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Chapter Five
Lucy had calledout goodnight to Agatha, who was in her room drawing, on her way by as she went into her room and crashed. Lately, she had started to go to bed closer to nine than ten, but last night it was closer to midnight before she finally was able to sleep. Then all she could think about was Mr. Montgomery in his jeans and green T-shirt and the muscles and tattoos he wasn’t hiding under it.
Today he was back in a suit, but she was still looking for the muscles she now knew were there. Really? Since when had she even been attracted to him? Never. Nor was she attracted to him now; she was just looking for some muscles. And maybe at his butt once in a while, which looked way better in jeans than slacks. She wouldn’t have guessed he even owned a pair of jeans.
Walking into his office with his coffee, she put his butt out of her mind almost completely. “How is Aubrey this morning?”
Looking up at her, he blinked as if he didn’t recognize her. Maybe he didn’t. Her new low-rise dress pants were brown, and the top she chose to go with it was also a shade of brown, which she didn’t notice until she was out of the house this morning. Not her best look.
“She didn’t like the Lovely wake-up.” He watched her put his coffee down.
“Nobody does. You just learn not to sleep in or get too drunk.” She sat in her chair but didn’t lean back.
“She rolled out of bed screaming, but it woke her up,” he admitted with a chuckle.
“Agatha, my sister, comes up fighting. I’ve fallen down the stairs more than once getting away from her. If she isn’t still drunk, you can’t outrun her.” She laughed as well. Agatha was quick and agile when she needed to be but slow as a sloth in regular life.
“I thought it was a Lovely thing?” he asked, an eyebrow raised.
“It is. Agatha is a Lovely also.” This was getting weird.
“What do I have going on today?” he finally asked, getting away from the personal talk she usually hated. Nobody needs to know her business.
After telling him about his day, she was glad to get back to her desk and the file she had been looking at before Harrison had gotten there the day before. Not that it made much sense at all, but she would look it over and send it off. She was glad her boss was a perfectionist, and there were never any errors when they got to her desk.
By 5 p.m., she was ready to go and met the couple at the car. The ride home was quiet as Lucy let Sera and Harrison dominate the conversation. Watching the city go by as they went, she chalked up another week of her life as a secretary. She wondered how many more there would be. Closing her eyes, she was afraid it was a lifetime.
On Saturday morning, Lucy had slept in, letting Harper take care of breakfast on her own. She didn’t want Lucy there anyway, so she hadn’t helped in months. From her bed she could hear the others downstairs. No matter what happened and where everyone lived, Saturday morning meant breakfast at home.
Rolling out of bed, Lucy was glad the morning sickness was over. Those had been rough days. Now the baby was happy to just make her fatter every day. Pulling on black leggings and a red oversized T-shirt that said “File End” in green, she headed down the stairs to see her family.
In the kitchen, Harper was busy heating up chicken and had muffins on the counter. Lucy used to make the sweet part of the meal, but not anymore. Now Harper did it all. A few months ago Harper had made an off comment about how the rolls turned out, so Lucy stopped completely.
Lucy slid onto the end stool next to Buzz, who was eating a muffin. Her red hair was up in a curly knot on her head. “Hey, Buzzy.”
“Good morning, Lucy. One of the few to wake up and only have a stairway to come down.” Lucy gave her half her muffin.
“Mom isn’t here yet?”
“Nope, Jonas went over to spend time with Harrison. She should be here soon,” Buzz said. Her husband and Harrison were friends from college, and now the two men got together when the ladies did.
Lucy yawned and stretched. “Has anyone awoken Agatha?”
“Nope, don’t want to be chased through the house.” Buzz laughed, and Harper ignored.
“I’ll go,” Lucy said to get out of the room.
Glancing quickly at Harper as she left the kitchen, she wondered what she had done. It was Harper who didn’t want Lucy to work with her anymore. It was Harper who had the loving husband and money to burn. Lucy was just doing what she needed to do to get by.
Up two flights of stairs, she debated just hiding in her room until someone else came or everyone left, whichever came first. But instead, she headed up to Agatha’s room and knocked on the banister.
“Saturday, Ag. Time to go have family time,” Lucy said, but she wasn’t into family time today either.
“Not ready,” Agatha replied from under the covers.
Sitting down on the bed, she wondered if they were both depressed because everyone left or because of other things in their lives. Agatha had been a hermit for over a year now, and Lucy just didn’t feel like being around people anymore.
“You can sleep as long as you want tomorrow.”
