Chapter 15
Lacy stopped mid-step when she saw the stuffie store. She’d ordered a bear or two online, but had never actually visited a store in person, but it was on her Little bucket list.
“Lacy?” Drake stopped and half-turned to look at her.
“Can we go in here?” she asked, staring into the store, enthralled. The stuffed animals in the windows and the colorful displays she could see through the doorway were pulling at her hard.
Before Drake could answer one way or the other, her stomach gave a long rumbling grumble of dissent. Her free hand moved to cover her belly as her face burned with embarrassment. The sound drew the stares of two women walking out of the store, each carrying a bag with the store’s logo.
She felt so jealous.
Drake released her hand and took a step closer, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “We’ll come back after we feed that monster belly that is threatening to break out and eat us all.”
Lacy giggled as she allowed herself to be guided away from the store of her dreams. Then she saw what the next store was.
“Oooo, a toy store. Can we go in there, too?” She bit her lip before she said Daddy though it was right on the tip of her tongue.
“After you eat a good lunch we’ll go to all the stores you want. Just remember, we have to be back at the hotel before three o’clock so we can get ready for tonight’s party.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Lacy whispered easily after pulling out her phone and checking the time.
They would have plenty of time to make her a new stuffie and maybe even buy some new coloring books and crayons at the toy store.
They found a map of the mall and discovered the food court was on the upper level. That meant they had to take the escalator, which was just a few dozen yards away.
As they approached, Lacy slowed until she stopped just before the entrance. They were far enough away that they did not block others from stepping around them to approach the rolling stairs.
She stared wide-eyed at the escalator as she began to slowly twist her head side to side.
“I can’t,” she whispered so softly she wasn’t sure Drake would hear her over the music, conversations and other noises around them.
“You can’t what, Lacy-girl?”
“I can’t go on that.” She pointed to the moving stairs as a single tear ran down her cheek. “It will eat me and then we’ll never get lunch or my new stuffie.”
She could not bring herself to look at Drake. The last thing she wanted to see was his amusement, or even worse, anger, at her fear.
She and her mom had been visiting a mall similar to this and the escalator had grabbed her favorite scarf and pulled on it until Lacy had to unwrap it from around her neck so she could breathe. She’d loved that scarf, but apparently the escalator loved it even more.
“Lacy, sweetheart, look at me,” Drake said cupping a had around her cheek. “Look at Daddy, little girl.”
It took several seconds to stop staring at the escalator and shift her gaze to Daddy’s face.
“There’s my girl,” he said gently once she was focused on him. “Now, I want you to breathe with me. In. Out. In. Out. Good girl.”
It was only when she was following his instructions that she realized she had stopped breathing. When he took her hand and held it against his chest so she could feel his heartbeat. It was strong and steady and grounded her back into her body.
When she was able to take a deep breath and relax, his smile widened even further. “Good girl. All right, the food court is at the stop of this escalator. I don’t see any stairs, so this is the only way to get up to the food.”
“But it’s going to eat me like it tried to do before,” Lacy said, recognizing that her voice was the higher tone she used whenever she was in her Little headspace.
Drake frowned slightly then looked at the escalator as he tried to work out a solution. His gaze returning to hers, he said, “How about if Daddy holds you while we go up the stairs. That bad old escalator would never eat you if I’m holding you.”
Lacy was nodding even as she asked, “But what will all these people think?”
Drake leaned closer until they were nose to nose and all she could see were his beautiful swirly hazel eyes. “Do we really care about what anyone else thinks? It’s just you and me who matter, Lacy-girl. Okay? So, what do you think?”
Lacy’s stomach cramped at the thought of not being able to eat lunch because she was too much of a chicken to get on an escalator. “Okay, Daddy,” she whispered as she wiped the tears from her face.
In the next instant, she was flying. Wrapping her arms and legs around Drake’s body, she hid her face against his shoulder so she didn’t have to see anyone.
“Okay, sweetheart, keep those eyes closed and hold onto Daddy and we’ll be upstairs in just a few minutes,” Drake assured her.
She felt him walk forward and then stop. She focused on breathing as a strange buzzing in her ears grew so loud that it kept her from discerning what Drake was saying. It wasn’t until she felt him walking again that the buzzing dissipated and she could hear his words.
“You are such a good girl. So brave. My brave Lacy-girl,” he praised softly. “Ready to get down now?”
Lifting her head, Lacy looked around and found they were on the second floor of the mall. She’d ridden the escalator and it hadn’t tried to eat her.
She dropped her legs then loosened her arms, slowly easing her death hold on Drake. With a deep breath, she released him and locked her knees to keep from collapsing in a heap.
“I did it,” she whispered, staring at Drake in awe.
“Yes, you did. I’d never let anyone hurt my girl, not even an old escalator. Now, let’s go find some lunch for that grumbly growly tummy of yours.”
Lacy nodded and took his outstretched hand. As they approached the food court, she looked around at the many different choices and grew overwhelmed. Too many choices. Some were favorite fast foods, but there were also some new places that she thought she might like to try.
The food court was busy, but Drake pulled her to a stop in the middle of the walkway so they could see all the different choices.
“All right, Lacy-girl. What would you like for lunch?”
Looking at all the choices, ranging from hamburgers to chicken to Asian and Italian and other choices, Lacy shrugged. “I don’t know. Everything looks so good.”
She turned so she could rest her forehead against his arm. “You choose, Daddy. I don’t care.”
“How do you feel about visiting the macaroni and cheese restaurant?”
Lacy lifted her head and looked around. “A whole restaurant for macaroni and cheese?”
Drake pointed and she then saw it. “Macky’s Cheese. Let’s go,” she said, grabbing Drake’s hand and pulling him as she hurried to join the short line.
She read the menu and instructions for ordering on the wall above the workers’ heads. By the time they reached the front of the line, she knew exactly what she was going to order.
Drake looked at the variety of dishes between them and then back at Lacy. They had ordered enough varieties to feed a half dozen people, but she’d had a hard time deciding and they were both hungry. When she chose two, he decided they needed to try them all.
The only issue came when she pulled out her wallet to pay for their meals and two soft drinks. He moved in front of her and handed the cashier his bank card before she could open her wallet.
“Hey,” she said softly, pulling on his arm. “I was going to pay.”
“Not while I’m still above ground,” he said, giving her a look that had her rolling her lips over her teeth. “Why don’t you go get us a table while I wait for the food.”
She responded with a simple nod before heading to the dining area. He watched to make sure no one bothered her. She found an empty booth and slid into one side with a look at him. He nodded his approval just as their number was called.
As he carried the heavy tray to their table, he was grateful that he was finished with bare-chested photo shoots for a while. He was looking forward to eating the pasta without having to worry about doing an extra hundred crunches to keep it from showing up in pictures.
After unloading the tray, he slid onto the bench next to her, forcing her to slide over to make room.
The cashier thought he was strange when he asked for two extra bowls and several additional spoons. Handing her a spoon and setting one on the table in front of him, he placed the others on the table between the bowls filled with food.
He picked up one of the empty bowls and looked at her. “All right, Lacy-girl, where do you want to start?”
He watched as Lacy looked over all the choices and then back at him. “I think we ordered too much. I don’t know where to begin.”
“Let Daddy help?” he asked softly.
When she nodded, he grabbed a spoon in the first bowl that had bacon in it. Scooping a big spoonful, he set it in the bowl and pressed it against the side. He then added scoops from two other kinds, making sure they did not touch one another.
Setting her bowl in front of her, he did the same for his bowl, only he wasn’t as careful with the different foods not touching.
Once his bowl was filled, he lifted his spoon and said, “Here’s to a great photo shoot that will sell many, many pictures.”
Lacy giggled as she tapped her spoon against his. “To many, many sales.”