Page 54 of His Build
Graydon came back to the table to collect more dishes. But now Lucy looked tense again. He could hear the stiffness in her voice and see it in the way she held her body.
God, her body.
He went back to the counter with his load and cranked the kitchen faucet to full cold. He stuck his hands under the flow of water, discreetlyrubbing cool water on the back of his neck to keep his mind on the here and now.
When he turned the tap off, Lucy was speaking.
“It was called Coombes. A mill town in Southern Massachusetts. Not nearly as nice as Barkley Falls.”
“Your parents still there?” Casey asked.
“No. My mom’s in Florida now. It was my stepdad’s hometown—he moved us there when I was a toddler and my little sister just a baby. My dad passed just after she was born.”
“That must have been so rough on your mom, on her own with two tiny mouths to feed,” Casey said.
Graydon dropped another plate in the dishwasher. “Casey—” he warned.
“She didn’t have to move to Coombes,” Lucy said, her voice sharp. “She could have stayed in her hometown. Her parents were there.”
“Did she get along with them?”
There was a beat of silence. “I don’t know. I mean, I never met them, so I guess not.”
“Double rough for her then.”
Lucy cleared her throat but didn’t say anything.
“Did you like your stepdad?”
Graydon came back to the table for the last of the dishes. “Hey Casey, not everyone likes to be psychoanalyzed the first time they meet you, you know.”
“Excuse me,” Casey said. “I’m just getting to know your friend here.”
Graydon glanced at Lucy, who looked down to the table the moment his eyes met hers.
Friends. Was that what they were? As of what, an hour and a half ago? He could still feel her hands on him. He gripped the glass in his hand so tightly he knew he was close to shattering it.
He turned back to the dishwasher, dropping the glass inside.
“I’m sorry for the interrogation,” Casey said then, her voice softer. “I’m just always curious to know about normal family dynamics. Given ours had the plug pulled.”
Of course Casey wouldn’t leave a single word unsaid. Graydon sighed, giving up. Lucy knew how to stand up for herself. He should stay the hell out of it.
“How did she meet your stepdad? Your mom I mean.”
Graydon gave his sister a curious look. She was always to the point and sometimes friendly to the point of being nosey. But this line of questioning felt distinctly personal. Was Casey finally ready to date again?
“At the restaurant where she worked,” Lucy said.
Graydon picked up a rinsed dish and stuck it in the dishwasher.
“I guess decided she’d be better off hitching her wagon to him, or however the saying goes. I don’t think she would have, to be honest. But what do I know about single moms.”
There was a moment of silence and then Lucy said, “Oh god, I’m sorry, I—”
“No, that’s alright,” Casey said. “Idoknow about being a single mom, and let me tell you, it ain’t easy. In fact, it’s total shit is what it is. I don’t know what it was like for you, and I’m sure your mom messed up. But I’m also sure she loved you and your sister so much she couldn’t stand to worry about not being able to provide for you. That’ll eat away at a person. And make them stay with… less than desirable people.”
Graydon slammed a dish in the dish rack and turned around. “Casey, seriously. That’s enough.”
