moment, but not forever, huh?” Jerking my head in a nod, my chest tightened at that blunt way to put it, and he sat back to cross his knees. “What made you finally put your foot down?”
“The man that was a hostage with me . . . I saw him. Being in that room, I honestly never felt so connected with someone, you know? We went our separate ways, but when I saw him again, it was like we were back in that room. And surprisingly enough, I preferred that over being where I was at the time. My mom always tells me that my ex is the best I’ll get, and being single is miserable and lonely and I’d end up crawling back to my ex anyway, so what’s the point of breaking up? He’s a good guy . . . a great guy. He’s just . . . not great for me.” Self-depreciation soured my grimace, and I glanced over at the guy as a thoughtfulness creased between his brows. “I bet you’re wondering why I didn’t stand up for myself.”
“Nah, my parents sent me to the military to ‘straighten’ me out because I’m gay. It didn’t work.” He shot me the most charming, saucy smirk, and I couldn’t help but giggle before it fell into seriousness again. “I just happen to love being in the service, but rarely does anyone get that lucky. My dad was actually the one to crack and accept that I was gay, and my mom hasn’t said a single word to me in almost fifteen years. Moms get used to being moms, I guess, if that makes sense.”
“Yeah, my parents are divorced, and my mom really has bad taste in men, so I guess she legitimately thought my ex was unique in being a good guy. I haven’t seen much of my dad since then.” I just spewed out that information, and the stranger, who’s name I wasn’t going to ask, just nodded knowingly.This is gonna be a long hour.
23
Mateo
“Lucy.” She paused her conversation to look up, her big, blue eyes shining with relief, and I smiled even as concern warped my brow. “Why’s Marshal in your shirt? What happened?”
“Ah, it’s a bit of a story.” Setting down my backpack, I ran my hand through my hair as a million thoughts raced behind my eyes, and Ketchup stuck himself between Lucy’s legs. He licked Marshal’s back, and Lucy turned back to the man she was talking to with a smile. “Thanks for waiting with me.”
“No problem. I’ve got another two hours to go. Have a safe drive.” I grabbed her bag and my own, and Lucy cradled her dog as we walked away unceremoniously. Casting her a curious glance on the way out of the terminal, I shouldered my backpack as waited for her to speak up.
“My mom yelled at me, and I stepped on him by accident. I made a huge scene and got her dragged out by security, and that guy sat with me while I waited for you.” Understanding flooded my veins, but I stayed quiet as we reached baggage claim, and she sighed softly as she turned her baby blues to me. “I just want to get home and sleep in my own bed. The flights were awful. Meredith made such a huge fuss that she got arrested when we landed.”
“Do you want me to find somewhere else to stay tonight?” Her expression drenched in guilt, but I only shook my head as I reached to caress her cheek. “It’s okay. Travelling is a vicious monster.”
“Sorry. I really didn’t think the flights would take such a toll on me.” We hadn’t discussed anything about what may or may not happen when we flew back to Tennessee, but I didn’t expect to just live with her from this point forward. Leaning her head on my shoulder, Lucy closed her eyes to sigh, and I rubbed her lower back as we waited for her luggage. “Have you just been living out of rental cars this whole time? Isn’t it expensive?”
“Sort of. The day I left the hospital, my brother and I went to a used car dealership, but I realized that driving all the way to Nevada was going to be torture.” Smiling when Lucy glanced up at me, I cupped the side of her head, and she huffed softly.Cute.“So, I axed that part and got a plane ticket to Reno, got a rental car, got the dogs, drove into California and rented this month-by-month place until I decided to go to Hawaii. I was there for a week, maybe, before we reconnected. I don’t have a fixed place, though. I told my landlady I was going to Hawaii, cleaned out my stuff—”
