Shattered & Mended by Julie Bailes, Becky Hot Tree Editing Page B

little way? Why must she lure out my inner demon that I’m trying so hard to conceal? Lucille must notice my aggravation and muscle twitches, because she reaches over the table and places her hand on my forearm.
    “I’m sorry if I come off a little harsh, but we’re here to get something to eat and have a conversation of our own. And if I’m not mistaken, you’re on the clock, yeah? So, he’ll have a water with lemons, and I’ll take a diet Coke.”
    Carlee, I believe that’s her name, looks to me as if I’m going to protest Lucille’s orders. I nod curtly to confirm her order and give Lucille a silent thank you. Carlee clicks her pen, shoves it into her apron, and stomps off toward the kitchen. Lucille pulls her hand back to her side and opens her menu. “So, Wyatt, tell me what’s on your mind,” she urges.
    I don’t respond to her because I see Carlee returning with our drinks, and all I can think about is how I hope she didn’t spit in either one of them. If I see anything out the norm floating in either one of our cups, I’ll flip the fuck out.
    She sets our drinks down onto the table, and I pick them up to examine them. All clear. She takes our orders, and once I see she’s out of hearing distance, I begin to tell Lucille what I need from her. “Allie finally spoke to me today,” I inform her.
    She places her elbow on the table and leans forward. “Yeah? How’d that play out?” she asks curiously.
    “Not too bad, actually.” Really, it could have gone a lot worse.
    “How did you get her to acknowledge you?”
    “I went into her room. She was on the floor, flipping through a photo album. I was curious as to what she was admiring, so I went over and sat beside her.”
    “That’s it? Which album?”
    “Pictures from her pregnancy and pictures of Lacy in the hospital,” I explain, remembering how every hair on my body stood as I saw a picture of my baby girl for the first time.
    Lucille sips her Coke and sits back, waiting for me to elaborate. “Believe it or not, she opened up to me some. I tried to contain my anger, Lucille. But dammit, it got the best of me! We got into a discussion on how she could so easily hand over a piece of us—” I pause as Lucille’s drink strangles her.
    “You think what she did was easy?” She coughs, patting her chest as she speaks.
    I shake my head, “No, not anymore. Originally, yes. I looked over all the pictures within the album, and in the last set of pictures, Lacy had grown so much … I didn’t understand how anyone, especially Allie, could keep a baby for that amount of time and then place her into the arms of a stranger.” I confess.
    “She didn’t actually keep her. In fact, she didn’t keep her at all. Lacy was the Rubens’ since the moment she was born. Allie just nursed Lacy for her benefit, and because the Rubens asked her to,” she explains. 
    The Rubens? Allie mentioned that Lucille knew the family Lacy was adopted to, but this can’t be. “Wait, the Rubens? As in Dr. Ruben? As in the Dr. Ruben who gave me my results a few weeks back? That Dr. Ruben?” I interrogate.
    Lucille pops her lips. “Yup, that’s the one. Wonderful man,” she admires.
    I don’t give a flying motherfucking monkey how ‘wonderful’ he is. He has possession of something that belongs to me. Not something, someone. “Why didn’t you say anything before?” I seethe. I grab my keys from the table and slide out of the booth.
    “Where are you going?” 
    “Where do you think I’m going? To get my daughter!’
    I storm through the doors and go to my Jeep. As I reach for the handle, Lucille’s boney fingers firmly circle my wrist. “Wyatt, you can’t go barging into the hospital and—”
    “To hell I can’t. I can and I will,” I promise.
    “He’s her father, Wyatt. You can’t demand he return her when she doesn’t even belong to you, legally.”
    “He IS NOT her father,” I hiss.
    “You’re right. You’re her father. He’s her daddy;