AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lyra had nothing she could say. She could only nod.
They sat together in quiet again until Willa said, “I’m sorry. I brought you out here to give you a break and get to know you a little, and I laid all that on you. I don’t know your mom, or your relationship. It’s not my place to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do.”
Reaching over to take Zach’s mother’s hand, Lyra said, “I’m glad we’re out here together, having wine and cheesecake and getting to know each other. I’m honored you told me what you did. Words are better than silence. Even too many words are better than none.”
Willa regarded her again in steady silence. Then she said, “Yep, I really like you. I like you for Zach.”
Lyra grinned. “I like me for him, too,” she said, and they chuckled together.
When Willa hooked her arm around Lyra’s shoulders, Lyra had no qualms about leaning in to rest her head on her shoulder. They sat together and watched the rest of the sun leave the sky.
Crunching footsteps on the gravel roused them in the twilight. Lyra looked in that direction and saw Reed heading over.
When he saw her see him he said, “I’ve been looking all over for you! We need you inside. We’re running out of meat, and Pop wants to get the grill going again.”
Lyra almost stood, then thought better of it. She settled back in the rusty glider that she could not wait to refurbish. “Mom’s in charge. She should be in there somewhere. Ask her.”
She wasn’t looking, but she knew Reed hadn’t yet moved, and she could very clearly imagine the expression on his face.
Eventually, he gave up, turned around, and crunched his way back to the house.
“Well done,” Willa said and handed Lyra another tart.
––––––––
~oOo~
––––––––
Shortly before noonon the very next day, Lyra stood with the Bulls family—her family now—on the parking lot of a downtown Laughlin restaurant, where Eight Ball, the Oklahoma president, had bought brunch for everybody before the Oklahoma crew and their families headed east again.
Everybody was a whole lot of people. Like more than forty. They’d taken over half the restaurant.
It was brunch and not breakfast because more than a few in the group had finished off Gargo’s wake extremely drunk, so it had taken them all a minute or two to get moving this morning.
She’d already said most of her goodbyes; having known these people only a few days, it wasn’t much to say ‘it was good to meet you, have a safe trip.’ Zach, on the other hand, was taking his time.
In bed this morning, he’d been quiet and melancholy, and he’d told her the choice he’d made was really hitting today. Today he’d say goodbye to his family with no plans to live near them again. He assured her he didn’t regret his choice, and that he was happy—happier—to be in Laughlin, with her. But today was a different goodbye, and he’d felt sad.
Lyra had asked him if he’d like to spend Christmas in Tulsa. She’d meant the two of them, but Zach hadn’t heard it that way. He’d said no, he wanted to spend their first Christmas together together—which made her heart flutter happily. When she’d clarified that she wanted that, too, and had meant she’d go to Tulsa with him, he’d been surprised and happy. He’d assumed she wouldn’t leave her dad.
Pop wouldn’t be thrilled about it, but he’d understand. Especially if he and Mom were still doing whatever they were doing. Maybe they would be. Maybe Mom really wanted this like he did. Lyra really hoped so.
Now, Lyra watched Zach say goodbye to his mother as if it were for good, but also with the knowledge they’d see each other in less than two months. They were talking together at the edge of the bustle of family. He had his arms around Willa, and she had her hands on his cheeks. She was doing most of the talking, and Zach was doing a lot of nodding.
Lyra was trying really hard not to compare their mothers, but she currently wasn’t having much success. Her mother loved her. She knew that. And she loved her back. But Willa seemed ... easier. She didn’t let things go unsaid, didn’t let small hurts become big wounds. She listened. She accepted.
That was too much to think she knew about a woman she’d known for a few days, but it felt true. On the other hand, Mom didn’t want there to be hurts at all. She didn’t want to work through trouble. She wanted things to be easy, and she simply pretended they were until she couldn’t pretend anymore. Then she lost her shit.
Ironically, her insistence that things be easy and smooth whether they really were or not made everything harder.
“You got her seal of approval,” a gruff voice said at her side.
Lyra turned and smiled at Zach’s father, who reminded her so much of Pop sometimes she got a sense like a double-exposure when she talked to him.
“Willa’s?”
Rad nodded. “She’s had a little trouble, lettin’ her first one jump out of the tree. When he took that hit ...” He whistled. “That was hard, from so far away. Then he didn’t want her to come, and, well ... It’s not easy, watchin’ that little boy who needed you for everythin’ become a man who doesn’t need you for anythin’. So she’s been workin’ through it. Ups and downs. Last night, she told me she’s right with it. Not so scared anymore. She knows he’s where he belongs. And she’s glad he found you here.” With a sly wink, he added, “We both are. Our boy found a good woman.”
