Tea Parties and Feather Boas (Luke Kuechly)

Chapter Twenty One: Hurt Somebody

•Well, you ain't that old but you ain't that young
You've lived a life but you ain't quite done
All eyes on you everywhere you go
It's all good till you get too close•

The closer Lydia got to her childhood home, the more relaxed she began to feel. This always happened to the woman. There was just something about coming back to your roots. This was evident as she rolled down windows in her car, resting a free hand out the window. It was a relatively warm February day, even for Savannah. In the last minutes of her journey home, Lydia couldn't be happier. The world and everything going on her life simply disappeared in those sweet, serene, sun-soaked moments.

Pulling into her parent's driveway, Lydia took a minute to re-enter reality before getting out of her car. Stepping out, she took in the vast plot of land her childhood home sat on. A large yard and several gardens spread out around the house. The yard was encircled by a shallow layer of trees. Beyond the tree line, were the barn and sprawling cattle fields. Her attention then focused on the truly southern, mason of a house she called her home. Going in there would break her enchanting, peace-filled bubble. She didn't want to pop it, but she knew she had to.

The house was unusually quiet as Lydia stepped into the house. Sure only her parents lived there anymore, but her mother always seemed to be hosting one of her high society friends and the housekeeper was normally bustling about. Yeah, her parents had a housekeeper. They were those people.

Walking through the house, voices slowly started to become audible. It sounded like Wyatt and her mother. That was strange. She hadn't seen her brother's truck out front. Their conversation sounded civil which was good. The two of them were notorious for their fights. Wyatt wasn't scared to fight his mother wherever, whenever, and in front of whoever.

Softly tapping on the slightly ajar door, Lydia opened it putting a smile on her face. "Hey y'all."

"Lydia?" Sarah-Grace said. "I didn't know you were coming home."

"Yeah...it was a little impromptu. I hope that's ok?" Lydia could feel herself start to become the little girl seeking her mother's approval again. Approval she knew she was never gonna get, especially now that she was pregnant out of wedlock for the second time.

"Of course honey." The woman smiled. "Though, I do wish you'd called ahead of time."

"Sorry," Lydia bit her lip. There she went. She had barely been home five minutes and was already apologizing to her mother. Why did she keep falling into the person that she had worked so hard to drop over the past few years?

"Hey sis," Wyatt grinned, wrapping her in a big bear hug. "Why haven't you called? I haven't heard from you in over a month."

"I know, I'm sorry. I've had a lot going on." Lydia relished being in her brother's arms. Much like her father's and Luke's, she stopped herself there. She wasn't going down that thought path, but her father's arms made her feel safe and accepted. It relaxed her, especially when she had to deal with her mother.

"Ah... your almost Super Bowl champion boyfriend and his teammate you call boss have anything to do with that?" The older of the two teased.

"Somewhat," she smiled weakly. "But it's Ex-boyfriend and ex-boss now."

"You quit your job?" Wyatt questioned, not phased by the fact that she broke up with her boyfriend. It was about time for that to happen by Wyatt's calculations.

"You had a boyfriend? Why am I the last to know?" Sarah-Grace interrupted.

"If you bothered to ask me about my life on the rare occasion we actually talked, maybe you'd know," Lydia snapped, tired of her mother playing the victim.