Lacy (The Doves of Primrose) (8 page)

He looked around the room for answers until it came to him. There was absolutely no way he could
, he needed her too much. And he was one hell of an actor. This was going to be the best role he ever played and by the time he was done she would be his.

Kyle could breathe easier now that he felt in control except he didn’t seem to be able to shut his brain off. There were too many things he didn’t understand. Like why did Lacy hate him so much? She was divorced
, or nearly. It wasn’t like he was trying to break up her marriage. It already was, thank God for that. Because he would’ve gladly done it if he had to. Brice was an idiot and no good for Lacy. She needed someone to take care of her, not the other way around, and he was sure that the man wasn’t faithful to her. Not with his reputation.

Brice was a couple years older than he and Lacy, but Kyle knew all about him and his
law--breaking, heart--breaking ways. He was never going to amount to anything and Lacy was better off without him. He wondered if she knew that. She was obviously not over him yet. That was an obstacle Kyle wasn’t sure he could get past. He had been with other women nursing broken hearts and none of them had been worth the trouble.

But he knew Lacy was and that he was willing to charge through every barrier she put up. With the way things were going it was going to be one hell of a battle. She would fight him at every turn. What fun this was going to be.

Chapter 7

Wet hair and bare skin were not a good mix with the cool September air but Lacy trudged across the lawn and into the barn. Her adrenaline kept her warm enough to get dressed and into bed before she realized that she was most likely going to freeze to death out here in the unheated barn. She hadn’t been smart enough to grab more blankets or heavier clothes. Damn that Kyle McClintock for getting in her way again.

She finally resigned herself to using Betty’s saddle blanket for added warmth
. It stunk like sweaty horse. Good thing she liked that particular smell. She forced any thought of the day out of her head. She wouldn’t give Kyle the power of a sleepless night. Tomorrow would be better. She would get a strong hold of herself and regain control. She had been a complete idiot today. His presence at The Dove House wasn’t going to rattle her again.

Morning came far too early for her taste. She could kill her mother for getting that rooster. “It adds to the ambience,” she had said. “Just think how much the visitors will like it.”

Lacy rolled her eyes and pulled the blankets up over her shoulder a second before Jeremiah let out another crow at the barely risen sun. The damn thing was ten times louder when they were occupying the same building. Another crow made Lacy fling the blankets off with a craving for fried chicken for breakfast.

Her bare feet hit
the cold dirt floor and she dropped her head, rubbing her bleary eyes. She longed for her comfy bed and wood floors. She kneaded the sore muscles in her back, cursing the cot as she stretched. With a sigh she resigned herself to the next weeks of sleeping in here. It was a small price to pay for what she was getting out of it, and besides, the solitude was kind of nice.

Once she got some caffeine in her system the world would look better. She threw on some clothes and raked a brush through
her hair securing the mess into a pony tail. The mirror above the antique dresser was chipped and mottled but it was good enough to show her the smudges beneath her eyes and the crease in her forehead. She pressed her thumb over it, trying to smooth the stress line, then gave up. Coffee was more important right now. She had an entire day of servitude to pampered people to look forward to.

The smell of fresh coffee and sweet rolls greeted her when she
opened the back door to the kitchen. God bless Scarlett. She got here early and baked. Lacy pushed the heavy wooden door open and stepped inside.

“Emm
ylou? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I thought I would bring you out some pastries and scones. I know you aren’t used to feeding such a large crowd and it was slow at the bakery.” Emmylou whisked around the kitchen in her sunflower yellow day dress and boots
, moving trays full of flaky, delicious creations and clearly avoiding eye contact.

It was
never slow at the bakery. Lacy scratched her forehead trying to sift through her friend’s strange behavior from yesterday and now today. “Thank you, sweetie, but you didn’t need to do that. I was going to strangle Jeremiah and serve him up this morning.” Lacy made her way to the coffee pot and poured a steaming cup, breathing in its welcome aroma while Emmylou laughed.

“So, what’s up, Em?”

“What are you talking about? I just told you what I was doing.” Emmylou bent down and opened the cupboard door to grab the linen napkins.

Lacy tried to pin her with a look but she wouldn’t meet Lacy’s eyes for more than a split second. Instead she made herself busy by artistically folding the napkins into some kind of fan. Lacy walked over to her friend and placed her hands over
Emmylou’s busy fingers.

“Hey! I’ve got to get these done before everybody starts ge
tting up.”

“They’re on a different time zone than we are, honey. They
won’t be up for at least another hour. Now do you want to share with me what’s going on?”

“Nothing is going on. I just want to be around the action. We haven’t had anything this cool in town before. Unless you count the time the Lakota Indian
tribe set up camp outside of town for their powwow.”

Lacy chuckled. “You’re a
voiding the question. I know you, Emmylou. I know when something is bothering you. Is it your parents? Are they giving you a hard time again?”

Emmylou’s blue eyes finally focused on Lacy as she bent over to get closer. “No. My parents are no different than usual.”  She opened her mouth to say more, then tipped her head and shifted narrowed eyes onto Lacy. “Did you just come in the back door?”
Emmylou pointed and nodded in the direction of the door then pursed her lips waiting for Lacy’s explanation.

Lacy spun on her heel, walking to the refrigerator. “Yes, I slept in the barn last night.” She pulled a bag of oranges from the drawer. “It’s a long story that I don’t care to repeat at this partic
ular moment.”

Lacy began peeling the fruit and chucking the skins into the trash, but
she could feel Emmylou watching her carefully. With a sigh and roll of her eyes, Lacy dropped her busy hands to the counter and turned. “Lauren wanted my room so I let her have it and moved to the barn. Your turn.”

Emmylou quirked a brow and blinked several times then
started folding again. It took her three tries to get the first crease each time she smashed the linen flat, thudding the counter with her palms.

Lacy resorted to jerking the napkin from Emmylou and tuc
king it behind her back. “All right, damn it! You’re fumbling through something you can do in your sleep, you’re here instead of elbow-deep in flour in your kitchen and you got quiet on me even though I know you’re just overflowing with questions. So I ask again, what’s up?”

It looked like someone had just pulled a drawstring attached to her friend’s face and Lacy was already prepared to beat whoever
had broken Emmylou’s heart.

“I can’t tell you, Lace. You wouldn’t understand
, you’d just get mad at me.”

“Well, I’m mad at you now so we won’t be any worse off. Out with it.”

The kitchen door swung open, but Lacy didn’t break eye contact with Emmylou. “Absolutely not. Get out.” She pointed her finger at the open door.

Seconds ticked before anyone moved and it was Lacy finally turning to the intruder. The blonde hair registered
, making Lacy pull in a breath and smooth her contorted face.

“Were you talking to me or did I interrupt?” Lauren asked
, seemingly unfazed.

“No, I’m
-” Lacy brushed her hand back and forth and shook her head, composing herself more. “I’m sorry. What can I help you with, Lauren?” She took one step away from the counter as her emotions all checked back into place.

Lauren rubbed her lips together
. “I was wondering if breakfast was self-serve or if you had something prepared?”

The woman let the question hang and Lacy felt like a worm
who had just been peed on by a stray dog. “Of course we have something. This is a bed and breakfast, after all. We’ll be out in just a sec, okay?”

“All right, then. Thank you.”

Lacy rumpled her nose and nodded in response as Lauren went back to the dining room. Crap, now Lacy was going to have to make breakfast since the robotic, room-stealing, bird hater wanted her food an hour before they started serving. Just as she thought it, Scarlett breezed through the back door pulling her hair up.

“Sorry,
I know.” She hurried over to the cupboard, ditching her purse. “Louie didn’t come home last night so I was out looking for him.” Scarlett floated around, retrieving bowls and pans without pausing. “I finally found him in the neighbor’s garage and you know how
he
is about my
wildlife.”
She paused long enough to emphasize with air quotations and use the face that always accompanies stories of Scarlett’s harassing neighbor.

“That’s just because he would rather you be petting him than all those animals, Scar.” Em
mylou grinned and Lacy laughed.

Scarlett’s neighbor was the
best-looking guy in town, a couple years younger than the three of them. He had moved in a few years ago to manage the implement dealership. Every single female within a fifty-mile radius had thrown herself at him, but Lacy knew he was in love with Scarlett. Poor guy.

“Ha
-ha, Emmy.” Scarlett broke eggs into a glass bowl. “Louie just had
the surgery
a couple days ago and shouldn’t be outside, but try and tell Mr. Marshall about that and see how sympathetic he is.” One breath and she was off again. Emmylou and Lacy may as well cancel their plans for the next two hours. Scarlett would be on this tangent about her rescue cat and the neighbor for a while.

Lacy exchanged a meaningful look with Emmylou. They both understood that the conversa
tion between them was not over.

The three of them worked companionably for the next half hour preparing a breakfast fare in line with the menu choices of California movie stars. There wasn’t one thing they prepared that Lacy would eat, even if she were stretched on a rack and poked with sharp objects. It all looked like cardboard to her. She knew it was probably healthier than her particular diet, but she would n
ever give up her beloved bacon.

These people and their food hang-ups.
Bacon was not meant to be made from turkey. Ever. And why in the world would anyone give up the yolk of an egg? It was the part that had flavor and was great for dipping toast in.

Turned out they had timed it just right, with the exception of Lauren, who had wanted fruit and
Greek yogurt. She had turned her nose up when Lacy informed her the only yogurt she had was key lime pie flavored. The crew had filtered into the dining room and were very pleased with her “upgraded” menu. They had all been kind and one guy even left her a ten-dollar tip. As she pocketed it and caught his heavy-lidded leer she wondered if taking the money signified some sort of deal for repayment.

She was saved from wondering when Kyle swept in and smacked the guy on the back of the head
, causing his blonde hair to fly over his face. The thump gave even Lacy a headache.

“Stop gawking and get to the lobby!”

The guy obliged, returning Kyle’s half-smile.

As
Kyle smoothed his buttoned-down shirt, Lacy took a steadying breath but couldn’t drag her eyes from him. She wanted to. God, how she wanted to be indifferent to him. She repeated over and over that he was just a good-looking guy in great shape. He was nice to look at, but her stupid heart kept getting in the middle of her thoughts and informing her otherwise. Maybe if she gouged out her eyes it would help. She started by closing them.

“Morning.”

Her heart jolted and her shoulders slumped in defeat. She would have to stuff her ears with cotton to avoid the wave of heat his voice sent through her. Why? Why did it have to be him that she wanted?

“Morning.”
She opened her eyes in time to see he had breezed past her and was already pulling out a chair to sit down.

She turned, a little confused. They always had a charged e
xchange anytime they met. As she stood by his table, he pulled out his cell phone and began poking at the screen. He moved his head ever so slightly, as though he may look at her but whatever was on that screen was more intriguing. Obviously she wasn’t worth the effort it would take to glance at her for a couple of seconds.

“I’ll have steak and eggs. Orange jui
ce and hash browns if you’ve got ’em, otherwise toast is fine.” His fingers continued to work.

“It’ll be right out.” She waited a moment before spinning on her heel in a huff to the kitchen.

******
****

Kyle watched her sashay the entire way, admiring the view and ignoring the stab in his chest. He had never treated her that way before, preferring to square off with her quick wit and even quicker temper. But it had to be done, they couldn’t continue down the same path. This was the only way she would understand that things were different and so was he. He wouldn’t allow her to crush his heart in her little hands.

“Hey. We’re going to do a few run-throughs down by the pond.”

“Okay, Marcus.” Kyle set his phone down and sat up in his chair when the director approached his table.

“It’s all we can do until Brody finds some horses for us and the rest of the damn crew shows up
. ”Kyle saw the vein pop out in Marcus’s forehead and braced himself for the oncoming slew of curses about cheap production companies, short-sighted producers and unappreciative staff. Kyle made those kinder adjustments in his own head while Marcus ranted until his face turned red. He knew Marcus was a talented director; hell, he had pulled performances out of Kyle he didn’t know possible, but this movie had a thirty-million-dollar budget. So the perspective seemed to be somewhat skewed here.

“I’ll see you in thirty minutes by the dock.” 
Marcus stomped off before Kyle could respond.

It was these sorts of
ever-exhausting episodes that made Kyle dream of the simple life he had before with regular people who couldn’t fathom spending millions of dollars on making a film. The irony of that was those same people would spend it on purchasing land and not bat an eye.