Much like this conversation.
William squeezed Lucy’s hand and rubbed at the fleshy spot between her thumb and forefinger. “We’d like two.”
“You guys are just butter on-a-roll,” Rebecca enunciated each syllable and bounced up. “I’ll check back in a bit.”
Lucy pulled her hands away and scraped them over her face. “Yay.”
“All right everyone.” Rebecca clapped her hands together. “Next up. I want you to tell your partner your deepest, darkest fear. If you’ve already shared this, great. If not, now’s the time. Get it all out there.”
“I think we should discuss politics or religion,” Lucy said, deadpan.
William chuckled and shifted so his knees were on either side of her hips. “Your deepest, darkest fear is water, right? That’s not so bad.”
Lucy swallowed over her suddenly dry tongue and sandpaper throat. Large bodies of water weren’t her favorite by any stretch. The truth of it, though? In that moment, her biggest fear was William would remember the person she’d been—the high school kid with fake friends who pretended to like her when they needed something. The girl the football players tossed bologna at in the cafeteria while they barked, because their buddies thought it was oh-so-hysterical. The girl who spent a summer helping on a television set and crushed on the resident playboy, only to have him forget everything about her.
If he remembered who she was, he’d never be able to see her for who she’d become.
“Luce?” he asked, concerned.
Right. He’d implied her fear was of water.
“What’s yours, then?” she asked, deflecting the truth.
“Failing.” He glanced to the purple yoga mat they sat on. “My deepest, darkest fear is of failure at Crestone. Failing my mom.”
“You won’t.” Certainty filled her full up. William would succeed.
He grinned. “I wish I had your rose-colored glasses.”
Somehow, and she wasn’t quite sure how, they made it through the rest of the session. “What should we do now?” Lucy asked as they headed back to the cabin.
“They’ve got a few groups going fishing. Or we can go hiking?” William suggested.
“Fishing this morning, hiking this afternoon.”
“Fishing involves water,” he replied.
“No kidding?”
“You okay being on the lake?”
“It’s not like we’re going swimming. Besides, fear of water is ridiculous. You want to go fishing, and I really should face my fear. I promise not to freak, if you agree not to push.”
“I can do that.”
Last night’s barn freak-out was a prime example of how she’d been living her life. She wasn’t the same girl she’d once been. Of course she knew this. But sometimes, most times, she felt unworthy. When William had stepped back all her insecurities rose to the surface.
Living a life always shrinking into the sidelines was no life to live. Somebody had probably said that once. If not, they should have.
On her quest to be a new woman, she would start her journey by conquering the depths of Twin Lakes. It couldn’t be that bad. Not too awful. It’s not like people drowned frequently.
Except when they did.
No, she would slay her demons starting today. First, water, and then, well…she’d see what happened.
She continued to the cabin while William set out to deal with the rental situation and ask some strategic questions there. She gave herself a pep talk while she re-set the cameras in the room. Her phone rang. Katie’s name appeared on the display.
“Hey,” Lucy answered.
