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“I don’t think I have ever been so scared before in my life than I was that night.”
I look down at her, trying to see her expression.
“To be honest, me neither.”
“But you work in medicine, deal with life-or-death situations all the time?” she questions, looking up at me, confused.
“All true. I worked a few years in the emergencydepartment, and that was full of different situations night after night, but seeing you tied in that shed will be burned into my brain for a long time.”
“I wasn’t scared for me that night…” she says, and I wait, listening, wanting her to talk about it.
“I was mostly scared for my mom.” She swallows roughly. I know this is hard for her to talk about.
“Your mom?” I question, my brow furrowed, wondering where her head is at.
“She only has me. If that night was my last, I was so worried about who would take care of her, look after her.” The one time that you would think she would be afraid for herself, and she still thinks of others. God, this woman is so fucking beautiful.
“Your mom is resilient, Lacy. She can do a lot of things without support. She has a good community around her. But I know what you mean, because I wasn’t scared for me either that night.”
“No?” she asks, her eyes on mine, searching.
“I was so scared that I wouldn’t be able to save you. So scared that I couldn’t get you down from that rope quick enough.” It feels so good to talk about this, cathartic, like clearing the air.
“But you did,” she says, her smile small but there.
“I did. There was no way I was leaving you in there. You were getting out with me. That was something I knew for certain.”
“Look! A shooting star!” Lacy says quickly, and my head whips around, catching the last moment of it, looking amazing in the midnight-blue sky.
“What is your wish?” I ask her, her eyes now meeting mine.
“I can’t tell. Otherwise, it doesn’t come true,” she says cheekily, and I laugh as we go back to looking up at the sky, my body humming, wanting to know all her wishes so I can turn them into my to-do list.
21
LACY
There’s no breeze. The birds are asleep, and my body is cocooned in a soft cashmere makeshift bed. It should be hard lying here on the ground. I expected bugs or at least the calls of wild animals, but instead the ground is softened by a range of blankets and cushions, and Hudson's body is keeping my internal thermostat high and my heart racing.
I feel Hudson’s cell phone vibrate, and he looks at it quickly.
“It’s my mom,” he says, and I’m immediately on edge.
“Is everything alright?” I ask, trying to sit up and he smiles.
“Everything is fine. She is just telling me that they started another show and have finished the chocolate chip ice cream already. Apparently, it’s a series, and they want to binge-watch another one tonight, so we have a little bit more time together before you turn into a pumpkin,” he says, grinning, and I huff out a laugh as the fight-or-flight stress I felt just now dissipates from my body. I lie back down, snuggling into his warm embrace once again.
Taking a deep breath, I look back up. My eyes connect with the myriad of bright stars we can see tonight in the midnight-blue sky. I try to think of a time when I didn’t jolt when the phone rang unexpectedly or when I wasn’t worried for my mom, but nothing comes to mind. I know she is safe, well looked after, and probably having the time of her life watching her old movies with one of her best friends, knowing that I’m out with Hudson. I run my hand along Hudson’s chest, and he curls me into him. Swallowing roughly, I feel his ridges and his solid frame under his button-down before my gaze flicks back up to the sky.
“That one there. See how they connect? It’s called the Big Dipper,” I tell him, pointing up to the sky as my heart bounces around in my chest. We have been here for about an hour, talking and dissecting the stars.
“There’s the Little Dipper, right?” he asks, pointing up as well, and I smile.
“You are right again, Doctor Hamilton,” I tease. He already knows so much about the stars. “You have been reading a lot,” I say, turning my head to look into his eyes. We are snuggled in close, so close our noses almost touch.
“Hmmm, I had a good teacher.” His playful voice deepens, his eyes searching my face. I see him look at my lips and back at me, and my nerves skyrocket as my stomach flip-flops onto itself.
“Kiss me.” The words leave me before I even realize I’m going to say them, and he doesn’t hesitate. He lowers his face an inch before his lips meet mine. He kisses me slowly at first, gently caressing my lips with his own in a sensual dance. I lean against him when I feel his hand cup my jaw, tilting my head up a little before his tongue sweeps across my lip and darts inside. My insides quiver, but I want him so badly. The more time I spend with him, the more I feel like me. Just Lacy. Just a regular woman. And right now, I just want Hudson.