Immortal Light: Wide Awake (24 page)

“
He’s been in Bandon all day
playing golf with the uppity-ups from the concrete company in
Florence. He says it’s business.” She smirked at Lucy.

“
Yeah, business, right,” Lucy said
sardonically. “More like pleasure.”

Laura smiled. “Why don’t you make the salad,
I’ll get started on the chicken.”

“
What are we having?”

Laura held up a package of fresh chicken
breasts and a package of mozzarella cheese.

“
Ah, Daddy’s favorite.”

The two women put to work
preparing dinner: Lucy with a cutting board on one side of the
stove, and Laura on the other side with another cutting
board.

“
Your father thinks you’ve learned
your lesson,” Laura said as she tenderized a chicken
breast.

The comment caught Lucy off guard. “Really?”
she asked, trying not to sound too excited.

“
I hope you understand how
disappointed and upset we were that night, but I also hope you
understand what it means to have trust. We trust you, sweetheart,
we really do, and we are both very proud of you. Make sure you’re
careful from now on. All we ask is that you use your best judgment.
Do you understand?”

Lucy ran up to her mother,
hugged her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She felt such a
sympathetic and loving energy from her that she wanted to share her
own lively and exuberant energy, and she wished and hoped that
the
light
from
the haven was real so she could use it on her
mother.

“
I completely understand. I really
do,” Lucy said, gripping her mother. “Thank you, Mom. I really do
appreciate it.”

Laura returned the hug warmly and answered, “I
know you do, sweetheart, I know you do.” The two exchanged a smile.
“Now go work on the salad.”

As Lucy continued dicing tomatoes
and celery, the loud knocking diesel engine of her father’s pickup
could be heard pulling into the driveway. He made his customary
entrance into the kitchen by dropping his wallet, cell phone, and
keys on the table.

“
Smells good, what are we
having?”

“
My famous chicken parmesan,”
Laura responded as she washed her hands at the sink.

“
Now that sounds good,” James
said. He walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher
of water and walked it over to a cupboard. “Lucy,” he said, taking
a glass down from the top shelf.

“
Yeah?” Lucy responded as she
busied herself with finishing the salad.

“
Do you understand why we took
your keys from you?”

“
Yes,” she replied subversively.
“You wanted me to understand just how disappointing my behavior was
by taking away what was important to me.”

James looked at Lucy as though she had just
cheated on a test. “That’s right,” he said skeptically. He looked
back and forth between the back of his daughter’s head and the back
of his wife’s head. “Did you talk to her already?” he asked his
wife.

Laura didn’t face her husband. “Talk to her
about what, dear?”

“
Her car.”

“
I don’t think so,” she replied
sweetly, glancing over at Lucy with a wink.

Mother and daughter smiled. James just looked
confused.

“
Well, anyway, we want to give
your privileges back, but you really need to prove to us that this
kind of thing will never happen again. Is that clear?”

“
Yes, Daddy,” she responded, again
submissively.

James stood in the middle of the
kitchen, obviously out of words. “Okay, then.” He poured his glass
of water and took a sip before returning the pitcher to the
refrigerator. “So, how long till dinner?” he said, setting his
glass on the counter and wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Do you
need … any help or anything?” His tone was apprehensive, and Lucy
knew that he only asked it to be polite.

“
About an hour, and no, we can
handle it.” Laura looked over her shoulder at James. “Go watch your
game; we’ll let you know when dinner’s ready.” She smiled lovingly
at her husband.

“
Well, if you’re sure,” James
said, coming up behind his wife and kissing her on the neck. “I’ll
just be in the living room.” He kissed her one more time and then
kissed Lucy on the head. The kitchen was silent until the sounds of
college football trickled in from the living room.

After dinner, Lucy cleared
the table as Laura started the dishes. James retired to the living
room with a manila folder full of paperwork. He sat with his
reading glasses perched atop his forehead and the T.V. flashing a
replay of the game he was only half-watching. Lucy came in and
handed him a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream. James accepted the bowl
with a
thank you
and smiled up at her.

Just as he was about to take his first bite,
the doorbell rang.

He set the spoon back into the dish and
sighed, “Now who the heck is that on a Saturday night?”

“
I’ll get it,” Lucy said, waving
her father back down into his chair. James gladly accepted the
opportunity to enjoy his dessert.

In the porch light shining through
the semi-opaque glass, Lucy could see a rather tall person on the
other side. Opening the door revealed a man that was easily six and
a half feet tall. He wore a black jacket and plaid button down
shirt tucked into khaki pants. As she made eye contact, she noticed
that his eyes were the same brilliantly green shade as Benjamin’s,
and she gasped slightly. It was only then that someone else,
standing behind the person she didn’t know, came into view. Lucy
froze and her heart began to pound. It was Benjamin. He was there
at her house. Images of him in the grove raced through her mind and
she suddenly couldn’t separate the real from the imaginary. She was
petrified in place and couldn’t even utter words of greetings to
the very tall and incredibly good looking men at her
door.

The man in front held out his hand
to Lucy, “Hi; I’m Peter Raven. Is your father home?”

Somewhere in the recesses of her brain she had
heard the words, and she even understood them, but there was
something that wasn’t connecting it to a physiological response,
like welcoming them into the house. She just stood, staring, frozen
in petrified anxiety.

Peter just waited as Lucy did
nothing.

From the other side of the door,
Lucy could make out her father’s voice as if from a mile away,
“Lucy, who is it?”

She didn’t respond.

A moment later, James pulled the
door open even more to see what was going on. As he did so, he saw
his prized architect and elbowed Lucy in the shoulder.

“
Goosey, why haven’t you invited
them in, already?”

Snapping out of her semi-comatose
state, she suddenly felt embarrassed at her father’s nickname for
her in front of Benjamin’s oldest brother, Peter.

“
I’m sorry, Peter, I don’t know
what’s gotten into her; I guess it’s all those teenage hormones and
stuff. Come on in.” James left the door wide open and headed back
to the living room. Lucy stood by as the two men entered the
house.

Peter stopped in front of Lucy and smiled what
must have been a genetically dazzling smile and held out his hand
to her again. “So, you’re the Lucy Goosey I’ve heard so much
about.”

Lucy’s face flushed and she
grabbed his hand to shake it. The power of the grasp took Lucy by
sheer surprise, but it wasn’t the strength of the grip so much as
it was the power of the energy that emanated from him. Again, he
didn’t seem to be feeling it like everyone else she had
touched.

“
Yes, I guess that’s me,” was all
she could think to say. She smiled and held on to Peter’s
hand.

“
Well, it’s nice to finally meet
you,” he responded, smiling and winking, which Lucy was beginning
to suspect was another familial genetic tick.

As Peter headed into the living room, Benjamin
walked into the house.

“
Hi,” he said, while Lucy just
stood and stared. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“
Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“
You look sort of out of
it.”

“
Oh, no; it’s
just weird that you’re here. I mean, not weird, but just sort of
…
”
She
couldn
’
t manage a
single coherent sentence with him standing there.

Looking at his face, all she could think about
was the kiss, the powerful sense of connection she felt with him.
She wished in that moment that it was all real.

Benjamin’s fists were jammed into the pockets
of his jacket, the same jacket he wore in the grove and when he
rode his motorcycle. While he was still looking at Lucy, he seemed
preoccupied. Lucy’s inner-connection to him brought about the same
sense of intense sympathy that she had felt in the grove as
Benjamin looked at the golden city.

“
I suppose I could ask you the
same thing. Are you okay?” Lucy asked after sizing him
up.

Benjamin smiled and pulled his hands out of
his jacket.

“
Maybe we should shut this.” He
brushed past Lucy as he secured the front door.

The two walked silently into the
living room where Peter and James were already chatting. Lucy stood
just a few paces from Benjamin, her heart still pounding. She
wanted to grab his hand, but refrained.

There has to be an easy way to do
this. Just say something about the haven, or take his hand. What’s
the worst that could happen?

She took a step closer to him hoping to go
unnoticed.

I’ll tell you what’s the
worst that could happen: he could pull away and look at you like
you’re a crazy person.

She had talked herself out of taking any
action to verify once and for all the truth about him. Frustration
over what was real and not was silently eating her alive as Peter
and her father sat in the living room easy chairs
talking.

Okay, Crazy, it’s now or never. Go
with subtle. Just grab his hand. If he looks at you like you’re
insane, pull him to the kitchen and pretend like you were just
offering him some ice cream. Yeah, that’s it. Okay, now do
it.

Lucy turned her body and started to slide over
to Benjamin. As she gently reached out her hand toward his, her
father’s voice broke in and derailed the entire
maneuver.

“
Lucy, why don’t you take Ben in
and get some ice cream.”

She was so thrown off course that she actually
ran into the side of Benjamin, and he was forced to catch her
before she fell to the floor.

“
Whoa there, Goosey; watch that
first step.” James chuckled to himself, garnering a sympathetic
laugh from Peter.

Benjamin’s arms around her waist, while
humiliating, felt so good. But, her father’s instant comment caused
her face to flush, her cheeks hot.

What was that, you moron?
What is wrong with you?
Her self-chiding
was starting to become too commonplace. She felt she was probably
in danger of driving her own self-esteem down to
nothing.

“
I guess it’s my
turn again to ask if
you’re
okay.” Benjamin’s voice was so soothing, she
wished she could just cuddle into his chest and lose herself
there.

Regaining her footing, she responded, “Yeah,
I’m fine, just in danger of stupiding myself to death.”

She covered her blistering cheeks with her
hands and gestured for him to follow her to the kitchen. Benjamin
softly laughed and followed her.

Because of Lucy’s proficiency at
committing every party foul known to man, Laura greeted Benjamin as
they entered the kitchen and offered him some ice cream. He kindly
declined, citing the sizeable meal he had just finished.

“
Well, I’ll just leave you two
alone to finish cleaning up the kitchen for me while I go take a
bath.” Laura hung her dishtowel on Lucy’s shoulder and kissed her
daughter goodnight. “It was a pleasure seeing you again,
Benjamin.”

“
Likewise, Mrs.
Higgins.”

The two shared a courteous smile,
and Laura disappeared upstairs.

Lucy waited until her mother was completely
gone before she even attempted to engage Benjamin in
conversation.

“
This is a little awkward; I’m
going to do the dishes while you watch.”

“
Well, I’m no stranger to doing
dishes; let me help you.”

Sliding up next to Lucy, he manned
the rinse sprayer and immediately got to work rinsing suds off of
the bigger pots and pans and placing them into the dish drainer at
the edge of the sink.

Nothing was said for quite
some time. Lucy was content to enjoy his company while she
struggled with a way to broach the subject of the
haven
and
light
and
everything.

It was difficult not to notice
once again that Benjamin seemed a little preoccupied or tense.
Every so often he would look up from what he was doing and look out
the window, his eyes scanning everything that could be seen without
actually moving his head from side to side. He seemed almost
skittish, like he was waiting for something to happen. Lucy stopped
what she was doing.