Lucas was glad that a couple had walked in and were waiting to place their order. Janice was busy serving another table. He didn’t have to deal with the Parkers’s nonsense anymore.
Because that was what it was. Nonsense.
Later, Lucas left The Diner under the care of Janice for a few hours and took a short walk around the town. He needed to grab some air and clear his head. He debated heading to the Falls, but there was a hint of rain in the air, and he didn’t feel like getting caught in it, so instead, he ambled down one of the main roads, walking – he didn’t realize at first – towards Martha’s old house.
One of his deepest regrets was that he hadn’t been in Honey Springs when she died. He only found out later that she hadn’t had a funeral anyway. That was just like Martha. She didn’t like fuss or attention. She wanted the world to focus on other things.
He reached the house within minutes and found himself standing outside the little white house with its white picket fence. It was a cute place with a small front porch and white-painted windows and doors. Someone else was living here now. A guy who moved in a few months ago – Lucas frowned as he struggled to remember his name – Alex, Alan, Adam …
Adam, that was it. And he was a vet. He remembered the Parker twins telling him that proudly, like he shouldbe in awe of someone with that type of qualification. He fiddled with the bracelet on his wrist as he considered this. It was his only piece of jewelry. The last thing his mom had bought for him.
Wearing it made him feel close to her again.
Lucas puffed out a breath. His stomach felt unsettled, like he was standing in rough waters. How could she really be gone?
Lucas knew that there was something missing inside himself; it was like a void that couldn’t be filled. Sometimes, he could almost pretend that it wasn’t there at all. If he kept himself busy or ignored the hollowness inside, it was as if he had healed, a little. But the wound was so deep and fragile, it only took something very small to make him feel exposed again.
He realized that void couldn’t be healed properly, because every time he got close to a full recovery, something else awful happened and it took him back to square one.
In those dark, long days after his mother had died, nobody could reach him, not even his best friend. He had been lost. Sinking. Drifting from place to place, wishing that he had the power to turn back time. For so long, it had just been him, Mia and Mel against the world. But his mom had been his constant, keeping him steady. And then she was gone.
Martha had swooped in. It had been gentle at first. Coming over with homecooked meals and cakes. She didn’t hound him or ask questions; she didn’t nag him about opening The Diner again. She would just sit with him for a while. Sometimes, he found he could open up and talk, and she was there – simply nodding and listening, letting him release whatever rage or sadness he was feeling at the time.
After a while, the dynamic shifted. Lucas felt his strength slowly begin to return. He also noticed how frail and small Martha had become. She was elderly, but she was also proud and refused to complain. Lucas began to visit her instead, bringing meals from The Diner and silly anecdotes to make her laugh. They would stay up late talking and playing card games. It was comforting and felt weirdly right. Lucas knew she didn’t like to bother her daughter, Erin, who was always flying from one crisis to another, and she certainly didn’t want to trouble Willow, who had a life of her own now.
‘That girl had a difficult enough childhood,’ she told him. ‘I need her to have her freedom now. She’s happy and that’s what makes me happy.’
Lucas was often there when Martha played down her aches and pains to Willow on the phone and encouraged her not to visit. Martha knew that if Willow saw the change in her, she might have given up the life she had. Martha didn’t want that.
It was also Martha that persuaded Lucas to leave. She sensed the restlessness in him, the need to escape his pain. She was also there to see the final straw. The thing that nearly broke Lucas for good. He remembered that awful influencer now and his body immediately stiffened.
Why did that have to happen? Not even a year after his mom’s death and that awful man appeared wanting to review the town. Lucas should have never spoken to him; he wasn’t in the right frame of mind and by doing so – he almost destroyed everything.
‘You need some time to yourself,’ Martha had told him, after he cried on her shoulder that last time. ‘Go and see something of the world. Have an adventure. The bad presswill soon be forgotten. But The Diner will still be here waiting for you when you get back and so will I.’
So, Lucas had gone. He left the business under the care of Janice and fled to the Big Apple to stay with Mia, thinking that he might find his answers there. But after just a few months, he felt even more hopeless, and also lonely. He missed Honey Springs. He missed his friends. He missed Martha.
He hadn’t healed the void inside himself. He’d only made it bigger.
He realized that it was up to him to fix any mess he had caused. And it was up to him to make The Diner a success again, for his mom’s sake.
He rushed back home to find that Martha had been right about one thing. The Diner was still very much there, waiting for him.
Martha – however – wasn’t.
He walked away from her house quickly; the rush of emotions was almost too much to stand. Why did it keep coming back? Why did remembering the good times have to hurt so much?
Surely, staying away from the things that cause pain was more sensible? Was that what he needed to do now?
Lucas felt heavier and wearier once he reached The Diner, the lopsided sign in the door did little to welcome him. He realized, with a thick sense of dread, that he was terrified of what was going to happen next.
He reached instinctively for his wrist, needing to touch the thing that brought him the most comfort.
It was only as he did that he realized his bracelet was gone.
Chapter 11
Willow
