How could I tell her that I wanted her to have the chance to fulfill her dreams; I didn’t want to be the reason she was held back.
She starts putting away the groceries, and I step in to help.
“Trent, really, don’t you have a ranch to run?”
I think about my answer before blurting it out. What would she think if I told her that as soon as I found out she was in town, I told my brothers I needed some time off? Ranchers don’t usually get time off, but my brothers didn’t try to stop me or even guilt trip me for slacking on work. They both know how important Lacy is to me. They saw me after she left, after I pushed her away.
But instead of telling her all that, I just shrug my shoulders. “I have some time.”
“Yeah, well, if you have time off from the ranch, you don’t need to be here working. When most people have free time, they go on vacation or rest. They don’t run errands and work somewhere else,” she tells me as she puts the bananas on the banana rack.
I slide beside her to put the milk in the refrigerator. “I’m not working. I’m hanging out with an old friend.”
When I straighten, we are staring at one another. There’s a moment, so brief, that her eyes aren’t guarded, and she’s looking at me like she used to back when she loved me. I don’t move. I don’t dare breathe because I want it to last. I want to kiss her, taste her sweetness on my lips before carrying her up the stairs, past the handyman so he knows that she is in fact mine and he doesn’t stand a chance, and then prove to her exactly how good we are together. The sound of her screaming my name as I take her is something I miss and would give anything to hear again.
But my luck doesn’t last. She snaps her eyes closed and shakes her head as if she’s trying to put everything we could have for each other into the past where she thinks it belongs.
She turns away then. We are both quiet as we get to work putting items away. The silence is awkward, and I can tell she’s worried about what is happening between us. I need to lighten it up a little. If anything, Lacy and I were always able to have fun with each other.
“Have you heard from your folks? Did they make their cruise?” I ask, changing the subject.
Lacy looks relieved, and we talk about how silly her father is going to look in his outrageous swim trunks and the bright sunblock he always wears.8Lacy“Picture it. Your dad in his pineapple swim trunks walking around the cruise ship with purple zinc warrior stripes on his face. And you know your mom is having fun with it. She’s done some kind of cool design, and he doesn’t have a clue.”
I’m laughing so hard I’m holding my sides. “You’re right. Dad won’t have a clue for a while, but he’ll figure it out.”
Trent leans back on the counter next to me. “Yeah, but your dad won’t get mad. He’ll just find a way to get her back. I always loved that about your parents. They always know how to have fun.”
I can’t help but agree with him; my parents are something else.
“Gosh, and your dad will do a doozy back to your mom. Can you imagine? I almost hate to miss it.” He chuckles.
Trent has me laughing so hard that I forget to keep my guard up with him. It almost seems like the old days the way we are able to laugh and joke with each other.
“Do you remember when your mother came to the pool where we were hanging out and she painted on the same purple zinc stripes on your face? You were trying to be all cool and everything and then well, ya’ know!” he laughs out loud at the memory.
Gosh! He’s right; I forgot all about that. “I was so embarrassed!” I get lost in the memory.
I laugh, remembering that I’d been embarrassed, but even though Trent doesn’t tell the rest of the story, I remember it. Trent asked my mom for some zinc too. He put on warrior purple zinc stripes and even drew a funny moustache with the stuff, and it’d taken the focus off of me. He was always doing stuff like that. Anytime I got awkward or embarrassed, he was there to save the day.
Those warm feelings make it hard to remember that I should be backing out of the kitchen when Trent draws closer to me.
The laughter that filled the room only seconds ago is gone and now it’s only complete silence. I don’t know who stopped first or whatever, but I do know one thing.