I don't know what made me blurt out that husband bit but Lucy is now looking at me like I've grown another head. I just can't believe her sister is giving her so much shit about me dating her.
"Husband? My, you're moving at warp speed!" Lauren says with a giggle. She tips her glass up and finishes the remainder of her wine.
"Yes, I had warned Lucy about moving too fast with Blake," her mother warns and I see a shade of red creep up Lucy's neck. I know for a fact her mother was pressuring the relationship because she wanted Lucy in New York as quickly as Blake would take her.
"Three years is a decent amount of time to get to know someone," I add, wondering why I am feeding into this notion that I have a ring in my pocket, ready to produce it at any time.
"Have you met his parent's Lucy?" Lauren asks and Lucy visibly shifts her seat. She cocks her head and stares at Lauren as she says, "Why am I suddenly so interesting? Let's talk about you Lo, how is being the greatest neurosurgeon on the upper east side?"
"Your sister actually just won a prestigious award," Mrs. Halloway says. "She wrote a paper"
"La de da," Lucy sings as she stares at her sister.
"Yes, I won't bore you with the details of cerebrovascular surgery because I know you wouldn't understand it, but yeah- I did a thing." Lauren grins and then slides the fancy wine toward her.
"We're so proud. It's why she came out, we wanted to fly to New York to celebrate but your father's work schedule has been insane," her mom says, her grin reaching her eyes. I realize the only grin that's been aimed toward Lucy was more of a grimace.
"And here you get the best Italian food Tucson has to offer," I add in and Lucy gives my knee a squeeze. Mrs. Halloway spins her thin gold watch to check the time and then says, "Speaking of food, I had some appetizers brought in. If Lucy is going to drink that entire bottle, I should open up the veggie tray." Lauren smirks and then Lucy turns to me, "Want a tour?" She forces a smile and I am sure she doesn't want to sit out here alone with her sister while her mom busies herself in the kitchen.
"Does your mom need help?" I offer but Lucy quickly shakes her head no.
"Well just do it wrong. Come on, I'll show you my dad's antique golf club collection," she offers and I want to laugh at the absurdity of that statement. She then whispers, "It's next to his scotch collection." and I nod in understanding.
"Gonna go sneak off to your old room and make out?" Lauren asks we stand from the table.
"Your old room is here? Like, how you left it?" I ask Lucy eagerly and she glares at Lauren.
"Yes, my parents haven't turned that room into a workout room quite yet."
"You should go show him what you used to look like. Let him know you once had a sense of purpose and direction." Her eyes narrow at Lucy and Lucy shockingly just flips off her sister before tugging the door open.
"Lucy, I think you just need to rip the band-aid off and tell them you do have a sense of purpose and direction. I really can't sit by too much longer and not say anything as Lauren eats you alive," I whisper as we stride down a narrow hallway toward the back of the house.
"I'm not going to have this conversation twice, so I am waiting until my dad gets here to lay out my plan," she whispers back, and then she pushes a door open to reveal a large bedroom behind it. My eyes glide around the space and the color palette matches the rest of the space. Wood headboard, beige covers and pillows, plush cream carpet and a white beaded chandelier sits in the center of the ceiling.
"Your old apartment had way more color," I say in shock. The apartment she lived in before she moved was very eclectic. Hot pink curtains, yellow vintage-looking furniture, colorful woven rugs.
"Much like my personality, I tend to stuff vibrance inside myself while I am around my parents." She takes another step inside the room and points to a bookshelf next to the closet. It's turned so it faces inside the room, so you have to walk all the way in to even know it's there.
"My parent's pride and joy," she mutters as she glides a dramatic hand over the shelving. Trophies and medals clutter the bookcase and tons of photos of Lucy posed in her dance attire over the years have my eyes glued. She isn't smiling in any of the photos. She's supposed to look serious but to me, she just looks pissed off.
"Not gonna lie, Goose. You're pretty fucking hot in tights," I tell her with my eyes glued to a photo of her in a black leotard and tutu. She looks regal, with her eyes cast down and her toe pointing to the corner of the photo.
"That's when I used to be someone," she says sarcastically and I tear my gaze away to glare at her.
"Lucy, do not let your dance career define you. You are so much more than ballet slippers," I tell her sternly and then I see something catch my eye behind her. Her closet doors are open and I see about a dozen ballet shoes draped off a hanger. I point and say, "Speaking of slippers." I weave around her and pull the pink ribbons into my hands, pulling the slippers up to look at them more closely. They are chewed up at the point and covered in gray and black scuffs.
"You did a number on these," I tell her and she stares at the shoes.
"Those are just the ones from Julliard. My mother didn't think the ones from teaching or community theater were worth keeping." I catch the shadow that crosses her face, but I am unable to say anything as we hear her mother behind us.
"She was the most beautiful dancer," her mom says as she crosses the space. I am surprised I didn't hear her heels come up the hallway. "Lauren said you were showing off your old dance medals. Thought I'd see if you wanted to see some footage of Lucy dancing?"
"Mom, Jack does not want to watch old dance videos," Lucy says, trying to save me or herself I am not sure.
"Why not? I bet he's never seen you dance," she says and then flicks her determined gaze toward me. "Have you?" I shake my head but don't want to give a verbal answer. If it's going to make Lucy uncomfortable, I don't want to watch, but if she doesn't care, then I definitely want to go watch Lucy prance around in a leotard.
"Come, we have time to kill until the men get back," she says and then sweeps us out of the room. Lucy gets my attention before we round the corner and says, "She just doesn't want us back here alone." She gives me an over-dramatic eye roll and I am stunned that her mother would think I would do anything inappropriate while she whips up a veggie tray fifty feet away from us.
As we are striding back down the hall, Mrs. Halloway glances over her shoulder and says, "I'm sure Lucy has mentioned that I used to play the violin. Lauren is still a magnificent piano player and Lucy here, obviously chose to dance to music than play it. Do you have any sort of musical talents?"
"I played the trumpet in elementary school, but then I kinda fell into sports and fell out of band practice."
Lauren is waiting for us at the kitchen island and then Mrs. Halloway waves to her, "We're going to the movie room. I wanted to show Josh some of Lucy's Julliard footage."
"I already had to relieve it when Blake was here, do I really need to go watch Lucy's dance routines from years ago, again?" Lauren whines but her mom just continues walking as she says, "What sports did you play dear?" I realize she is continuing our conversation and Lauren begrudgingly follows.
"I played a bunch of different sports but stuck with Lacrosse the longest."
"He played for ASU. It was before I went there, but I've seen the shirts," Lucy adds before winking at me.
"You seemed like you'd be a runner," Lauren says as she runs her eyes over me and I choose not to respond. We pile into a dark room at the opposite end of the hall where a massive couch takes up the back wall and a projector screen takes up the other wall. Each seat has its own recliner and drink holder and I get why she called it a movie room. Mrs. Halloway slides the dimmer up and her dark skirt and blouse have her still looking shadowy in the corner.
"I won't embarrass Lucy too much, but I have her spring performance from her last year of Julliard already in the DVD player," she says and Lucy drops her head back.
"One dance and then we should go taste those veggies you have ready," Lucy says and Lauren drops onto the couch, but stays perched on the end of it. Lucy tugs on my hand and moves to the other section that is more of a love seat without the armrest splitting the seats apart.
"I enjoy showing off what all those lessons paid for," Mrs. Halloway says as she spots Lucy's scowl. "I don't know why you hate watching these, you only spent years training to perform at this spring recital."
"Years and years of weekend consuming dance recitals all to tap out one year before graduating," Lauren says disdainfully. I'm thinking her weekends revolved around these recitals too and she'd rather stab her eyes out than watch her sister dance again.
"I'm sorry watching my achievements isn't nearly as interesting as listening to yours," Lucy snaps before turning toward the screen. Mrs. Halloway gets the DVD playing and then skips ahead until I see a familiar brunette frozen in the middle of the screen. Lucy is in an elaborate white leotard with a classic stiff white tutu aimed toward the stage. Her dark hair is in a neat bun at the back of her head and her face is painted in white swirls. The airy music starts and Lucy comes to life. She pulls herself up onto one toe and does fancy spins with her hands above her head. I watch as she leaps her long endless legs across the stage and spins around, utilizing the entire space. I am not going to lie, I am entranced. She's graceful and confident and commands your attention. Her face conveys her passion and she doesn't look pissed off like she does in the photos, here she looks determined. The music gets louder and angrier and her spins get longer. It's weird to see this fiery side of Lucy. I've never seen her so focused- not at work, at school, or while making her videos. A man then joins her on stage and I get a weird pang of jealousy as I watch him hold her against him. They do a lift and he drops her so she'd held in his arms. They spin around together and I watch as she gently slides a hand down his face. The way she looks at him makes me want to ask her if there was a thing there. She mentioned the mouse king, but there is definitely chemistry between Lucy and this male dancer. Finally, he lets Lucy down and she spins away from him. They end at opposite ends of the stage and when the music stops, I start clapping. Lucy looks at me and starts laughing.
"You don't need to clap for me, babe. This was eight years ago," she says and I continue to clap anyway.
"Wasn't she spectacular?" Mrs. Halloway says and there is a genuine sentiment to her words. I can tell she really is proud of Lucy there.
"Can you still do any of those moves?" I ask and Lucy just shyly shrugs.
"No idea. I told you, I hung up my slippers years ago."
"Shame right? She could be still be dancing for the New York Ballet if she stuck with it," Mrs. Halloway says and I watch Lucy's shoulders drop.
"Yeah, but then she wouldn't be a YouTube star dating a lake rat. That would be the real shame," I joke to Lucy and Lucy gives me a wide grin. "New York's loss is my gain."
"A what star?" Her mom asks and then Lucy drops her head down. She pulls it back up and then says, "I'm gonna need wine for this."