Whatever Happened To Lucy?
By Marian Griffin
GriffinMarian GriffinMarian
Copyright 2012 by MarianGriffin GriffinMarian
Smashwords Edition
It is with a great honor that I dedicate this book to my mom who loved to write and who never failed to inspire and believe in my dreams.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - It All Started With Lucy
Chapter 5 - Mornings Are The Best Times
Chapter 9 - Knowledge is Power
Chapter 11 - Could This Be Love?
Chapter 12 - Getting to Know Lucy
Chapter 13 - Rebecca’s Observations
Chapter 14 - Laughter and Song
Chapter 16 - Douglas’ Reflections
Chapter 17 - A Mass of Confusion
Chapter 18 - Miranda Takes Action
Chapter 19 - Politics as Usual?
Chapter 20 - The Little Warrior
Chapter 22 - The Sticky Season
Chapter 24 - Will You Marry Me?
Chapter 25 - We’re Getting Married
Chapter 26 - Spreading The News
Chapter 28 - A Surprise Present
Chapter 29 - More News to Break
Chapter 30 - Making Wedding Plans
Chapter 31 - The Morning of the Big Day
Have you ever met a girl whose spunk made you admire her despite the challenges in your lives? You admired her because of her determination and you knew that this girl could and would change your world. She was the one who you knew that you had to love, and furthermore, that if you didn’t love her, your life would be amiss for this girl’s heart set your life on a frenzied fire. This is the story of how such a girl changed the lives of everyone around her.
This story began in a town where the majority of the people lived only to get by and where children were often ignored as if they didn’t exist. No one came to check on them to see if they were fed, clothed or provided for. No one cared about the girls who were abused. For the most part, in this town neglect wasn’t due to cruelty. People worked hard just to get by. Caring about others was a luxury that most couldn’t afford. No one had an easy life in this town, however, there was one girl who knew that she was fated for more. She didn’t know how she’d find a new life, but her’s was a destiny beyond this town. This is the story of how a young woman named Lucy became the girl who stirred up the lives of a well to do politician and his family. This is also the story of how another young woman changed lives for good simply by following her heart.
Chapter 1: It All Started With Lucy~
Lucy looked well beyond her fourteen years when she ran away to the wild streets of Las Vegas, Nevada. She had already seen a life that was rougher than most three times her age ever would. She knew how to survive regardless and she wasn’t afraid to do whatever it took. She was also striking to look at with hair so dark that it looked blue in certain light and eyes that were toned in lavender. Her beauty reminded some of a young Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet, but this girl didn’t have horses, fame or money to get by with. She did, however, have looks and a street smart brand of intelligence.
She walked up and down the strip looking for work and lying that she was not a minor, but no one wanted to hire this ever so pretty obvious jail bait. She hid in the bathrooms in the Greyhound bus station so that she could sleep during the nights and stay safe. It was fine. She’d wash in the sinks in the mornings and pan handle for change during the days for food. She was able somehow to get by for a while.
However, with only youth as her fortune it didn’t take long for Nick Cascades to find her and for her to settle in as his newest “girl.”
At first, Nick was kind to the degree that he came across as “caring.” He asked her about her family and he listened when she told him of how her father had raped her. He listened with what appeared to be a heart and he never physically touched her. He gave her something more that no one had ever done before. He gave her the message that she mattered just by listening and by giving her the gift of attention. Lucy fell in love with Nick then though not romantically. She loved him like an older brother or the kind of father who had enough conscience to treat her with a degree of respect. She came to feel that she needed him and that he was the only person in this world who cared about her. In this way, Nick became vital to Lucy’s life. He became her refuge from a world that had solely previously discarded her.
Nick owned a “clean” brothel with no drugs and no STDs. In his way, he protected the women who worked for him. He cared for them. Nick made sure that the clients treated the women with respect and even in his way with honor. This may have been a business for Nick, but he ran it as “decently” as it was possible to do given this line of work. Lucy, in turn, found ways to please her clients and methods that were okay for her as well. She knew that this profession may not have been what many would consider acceptable, and yet, in her mind it was a way to change things. This was a way to create a new start for herself regardless and she both liked Nick and appreciated that he was willing to give her this “opportunity.”
Seven years later, Lucy was stunning. She had an athletic build and a perfect fashion sense. Her hair, make up and clothes were impeccable. Lucy was also well read. Most who met Lucy assumed that she was college educated. Nick knew that when his “employees” looked and acted with polish his business was successful. Lucy, however, was more poised and regal in appearance than any of his other girls. She knew how to both look and act in a certain way that attracted high paying clients who wanted girls with a certain attitude. These women held beauty, education and success. Lucy was no ordinary prostitute. She knew how to give what they wanted and many fell in love with her. She was offered expensive jewelry, trips, cars and more. She was proposed to, but something always held her back. Lucy didn’t want to be arm candy. There was something else that she felt in her heart that was meant for her. She didn’t know what it was yet, but there was something greater that she knew would be there for her one day.
Still, she was young and for this reason Lucy never tired of flattery. Perhaps also for this reason she fell hard for Douglas Wilder. He was not just any client. He had statue and importance as a politician.
At fifty-two, he was married and had three teenage children who were all younger though close to Lucy’s age. He was tall, slender, dark haired and blue eyed. He had slight crinkles around his eyes and gray at his temples which made him alluring as the “politician.”
One would assume with Lucy’s upbringing that she’d be savvy to conmen, but with Douglas Lucy lost her edge. Somehow, Douglas Wilder had gotten into Lucy’s heart. She wanted only to be with him. She fantasized that he would leave his wife and marry her. She saw herself as the sophisticated politician’s spouse as well as the lover who nurtured Douglas in a way which she imagined that no one had. In her daydream he returned her devotion. She envisioned a life with him that was beyond any that she had known previously and she wanted this with everything that she had. She yearned for this life and was determined to get it regardless of what it took because she loved him and believed that her feelings were reciprocated. At twenty-one, Lucy believed that Douglas Wilder held the key to the better life that she knew awaited her.
Beautiful and stunning Lucy walked out of the brothel one evening and to The Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Clad in leather she sat down with the Wilder party. All eyes went to Lucy. They didn’t know who she was or why she was there. They only saw a gorgeous young woman whose background they knew nothing about. However, immediately, Douglas asked her to leave, but she ignored this. His wife, Rebecca who was a good politician’s spouse lied that Lucy was one of their daughter’s friends from college. With that Lucy smiled and grabbed Douglas’ face to kiss his mouth.
Photographers flew in like vultures and Lucy ate it up. She laughed heartily and dramatically threw her body into Douglas’. She kissed his face repeatedly and told him that she loved him. She didn’t care who watched until unexpectedly like lightening Douglas lost his composure. He grabbed her body and threw her onto the ground causing her head to hit the marble floor. Blood splattered everywhere. Douglas stood above Lucy’s small suddenly childlike figure as if in shock and when the police arrived he was taken in.
“I don’t even know her,” Douglas asserted while Lucy lay in the hospital unconscious. Nick was good at protecting his girls, but even better at shielding his clients.
Despite what happened Douglas had won and accepted his place as legislator. He made all the right engagements and Rebecca appeared to have forgotten his previous “indiscretions.” However, nightly sleep eluded him. Fitful nights and restless days jumbled together. Regardless of the fact that seemingly miraculously everything had fallen into all the right places inwardly Douglas was scared. There was something that was always on his mind which haunted him and made him feel ill at ease.
Maybe for this reason Douglas awaited spring break when his oldest daughter, Miranda would come home from college. She took after him in appearance and in spirit. She was a raven haired beauty with almond shaped blue eyes and boundless ingenuity. He thought of her as the sun that lit up his world with her finesse and insightfulness. Miranda, who he called, “Andy” meant everything to Douglas. She was the child of his heart.
Miranda Wilder was in her sophomore year of college. She planned to go to law school and become an attorney like her father, but when diagnosed with Mononucleosis she came home during the spring semester to rest, and then, getting well was her only plan.
However, once at her parents’ house Miranda was stunned to see her dad because he looked closer to sixty than fifty. She asked her mother about this and was brushed off. “He’s fine, Miranda. He’s just been working hard.” Miranda instinctively knew that there was more to this than what she was being told and was worried about her father who had seemingly aged in a short time. She observed her father who seemed more restless and discontent than usual. He was a politician after all, but this behavior was not his usual buoyant to almost arrogant style. He seemed agitated about something and Miranda wanted to know what it was. She would not be brushed off.
A day later she volunteered to do the family laundry and as she sorted through her parent’s clothes she found a newspaper clipping in her father’s trousers with a picture of a beautiful dark haired young woman. The clipping said that this woman was hospitalized and in a coma. Miranda wondered, who she was and why her father held onto this clip as if important. Who was this to him? Intuitively, Miranda knew that this clipping had to be the connection to why her father acted oddly and appeared troubled. She was determined to find out more.
With the clipping in hand Miranda asked her father who the girl in the picture was and he said, “Just a member of the campaign committee....” His behavior, however, implied more than what she was told and that he was holding onto a secret. Miranda was more than curious. She and her father had always been close and now she worried about him. She thought that he seemed unhappy, distressed and looked haggard. Somehow, she also knew that he was lying about who this girl was and she wanted to know why. She wanted to know who this was and she would not give it up before learning of the answers to the questions that plagued her.
Her father continued to appear distraught and when he came home from work late Miranda grew suspicious. She was not naive and she knew about his affairs. She loved him, but hated this part of him and decided to investigate. With his savvy political skills that she inherited she knew that she could be sneaky if she needed to do so. She sensed how to pull things off without anyone knowing about what she was doing. She was her father’s daughter after all.
The next day when he didn’t come home from work as scheduled Miranda’s inquisitiveness was triggered. She jumped into her car and drove to his work place. With great care not to be seen she tracked her father’s car as he pulled into a hospital parking lot. Concerned then that he was ill and hiding this from the family Miranda continued to follow him. She trailed him undetected as he walked into a hospital room.
She watched as her father stood in front of a bed where the same young woman from the newspaper clipping lay in a coma. The beautiful young woman laid completely still with tubes running through her body as a lifeline while an astonished Miranda stared from afar. Her angelic face appeared perfectly content as if asleep. Who was she? What was the connection that this woman had with her father?
Miranda stared at the dark haired girl who could have been her sister when a nurse interrupted her. “Are you family?” Miranda said, “No...who is she?” The nurse replied, “Her name is Lucy Madison.
Douglas was consumed with work. His reputation as hard edged was well earned, but now he also had to deal with Nick Cascades who called him late into each night battering him with accusations. It was everything that Douglas could do to shield this further from the press and to pretend that what Nick was accusing him of was not true and that it did not matter.
Meanwhile, Miranda listened in on her father’s phone conversations for clues as to what was going on and who was the beautiful comatose girl in the hospital. She heard her father say, “Look, I’m footing the bills for the best hospital in the state. What more do you want?”
Miranda guessed that this ‘she’ was the beautiful comatose Lucy.
She heard her father say, “Alright. I’ll be right over!”
Miranda grabbed her car keys. She didn’t know where her father was headed, but her investigation was head on and she was determined to have her answers.
It was late into the darkened night as she followed her father drive and she gasped as she watched his car pull over in front of the only legal brothel in the state. There, Miranda sat in her own car where she watched her father argue with the brothel’s owner, Nick Cascades. She knew that this was about Lucy, but she did not know why. It had never crossed her mind that this beautiful angelic looking young woman could have any connection to the brothel or to someone like the infamous Nick Cascades and this dawning almost made her angry.
The next day, without much thought Miranda spontaneously drove back to the brothel where Nick Cascades stood as if waiting for her.
He looked at her with a certain arrogance and said, “You look just like your father.”
Miranda bit her upper lip as if to stop herself from screaming at him. She hated arrogant men who used women and she had no use for pretension. “What is your connection to my father?”
Nick gave her a slight smile and said, “Lucy.”
Suddenly an attractive older woman came out of the house with a beautifully bound book and handed it to Miranda. She didn’t bother to introduce herself and simply said, “Read this.”
Meanwhile, Lucy Madison was about to wake up out of the coma that she had been in for the past year. Would she remember what happened?
Miranda admired the hand designed artistic cover and began to read:
“Twenty-one years ago in late December I was born and named Lucy Madison. I was thought of as a burden, a pest and a gnat on the fringe of life. I was an endurance to those whom were forced to deal with my presence.
My mother, the late, Abigail Madison died when I was born. According to my father, Timothy Madison she was annoyed that she had gotten pregnant with and according to him ‘by’ me. He said that I zapped the life right out of her while I was still inside her.
Someone said that my father had never touched alcohol before my mother died though he claimed that this too was MY doing. He called me a “curse” because of my pernicious will to breath.
He ignored me in favor of Bourbon until I reached twelve. Nightly my father raped me and no one cared.
I stole Timothy’s Bourbon money and bought a bus ticket to Las Vegas. I was fourteen, but looked older when I met Nick at the bus station.
He was sweet. He took me in, gave me food and a place to sleep. He cared. He laughed at my humor and cried when I told him about my mother. He told me that I was beautiful. I fell in love with Nick that night and he didn’t even touch me.”
Miranda ran her fingers over the page and stopped at a spot that looked as if marked by a tear. She stared at that tear stain for several minutes as her mind wandered to Nick. He was a dichotomy. He was handsome in an arrogant and roughed up kind of way. He didn’t come across as a monster or maybe this was just her perception of what a “pimp” should look like--not at all like how Nick appeared. He was almost gentlemanly though always slightly over confident which somehow intrigued Miranda. She was curious about the relationship between Nick and Lucy and maybe she wanted to know more about the man for a reason that was beyond her at that moment. She shook herself from her thoughts and looked again at the tear stain. It was obvious that the beautiful Lucy had led a harder life than one which her face would ever have let on. Miranda wanted to know more.
Chapter 5: Mornings Are The Best Times~
Spring is a fickle season. On one day it is sunny, bright and gloriously warm and the next there is a grey overcast that masks the day. You can only hope that the sun will come out sometime during that day or maybe even during the week. Patience and tolerance are needed to gather your strength for this particular season.
“You have such pretty hair,” Amelia said as she brushed Lucy’s hair.
Lucy stared at the wall and asked, “Where am I?”
Amelia patted Lucy’s back gently as if a mother. Her only aspiration was to send Lucy her healing love.
“I told you this morning. You are in the hospital...Remember, Lucy?”
Lucy didn’t make eye contact. “Where am I?”
Amelia continued to brush Lucy’s silky long midnight colored hair as if in a trance when she realized that she was being watched.
Miranda stood outside the hospital room. She recognized Amelia from the Brothel as the woman who had given her Lucy’s journal. Amelia looked up at Miranda and made direct eye contact as if an old friend which slightly startled Miranda though she also acknowledged that for some reason there was an unspoken connection between them.
Miranda’s intent eyes, however, moved to Lucy and she didn’t notice that Nick Cascades had walked into the room.
He looked at Miranda and said, “You shouldn’t be here...”
However, Amelia replied, “I don’t want you here, Nick. You need to leave! I will see you at the house later, but I don’t want you here.”
As if unbothered by Amelia’s scolding, Nick motioned for Miranda to follow him.
She looked at Amelia who asked, “Have you looked at it?” Miranda nodded and she responded simply with, “Yes...”
Miranda followed Nick to the hospital corridor.
“I wanted to ask you something...” He said and then continued, “I, ugh... I was wondering if you’d go out with me?”
Miranda looked up at him truly shocked by his question. Nick looked down at his shoes with awkwardness. He suddenly appeared shy and he said, “You probably don’t date...”
Before he completed his question she interrupted with, “Pimps? Is that what you were going to say? You probably don’t date pimps? Well, you’re right, but in this case, you have something that I want.”
Nick looked up surprised, “What prey tell could that be?”
Miranda nodded and said, “You have information” and then she asked, “Do you ride?”
“Ride?” He asked.
Miranda smiled.
“Horses. Do you ride horses?”
Nick smiled and lied that he knew how to ride. “Oh sure! I can ride! Yeah! Sure...”
She told him to meet her in the morning at the brothel at dawn. She started to walk away, but turned back to him and whispered, “Mornings are the best times of the day...”
That night Miranda looked at Lucy’s journal. Flipping through it she stopped when she saw exquisite drawings of clothing with details and notes like; “the v-neckline is outlined in cobalt blue velvet.” They were so beautiful that they took Miranda’s breath away. She always admired people’s genuine talents and knew that Lucy most definitely was a gifted artist. She wondered if Lucy had ever thought seriously about fashion design. She closed the book and again admired the handmade cover. Her fingers ran over the cover’s intricate art work for several minutes before she finally put it down.
Her mind then raced to Nick. She liked his smile and slight shyness which surprised her given his line of business. She didn’t want to like this man, and yet, there was something about him that drew her to him. He was surprisingly sweet. How could that be given what he does for a living, she wondered? She sighed and told herself to be careful. He was not someone to play with and she knew that he could even be dangerous. She also knew that he had information about what happened between her father and Lucy. This, she told herself made it worth it to get to know the man who ran a business that otherwise Miranda would have been disgusted by.
The next morning Nick was awakened by the sounds of horses. He dragged himself out of bed. It was only dawn so he was surprised to hear the horses this early. When Miranda had said, “Morning” he had no idea that she meant at dawn and Nick was not accustomed to be awakened before it was even light out. He was after all a night person and not by any means a morning one. How, he asked himself did he ever come to agree to riding horses in the first place and why at this ridiculous hour? However, when he glanced out of the window he was completely awestruck by the sight of Miranda on top of her horse. Her ease and elegance made her unlike any woman who he had ever met. He could barely take his eyes off of her as if mesmerized.
She waved and impatiently called out, “Let’s go!”
Nick pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt to run down the stairs. He wished that he didn’t look as disheveled as he felt when he again looked at Miranda who sat on her horse looking absolutely glamorous. How did this happen, he wondered to himself?
Nick took a deep breath and tried not to reveal his nervousness. He had never been on top of a horse in all of his life, and yet, he lied because she made it look so damn easy to do. Anxiously, he pulled his body up and sat on top of the horse as Miranda laughed watching him.
“You got it, big boy!” She winked and pulled the reigns of her horse to run ahead. Nick tried to emulate and when his horse took off he held on so not to fall. “Oh Shit!,” He exclaimed with obvious fear.
Miranda called, “The horse will know if you’re scared! Be the man and take control!” Miranda was laughing as she said this flirtatiously. Inwardly, she asked herself, “What the hell are you thinking? He’s a pimp, remember?” She continued to laugh so not to let on that she had surprised herself with her own audacity.
Running as if completely free she laughed and finally stopped in a grassy meadow. Nick wasn’t sure where he was. He hadn’t been out of the city in a long time and the smell of the fresh grass was intoxicating.
Miranda jumped off of her horse and threw down her backpack. She spread out a blanket and then scattered picnic foods. There were sandwiches, salads and various sliced up fruits that looked casually presented though almost stylish. She sat down on the blanket and then patted a spot next to her for Nick to sit down. Despite the scent of the horses and the grassy dew he smelled Miranda’s China Rain perfume and breathed it in. This was not what he had expected, and yet, it was seductive. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. This girl, he told himself, was out of his league. Still, she made it all seem so easy and irresistible.
He sat down next to her and she started to talk as if they were old friends. She seemed completely comfortable with him and like she wanted to get to know him. First, she told him of how ambitious and driven her father was, yet, of his tenderness. She said that she wanted to be an attorney like her father. She said, “I loved watching him and wanted to do what he did...”
Without hesitation, however, Nick said, “I don’t see you as an attorney.” Miranda looked down as if a bit mournful and replied, “I’m not sure that I do any more either...”
Nick caught Miranda’s air of sadness and touched her hand gently as if to say that it somehow would be okay. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need for this gesture himself, but it was clear that she appreciated it as she looked up at him and smiled.
She asked about Amelia. “The woman who gave me the book...Who is she?”
Nick smiled, “She used to be one of the girls when I bought the place ten years ago, but she’s semiretired and is a consultant. Amelia knows the business and cares about the girls... She’s a good person.”
Miranda nodded. “She cares about Lucy!”
“Lucy is different,” Nick affirmed. “She is smart and talented. Amelia is like the mother that Lucy never had. Amelia believes in Lucy and tries to help her. She wants more for Lucy than to live in a brothel.”
Miranda nodded and asked, “That okay with you?”
He nodded back and said, “Yeah...it is...”
Miranda asked, “What about you, Nick? What’s your story?”
Nick looked away. It was obvious that he didn’t want to talk about himself when he tried to kiss her, but Miranda pulled away.
“I’m not one of your girls, Nick... I want to know you and if you can’t give me that, I’ll leave!”
He looked at her sitting there so serene and yet completely firm in her stance. She was not like anyone else that he knew and as scared as this made him he was also intrigued. He took a deep breath as if the telling of his story would be a challenge.
“I was born thirty years ago in Detroit, Michigan. Typical, really...”
“Nick! Nothing about you is typical...”
“My dad was a cop and my mom was a teacher. Believe it or not!” Nick started to laugh as if his own life was a comedy.
Miranda was stunned.
“We lived in a suburb.”
Miranda asked, “So, what happened that...”
“Made me a pimp?”
To her astonishment she liked this man. She appreciated his forthcoming honesty and somehow he no longer seemed ‘dangerous’ to her.
“What happened?”
“I wanted fast money and one night went to a club in Detroit where I met this dude... He knew how to make easy money.”
“A pimp?”
“Yeah, but not like me. He was scum. The girls got beat up, strung out on drugs and most of them never saw any money. I didn’t want to be like him, but through him I learned to bring in clients and then I moved here. I got to know Amelia...”
He was silent and continued.
“We created a classy place. The girls are educated, they dress well, they’re clean and they know how to attract a certain clientele.”
He looked at Miranda and said, “Really, it’s not what you think... It’s not that bad...”
She nodded as if she was taking this in and then asked, “Do you see your parents?
He looked away and took another deep breath before answering. Minutes went by and finally he said with some sadness, “They wouldn’t get this lifestyle...”
Miranda took a deep breath herself and softly asked, “Do you think that you’re going to do this for much longer, Nick?”
“I don’t know, Miranda. Life changes. I’m seeing that lately first with Lucy and now...”
“Me?”
Nick started to laugh and said, “Yeah, you!”
“Nick, I need to know... Please... Tell me what happened to Lucy.”
“You’re not naive, Miranda... How do you think that your father met a girl like Lucy?”
Miranda bit her lip to stop herself from crying. He was right that she wasn’t naive. She knew that her father had cheated on her mother over the years. She knew that her father wasn’t always as honest as she had liked to think that he was. She knew these things, and yet, she always forgave him. She always tried to see the best in him. They were connected she and her father in a deep way. She even thought that she was like him, but she never thought that he would really hurt anyone--not really. She couldn’t believe that he had anything to do with whatever had happened that caused Lucy to be in the hospital. At least, she didn’t want to believe it, but her intuition was screaming at her differently.
Finally, she whispered, “He did this to her, didn’t he?”
Nick took a deep breath yet again. He didn’t want to hurt this woman who he was starting to have feelings for. He wished that somehow he could protect her from the ugly truth, but he answered, “You know that he did...”
Days went by and they didn’t see each other again. She told herself that there was no reason to see Nick Cascades ever again because she had gotten what she wanted from him. She learned that her father had hurt Lucy. She knew now that it was because of her father that Lucy was in the hospital unable to remember even who she was. She brushed a tear away from her face for both Lucy and for herself. She told herself not to hate her father and to go on with her life, but it all ate at her. She wanted to change the entire circumstances of what had happened and to somehow make it better for Lucy. She felt in her heart that for some reason she owed this to the girl whose life started with only discard and now again was being shafted by Miranda’s own father. She couldn’t stand the thought of this and she knew that she had to make changes for Lucy. She had to help her regardless.
As she always did when troubled Miranda spent time with her horses. No one in her family questioned her time with the horses as they were used to her being with them. No one realized how deeply upset Miranda was.
She brushed her horse’s sienna colored tail as tears fell onto the horse’s coat. She was deep in thought when startled by a voice.
“You just learned that your father is man and not a hero.”
Miranda turned and saw Nick Cascades chewing on a piece of straw. She narrowed her eyes as if to tell him to go to hell, but he seemed oblivious to this gesture.
He smiled and said, “You seem to have no problem accepting me and I’m nobody’s hero!”
She looked at him with directness and said, “Who the hell do you think that you are?”
Nick was taken aback. He honestly thought that she was okay with who he was and that they had crossed a new boundary during their picnic. He thought that there was an understanding between them and he was now confused by her obvious indignation.
“I...” He started to speak. “I don’t think that I’m anyone... I just meant that I’m not anyone’s idea of...”
Miranda rolled her eyes with impatience. “You don’t get it, do you?”
Nick sighed and said, “Well, no, I guess I don’t... I just thought that you...”
“I what?” She sounded angry.
“I thought that you were okay with me...”
“What, Nick? That I’d find it acceptable that you’re a pimp?” Her voice gave way to disgust as she spoke.
He looked at his feet as if a bit shamed. “Yeah, I guess that is what I thought...”
She gave a sarcastic kind of laugh and said, “Yeah, and I guess you thought too that I’m just fine with what happened between my dad and Lucy! Also, you shouldn’t think that I don’t know that you have had some kind of involvement in this! I know that you did! You’re not an innocent bystander by any means!”
Miranda jumped on the horse’s back. She pulled on the reigns and raced out of the barn and away from Nick’s sight.
He watched her ride stunned by the conversation that had just taken place. He hadn’t expected her words to hit him like bullets that had been shot through his heart. He started to wonder, ‘Was I responsible for what happened to Lucy?’ He had always tried to protect his girls. In his way, he tried to care for them. He thought that he did “right” by them, but now he wasn’t so sure and for the first time in a long time Nick Cascades felt guilty for what may have been his part in what had happened to Lucy Madison. He knew too that because of this he may have lost an opportunity to love the first woman who he had felt anything for in a very long time. Her passionate stance on life set his heart on fire as he watched her ride away from him on her sienna colored horse.
Miranda rode to a pasture that was further out than what she was used to. She was confused and she was angry. She didn’t know what to think. She only knew that somehow she had to make it right for Lucy and for herself.
That evening, Miranda drove to the hospital to visit with Lucy Madison and was surprised to find Lucy sitting up at a small table drawing intensely. Surrounded by art materials the beguiling Lucy looked up and smiled at Miranda as if seeing an old friend.
Miranda was taken aback by the gorgeous young woman who was down to earth and sweet rather than a hard-edge prostitute. Lucy looked back at her drawings and said, “This is what I was born to do!”
Seeing the stunning drawings Miranda commented, “You should definitely do something with this. You’re extremely talented. I love your drawings...”
Lucy looked back at Miranda and smiled. Miranda wasn’t sure if Lucy even knew who she was and wondered if Lucy would have smiled at her if she knew that she was the daughter of the man who had put her in this hospital.
“Lucy?” Miranda began to speak, but Lucy interrupted her. “I shouldn’t have...” Lucy brushed away a tear. “It’s as if I was a different person then... I don’t know... I shouldn’t have... I’m sor...”
Miranda reached over and touched Lucy’s hand. “No, Lucy, this isn’t your fault...”
Lucy went back to her drawing as Miranda whispered, “I’m going to help you!”
Miranda honestly didn’t know what she was going to do. She only knew that she had to help Lucy. She knew that somehow she had to make all of this right. But how?
Chapter 9: Knowledge Is Power~
Days went by and Miranda was haunted by the captivating and sweet young artist in the hospital with the lavender eyes. She couldn’t stop herself from hearing Lucy’s voice as she tried to apologize to Miranda.
Miranda told herself that prostitution is often considered a “Victimless crime” and she wondered if indeed this one was truly free of guilt. She harbored her own though she knew that she had nothing to do with what had happened other than the fact that she was related to her father who was more involved than Miranda wanted to admit. She continued to read Lucy’s book every night and the words that were there of how Lucy had struggled to get away from her father still caused Miranda to feel stung. Her heart hurt as she remembered the pang of sadness that overwhelmed her while reading Lucy’s account of what seemed to Lucy as an “opportunity” when she met Nick Cascades.
Miranda also remembered how Nick himself had described how he attempted to take care of the women who worked for him. He wanted it to be unlike how he had seen street pimps take in prostitutes. Was this man really a pimp with a good heart? Was that even possible? Miranda remembered too that she read that Lucy had come to love Nick. She thought that he was a man with integrity and that she admired him.
Miranda began to think about Amelia; the woman who started it all with Nick and the woman who seemed to love Lucy as if a daughter. Miranda’s intuition told her that somehow Amelia would have answers for her. She knew that she had to talk with Amelia.
The next day, Miranda drove out to the brothel one more time. She hoped that she could avoid seeing Nick Cascades though she knew that this was more than likely not possible. She parked her car and took a deep breath as if a prayer for protection. She sat in the car for a minute before bracing herself to go up the hill to the bright red door of the brothel. She stood there for several seconds before ringing the door bell and wasn’t surprised at all when it was Nick who answered the door’s calling. He stood there in front of her looking ingenuously handsome in a rugged, yet, slightly sophisticated way and he looked stunned to see her.
“Miranda?”
She took a deep breath glancing away from him as if to gather her courage to speak. “I wondered if I could speak with Amelia or will that cost me something?” Miranda’s voice was loaded with sarcasm.
“Cost you?” Nick asked bewildered.
“This is a brothel after all. Doesn’t it cost to spend time with the women?”
Nick bit his lower lip as if a bit exasperated. “Come in, Miranda!”
He opened the door wider for her to enter the brothel. She had never been in such a place before and wasn’t sure of what she expected that it would look like. In her imagination, the lights would all be dimmed, red velvet wall paper would line the halls and pictures of women in compromising positions would cover the walls. She wanted to hate the very sight of it, but astonishingly it wasn’t like that and was even almost charming. Nick led her into what appeared to be a family style living room with a pale blue couch and two matching chairs. It was well lit and the only pictures that were on the walls were of scenes from nature. He invited her to sit down and asked if he could get her a glass of water which she accepted.
He disappeared for a few minutes to get the water and she sat down on the couch as if sitting in a friend’s house.
Nick reappeared with the water which he handed to her and then sat down on a chair across from Miranda.
“I know that you said that you wanted to speak with Amelia and that’s okay, but I thought that maybe we could talk first? Do you mind? I think that we should...”
Shyly Miranda said, “I wasn’t planning on talking with you, Nick... I just wanted...”
“Miranda... You... I know that we just met, but there’s something about you... I’ve been thinking about you since we last talked. I can’t get you out of my mind...”
There was silence in the room that permeated the air. It was sharp and not friendly, but Nick was determined to take the opportunity that had suddenly come his way to talk with this woman who had enthralled him with her fearlessness.