Page 10 of Her Favorite Fumble
“This is Helen Griffin’s granddaughter, and I just know you’re not going to violate her privacy in any way.”
He didn’t like bringing Helen’s name into whatever was going on, but it was the only way he could think of to keep Felicity from taking a selfie or a video or whatever else she was going to do that had drained the color from Lucy’s face.
He watched the teen walk away, and though she looked back a couple of times, her phone stayed in her pocket. Lucy was already in the passenger seat of his truck, hood up and sunglasses on. She’d told him she wasn’t a fugitive and she wasn’t running from an ex, but if Felicity recognized her on the street in a town Lucy hadn’t been to since around the time the girl was born, it had to be something big.
“Thank you,” she said in a quiet voice when he climbed into the driver’s seat and shut his door. “I guess I should have left the hood up, but I was getting hot.”
“We’re going home,” he said as he turned the key, immediately regretting the harsh tone. “And you’re going to tell me everything.”
Chapter Three
It’s Amnesty Week at the library! You can return those overdue books with no fines! And if you bring in a canned food or any other items for the local food pantry’s list on our website, any past fines will go away. Remember, if you don’t have any overdue fines, you can still donate and the library staff will forgive the fines of your neighbors!
—Wayward Harbor Online Community Group
Lucy gave Nick the abridged version of how her life had fallen apart while they put the groceries away. She talked fast in a steady voice, just wanting to get through it.
She told him about meeting a nice guy and sharing a coffee and some conversation. About her face being all over the tabloids and the internet the next day. About being blamed for destroying a fairy-tale romance and making Faith Lincoln cry. For costing a football team and their fans a fancy trophy. About how the toxicity chipped away at everything until she had nothing left.
“Don’t these things blow over pretty fast?” he asked when she stopped talking. “Some other celebrity will get arrested for a DUI or one of them will say something they shouldn’t in an interview and you’re forgotten.”
“That’s what usually happens. I happened to get sucked into a drama with a very dedicated fanbase, so it hasn’t really died down. They’ll get distracted by something else eventually, I guess. Ihope.”
“I can understand wanting to get away for a few days, but packing your life into your car seems extreme.”
“When everything blew up, I told myself the same thing you said—it’ll blow over soon. But then the team lost and it blew up again. And Faith Lincoln did interviews and it blew up again. Even though I was one of the best servers he had, my boss fired me because crowds were coming in to get photos or videos of me. My roommate threw me out. My friends tried to be supportive, but then they got caught up in the likes and the views and cared more about going viral talkingaboutme than actually talkingtome. Once my mom let her boyfriend throw me out, I felt really alone.”
“That sounds hard,” he said in a soft voice. “I’m sorry you didn’t have the support you should have.”
Tears blurred Lucy’s vision, and she blinked a few times. “Thank you. I’m not trying to get sympathy, I promise. I just wanted you to know that I didn’t come here to hide, really. Sure, I wanted to hide for a few days and get some love and blueberry pancakes from my grandmother, but I brought everything I own because I know I don’t want to be in Las Vegas anymore.”
“I went there once, for a friend’s bachelor party, and I don’t ever want to be in Las Vegas again, either.”
That made her laugh because she hadn’t known him long, but she could have guessed that about him. “I liked the city itself, honestly. I thought I had my mom and a lot of good friends, but then, when I really needed them, I found out my circle was quantity, and not quality.”
“So you’re not running away from anything. You’re runningtosomething.”
She smiled, trying to pretend she didn’t have an escaped tear running down her cheek. “Thank you for understanding.”
“Also, Noonan’s a mediocre quarterback at best, but he’s got good receivers able to catch the junk passes he throws. And they wouldn’t even have made postseason if they didn’t have one of the best defenses in the league.”
“I don’t know what all of that means, but thank you for thinking he’s mediocre. That actually makes me feel better.”
Nick handed her a slip of paper with a phone number on it. “That wasn’t my brother who called while we were at Pete’s. It was Helen. She was worried about you and has been trying to reach you, so I told her why you hadn’t responded.”
“So she knows, then.”
“It seems so. She said you could video call her because they’re having a quiet day in today.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, looking at the digits on the paper. It wasn’t the way she’d wanted to be reunited with Gran, but it would have to do.
“I was going to do some work on the bedroom, but I can do some yard work so you have privacy.”
She shook her head. “You already know everything, anyway, but I appreciate the offer.”
Once he’d gone into the small bedroom and closed the door, Lucy sat on the couch and took a few deep breaths. If Gran wanted her out of the cottage, Nick probably would have delivered the bad news on her behalf, but she couldn’t be sure. Maybe her grandmother wanted to let her down gently, and not through a third party.
Before she could talk herself into burrowing back into her blanket cocoon and calling later, Lucy saved the number into her contacts and then hit the button for a video call.
