Chapter 5
Lily picked Claire up from the aftercare program at school and hugged her. She smelled of sweat, crayons and shampoo, and Lily reveled in its sweetness. “Hi, sweetie, how was your day?”
“Good. You’ll never believe what Max said!”
“What did Max say?” Claire loved Max and worshipped everything he said and did. It was cute.
“Max said I can come see him wrestle sometime. Can I, Mom, can I please?”
Lily smiled. “We’ll find out his wrestling schedule and see if we’re available.”
“How will we find out his schedule? Do you know it?” Claire looked at her mom, brown eyes huge.
“No, I don’t,” said Lily as she entered their apartment, shrugged off her coat and hung it in the closet. She put her briefcase on the hall table and headed into the kitchen to make dinner. She sighed as Claire’s things dropped on the floor. “But I can call his mom and find out.”
“Will you do it right now?”
“No, I won’t do it right now. Right now I have to make us dinner. Do you want chicken or turkey burgers?”
“Turkey burgers, turkey burgers, I love turkey burgers!”
“Okay,” Lily smiled. “I’ll make turkey burgers. You set the table.” As Lily cooked and Claire set the table, they talked about Claire’s day at school and Lily’s day at work. When they sat to eat, Lily mentioned Gideon. “I saw Gideon today.”
“You did?” Claire stopped eating and stared at her. “Where?”
“We saw each other at the same coffee shop on the way home. The three of us are going to have dinner tomorrow.”
Claire couldn’t have been more excited if Lily had promised her a trip to Disneyland. “Really? Yippee! Do you like Gideon, Mommy?”
Lily chewed and swallowed the food in her mouth slowly to give herself time to answer the question. A simple yes or no was all that was necessary for a six-year-old. But to her, the question was more complicated. She hadn’t been with a man in three years, since Daniel had been killed, and she didn’t know if she’d ever want to be again. The thought of opening herself to heartache, combined with the guilt over moving past her husband, made her tremble. At the same time, while Gideon could be frustrating, there was something about him that wouldn’t let her give up on him. He made her feel emotions she hadn’t felt in years. And she loved his way with Claire. I’m getting ahead of myself. “Yes, honey, he’s very nice.”
Excitement bubbled and Claire practically vibrated with it. “I think so too. And he plays great games with me and he can draw really good!”
“Well,” Lily corrected automatically.
“Well,” said Claire. “He said he’d teach me to draw like him someday.”
“That would be wonderful. I’m glad you like him, honey.” Lily stood to clear the table. She chewed her lower lip. Claire was getting awfully attached to him. What happened if it didn’t work out? “Now, let’s get ready for bed.”
****
When Lily got out of bed the next morning, she had already lain awake for an hour contemplating her dinner with Gideon. Would they fight? What should she wear? Would Claire act as a buffer or would she and Gideon spend the whole day arguing? What would they talk about? Exhausted from all of the questions knocking around in her brain, but unable to sleep, she stumbled into her cheery yellow kitchen to make breakfast for herself and lunch for Claire. When the phone rang, she grabbed it off the cradle before the noise could wake her daughter.
“Hello?”
“Lily?”
His voice sent shivers running up her spine. “Hey, Gideon.” Lily opened the refrigerator and took out jelly. She frowned at the sound of a drawn breath. “Are you okay?”
There was a short pause. “Why?”
“You don’t sound like yourself. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah,” he rasped. He cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he said firmly. “I’m having a bad day is all.”
“Already?” she laughed. “It’s only seven in the morning!”
He cleared his throat. “I know. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Her first inclination was to offer sympathy, but with Gideon, she hesitated. Her stomach twisting, she relented. “Can I do anything?” Lily winced and mentally ducked, as she waited for his tirade and hoped she hadn’t offended him. Talking to him was like disarming a bomb: you never knew which “wire” would cause him to “blow.”
“No thanks. I have to reschedule our dinner tonight, though. Tell Claire I’m sorry.” His voice dropped and he audibly swallowed.
“Oh, okay. I’ll talk to you later.” I’m better off. She stared at the phone. She squelched her disappointment and concern and went to wake Claire.
On her way out the door, her cell phone rang. “Hi, Samantha.”
“Hi,” she said, tone sharp. “I am so annoyed!”
Lily stiffened. “What’s wrong?”
“Tyler called me this morning and quit. That means I’ll have to start working Saturdays again, starting this week, and three evenings a week until I can find another assistant.”
“That sucks. Why’d he quit?”
“I don’t know. He gave me some story about a great opportunity, blah, blah, blah. The least he could have done was give me notice, but no. And I really thought he was great. Shows how much I know!”
“Oh Sam, I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?” The corner of her mouth turned up—she’d asked the same thing of both siblings within minutes of each other.
“Do you know any good art gallery assistants you can recommend?”
“Unfortunately not.”
“Darn. Well, I guess the rest of my weekends and evenings are gone.” Dejection dulled her words and Lily hoped she hired a replacement soon.
They hung up and after dropping Claire at school, Lily went to work.
As soon as Lily walked into her office, Anne appeared, as if she’d been waiting for her. “What happened yesterday after I left?”
“What do you mean?”
“You and Gideon stayed to talk. What happened?”
Lily’s face heated. “The usual, of course. We argued again.”
Anne arched back, one eyebrow raised. “Because you thought he’d like you better if you did? I think maybe you need a refresher course on how to pick up men.”
Lily laughed. “I wasn’t trying to pick him up, Anne.”
“Obviously.”
“Really, it was no big deal and it ended quickly. Besides, it’s not like I want to start something.” Obviously, it wasn’t meant to be, even if she couldn’t get the sound of his voice out of her head, nor stop the zings of awareness that continued to slide up her spine.
Anne sympathized. “Don’t write him off just yet, Lily. He may surprise you. And try not to jump down his throat the next time you talk to him. You don’t like it when he does it to you, so don’t do it to him.”
****
That night, Samantha appeared at Gideon’s apartment. “Wow, what happened to you?” She whistled when she strode in.
“It’s nothing, Sam. What are you doing here?” He wished his sister called before coming over. He’d have found an excuse to convince her not to come. He clenched his teeth as his sister stared at him. He knew how beat-up his face was.
She sat beside him. Gently, she touched his face, and he gritted his teeth in pain. He had lacerations on his forehead, and he’d pulled several muscles in his arms and back. Nothing too tough for the team medic to take care of, but he was in more pain than he cared to admit. The raw, scraped skin already showed signs of bruising around the edges. His eyebrow and lip had swelled to twice their normal size. He looked like he’d been on the losing end of a dogfight.
“It’s not as bad as it seems.”
She traced her fingers over some of the wounds. “I hope not. What happened?”
“The basketball game got a little rougher than usual. It’s no big deal.” The basketball tournament had been rough and he’d come away with more bumps, bruises and injuries than usual. Although all the players were in wheelchairs, it was a full-contact sport. His team won, but barely. He wanted her to stop worrying about him.
“Did you ice it? Take medicine?”
God he hated being babied. “Of course I did. How helpless do you think I am?” He wheeled away from her.
Since she was used to his behavior, she jumped over the chair and confronted him. “I know you’re not helpless. Don’t start. Are you hurt anywhere else?”
Maybe he was overreacting. “My back is a little sore, but I’m fine.” She didn’t say anything, just stared at him. Finally breaking her gaze, Gideon rolled his shoulders to ease the tension. “I promise you, Sam, I’m fine. Don’t say anything to Lily, though.”
Her eyes widened. “Lily? Why would I?”
He told her about his cancelled dinner plans.
“You really believed you had to cancel?” Her tone of disbelief irked him.
Gideon raised an eyebrow and winced when it hurt. He’d never let her see him like this. She’d take one look at his cut-up face, see him move gingerly, and run. Been there, done that. He exhaled loudly in frustration. “It was a bad idea from the start. I’m not going to date her, and going to dinner with her would be a date. Besides, I don’t want her to see me like this.” He knew he sounded shallow, but for him, it ran deeper than a superficial concern for his looks. It was what his injuries might mean to others.
“Why not? I see you.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“You’re my sister.”
“So?” She shrugged. “What are you afraid of?
Gideon clenched his teeth and remained silent, like Mohammed’s mountain. Flashes of memory from his accident and hospital stay played in his head. His ex-girlfriend’s reaction. There were some things he wouldn’t share, even with his sister.