The next thing I know, I feel like I’m getting hit by a truck.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I shout from the ground, looking up at him. My jaw is aching, and my vision is a little blurry around the edges. “You son of a bitch,” I snarl up at him, “You just hit the chief of police of Oak Valley, Wyoming.”
I shake my head back-and-forth trying to force my vision to clear.
“You’re not the chief of police right now,” he says, towering over me, his face hard. “Right now, you’re the bastard that’s sleeping with my baby girl.”
“Well, that’s something I can at least understand. I would punch you in the face too if you were sleeping with my Charlie. You realize your baby girl is a grown woman now, right?” I say as I look up at him from the ground clenching my jaw that will most likely bruise in the morning.
“Baby girl or grown woman, she will always be my baby girl,” he says shaking his head seriously. “Kent how much older are you then my kid?” he snaps. “You're what like twenty years her senior. You can’t find someone else your own age?” he whines knowing that he has no real say in this as Lucy is an adult and I do genuinely love her.
“No woman alive or dead has ever been like your daughter,” I say honestly, looking up at him. Rising up from the floor, I face him and square my shoulders.
“Believe me when I tell you, I never expected this to happen between us, and I want you to know she is the most incredible woman in the world, and if I break her heart, you’re gonna have to kick my ass after I do it because I know exactly what kind of person I have in my life.
“Well that’s one hell of a speech,” he says looking me up and down. “At least I know if she gets pregnant like her mother you’ll be able to provide for her,” he says shaking his head and walking away.
Well that’s one way of looking at it’s I guess. I bend over and pick my jacket up off the ground and follow him out into the parking lot.
Chapter Fourteen
LUCY
I’m rocking back-and-forth on the sofa at Abbie’s fiancé’s home, I can’t help it. I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. Why is it taking so long for dad to contact us? It shouldn’t t
ake this long.
Rising from the floor and walking to the window I look out at a beautiful landscape. It’s dark, but I can still appreciate the way the moonlight shines down on the grass below. I have the sudden urge to run though. Run from what? Run to where? I can’t decide, all I know is that I can’t wait any longer, and the more I try, the more suffocating it is for me
Suddenly my phone rings, jerking my attention away from my compulsive desire to run from my anxiety. It’s my father.
“Hello?” I answer, my voice shaking.
“Hey, Lucy, just wanted you to know that everything‘s okay. I handled the issue. You don’t have to worry about anything anymore.” The words hang in the air for a moment.
“What exactly does that mean?” I ask, suspicious of what my father means by handling things. His way of handling things isn’t always considered a legal way, his buddy Jake comes to mind.
“Well after I sent you away, I went to go talk to your boy toy, and we had a long talk about everything. I asked him to grant me leniency in this area because I gave him the information for your grandfather who may or may not have smuggled twenty pounds of heroin through Annie’s convenience store using the granola.”
“Oh my God, Dad. No! You’re joking, right?” I ask closing my eyes.
Why can’t I have a normal family? Why does everything have to be so complicated? Normal people don’t have to worry about their dad calling them for drug drop-offs or anything about crazy grandparents.
“I know I put you through a lot,'' he says, “so I just wanted to thank you for helping me out, I love you Lucy.”
“I love you too, Dad.” Pacing back and forth in the living room, resting my palm against my forehead, I feel an intense sense of relief.
“You can come home now. It's safe.”
“Thanks, Dad, I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you this weekend for dinner with Abbie. Talk to you later, bye.” He finishes and hangs up the phone.
Was everything really resolved? Was there even the slightest chance that I would be able to go back to my normal life? How can I go back to my boyfriend and try to fix this? There were so many lies, so much deception at the beginning of this new relationship, it makes me wonder if we put too much pressure on us too soon. I didn’t mean to, of course. I just love him. Why does it have to matter when I fell in love with him, or when he fell in love with me? Can’t we simply enjoy all the feelings we have without having to second guess and wonder if they are right?
The day is so long. It’s crazy to think that we started the morning snuggled in my bed, telling each other how much we love each other. Now it feels as if a lifetime has passed between us. It all feels so surreal. Life moves so quickly it’s hard to keep up at times, and the way it fluctuates on a day such as today, it’s almost too much to comprehend.
I need to talk to him. I should at least try, right?