Laurie
The first time that Mia visited Chris all on her own, Laurie felt sick with worry. Halia offered to drive, and she insisted that Laurie stay behind.
“At this stage,” she said, “no contact is the safest approach.”
Laurie hated sending Mia off without her, but she bowed to her eldest sister’s experience. Running a women’s shelter, Halia had seen it all. And after what happened on the day that she left, Laurie no longer had any real feeling of confidence that she could predict what Chris would do… or how far he might go.
Of course, that only fueled her fear for Mia. She didn’t think that Chris would hurt their daughter; he never had. Of course, he had never laid a hand on Laurie in anger… until he did.
Her bigger fear, the more plausible one, was that he would simply refuse to drive Mia home. At this stage in their separation, he had as much legal right to keep her as Laurie did.
Her logical mind knew that he wouldn’t actually want to care for Mia day after day, carting her around to work with him, but her fears seemed immune to logic. Night after night, she awoke from nightmares of Chris disappearing with their daughter… or worse.
In her nightmares, she threw herself in front of cars, in front of bullets – anything to keep her daughter safe.
When morning came, she tried to let the light of day dispel the worst imaginings of her conscious mind.
The dread that settled into her bones was harder to shake.
When it did come time for Mia to go, Laurie felt nauseous. She had waved her daughter off with the bravest face she could muster – but when Mia was gone, she didn’t know what to do with herself.
She tried to work, but her brain was fried. She couldn’t concentrate.
Finally she walked into town, just to try to shake off the anxiety that held her nervous system in a vice.
The Madeira place was on a lush, quiet side street. She walked along the side of the road in the shade of the tall bushes and trees that grew all along the edges of each property. She focused on little things – familiar flowers, saffron finches, mynah birds… and slowly, her soul began to settle.
She hadn’t started off with a specific destination in mind, but her feet took her to the old dance studio – her future bookshop. The storefront was the same, all scratched and peeling paint, but there was a new window in place of the jagged glass and plywood.
Kekoa’s truck was out front.
Inside, Kekoa was building bookshelves. When Laurie opened the door, he looked up with the slow calm of a man who has nothing to fear.
A huge smile overtook his face when he saw her.
“What do you think?” he asked.
The broken mirrors were gone. He’d also removed the low, old-fashioned ceiling to reveal the a-frame roof. The space felt so much bigger.
Wow,she signed. “It looks amazing.”
“It’s coming along. I’m starting with floor-to-ceiling shelves along the walls, and then you can decide what you want the shelves in between to look like, and the counter. I’ll draw up some possibilities later.”
“Thank you for doing this.”
Sure, he said casually.
Laurie stared at him. “Did you just… sign?”
He raised a fist and moved it in the affirmative:Yes.
“What… why… since when do you know ASL?”
I like to learn, he signed.
“But how…?”
“I downloaded an app. It’s fun.” He signed the last word.
