As though that explained exactly why he wouldn’t want to be with her. The burrito landed,thump, a solid mass into Lucy’s stomach.
“Berta.” Her father’s tone held warning.
Lucy was beyond over this little meeting. They were as impossible as they had always been.
“Could you both leave?” Lucy stared straight at her parents, vaguely aware of Will’s hand moving to her leg. “I mean it. Don’t come again. You’ve made your choices. Now I’m making mine. Please…go.”
“She’s kicking us out.” Her mother glanced to her father. “Graham, she can’t just kick us out.”
“Lucille, apologize to your mother,” he barked at her.
“No,” Lucy replied, shocking even herself with the unyielding tone of the word.
Will stared her father down and spoke low. “You can’t just show up here and take over. Lucy, Lulu, whatever you want to call her…she’s not disposable. You can’t toss her aside and come back later.”
Whoa. What?
He wasn’t done.
“I’m not sure what you see when you look at her, but the rest of us see the kind of person who takes in a cat because its owner died.” He held a professional note of respect despite the boldness of his words. He rose and efficiently lifted Lucy’s mother’s coat, shook it out, and offered it to her. She reflexively slid an arm into the sleeve. “Lucy’s the person who can’t cook but bakes you a birthday cake anyway because she knows you’re having a rough time.” Her mother had a deer in the headlights expression painted across her face as he unceremoniously hung her purse on her rigid shoulder and guided her toward the door.
“What do you think you’re doing?” her father sputtered.
Will took a step back to pull shut the privacy curtain, separating them from Lucy. But she could still hear his words.
“She’s the kind of woman who makes you smile by simply being in the same room. She asked you to leave. It’s time for you to go.”
Lucy stared in shock at the pastel-blue divider.
“You’re out of line,” her father said.
“I said she’s not disposable,” Will rasped.
“Holy shit,” Katie whispered.
“This is a mistake, Lulu,” her father called.
“Think she already asked you to leave.” Will’s words were granite.
More mutterings came from the doorway as they evacuated. But she knew her father was, how would he say it? Displeased. Very displeased. Will didn’t seem thrilled either. For once, her mother remained silent.
Will emerged from behind the curtain.
“That explains so much.” He wrapped up her abandoned burrito, as though he understood her appetite had vanished.
“I should…um…go. You need privacy.” Katie stood and moved to the edge of the curtain. Then she turned and gave her a dazzling smile. “Lulu, can I have him when you’re done? Or could you order me one just like him for Christmas?”
Will flashed the dimples at Katie, and she left.
The two of them were alone. And she had something to say.
Except, she couldn’t remember what it was anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lucy’s pale face nearly matched the bleached white sheets of the hospital bed where she lay. But even after her parents’ ambush, she seemed okay. William sat with her in the chair next to her bed and curled his fingers around hers. Her smile hit him straight in the gut. He wanted to wrap himself around her and never let go.
He had a lot of time to think last night.
