I could still hear the dull roar of the party when my phone chimed in my purse. Assuming it was Jude, I was ready to hit ignore when a different but familiar phone number showed up on the screen. I wasn't really in the mood for talking, but the caller on the other end wasn't one for long conversations anyway.
"Hey, Dad," I answered, as I continued to weave my way through the landscape. I was pretty sure there was yet another god-awful, overstated fountain waiting at the end of my path, so I switched directions.
"Hello, my Lucy in the Sky," he greeted, sounding like the dad of my childhood. The dad who hadn't become an emotional and physical shut-in for the entirety of my teen years. "I'm just calling to say hi and check in."
I smiled the biggest smile I was capable of right now. Dad called every week, same day, same time. You could set a watch by Dad's calls. "Hi, yourself, and thanks for the checkup. I'm in San Diego visiting Jude."
I didn't offer anything more. If I told my dad about Jude's and my fight over the McMansion, there'd be no getting him off the phone in a few minutes.
"How's the Jude man?" he asked eagerly. I wasn't the only big fan of Jude Ryder in the Larson family. Dad was a close second in that department.
"Jude's . . ." I searched for the right word: A shade past nuts and drinking the California Kool-Aid were probably phrases I should keep to myself. "He's been really busy, Dad. I think all the sun, long hours on the field, and dollar signs are making him a little crazy."
Dad chuckled to himself.
"Crazier than normal," I clarified.
"Any updates on the nuptial front?" Dad asked, making a not-so-smooth segue.
I groaned. "Not you, too," I whined. "If it's not you, it's Mom. If it's not Mom, it's Jude. If it's not Jude, it's somebody else. What is it with everyone wanting to know every little detail about our forthcoming or not-so-forthcoming wedding?" I didn't mean to be so snappy with my dad. It was just a case of wrong question, wrong time.
"Lucy in the Sky," Dad said, sounding the picture of calm, "I don't want to just know every detail of your wedding, forthcoming or not. I want to know every detail of your whole life." I could hear that fatherly smile in his voice. "But since you're no longer a kindergartener, how about I just settle for knowing if you're happy?"
I exhaled. Dad had a way of soothing me just with his voice alone. "That works for me."
"I mean that, sweetie. Your happiness is all I care about," he said. "If it makes you happy to stay engaged for the rest of your life, I'm fine with that." I laughed sharply. Dad might be all right with that, but I knew another man who wouldn't be too pleased. "If a shotgun wedding in Vegas makes you happy, so be it."
"Thanks, Dad," I said.
"Whatever you and Jude decide on, your mom and I are good with it," he said. "Okay?"
It was a weight off my shoulders knowing that, but the problem was, I couldn't decide what I wanted right now. I needed some time and a cup of tea to help me with my sea of indecision.
"Okay, Dad. Thanks, that means a lot to me," I said.
"Well, you mean a lot to me, Lucy in the Sky."
When I stepped out of the shower, I peeked out the bathroom window. The last party stragglers were gone. Today had been one hell of a day, and I knew that tomorrow would be, too. So tonight I wanted to forget about everything running around in my mind and get some sleep. I needed to close the door on this day and open a new one in the morning.
I'd left all the lights in the pool house off in hopes Jude would be too drunk or too tired to come looking for me. Of course, I knew that was wishful thinking. I knew he'd come. I just hoped that when he did, he would give me the space I'd tell him I needed. Jude wasn't the biggest fan of "space," given our past experience with it.
I was getting a cup from the cupboard when the knock sounded on the pool house door.
"Luce? Are you in there?" His voice was high pitched.
Before I had a chance to respond, the door opened and he stepped inside.
His face was as worried-looking as his voice had sounded. "I've been looking for you everywhere," he said, taking a few more steps inside. "What are you doing out here?"
Hiding from you. Trying to get my thoughts together. "About to go to sleep," I answered, setting the glass down. Water had sounded good until Jude had arrived. Now the only thing that sounded good was him. Especially with the way he was looking at me.
"You're hiding from me," he stated, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"No," I said, cinching the tie of my bathrobe tighter. "I'm hiding from that place."