The Meant to Be Collection

by Claire Highton-Stevenson

  ~E&F~

  The last time Lucy had woken with Nicole using her for a mattress, she had panicked and been frozen to the spot. This time, though, she found herself grinning. She lay there quietly and waited patiently for Nicole to wake. It didn’t take long. It was as if she could feel that Lucy was awake and waiting for her to join her. The look of confusion on her face as she registered she wasn’t in bed and wasn’t alone was amusing. Then the blush that appeared when she realised she was laying on Lucy yet again was adorable.

  “Hey,” Nicole’s sleep-laced voice said quietly as she looked up into the greenest eyes she had ever seen. If fresh grass could melt, then that would be the colour of them, with flecks of gold leaf peppering them to add a sparkle that contradicted everything about her.

  “Hi, sleep well?”

  “Apparently so, you?”

  Lucy smiled, and that sparkle changed to something watery, glistening in the sunlight as she replied. “Best I’ve slept in a long time.”

  They both stayed that way for a little longer, until Storm could be heard rather loudly telling the twins to be quiet or they would wake them up. Lucy couldn’t help but chuckle and was soon joined in her mirth by Nicole.

  “I’m going to teach her about vocal levels today I think,” Lucy said, grinning some more.

  “I’m sorry about last—”

  “It’s fine, don’t worry about it, I should have checked what kind of film it was…I…I didn’t think, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be silly, it’s not your fault, Lucy,” Nicole said. As she tried to use her hand to help push herself up into a sitting position, she realised it was trapped slightly under Lucy’s torso, and her other hand she now realised was on top of Lucy’s torso, under her top. “Oh, sorry,” she said quickly, removing her hands and readjusting herself.

  Lucy, in her usual straight-talking, no-messing way answered simply, “I quite liked it.” This, of course, summoned a blush to appear, dappling her cheeks and neck with a faint pink hue. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “No, that’s okay,” Nicole said hurriedly “I…I liked it too.” And she did; Lucy’s skin had been warm to her touch, soft, and it felt right to be lying here with her so close.

  Not wanting to confuse things any further and unsure where this was heading, Lucy let her stomach make the ultimate decision for them as it announced quite loudly that it was wanting breakfast.

  “I guess that’s our call. Bacon and eggs okay?” Lucy said quickly, but she moved slowly to extricate herself and stand up.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Lucy drove, dropping Nicole at the store for her shift, along with the twins. She then headed over to the school to get Storm to classes on time. Once she was alone, she began to consider how best she could help her new pupil.

  Firstly, she had to discover if the kid could actually sing, because putting her up on stage if she couldn’t would be horrific for her self-esteem. Having her humiliated in front of the entire school was not an experience Lucy wanted to create.

  She found the store she needed and wandered inside. There was a certain smell that came with a music store. Wood and oil. She let her fingers dance across the smooth surface of the violins. They plucked at the strings of the guitars, the chord sending her memories hurtling backward.

  “You can never find a better instrument than the guitar,” Mike argued, having just played a sweet riff.

  Ben did a double take before beating his drumsticks down against his tom-tom several times and then crashing the cymbals to make his point. “No chance, the drums are the best.”

  Sasha giggled and decided it was her turn to match the boys, fingers deftly flying across the keys of the board as she played an exquisite piece of Beethoven. “In your dreams, boys. The piano is by far the instrument of choice.”

  She hadn’t even realised she had moved, but she had, across the room and past the drum kits. She found herself in front of the keyboards. Her fingers clenched into fists. She hadn’t played in years, wasn’t so sure that she even could.

  “Can I help you?” A smart middle-aged man appeared from nowhere and was now standing by her side. “It’s a beautiful model.”

  “I’ll take it,” Lucy said.

  “You don’t want to try it first?” he asked. Most people did. It was the bane of his life actually; people would come in and want to play around with all the instruments with no intention of ever buying one.

  “No, it’s the instrument of choice, isn’t it?” she remarked. “I know it will be perfect.”

  ~E&F~

  Back at the cabin, she had a few hours before she needed to go and collect Nicole and the twins. Rain and Summer had been promised an afternoon by the lake if they managed to behave all morning at the store. It was highly unlikely they’d make it through; they found mischief in everything they did. Lucy smiled to herself, their antics often giving her reason to chuckle. But right now, she had something to think about, and it sat like a giant weight in her guts.

  The keyboard was still in its box. The box was still sitting in the middle of the room, on the floor. She looked at it. Just a box, but what was inside of it was anything but just anything.

  For the first 2 or 3 years of her life, she was much like the twins. Toys and chocolate were the most important things, but when she was 4, her uncle Rupert arrived. Everybody called him Strawberry, due to the colour of his fair hair and so, he became Uncle Berry. He had been away, working on cruise ships mainly, and he played the piano. Her parents had let him move in with them when he finished his last trip, and he never left.

  Lucy woke up to the sound of music being played somewhere in the house. She loved music and would often be found singing and dancing to it. She wasn’t a shy kid by any means, and it didn’t matter where they were, if she heard a song that she knew then she would start bellowing.

  Wandering down the stairs, she was intrigued as to what this music was. She hadn’t heard anything like it before. Her tiny hands reached up and pushed the door open to reveal Uncle Berry sitting in front of a big wooden box, and he was pressing his fingers down on to shiny black and white blocks.

  He grinned at her as his fingers danced away on the blocks and the music became more upbeat. Lucy began to bounce on her short little legs.

  “Hey Luce, wanna play?” he said, not giving her a chance to answer before he reached down and pulled her up and on to his lap. “Go on, touch the keys.” He urged her on and so she did, clanging away, much to Berry’s delight.

  From then on, every day he would show her how to play a tune - as he called it. Bit by bit she learned how to play the piano until one day when she was about fifteen, he announced, “I think you’re better than me now, Luce.”

  She wiped away a tear as she thought about Berry. He had died the very next year and it had devastated her, but in some ways, it had inspired her too. Because she played for him. She carried on with her lessons and she started to write her own music and perform her own songs, and eventually it had all paid off.

  Finally, she opened the box and lifted out the long keyboard. It wasn’t a piano and would never sound as good, but it would do for now. She had purchased a stand to go with it and had already set that up. Placing the keyboard on top of it was a little cathartic. She actually felt her fingers begin to itch, wanting to caress the keys.

  When it was all plugged in and set up, she found a chair and sat in front of it, just staring. She reached out, her index finger extended, and gently pressed the 2nd octave G. Her middle finger and ring finger followed up with A and B. Tentatively she moved up and down the scale until, without even realising it, she was playing.

  She was rusty. She could hear Berry laughing and urging her to keep going. So she did, her finger joints loosening with every sweep of the keys. Tears trickled, and yet she couldn’t help but smile as she played her music for the first time since the accident.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  At two in the afternoon, she arrived promptly at t
he store and was set upon in an instant by Summer as she ran from behind the counter and jumped straight into Lucy’s arms.

  “Hey, Juicy Lucy.” She grinned. Lucy’s eyebrow raised in surprise. She had been called many things before, but that was a new one.

  “Okay…where did you get that?”

  Summer laughed and snuggled into her neck. “Mommy told Rita that you was a…juicy Lucy.”

  “Oh, she did, did she?” She swung around to find Nicole frozen to the spot and staring right at her like a deer caught between the headlights of an oncoming juggernaut. “Juicy Lucy?”

  “Okay, now that wasn’t quite…I mean, that’s not…” Lucy couldn’t stop herself from laughing out loud. Nicole was flustered and it was cute, that much she had to admit.

  Rain saved her blushes, however, when she came hurtling out from the back room and promptly fell over, sliding along the aisle. When she stopped moving it was only to let out an almighty scream. Shock more than anything had caused the scream, the friction burns to her knees caused the tears to follow, and only a hug from Mommy was going to make it better. So, Lucy took them all home.

  ~E&F~

  Storm got the school bus home and was met at the top of the hill by Lucy. They walked back down the small road that led down to the two cabins, and as they broke off to the right and headed towards home, Lucy stopped walking.

  There was a fallen tree, and Lucy sat down on it.

  “Why are we stopping here?” Storm asked, looking around. There was nobody else here, just the two of them.

  “Because I want you to sing for me.” Storm’s eyes went wide as saucers when Lucy announced that. She shook her head vehemently. “Why not?”

  “Cos you might laugh at me,” Storm admitted, flopping down beside her.

  “Hmm, have I ever laughed at you before…I mean, when I’m not supposed to?” Storm shook her head, Lucy had never laughed at her or been mean. “So, why would I do that now?”

  “Because…because I…what if I can’t sing?” She felt Lucy’s arm snake around her shoulder and pull her into a hug.

  “I tell ya what, if you can’t sing then I promise you, I will be honest and tell you, and then I will go and speak to Ms. Arnold and tell her that you can’t do the pageant.”

  “You would?” Storm looked up at her with those big brown eyes.

  Lucy nodded, “Yep, but…” she held up a finger, “if you can sing, then I will teach you how to perform on stage. Deal?”

  “But…okay but, you can’t look at me.”

  “I can’t… Okay. I’m going to turn my back and then you’re going to sing something for me, right?”

  Lucy swivelled around and got herself comfortable and waited. She closed her eyes and listened. Birds tweeted and flew between branches. The breeze rustled the leaves and plants and then she heard it, the tiny trembling voice singing quietly a song that Lucy didn’t know.

  There was a lot of work to do, but the main thing was, she could hit a note.

  ~E&F~

  The keyboard was a big interest to everyone, especially the two tiny terrors that wanted to play on it. Lucy wondered what Berry would have to say about that!

  “Wow,” said Storm, an expression of awe evident on her face. “You can play this?”

  “Well, it’s been a while, but yeah, I can play it. Might be a bit rusty though,” Lucy said shyly. Nicole could tell that this was a big step, no a huge step, for Lucy, and there it was again: that little tug that kept nudging her heart open to this woman.

  Lucy took a couple of deep breaths and wiggled her fingers. She went to touch the keys, but then pulled back at the last minute unsure, uncertain of herself and of what this meant. She hadn’t played the piano on stage very often, that wasn’t her job, so she figured she could do this. This wasn’t Solar Flare, this was showing Storm that she too could face her fears. But how could she teach the kid that, if she couldn’t face her own?

  She felt a hand on her shoulder and knew without looking that it was Nicole. She looked up and found the darkest eyes just looking at her, not with pity, but with understanding. She knew how difficult this was going to be, and she was in awe that Lucy was doing it anyway.

  “I might cry,” she whispered to Nicole. It was one thing playing this on her own, but now with an audience, it was a different story.

  “Me too.” She smiled back. “But it’s okay.”

  She never noticed the tears that streaked her cheeks, or the awe in which Nicole watched her, or how Storm sat open mouthed and scrutinised her fingers intently, trying to imagine how thrilling it must be to be able to play the piano. Instead, she focused on the music and let the emotion wash over her.

  Nicole took out her phone and began to take more photos of them all. She took a moment to go through the photos already on her phone, smiling at the ones she had just taken. Then as she flicked back further she found the ones that Storm had taken of them asleep, together. She had her face buried in Lucy’s neck, their arms wrapped around each other. They looked like a couple. She looked up then to listen to Lucy talking to the girls. When she caught her attention, Lucy just smiled at her and carried on talking to the children. That was the moment, the moment she realised Lucy was more than a friend, and she was rapidly becoming her person, the one she had longed for as a younger woman, the person who would be everything.

  It was another one of those moments where they just fixed eyes and nothing else seemed to exist until Summer hit a key and tried to play. The spell broken, Lucy picked her up and showed her how to touch the keys properly.

  “Lucy?” Storm said tentatively as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.

  “Yes, sweetheart?”

  “Can you, I mean, would you teach me?”

  “If you want me to, then sure.” Lucy nodded, it would be fun to teach someone else the joy of music at your fingertips. Just like Uncle Berry had taught her. It could continue to be passed on through the generations.

  Storm beamed a smile that could have ruptured even the coldest of hearts, and for Lucy, it just confirmed how much she loved these kids, and when she looked up and found Nicole smiling exactly the same way, she realised something else too.

  ~E&F~

  Supper was a simple meal of pizza from the local delivery/takeout place in town. It was nice; everyone was chatting and laughing. Lucy sat back and took it all in. In just a couple of months, her life had changed so much that she didn’t even recognise herself anymore. She glanced at Rain, who was currently shovelling pieces of tomato from her salad into her mouth. Summer was stealing fries from Rain’s share. Storm wasn’t eating as she was too busy talking about wanting to watch a YouTube video on how to play the piano. Lastly, she glanced to Nicole, who was already watching her. She realised that Nicole had been watching her watch the kids, and she blushed, but she didn’t look away; instead she kept her eyes right there and held her gaze.

  “Mom?” Storm said, smiling at them. “Mom?” she repeated when she got no reply the first time. “Mom?!” she shouted louder.

  “Huh? What?” Nicole said, tearing her eyes away from Lucy and looking at her daughter. “What’s up, Storm?”

  “Nothing, I was just asking for some juice, but you were in a trance with Lucy,” she said, not quite understanding why Lucy and her Mom both blushed at the word “juice.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lucy was lying on the couch. It was warm, and she could feel a summer breeze flowing through the window or an open door. She moved her head and surveyed the room, her eyes landing on the photo on the mantle. Nicky looked down on her, a smile fixed in time like always. She closed her eyes, and when they opened again the picture had changed. It wasn’t Nicky any longer; it was Nicole.

  She stood and limped towards it, picking it up gently and feeling the weight of the silver frame in her hand. Hearing a noise behind her, she turned to find Nicole standing there. She was speaking, but she couldn’t hear her. She shook her head to tell her and Nicole repeated it, louder this
time, but she still couldn’t hear properly. It was muffled, like being in a pool underwater and hearing the sounds above. She walked closer and Nicole kept repeating it over and over until finally, she heard her, loud and clear. “My middle name is Amanda.”

  Waking from her dream, she called out for Storm. The youngster came running like her life depended on it. Her youthful exuberance and general need to impress her made Lucy smile to herself.

  “Yes?” she called to Lucy as she ran into the room, skidding to a halt in her socked feet.

  “Can I borrow your laptop for a minute?”

  “Of course, I’ll get it.” And off she ran again. She was back in less than a minute, carrying the rectangular computer in her arms.

  “Thanks,” Lucy said, taking it from her and opening it on her lap. Storm clambered up onto the bed besides her.

  “You’re welcome. Mom is making breakfast. I’ll tell her you’re awake now, shall I?”

  “Ok, thanks, sweetheart.” She grinned. While she was waiting for the computer to load, she had the feeling she was being watched. Looking up, she found Storm was smiling at her. “What?”

  “Nothing, I just like when you call me that,” Storm said, and then she jumped off the bed and ran off.

  Lucy shook her head, smiling at the way Storm was just, well, a sweetheart.

  As the laptop finally loaded, she typed in quickly what she wanted to look up. Amanda. When the page changed, she clicked the various links until she got what she needed.

  “Worthy of love,” she read aloud to the empty room.

  “What is?” Nicole said from the doorway. Storm had left the door open when she ran out a minute ago.

  “Oh, you are,” she said without thinking, but on seeing Nicole’s cheeks redden, she quickly added, “Your middle name, I was looking it up, that’s what it means.” She felt her own cheeks flush now and quickly closed the laptop and reached for her dressing gown as she got up.