Page 80 of Catching the Coach
Smoke starts billowing from the stove and I jump up off the couch to take the bacon that’s burning out of the stove. The smoke alarm goes off before I make it two steps from the couch. The alarm seems to snap Lucy out of whatever trance she was in, she steps forward to grab an oven mitt off the counter, slipping on one of the broken eggs and crashing into a cabinet.
When I reach her, she waves me off, pointing at the stove. I turn the broiler off and take the now charcoaled bacon out of the oven. I wave a towel in front of the smoke alarm until silence greets our ears. When I turn back to Lucy, she’s sitting with her back against the cabinet, her eyes bright with unshed tears. Her trembling lips, pinched between her teeth, trying to hold her emotions back.
I kneel down on my knees beside her. “Hey, it’s only bacon,” I say softly, not understanding why she’s so upset. That only seems to send her over the edge and she bursts into tears, hiding her face in her hands. Not knowing what else to do, I sit down and pull her into my lap. Her sobs muffle into my chest, as she wraps her arms around me.
Hudson comes quietly into the kitchen with a horrified look on his face. “What’s wrong with Mom?” I don’t have a good answer for him, since I’m wondering the same thing myself, so I just shake my head. He looks around the kitchen and grabs the roll of paper towels and the garbage can and starts cleaning up the broken eggs.
Lucy’s sobs start to subside, but I don’t make an effort to move, I just keep rubbing small circles on her back. She finally lifts her head and uses the neck of her shirt to wipe her nose. Her eyes are red and swollen and sadness reflects back at me. I use the pads of my thumbs to wipe the tears from under both of her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispers, voice hoarse from crying.
“There is nothing to be sorry for,” I tell her. “It was an accident. And look, Hudson has it all cleaned up,” I say nodding to where Hudson is pulling out the mop to clean up the sticky egg residue.
Lucy hiccups. “Thank you, Hud,” she squeaks out, and a fresh round of tears start. Covering her mouth with her hand she scrambles out of my lap and rushes off down the hall, the soft ‘click’ of her bedroom door following her.
Hudson gives me a wide eyed look. I get up from the floor, give him a reassuring pat on his back and help him clean up the rest of the kitchen.
* * *
“Something’s off with Lucy,” I tell the guys as we’re sitting in the locker room. It’s been a few days since the ‘egg incident’ and Lucy hasn’t been quite the same since. I tried to get her to go to breakfast afterwards, but she said she wasn’t hungry and to just take Hudson. We brought her back her favorite breakfast, buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy and bacon, but she only ate a couple bites out of it before putting it away.
Reese looks up from his phone when he hears the concern in my voice. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know.” I tell them about the kitchen incident and how she just completely lost it.
“I’d probably cry too if I wasted delicious salty pork,” Brent says, tossing his bag into his locker and plopping down into his chair.
Reese throws a half empty water bottle at him. “Shut up, Brent,” he says nodding to me.
“What’s up?” Brent asks, cluing in that I’m actually worried.
“I don’t know, that’s the problem.” I run my fingers through my newly shortened hair, tugging at the ends. “She’s not eating like she normally does, she’s quieter than normal, she’s just… I don’t know, distant?”
Reese twists his chair back and forth, his fingers steepled at his chin. “Did something happen before this?”
I lift my shoulders and let out a sigh. “I mean, yeah. She revealed some pretty heavy stuff about her past the other night, but we were good after that. She seemed happier, like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.” I shake my head. “I heard her throwing up last night, when I asked if she was sick, she said she was fine and that she just must have eaten something that didn’t agree with her.” I shake my head. “I don’t know, she just doesn’t seem ‘fine’ like she says she is.”
“Maybe she’s pregnant,” Brent says, flipping the water bottle Reese threw at him earlier, trying to get it to land right side up.
I stare at him, all thoughts in my head screeching to a halt.
“Jesus fuck, Brent,” Reese mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Did you have to mention that before the game?”
“What!? It would explain why she’s emotional and throwing up. Maybe she’s afraid to say anything since they haven’t been together that long.”
“Yeah, but now he’s going to be distracted during the game and wondering if it’s true.”
I drag myself from my racing thoughts. “He’s right here,” I tell them. “And I’m good, I’ll be good.” I clench my fist, trying to stop the shake that’s started.
Reese claps my shoulder. “Just talk to her man, it’s probably nothing.”
I nod, hoping he’s right, but deep down, I know he’s not.
* * *
I startle out of my sleep, echoes of a noise fading with my dream. I reach for Lucy, but the space beside me is empty and cold. I look towards the bathroom, but it’s dark too. Rolling over, I tap my phone screen, 1 am. Scrubbing a hand down my face, I scratch my beard and yawn. We lost our game, my head wasn’t in it and it showed. I made errors I hadn’t made since I was a rookie. I couldn’t block out what Brent said in the locker room. By the time I got home, Lucy was passed out in bed and I didn’t have the heart to wake her knowing she hadn’t been herself lately.
A noise sounds down the hall and it vaguely sounds like the noise I heard in my dream. I throw my legs over the side of the bed and walk out into the hall. I see the blue glow of the TV in the living room and the lights are on in the kitchen. Scratching my chest, I make my way towards the noise. I stop at the end of the hallway, taking in the sight before me.
The sliding door leading to the back yard is open, the wind is causing the hanging plant in the corner to knock against the wall, the sound that woke me from my sleep. I look around, but there’s no Lucy in sight. I hear a door open behind me and I turn, thinking it might be Lucy.
