Page 25 of That Summer
“My shrink gave me homework. Told me to write down fifty things that make me happy. I’ve come up with six. SIX. All weekend long I’ve thought about it, and that’s the best I could do. Six. Pathetic, isn’t it?”
She stood up and walked over to the kitchen table. After a quick rifle through the stack of papers, she found the one she was searching for. She thrust it into Lucas’ hand.
“Number one. Nate. Well, duh.” An awkward smile teased at his lips. “Aw, thanks. I’m number two.”
“Of course you are. You make me smile when I really don’t want to.”
“Three, Kaitlyn. Naturally.” He winked. “Four, baking. Why yes, you’re very good at that. Five, music. Anything in particular?” The paper flipped down.
“Do you think I should be more specific?”
“No, I personally was curious.”
“I love Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift–”
Lucas covered his mouth and faked a gag.
“Say or think what you want, her songs are catchy. And sometimes you just need to dance off nervous energy. It helps.”
With his eyebrow cocked, he carried on. “And finally, oh…” His cheeks filled with colour, and he jumped off the couch as if he’d sat on a pin. The paper crumpled in his hands and he tossed it to the floor.
His reaction made her smile. Lucas always had the best reactions.
“Yeah, I put it on there. Sex makes me happy. Although I’m not getting any lately.”
“Whoa, too much info for me,” he said.
“But you’re my best friend. I’m supposed to share this kind of thing with you.”
“Not me,” he said, tugging on his shirt collar. “Kaitlyn for sure.”
“Yeah, well, the point is, I’m supposed to have fifty things on there by tomorrow. What a complete failure I am.”
He grabbed the ball of paper, unfolding it as he walked to the table. With a pen in hand, he flipped the paper over and smoothed it out, scratching out the numbers one through ten. “Before your accident, would you say you were much happier?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Let’s start there. Tell me ten things that used to make you happy.”
Too easy. “Carmen. Her clothes. She always had the best taste in clothing. I loved sneaking something out of her closet.” As she remembered, her body relaxed. “Momma. The smell of her baking when I’d come home from school. The flowers she planted in the front garden, their smell always blasted you in the face when you’d walk outside.”
“What flowers are those?”
“Hyacinth and something orange.”
He scribbled those down. “Keep going.”
She pulled out a chair and sat across from him. “Getting good grades in school. I used to be an honours student.”
But not anymore.
For a quick breath, humiliation filled her entire being. She shook it off and focused back on the task. “Volleyball. That used to make me happy.”
The sounds of a gymnasium full of cheering sounds replayed in her mind. God, her team had a lot of fun.
“This one sweater I used to have. It was the most beautiful shade of blue and the softest material. Just putting it on fresh from the dryer was awesome.”
“Okay, a blue sweater.” The pen scratched across the paper.