Lacy (The Doves of Primrose) (16 page)

“Uh-huh.” Lacy flipped the bright vegetables in the pan. “I figure all those preservatives should pickle my body and keep it in mint condition.”

“Or kill you faster.”

“Well, whatever. At least I enjoyed it. Every maltodextrin, corn syrup, vegetable oil moment of it.”

“I’ll bring a bag of my jicama chips tomorrow. You’ll see. They’re delicious.”

“What the hell is a jicama? And why are you turning it into chips?”

“It’s this huge
turnip-looking root vegetable.”

“I can’t tell you how I look forward to that.” Lacy curled her lip.

Both women were giggling when the door opened. They looked up to see a downtrodden Emmylou. She perched on the stool by the kitchen island and picked up a knife. She went to work on coring the apples.

“Em?”
Lacy removed the pan of beans from the stove. “What happened?”

“Oh, nothing,” she said on a heavy sigh. Scarlett and Lacy e
xchanged a look. “Do I have something stuck in my teeth?”

Lacy got closer and shook her head which deflated Emmylou even more.

“Is my voice too loud? Maybe it’s my clothes. Or the shape of my face.” Emmylou lost herself in thought for a moment. “Do you guys think I’m pretty? Or is this dress ugly?”

That wasn’t even a question
. Next to Scarlett, Emmylou was the most beautiful creature God ever created. Lacy had always been jealous of the both of them with their long legs, glossy hair and model smiles. Lacy thought her life was a cruel joke being friends with them. But it was Emmylou who was always self-conscious of her body and her beauty. Lacy could smack that perfectionist mother of Emmylou’s, hounding her about poise and grace her entire life. It caused her to seek approval all the time. And what hurt so much was Emmy was aware of her insecurities and asked about them in such a sweet apologetic way that made Lacy want to take her to a mirror and tell her how beautiful she was inside and out.

“Who is he and do I need to have a word with him?” Lacy picked up the knife
, making Emmylou smile.

“No. I think he’s just not interested in me.”

“Then he’s an idiot,” Scarlett advised as she began chopping the lettuce.

“I know, but it doesn’t hurt any less. I want him so much.”

“Wait a minute.” Lacy scratched her forehead. “I thought you had planned a date with him. You wanted to borrow my hacked-to-pieces shirt for it.”

A sheepish smile spread across
Emmylou’s face. “That was just wishful thinking. Turns out I’m invisible to him.”

“Who is it
, honey?” Scarlett pulled another plate from the stack and placed chicken on it while glancing at Lacy and Emmylou.

“The director.
Marcus.”

Emmylou buried her face in her hands and it was a good thing or she would have wondered why Scarlett and Lacy had just been struck dumb.

“I know,” Emmylou groaned through her hands. “I’m so stupid, but I’ve been wanting to meet him ever since they booked The Dove House for the movie. He’s so cute. I’ve always thought so.”

Lacy knew her hand on
Emmylou’s shoulder was heavy and twitching. She looked back to Scarlett. What was she supposed to do about this? She wracked her brain and came up empty.

“Lacy, dinner’s ready. How about you start serving it?”
Scarlett suggested. Lacy looked from one friend to the other. Scarlett raised her brows and nodded her head.

“That’s a good idea.” Lacy grabbed dishes and left the kitc
hen.

She lingered as long as she could
, chatting with the crew and a very nice man who she hadn’t met before but had seen on the set with Kyle. He raved about the meal, flashing a sexy smile she wasn’t immune to. She avoided Kyle’s table and then noticed he wasn’t sitting there. She looked around but didn’t see him at any of the other tables either. She didn’t have much time to wonder where he was, though; everyone was hungry and grumbling so she had to go back to the kitchen.

She
peeked her head through the door and found the room empty. Walking to the island to fill more plates, she hoped her friends weren’t arguing, or worse, that one hadn’t run off in a fit of rage with the other chasing after. Stupid men! They got in the way of everything. A knot formed in Lacy’s stomach as she realized that a life-long friendship could come to an end by this. It happened all the time. Men came between friends. Kyle had done that in a way with her own friendships. She had kept their relationship a secret from them while it was happening and hid an even worse experience longer.

Men were the destroyers of all happiness. Her own ancestors were a prime example of that. It all started with the murder of her swindling great-
great-grandfather and continued down through the generations. Every woman in this family was cursed by her choice in men. Lacy was no different. First Kyle, then Brice. Both men had shredded her heart and run away, leaving her angry, jaded and broken.

All of this brought a picture of Kyle’s smiling face to her mind. He was the only man who had ever made her feel co
mplete. When he was lying next to her this morning, she had used every bit of determination to push him away. In truth it was lovely waking up to him in her bed. Having his strong arm holding her close to his warm skin, breathing in the sweet smell of him, the way his voice in her ear jolted every nerve to life were Lacy’s idea of heaven. But the sting of his deceitfulness kicked her protective instincts into high gear.

Having him here had made her reflect on the past
. It had also sent her over the edge of sanity. Her heart wanted him, but her mind told her she was an idiot to even think about trusting him. She looked up when the back door opened and Scarlett slipped inside. Lacy waited, holding her breath. Scarlett’s eyes were still bright with tears and her face was splotchy.

“It’s okay. I told her everything and I t
hink she’s gonna be all right.” Scarlett replaced her apron and went back to dishing food out.

“Are you sure? Do you want me to go talk to Emmy?”

Scarlett nodded and sniffed. “It may be a good idea.” She cleared her throat. “The hardest part of it was convincing her that I don’t want Marcus. She thought I was just being a good friend and sacrificing my happiness for hers. She was going to back off and let me have him. I couldn’t tell her enough times that he scares me with how forward he is. I’m not that attracted to him and knowing that she is, is actually a weight off my shoulders.”

The relief in Scarlett’s voice made Lacy smile with pride. “You’re a good friend
, Scar. The best.”

Scarlett waved that off. “I was just being honest. She can have
him. In fact, can you tell her that? Just make sure she understands that I’m not interested. And if she goes for him it will make me feel better. I won’t have to handle him. She can distract him with her beauty and I can fade into the background.”

“Well, honey, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that is impossible. There is no way you can fade anywhere.” Lacy patted her hand. “Where did Emmy go?”

“She said she was going to take a walk. I’m sure that means she’s down at the pond.”

“Okay. I’ll check on her after dinner.”

“No. You should go now. I can handle things here.”

Lacy shook her head. “I’ve been shirking my responsibilities enough. Besides, I want to be here with you. Emmy needs time to process her thoughts and we will need to get ready for the dinner crowd tomorrow. I’m quite certain the entire town will be sho
wing up with hopes of seeing all the celebrities. I’ll go after her later.”

Chapter 15

Kyle had spent too much time down at the pond and missed dinner. The solitude it offered had been irresistible. He had stayed until he had donated most of his blood to the mosquitoes. When he got to the house the porch light was on and the door open. He thought he might be able to raid the kitchen for left
overs, but when he entered the dining room he was greeted by Lacy cleaning tables and placing dishes in the buffet.

“You hungry?
I know you didn’t have any lunch.”

Kyle
tilted his head toward Lacy, noticing her tired smile. A kitchen towel was tossed over her shoulder and she looked one step away from collapsing with exhaustion.

“I’m okay,” he answered
, taking a step closer. “I had a sandwich in the trailer. Well, I had something that might have been a sandwich. How about you? Did you eat anything?”

“I don’t remember.” She slumped against a chair with a sigh.

“Come with me.” He pulled the towel from her shoulder and threw it on the table, put his arm around her and walked her to the kitchen. After scooting the stool out and planting her on it he went to the refrigerator.

“I’m not that hungry.”

“Well, I am, and I want some company. I guess you’ll have to do.”

Lacy rested her elbows on the counter, chuckling. He felt her eyes on him as he got all the containers out. He surveyed the spread and rubbed his hands together. “Where do you keep your silverware?”

Lacy braced her hands and started to stand.

“No. You sit. I can make my own food. You just tell me where things are.”

She sighed gratefully. “But this is my house and I’m supposed to be waiting on you.”

He waved her off and opened a drawer on instinct
, finding some spoons and forks. Back at the counter he opened containers, taking stock of the choices. “I’m used to it. Besides, I think you’ve been working too hard and serving enough people. I can manage.” He opened cupboard doors in his search. “Aha. The fine china.” He grabbed two paper plates from the stack and began piling food onto each one. Then he turned his attention back to Lacy.

“So how are you holding up? We’ve asked a lot of you.”

Lacy shrugged and Kyle wanted to wrap her up and soothe the stress lines from her face with his kisses.

“I’m fine. But I will admit there has been a lot going on that I hadn’t expected to be dealing with.”

Kyle placed the plate of cold chicken and salad in front of her. “Like what?” He dug into his own food, then looked to her when she didn’t answer and found it written all over her face. “Oh.” He took a bite so he wouldn’t say more.

“You’re a problem for me
, Kyle.” Lacy motioned to him with the chicken leg in her hand. “And I’ve tried avoiding you, yelling at you, pushing you away - none of it has worked.” She put the meat in her mouth and chewed.

“That sounds like quite the predicament.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Yeah, doesn’t it?”

“Lacy,”
Kyle said, tossing his fork down. “I think I’ve made my position clear. I want us to start over. No strings, no past. Just Kyle and Lacy getting to know each other.” He ran a hand through his hair. “And you’ve made your point clear. You don’t want the same thing.” He picked his fork up and tapped it on the counter top. “Can you tell me why?” He heard a sharp intake of breath. “Maybe if you explained it to me--you know how hard-headed I am.”

Lacy was looking at a point on the wall
. He wanted her to look at him but she wouldn’t turn her head. “I think you know the answer, Kyle.”

Every time she spoke
his name was ecstasy and torture. “But that’s just it, Lacy, I don’t. What did I do? I want to fix it or take it back or whatever I need to do to make it right.”

She remained stubbornly silent.

“Is it Brice? Are you not over him? I’ll wait for you. Just please tell me how to fix it.”

Darkness
swept over her face when he mentioned her ex-husband, bringing her to her feet. “This has nothing to do with Brice and everything to do with you and what you let happen to me.”

The air in his lungs evaporated with her hurt glare and fisted hand. Her chin quivered for a spilt second before she looked away.

“God, Lacy. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Please, I’m sorry.” He glanced around the kitchen, grasping for memories, for words. What had happened to elicit this kind of reaction, this kind of hatred?

He
lifted his hand in silent plea. “Tell me, please. Because Lacy, I’m in the dark here. Was it that last day by the pond?”

She nodded once and his heart was throbbing with the pain this was causing her.

“What happened? I remember that one minute we were talking by the water and the next minute you disappeared. I came back with the blanket and you were just gone.”

“Of course I was gone!” Her brown eyes were
red-rimmed and shimmering with unshed tears. “Did you expect me to hang around after that? Make it a group thing?”

“After what?
A group thing?” His brain was sprinting to catch up and failing. “I had a flat tire on the truck. It had been slashed by something. I changed it as fast as I could, grabbed the blanket and came back. And you weren’t there. I thought you were done with me after what you had said and you went home. So I left.”

Lacy had frozen
at the mention of his truck tire. Her eyes became distant and he could feel her detach herself.

“What did you say?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“I said my truck had a flat tire. I just figured I--”

“Shhh.”
She held up her hand. “You said slashed, your tire had been slashed.” She paced around the room, pulling her bottom lip with her thumb and forefinger.

“Yes, I just
--”

“Quiet.” She waved her hand at him. Kyle could see her mind racing
as she tried to put something together.

“Lacy
, I really think--”

“Lord Almighty
, you’re worse than a woman, now shush.” In a matter of seconds Lacy’s face paled and she stopped in her tracks.

“What is it? What happened?”

She turned and looked right through him. “Why don’t you ask your buddies Eric and Sam.”

The floor may as well have disappeared from beneath his feet
, as horrorstruck as he was. She spun on her heel and walked out the door before he could stop her. Then again, he wasn’t sure he should. His suspicions were right.
Damn it!
But he still didn’t know what they had done.

**********

Lacy’s brain was on fire. She couldn’t be in that kitchen for one more second without exploding. She had been wrong! All this time she thought Kyle had told his friends where to find them that day and allowed them to attack her. It had all worked to smoothly for that not to be the case. But those bastards had planned it themselves. Kyle’s tire had been slashed. When he said that she knew what happened. The look on his face was all the truth she needed. He didn’t know anything, even the great actor couldn’t fake that amount of pain and shock. And she knew Kyle was feeling both of those things.

In the humid barn she closed the door to her makeshift room and paced the floor in alternate poses of panic and despair. She had made that one event into a monster for eight years. She had used it as an excuse to punish herself and Kyle. Really the deva
station spread further than that. How childish she was to use that as an excuse to give up on life. While her friends had made strides to improve and grow she had stunted herself with blame and abdication.

She had used Brice as an excuse as well. He had held her back and she had tolerated it. No
, she had welcomed it. She spent most of their marriage deeply angry with her circumstances, never taking responsibility for making them herself. His leaving had been more of a blow to her pride than to her heart and her mother insisting she take over at The Dove House was more of a gift than a place to lick her wounds.

The project of maintaining and restoring her home and trying to turn it back into a thriving business forced Lacy to grow up. She hadn’t accepted it until now. She had changed and she liked
it.

Lacy’s racing mind was giving her a headache. Exhaustion soak
ed into her very core and she plopped down on her small mattress.

What was she going to do now
?
She wasn’t sure what was next, her mind wouldn’t focus on just one thing. This state of affairs had come swift and hard; she hadn’t been prepared to have an epiphany when she brought the movie production to the B&B. It had been all about the dollars but obviously didn’t include any “sense.” Typical short-sighted Lacy. Rush, rush, rush. She lay down and hugged her pillow to her chest.

Dawn came too soon for her after a restless night. Growth was so painful and humbling. She would normally attend church se
rvices before the dinner guests arrived, but she had already done all the talking to God she could handle at the moment. She gathered some fresh clothes and made the trip across the yard to the house in hopes of a nice shower and hopefully an enlightened perspective.

This was her favorite time of day, the yellow sunrise filtering through her windows on the verge of bringing the house to life. She slipped into the downstairs bathroom
, relishing the quiet. Her thoughts had been buzzing for eight hours, keeping her busy.

The steam of the hot water soothed her aches and nerves. She had to make it through today entertaining the entire town. Mr. Chandler didn’t understand what he had agreed to when he told
Lacy she could leave the dining room open on Sundays after she had stressed the importance of it. Hers was the only place in town to eat after church. Now that she thought about it she knew it wasn’t a good idea. But it was too late to change her mind. It wasn’t like she could hang a Closed sign on the door and the townspeople would unquestionably respect it. Small-town folk didn’t operate like that; they’d simply come through the other door, wondering if there was something wrong with Lacy and asking if they could help. The phone would start ringing with concerned friends and meddling busybodies trying to get the scoop.

Nope, there was no way
she could easily spring this on the people of Primrose without fallout. So Lacy put on her brave face and left the wonderful solitude of the bathroom to go to the kitchen, again. Maybe she should move her cot in there for as much time as she was spending in it. With a sigh, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work. A few minutes later the back door opened.

“Do you wanna just move in here, Scar?”

A sweet
, tired smile made an appearance. “I should, but I’ll be honest with you, Lacy, I couldn’t handle all these people if I didn’t have my nights to myself.” She hung her purse up and tied her apron on.

“Tell me about it.” Lacy spread flour on the
counter, slapped down the ball of dough and began rolling it out. “I’m sure we can plan on Reverend and Mrs. Sullivan today since our pew will be empty.”

“I’ll make apple pie
. That should pacify him.”

The women worked in friendly silence most of the morn
ing with bursts of giggling and conversation. Breakfast came and went without incident; most of the guests skipped it in favor of sleeping longer. Theirs was a demanding schedule. Lacy was sure Lauren would burst in demanding her box of paper flakes or, as it stated on the box, organic multi-grain cereal. Marcus came down and ate but Lacy suspected that was so he could talk with Scarlett who wouldn’t come out of the kitchen.

“Lacy, I can’t go out there,
” she had whispered, peeking out the corner of the window. “I don’t know what to say to him and he’ll probably just try to kiss me again.” Scarlett hurried over to the stove to continue cooking. “Besides, Emmy wants him and I’m sure once she makes that known he’ll completely forget about me.”

“I’m not so sure
, honey. I think you’re going to have to tell him.” The set of Scarlett’s shoulders informed Lacy there was to be no more discussion about it.

Lacy watched for Kyle all morning
, uneasy about their meeting after walking out on him last night but he either slept in or was avoiding her. Her vote was on the latter. When eleven o’clock rolled around, Lacy and Scarlett braced themselves for the soon-to-arrive crowd. Church was out and the car doors would be slamming any moment now.

Lacy went to the front of the house to greet and seat people. Glancing out the window she grimaced. Seeing a convoy trucking up her drive proved her prediction right. Lord, she hoped they had prepared enough food. Country folk took their food portions and quality
personally and having plenty of both was imperative to keeping amity and providing diversion. Lacy was going to need all of those things to get through this day.

With the steady stream of gawkers posing as hungry custo
mers, Lacy had to wrangle up some help to put up tables and chairs on the lawn. With Emmylou’s arrival, each table had a beautiful wildflower centerpiece and tablecloth made from quilts, sheets and miscellaneous fabric found around the house. Emmylou was a creative genius. It took her all of fifteen minutes to whip them up but she made it look like hours of planning. Lacy thanked God daily for her two best friends. Without them she wouldn’t accomplish anything.