Free The Calendar of New Beginnings by Ava Miles Page A

as simple as that.
    And if he knew Lucy, her mother was going to drive her bat-shit crazy if she didn’t have frequent breaks from the madness. He picked up the phone and dialed the O’Brien residence.
    “Hello,” Ellen answered.
    “Hi, Ellen,” he said in as even a tone as he could muster. “I wasn’t sure if Lucy had a cell phone she was using, so I figured I’d try your home phone. Could you put her on for me?”
    Brief. Factual. Friendly.
    He needed to keep Ellen and his mother from spinning fairy tales about them finding happily ever after together after all this time.
    “Well, well, well,” Ellen drawled. “Andy Hale. It’s been a while since you called this house asking for Lucy.”
    The first burn of embarrassment heated his cheeks. God, when Ellen said it that way, he felt like he was back in high school. “Indeed it has. Is she around?”
    “Sure. I’m trying to talk her into going to the salon to get her nails done.”
    He knew how well that was likely to go over. Lucy had never been much for girly things, even when it came to summer pool parties or prom.
    “Must be a quiet day at the hospital,” Ellen continued, her usual chatty self.
    “It’s been pretty normal,” he responded, hoping he wouldn’t have to keep up the small talk much longer. “Are you getting Lucy? I only have a short break.”
    “Sure. Lucy! Andy’s on the phone for you.”
    That woman could puncture an ear drum.
    Lucy answered a couple of moments later. “Hello?”
    “Hey,” Andy replied, sitting back in his chair. “You’ve survived the morning, I see. No mention of you on the police scanner yet.”
    “It was touch and go there for a while,” she said in a quieter voice. “Give me a moment to get back to my room.”
    Yeah, Ellen would listen to every word if she could.
    “All clear,” Lucy said in a brighter voice. “How’s it going, Andy Cakes?”
    He ignored the endearment. “Fine so far. I realized I didn’t have a way to reach you beyond Skype. Have you bought a cell yet?”
    “Yeah, in Denver. You ready for it?”
    “Shoot.”
    She dictated the number, and he plugged it into his cell and texted her immediately. A reply text came a second later with a smiley face and a You know who. He was smiling as he sent a matching emoticon back to her.  
    “My mother is trying to convince me to get a manicure and a pedicure,” she said in an aggrieved tone. “She refuses to recall how much I hate those kinds of things. I need to get my own place fast.”
    “When are you looking at places?”
    “I have a few lined up for this afternoon. I’m telling myself not to settle for something I don’t like just to get out of here. I love my mother, but…”
    “I know,” he answered because she’d been saying the same thing all her life. “Are you feeling all right? I mean, is there anything you need?”
    Silence permeated the line for a moment. “I told you. I’m fine. You went home and worried, didn’t you? Please tell me you haven’t called my eye doctor in Denver.”
    It was a low point to realize he was so predictable.   He didn’t tell her about the research he’d done online. “I managed to talk myself down from doing any such thing, but Lucy, I am worried.” More so after seeing she was right. There was nothing they could do for traumatic optic neuropathy.
    “I won’t tell you what to feel, Andy Cakes. I gave up feeling responsible for other people’s reactions a long time ago. But there is something I was wrangled into telling you. It’s a long story. Do you have any time to get together in the next few days?”
    He sat up straighter in his chair. “You have something to tell me? Why do I sense the long shadow of our mothers here?”
    She laughed. “Because you’re smart. It’s nothing to worry about. It’s just…weird and a little harebrained…and kinda sweet.”
    “They picked out a date for us to get married,” he said easily, laughing too.
    “That would be the day,” she