Keeping Lucy (ARC)
Page 27
Ginny felt a sudden urge to touch Sylvia, to hold her. But Sylvia was still gripping the wheel tightly.
“Women of my generation,” she continued, “did not have the choices you have. The opportunities.”
Choices. There was that word again. Did Ginny really have choices? She’d felt as though she had no say, no sway. This was how she’d wound up where she was for the last month.
“When I lost my son,” Sylvia said, “I almost left. Abbott didn’t want to talk about him. He wanted to pretend that he’d never existed. It was too difficult, too shameful. He saw Paul’s death as a personal failure.”
Ginny wondered if this was how Ab felt about Lucy. If he felt culpable for her disability. She knew she had blamed herself, but had he also felt that impossible burden of guilt?
“I wanted to leave him. I wanted to take Ab and go. But where would I have gone? I had a child to care for. I had no choice.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Ginny asked as Sylvia put on her blinker and began to exit the desolate interstate.
“Because the sins of the father need not belong to the son.”
The dirt road was riddled with bumps. Both children were jostled about in the backseat.
“Where are we going, Grandma?” Peyton asked.
Ab was outside the cottage when Sylvia pulled into the grassy drive. He had an ax and was splitting a thick log, one of a hundred in a pile by the back door.
Ginny’s heart swelled as he stopped what he was doing and looked at them. The sorrow, the sorry, in his eyes.
Peyton threw open the back door and ran toward his father, Ab scooping him up in a bear hug, ruffling his hair. Arthur came bounding out of the woods that bordered the property.
Ginny got out of the front seat and moved around to the back, opening the door and reaching in for Lucy.
Lucy, as always, clung to her, burying her face in Ginny’s chest.
Ab lowered Peyton down to the ground, and Peyton took off running with Arthur to a pile of leaves Ab had clearly raked up for the sole purpose of jumping into. Sylvia got out of the driver’s-side door and moved to the trunk, which she popped open. From the trunk she withdrew two grocery bags Ginny hadn’t noticed before and disappeared into the house.
Ginny stood by the car, holding Lucy tightly as Ab made his way slowly toward them.
“Hi,” he said, his mouth twitching.
“Hi,” she returned.
“Hello, Lucy,” he said. At the sound of her name Lucy lifted her head.
Ab’s eyebrows raised. His chin quivered like his son’s so often did, and he looked like he might cry. He held out his hand tentatively, reaching for her small one.
She accepted his hand, and Ginny saw Ab trembling as he studied her tiny fingers. Lucy gripped his hand tightly.
“What’s going on, Ab?” she asked. “Why are we here?”
He looked up at Ginny. “I quit the firm.”
“What?” she asked.
“I told my father that if he insisted on defending the school, I would resign.”
“He’s going forward?”
Ab nodded. “But I’ve reached out to the parent group. Offered my legal assistance. Pro bono.”
“Really?” she asked. “What did he say?”
He shook his head. “Let me worry about my father.”
“But what will you do? For work?” Ab had been immersed in the law for seven years.
“I’ve spoken to the folks at Legal Aid here. They’re always looking for attorneys. I’d like to sell the house in Dover. We can use the equity to winterize the cabin here. Add on if you like? There are over two acres of land. We could have a garden. Also, there’s a library in town; I’m sure with your experience you could get a job if you like.”
Ginny’s eyes filled with tears.
“We’re just an hour from Boston, from Children’s Hospital. They are so appreciative of Mother’s philanthropy; they promised Lucy will get the best care. And your mother spoke to her cardiologist, who recommended a wonderful pediatric cardiologist at Children’s to head up her team.”
“But what about school? Where will Peyton go to first grade?”
“There’s an elementary school here. And even better, there’s a school for Lucy. When she’s older. In East Sandwich. It’s called Riverview.”
Ginny felt her shoulders stiffen. Another “school”?
“It’s a boarding school, but they also accept day students. It’s for children like Lucy. The teachers are trained to help children with special needs.”
Ginny searched for something in Ab’s eyes, some sort of hesitation or reluctance. But she saw nothing but earnestness.
Arthur came tearing around the corner again, tongue hanging down in sheer canine bliss.
“Besides, Arthur loves it here!” he said matter-of-factly.
“Really, Ab? Live here?” she asked, still stunned. As if her whole world had suddenly cracked open like an egg, and inside was a shimmery golden possibility.
“Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?” he asked. “Just a simple life.”
She thought about want. About need. About how humble her wants were, but how hard they had been to fulfill.
Peyton and Arthur came running and tumbling, both covered with brittle leaves and dirt. Lucy giggled and looked up at the sky. Ginny and Ab followed her gaze, looking for that guidepost, that beacon. Sure enough, there was a tiny sliver of a moon still in the sky. Just the memory of a moon.
“Moon,” Lucy said.
“Well, not only are you a great beauty, but so smart, too!” Ab said.
“I’m scared, Ab,” Ginny said.
“Me, too.” He nodded, reaching for her. “But it’ll be okay.”
“My moon,” Lucy announced.
“Yes, it is,” Ginny said, her chest swollen with pride. With love. With hope. “It’s all yours.”
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Copyright Page
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
KEEPING LUCY. Copyright © 2019 by T. Greenwood. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (TK)
ISBN (hardcover)
ISBN (ebook)
First Edition: August 2019
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
9781250164223
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/> T Greenwood, Keeping Lucy (ARC)