RECLAIM MY HEART(19)

CHAPTER SIX
Lucas crossed the lawn with two chilled beers in hand, heading for the picnic asptable where Tyne sat with her back to him. The small sliver of crescent moon hung too high in the night sky to offer much light, forcing him to make his way slowly across the cool grass.
He missed the reserved, almost bashful girl he remembered Tyne to be back when they’d been a couple. He’d had to work hard—coaxing and encouraging her—to get her to voice an opinion about whatever subject came up between them. Her self-consciousness had attracted him, made him want to draw her out. The memory made him smile in the darkness and pine for the innocents they’d been back then.
However, the confident, out-spoken woman she’d become thoroughly intrigued him. The interest she stirred in him is what had driven him to leave the documentary he’d been watching and seek her out, even though he knew full well that their encounter would probably end up in an argument. She’d developed self-assurance in the years since they had parted, but she’d also grown prickly as hell.
He gave a polite cough to let her know he was approaching, and when she turned, he offered a grin. “Hey, there. You up for a cold one?”
“Thanks.” She took the bottle from him and turned back to face the table when he straddled the bench. “I thought it would cool off a little when the sun went down.”
“Zach complained about the heat, so I closed the windows and turned on the air. I hope you don’t mind.”
She shook her head. “Not at all. We’ll all sleep better if it’s cooler inside.” She lifted her gaze upward. “Would you get a load of that sky?”
Stars glittered and winked like gems against the inky backdrop. “As Zach would say…?sah-weet.”
Tyne laughed at his spot-on imitation.
“You okay?” he asked. “You’ve been out here a long time by yourself.”
She lifted the bottle to her lips and then cradled it between laced fingers. “Believe it or not I’ve been watching the fireflies. When I was a girl, I used to go outside on hot summer nights and catch as many as I could in a jar. I would sit on the grass and watch them for hours.”
“I caught them too. In an old mason jar. I used to set them on my bedside table and they’d glow all night long.” He grinned. “Uncle Jasper made me let them go in the morning.”
Her mouth cocked to one side. “I wasn’t allowed to bring them inside.”
Remembering her parents, he chuckled. “No doubt.” He took a couple swallows of the cold beer, then said, “So what has you reminiscing about bugs?” She continued to stare at the glowing insects hovering and darting in the yard, and he couldn’t figure out if she hadn’t heard him or if she simply intended to ignore the question. Feeling the need to say something, he murmured, “Every kid catches fireflies.”
Tyne shook her head. “Nope,” she said quietly. “Not every kid.” She avoided his gaze. “Listen to those peepers out there. A couple of times tonight that sound became deafening. I’ve heard them every night since we arrived. I’d forgotten what it was like to fall asleep to the sound of tree frogs.” Then she glanced at him. “Do you know there are no tree frogs in the city? Oh, maybe along Kelly Drive out near the reservoir, or in Washington Square. But I don’t live near any of the parks or wooded areas. And I can’t ever remember seeing a firefly in the postage-stamp piece of grass I call a yard.”
She went quiet.
“What’s all this about, Tyne?”
Still, she didn’t look at him. “Just thinking.”
He didn’t respond, figuring she’d elaborate in her own good time. Or not. Pressing her would only lead to trouble.
She picked up the bottle took a long drink, and then set it back down on the table. “I’ve been trying to figure out where I we Cut ay snt wrong. Was it that I raised Zach in the City? Could I have avoided all this—spray paint, police stations, court appearances, that god-awful dressing down by the judge—if I had brought him back home and raised him here?”
“Tyne, people live and raise their kids where they can find work. You’ve made a success of yourself living in Philly.”
She muttered, “To my son’s detriment.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
She seemed stone deaf to his advice.
“Did he get into this trouble because I fed him too much sugar as a child? Or because I wasn’t watching close enough when he was three and he stuck a bobby pin in that electric outlet? Or because I tried to do it all on my own? Because I left him with sitters? Because I put him in day-care too early?”
Her large and beseeching eyes tore at his heart.
“Tyne, Zach is a good kid. You’ve done a good job. Okay, so he got into a little trouble. In the grand scheme of things, spray painting graffiti isn’t all that serious. We’ll get through this.”
Her breath left her in a rush and she turned to stare off at the horizon.
“You did the best you could. No one can ask more of you than that. I’m confident that you fed him right, took him to the doctor when he was sick, made sure he was inoculated against all manner of disease, made him do his homework. And I’m sure you only left him with people you trusted.” He couldn’t stop his grin. “Did he really stick a bobby pin in an outlet?”
She nodded miserably.
He wanted to laugh, but didn’t. “Lots of teens go through a rebellious period. I know I did. This trouble Zach’s in has nothing to do with where you chose to live, or that you’re a single mom, or that he might have eaten one too many donuts.”