When Lee stepped into the cabin, Lacey was already there, waiting.
“Hi, Mom,” she said from her perch on the bed.
“Hi, honey. How’s the ankle?”
“A little better, I think.” Lacey began to peel back the Velcro strips on her walking boot. “It will feel good to get this thing off, though.”
“I’ll bet.” Lee went to help her with the straps, then gently slid off the boot. “Oh, you poor kiddo,” she said, when she saw Lacey’s ankle. While the swelling had subsided, the foot had turned a deep, ugly purple. “That still looks pretty painful.”
Lacey shrugged. “Maybe the painkillers are helping. Speaking of which, isn’t it time for another?”
Lee checked her watch. “Righto. Six o’clock. You’re due.” She fetched a glass of water and a pill from the bathroom. On the bathroom counter sat the pregnancy test box.
“Here.” She handed Lacey the glass and pill. “Bottoms up.” She watched while her daughter swallowed, then drained the rest of the water.
“Thanks.” Lacey handed the glass back. “I cannot wait to get out of this dress. Can you help me?”
“Of course.” It was a struggle to get up without the ankle brace, but Lacey managed an awkward half stand while Lee unzipped the dress and pulled it over her head. She tossed the dress in the dry cleaner bag and grabbed Lacey a white robe from the bathroom. When she sat down on the bed, an awkward silence hung between them as they waited to see who would talk first. Lee reminded herself that she was the parent here, the responsible adult. It was up to her to get Lacey through this moment—and whatever might follow.
“So,” she began and stopped.
“So.” Lacey turned. Her eyes were wide with fear. “I guess this is the moment of truth, huh?”
“Oh, Lace.” Lee pulled her daughter into a hug and squeezed. “It’s all going to be okay, no matter what that little test says. If it’s negative, then we’ll keep living our lives just like we have been. If there’s a plus sign, well, we’ll deal with that, too. Together.” She let go and combed a strand of loose hair around her daughter’s ear. Lee felt as if she were looking into the face of four-year-old Lacey all over again, the little girl who would ask her mom to check under the bed for monsters each night. That child had been so afraid of being alone that Lee had finally capitulated and moved Lacey’s bed back into her bedroom. They’d shared a bedroom until Lacey turned thirteen.
Lacey nodded, pulled her lips into a line, then sniffed. “I know. Thanks. It’s just, this is really hard.” She nodded again, as if trying to reassure herself, though her eyes were wet with tears. “I just wish I hadn’t been so stupid!”
Lee was stunned by the sudden torque toward anger. She knew Lacey was afraid, but she also suspected her daughter might secretly want a baby. Lee had been talking herself through this distinct possibility for the last twenty-four hours. Lacey was in love with Tyler. Lee tried to remind herself what that felt like. What she’d felt for Charles all those years ago. What worried her most, perhaps, was how Tyler would react if Lacey really were pregnant. Would he step up and support her—or would he flee? Lee fretted that her daughter might not like the answer.
But Lee had had an entire day to do some soul-searching, and, in the end, she’d concluded that she was in no place to judge. Lee, herself, had gotten pregnant with Lacey around the same age, and with a total stranger. True, Lee had graduated college by then, but were things really so different? Her own mother couldn’t have been thrilled to learn that she’d be a grandmother at such a young age, and yet she’d never let on to Lee. Lee’s mom had adored Lacey as if she were her own daughter. If need be, Lee knew in her heart that she would feel the same way about any child Lacey might have.
She’d promised herself that she wouldn’t let her own hopes for Lacey’s future cloud her response, whatever the test result. She would follow Lacey’s lead. If Lacey were pregnant and wanted to keep the baby, Lee would support her. One hundred percent. If she felt differently, Lee would listen to that, too. She was here to hold her daughter up, not to judge or scold. Because, really, wasn’t that the ultimate test of parenthood? To be able to show your children love even during the times when your instincts told you to scream, when it was the hardest of all to love them? That seemed to Lee the very essence of being a parent.
“Hey,” Lee counseled her daughter now. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Remember, there’s another person involved in all this.”
“Pfft, yeah,” Lacey said. “Like he even has to deal with any of it. He’s got it easy. Tyler has no clue what’s going on right now.”
Lee nodded. “True, but eventually he will, don’t you think? One way or the other?”
Lacey met her gaze. “Yeah, I’m definitely telling him regardless. It’s not fair that he isn’t here with me, worrying.”
“Oh, honey,” Lee said. “Haven’t I taught you anything? Life’s hardly ever fair.” She paused. “Hey, there is something I want to share with you before you go in there and take that test.”
“Yeah?” Lacey looked at her with big, soulful eyes.
“I know you think I’ve never been in love, Lace.” She paused. “But I have. Not with your dad. But with another man who came into our lives later. You were still little, so you wouldn’t remember him. His name was Charles.” Here Lee felt her throat tightening. “He was a good man, Lacey. A really good man. We only dated for a year, but I wanted to marry him.” She nodded as she revealed her one secret.
“What happened?”
Lee shrugged. “He didn’t want to marry me. It was as simple as that. He had big plans. He was going to save the world, run for Congress, maybe be president one day.”
Lacey’s eyes grew huge. “Did he? I mean run for president?”
“No.” Lee laughed. “Not even close. But he is a mayor, I think. Last I checked. That much I can tell you.”
Lacey gripped her arm. “Who is it?”
Lee shook her head. “No way. I’m not telling you this so you can track him down.” She sighed and her eyes locked with Lacey’s. “I’m telling you so that you understand I know what it feels like to be in love. I also know what it feels like to get your heart broken. I get it, Lacey. I was young once, too.”
“Wow.” Lacey was quiet for a moment. “Can I ask you something?”
“Why didn’t it work out? I mean, if you loved each other?”
Lee had been bracing herself for this question. She couldn’t tell Lacey that Charles thought being married to a woman who’d had a child out of wedlock might hurt his chances in public office. That’s how shallow he’d been! But she hadn’t realized it till it was too late. Why? Because she’d been in love. She patted Lacey’s hand now.
“I think, Lace, he wanted to save the world. He had his sights set on big things. Turned out, he just didn’t want to save me.”
“I’m sorry,” Lacey said quietly. “That really stinks.”
Lee clucked her tongue. “Well, that’s life, isn’t it? Sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don’t.” She rested a hand on Lacey’s knee. “So, do you think you’re ready?”
Lacey took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Lee nodded. “Good. Do you need any help?”
Lacey shook her head. “No, I think I’ve got this part. If you wouldn’t mind hanging out, though?”
“You know I’m here,” Lee said. “I have the timer.” She waved her phone in the air. “You just say the word.”
Lacey hobbled into the bathroom and shut the door. After a few minutes, she called out, “Okay, Mom, ready.”
Lee hit the timer button on her phone and held her breath. Oh please, she prayed, oh please, oh please, although she wasn’t sure what she was praying for exactly. The next three minutes might have been the longest of her life, until finally, at last, Lee could shout, “Time! Three minutes.” She waited. “Lacey?”
When the bathroom door opened, she tried to read her daughter’s face, but it was blank. Lacey held up the stick in her hand. And then a faint smile crossed her lips. “It’s negative, Mom,” she said. “I’m not pregnant.”
“Oh, honey,” Lee said, her voice threaded through with emotion, and went to hold her daughter tight.