PART OF ME · j. peña

chapter two: it takes one to know one

"At the playground. I was playing with others and then I wanted to have some water but my mommy wasn't there and I got scared." the last part came out in quiet sob that Lucy quickly stopped by taking her in her arms.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm sure we're going to find her soon." she promised even though she wasn't even sure if that was even possible. Laredo was a big town and she was here only two days, how the hell was she supposed to help her?

They walked for some minutes, taking turns and talking in quiet voice until Delilah practically jumped out of her embrace and raced forward shouting a name.

"Mommy! Mommy!" little girl hugged the woman's middle who dropped to her knees and with tears of joy began to shower her daughter with kisses. "I found you!"

Lucille got closer, still uncertain of the situation.

"You did, Snippy." her mother exhaled with relief, kissing her forehead. "But why did you run away from me? I was really worried about you, Delilah."

"No, mommy." little girl protested. "You weren't at the playground so I started to looking for you!"

She wasn't sure anymore which version was real but it didn't matter know since they were together again and Delilah was safe. Lucy found it funny how a six year old girl could argue with her mother and tell her that she is in fact wrong.

"And I found this pretty lady that helped me!"

As if realising, woman's gaze shifted to Lucy who was standing there confused and partly relieved that her little friend got back to her family. She just secretly hoped that they could spend some more time together because truth to be told, that kid was making her feel a little lonely here.

"Is it true? Did you help my daughter?" she asked deadly serious, raising from the ground.

"That I did." she nodded her head. "She asked me to look for her mommy and that's exactly what we did for the past twenty minutes."

Mother's face brightened up in a matter of seconds as she brought her for a hug.

"Thank you, thank you so much. You're truly an angel."

"No problem, really. I'm glad that I could help." she sent them a smile and watched as they both headed off. Delilah gazed over her shoulder at Lucille and with a final wave of her hand crossed the street and dissapeared around the corner.

That was enough for her to realise that she wandered off to far away. She looked at her surrounding but didn't seem to find her uncle's truck anymore. Panick rosed in her body as she went back the same way she came from but nothing looked familiar to her.

She cursed, her stomach twisting with nerves as she tried to remember the name of the street or the plate numbers from her uncle's truck but nothing came to her mind at that moment besides curses.

She walked for another minutes until she stopped at the local bar. She went inside but the bartender wasn't anywhere in the sight so without much choice she approached the first person sitting at the table. He was a lonely, old cowboy just like Mack but skinnier and more scruffy looking.

"Uh, excuse me?" he glared at her. "Do you know-"

"Déjame paz, chinga forastera." the man hissed making her take a step back. Forastera? What is it? Was that a name of the street?

Just when she was about to speak she felt a hand grabbing her arm forcefully and pulling away. Lucy turned her head ready to fight with the man who was dragging her with him back outside the bar.

"Hey! What-"

"Calm down. I'll take you to Mack." he cut her off, his voice low, sending a shiver down her spine.

"You know him?" she gasped with relief, her heart missing a beat.

"Yeah, apparently he's too busy chatting to notice that you're gone."

She realised he let go of her, now walking by her side with hands in the pockets of his jeans. From this distance she could easily smell his stron woody scent and the smell of cigarettes. Something about him was just so alluring, with the way he carried himself with such a nonchalance. He didn't even looked at her, giving her time to look at the man who just saved her.

He was tall. And handsome. Way too handsome for all that cowboy bullshit that was going on here. And yet here he was with a pair of Wrangler's, missing the characteristic cowboy hat that she expected him to wear.

"Thank you for...this." she didn't know how tu put it in words. His eyes fixed upon hers and for a moment she forgot how to breath. "My name is Lucille."

"I know." he nodded, still not offering his name.

"How?"

"Mack wouldn't stop talking about you for the past few months. He and my father are good ol' friends so I just happen to hear about his little ray of sunshine."

Sunshine? That's what he calls me when I'm not around? she wondered, still confused.

"You shouldn't have wander off like that. Especially since you're not from here." he scolded her, quickly changing his demeanor towards her.

Her lips parted.

"I was just this helping this little girl find her mother. She looked lost and I'm not in a habit of standing and doing nothing." she emphasized, crossing her arms. "We found her, in case if you were wondering."

"That was stupid." the man scoffed.

"Helping a child-"

"No. I meant flying down here and leaving Chicago just to end up in the middle of nowhere."

How in the hell he knows those things?

"And yet here I am." she deadpanned, fidgeting with her fingers. He was making nervous. In a wrong way that brought a little adrenaline and panic to her already sensitive and overehelmed body.

And the fact that he was handsome as hell, wasn't helpful at all.

They stopped, Lucille almost collided with someone and frowned at him. She quickly realized that they reached their destination just in time because Mack was already walking out of the store with his friend. They were laughing at something until their gazes met her silhouette, a bit startled and curled up in herself.

"Ay, mija! This is my friend Chucho. Chucho this is Lucille, Donna's daughter." he introduced her, giving no time to properly adjust to the situation. She shook his hand and went to search for her savior but...he wasn't there. He just left like he wasn't there at all.

And she couldn't help but feel a slight sting to her heart.

Noticing the change in her expression Chucho quickly asked:

"Estas bien, munequita?" his face twisted in worry.

She only sent him a short smile before turning to Mack.

"Can we go now? I wanted to finish my book." he agreed, saying his goodbyes to Chucho who went to look for some Javier.

Probably another, old and scruffy looking cowboy, she thought to herself and welcomed the heartbreak once again.

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an: here's the second one!
i might edit it later but anyway let me know what do you think <3