7. Lacy
7
LACY
A s I step into the diner, I feel my cheeks heat. Everyone’s eyes are on us, and as usual on a Saturday afternoon, it’s a full house. Hudson looks perfect, and I can barely string two words together with fear that my thudding heart will sound louder than my voice and give me away. I’m glad that my small-town manners came out of my mouth before I could really think about this situation. I’m happy for them to join me, but sitting and sharing afternoon tea with Hudson is going to be difficult, given that I still think about the way he held me that night and what it felt like to have his hands on my body.
“Why, hello…?” Rochelle coos, looking between us all. I try to pull in air and falter at the now all-too-familiar masculine scent that runs up my nose, making me swallow quickly.
My mother has visitors every Saturday afternoon. In fact, I left her with Hudson’s mom, who was making them both a coffee to have with some cookies she baked earlier. Our Saturday routine is consistent; she has a steady roll of visitors, and I get out to have a break, the weekly treat of a sundae at the diner something I have been doing since I was a teen.
“Hey, Rochelle,” I say quickly, my breathing not yet regulated as a few nerves still tap dance on my lungs. I wasn’t planning on having guests with me today. I usually prefer the alone time, but with Harvey looking at me with his wide smile, and Hudson’s sexy-as-sin grin making my cheeks heat under his gaze, my mouth moved before my brain caught up.
I look around and see the usual suspects. Bob from the hardware store is sitting up at the counter, and next to him, Peter, who drives our taxis. Nikki, the new young girl in town, is behind the counter, pouring them a fresh cup of coffee. I smile at her. She keeps to herself, so I know she doesn’t have a lot of friends yet, but she’s always nice to chat with.
Over at one of the booths, I see some girls I went to high school with, the ones who never left for college but instead wound up young and pregnant and with a chip on their shoulder larger than the size of the distillery. I see them watching us, my eyes settling on Jolene, the leader of the pack, who always takes issue with me, ever since I beat her at a science project in eighth grade.
And then, as we got older, a boy she liked didn’t like her back and liked me instead. I think that was the catalyst for her ill feelings toward me. She made the last few years of high school hell. It was hell at home and hell at school, so there was no escape for me at that time. Now that we are both adults, you would think that the chip on her shoulder would dissipate, but unfortunately, they haven’t grown up, and I grew up too quickly. Almost a perfect bullying storm. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, wondering how someone can hold a grudge for as long as she has.
Now nothing about the way she’s staring is covert as her eyes bore into mine before they flick to Hudson and then back to me again. Throughout the week, I can forget all about her and her friends, the constant bullying in school still scaring me today. But every Saturday, I see them here. It’s almost like they come here just to pick on me for their entertainment.
Near the window, our town lawyer, Jerry, is having a late lunch with his wife, Bernadette, the two of them, along with everyone else, eyeing us carefully. I can’t escape their stares because I stand here with a little hand clenching my own, keeping me grounded.
“We’re here with Lacy!” Harvey says, loud and proud, and Rochelle looks down at him and beams. It’s hard not to; he’s a cute kid and fun to be around. I hear Jolene snort from where she sits.
“Well, little Lacy has a little friend,” she murmurs, just loud enough for me to hear, but I ignore her. She says these little quips to get under my skin, and I try to let them roll off me without penetrating, but I would be lying if I said that I was successful in that endeavor every time.
“Take a seat, and I’ll be right with you,” Rochelle tells us, and Harvey continues to pull both me and Hudson along to a booth. As I walk past Rochelle, she wiggles her eyebrows and gives me a wink, and I internally groan. I know the gossip mill will be in overdrive with this tidbit for the next week. Yet another thing I just don’t need or have time for.
“After you,” Hudson says, his voice smooth and deep, running down my body like a warm liquid as we come to the booth. He and Harvey stand, waiting for me to sit first, like two peas in a pod. I’m not used to this kind of chivalry. It’s nice. Makes me feel special. I look at them and it isn’t until now that I notice they are dressed similarly. Tan slacks, navy sweaters. Harvey is almost like Hudson’s mini me.
“So, your parents must be ecstatic to have you both home,” I say as I sit, thinking about how excited his mom, Susan, has been.
“Ecstatic is an understatement. It’s almost like they have a new lease on life,” Hudson says, laughing, and I smile. He’s so handsome when he smiles, and it’s contagious.
“Your mom has been talking about Harvey nonstop since you were here last,” I tell him, hearing Susan’s voice in my head, her constant chatter with Mom in the living room always floating down to me in my room whenever she comes over.
“I had no idea our parents were such close friends before moving back,” Hudson says, and I nod.
“Our moms went to school together. Known each other all their lives. I guess we may have crossed paths when we were kids, but I don’t remember you much from that time,” I say honestly.
“I was probably already away at college when you were little,” he says, swallowing, and the topic of our age difference rears its head. He doesn’t exactly look old. He’s in shape. Broad shoulders, a thick head of hair. He may be graying slightly on the sides, but he looks strong, dependable, safe.
“Probably. So Harvey, how is school?” I ask, trying to move the conversation on as Harvey slides around on the slippery vinyl booth seat next to his father.
“I love it!” he says with so much enthusiasm, a smile comes to my face immediately.
“Really? That’s great. Who’s your teacher?” I ask, but of course, like everything else around this town, I already know. I don’t miss the way Hudson is watching him, pride and deep love etched onto his face.
“Miss Annabelle,” he says before perusing the menu.
“Is she good?” Hudson asks me, clearly wanting the local intel, his eyes intense.
“Yeah. I mean, she has been in town for most of her life, I think. She does the goat milk soap business with Victoria, and her son, Kevin, helps out Tanner and Victoria at…” My throat restricts, and I need to swallow again before I can talk. “…at Marie’s Place.”
I see his face visibly soften. He watches me, his eyes warm. I wait to see the sympathy in them like everyone else gives me in this town, but I don’t get it. Instead, his eyes hold something more akin to understanding and admiration, and I appreciate it.
“How is Marie’s Place going?” he asks, and my eyes flick to Harvey, who is busy trying to read the food specials on offer, but I dare say most likely looking at the images instead. “Have you been back?” he prods, and my eyes shoot back to meet his.
“It’s fine. All new and renovated. They have a few visitors stay from time to time. I don’t go there much, but I have been back. Faced my demons, you could say.” After my conversation with Victoria during the week, I know I need to go back more often. It has obviously helped her, and at this point, I will try anything to help alleviate my nighttime terrors. Hudson’s jaw tics, and he goes to say something else, but we get interrupted.
“So what will it be, folks?” Rochelle asks, stepping up to our table with a small notepad in hand.
“My usual. Thanks, Rochelle.” I smile, and she nods, not even needing to write my choice down.
“Your usual?” Hudson asks, his eyebrow lifted in question, a small smile dancing on his face.
“Oh, Lacy here comes in every Saturday afternoon at this time like clockwork. Has for years,” Rochelle says with a chuckle. I feel my cheeks get even hotter, and I want to slide underneath the table and let the floor open up and take me.
“What do you order?” Hudson asks, sitting back, looking at me with intrigue. Shoulders sitting high, his hands clasp together on the table in front of him, a smirk quirking his lips. Might as well get this over with. It’s not like it matters anyway. He’s just the town doctor, no big deal.
“The special sundae,” I tell him, waiting to see a look of horror on his face that I’m ordering a child’s meal, a sundae no less. Now with him sitting opposite me in this booth, I wonder what got into me that I offered for them to join me today. I see a lot of Tanner's rich friends come into the distillery. I talk to all of them. Even Hudson’s brother, Huxley, is a friend and we have friendly banter, but I never feel this nervous around them. Hudson has my insides so coiled, I wonder if the ice cream in my stomach will curdle once I start eating.
“Sundae?” he questions, but the look I was expecting from Hudson doesn’t come. Instead, his eyebrows rise a little more in surprise before his mouth twitches.
“It’s delicious,” I murmur my defense.
“Hmmmm. A special sundae for a special woman… Sounds like a good choice,” he says, grinning, his flirty nature coming back as he watches me, and my heart rate escalates. I look over his shoulder at the defibrillator on the wall, glad that I’m sitting near a doctor, and he will know exactly how to work it if I have a heart attack.
“I also have a fantastic chocolate brownie with ice cream and chocolate syrup.” Rochelle looks at Harvey, who smiles cheekily, like he is getting the inside information.
“He will get the brownie,” Hudson answers for him, and Rochelle nods.
“What about you, Doc?” she asks, and he looks back at me, then to Harvey before replying.
“Maybe bring an extra spoon. I don't think Harvey will be able to finish it on his own.”
“Good to see you out and about, Doc,” she says to him as she surveys the three of us at the booth. “And good to see you with company, Lacy,” she adds, and I want to groan in equal parts extreme embarrassment and annoyance, but then I would really come across like a sulky teenager.
“We are glad to be here. It’s nice to be back in town,” he tells her, and I ignore her comment and breathe a sigh of relief when she leaves, called to help out the back.
“So things are going well, then? At the hospital?” I ask him.
“So far. There is a lot I want to do with it,” he admits, his eyes locking on mine.
“Well, I’m sure you’re the perfect person for the job,” I say, still a little jittery. It feels like a first date, with the butterflies swirling in my stomach, but it obviously isn’t. His son is right next to us, and pretty much the whole town is in here, stealing not-so-subtle glances.
“How’s the distillery going? Tanner working you hard, I bet?” he asks me, and my body stiffens at having the attention back on me. I take a deep breath and look at the man sitting across from me, barely resisting checking him out all over again.
“It’s great. I’m currently working with Connor on a new release,” I tell him proudly. I do love my job. I’m building strategies, working with the owners. I hit the jackpot with working at Whiteman’s, and I’m not going to take it for granted.
“I think they mentioned that the other night at the bar. Tell me about it,” he prompts, just as Rochelle pops back over and fills two coffee cups and slides a juice to Harvey.
“On the house.” She winks to the little boy, who grabs the straw and sucks like his life depends on it, and Rochelle lets out a small chuckle as she leaves again.
“It came as a surprise. We had an accident in the barrel room, lost a lot of product, and weren’t sure what to do with the small amount we had left. I suggested to Tanner that we make it a small, exclusive batch.” I shrug, like my idea was no big deal, but in reality, it was not only the catalyst for me getting a promotion, but the label itself is now highly sought after by the wealthy around the country. “Together, Connor and I came up with the name, Whiteman’s Next Door, the whiskey you enjoy with your neighbor,” I tell him, and he laughs, catching on that next door to the distillery is Marie’s Place, where Tanner's now girlfriend Victoria was living at the time.
“Very clever. So you are managing that brand now? That’s a big responsibility.” His attention is fully on me, and he seems interested in every word that drops from my mouth as he sits back and enjoys his coffee, his eyes not leaving mine.
“Yeah. With Connor,” I add quickly. While I came up with the idea and Tanner put me in charge, I’m learning a lot from Connor and taking it all in like a sponge, wanting to remember everything and not make any mistakes.
“I’ll need to get my hands on a bottle, add it to my whiskey collection. I guess you are also organizing this event Tanner has planned?” His eyebrow quirks with curiosity, and there goes my stomach flipping again for no damn reason because he makes me nervous, he makes me flirt, he makes me feel things that I haven’t felt before.
“Yeah. Are you looking forward to it? It should be fun.” I sit back and take a sip of coffee, thinking through the long list of to-dos I must tick off before the welcome party for Hudson that Tanner is having at the distillery. I want to make it perfect. I want it to be special for him.
“If you’re organizing it, I’m sure it will be great. I mean, it will be a good way to meet everyone from town again. Some of Tanner’s other network is coming, plus Huxley will be there.”
I nod, having seen all the names on the guest list already.
“Hopefully, I’ll have the distillery sparkling for you,” I tell him, smiling.
“If you are there, it will be radiant.” His lowered voice turns a little gravelly, and I forget to breathe. We stare at each other for a beat. His smile is small as he watches me, and I lick my lips. I don’t miss the way his eyes catch the movement. Something about that has me relaxing in the weirdest way.
“You think too highly of me, Dr. Hamilton,” I tease, feeling my feminine energy come through. My body relaxes a little, and I begin to feel like I’m the young woman flirting with him from before the incident happened.
“Hmmm. I think a lot of things about you, Lacy,” he says, and his eyes are pure fire as they stare into mine. I swallow roughly before clearing my throat. Is it getting hot in here?
“So you have a whiskey collection?” I ask, getting us back on track. Our flirty banter feels too good and with little ears nearby, I need to be careful.
“Mostly Whiteman’s, but I have a few exclusives from Japan, of course some Scottish, and a few boutique ones from Australia that I picked up when I visited a few years ago.”
Suddenly, that familiar feeling of insignificance barrels back into me. Of course this man is worldly and has traveled all around the globe. Of course he has a whiskey collection that’s probably worth more than my house. I was lucky enough to go to college on a scholarship and survived by working two part-time jobs, plus a third casual cash-in-hand weekend job in promotions, and almost every cent I’ve ever had has served the purpose of survival. No overseas trips to sightsee or a whiskey collection or a shiny Rolex, like the one on Hudson’s wrist.
“Australian whiskeys are pretty special. I tasted a few at an event in New York that Connor and I went to a month or so ago,” I say, remembering the week-long trip I had. It was great for my career and networking, but I had anxiety every day for leaving Mom that long. Thank God for her friends and our neighbors.
“You like whiskey?” he asks, surprised.
“It’s a bit hard not to when you work at a distillery. It’s growing on me. I like single malts,” I add, and he nods in appreciation.
“I spent some time in Scotland, traveled the highlands and tried some of their famous whiskey for a few weeks. I highly recommend that if you are interested in learning how they go about making their batches.”
“Hmm, sounds like a dream trip.” I wonder if I could do it as part of a work research trip or something .
“So aside from New York, have you traveled much?” he asks, basically reading my mind, and I sigh.
“No. I would like to, but life just doesn’t offer that to me at the moment,” I say honestly. I’m not going to try to be someone I’m not. Traveling is absolutely out of the question for me and will be for a long time, even though I yearn to see something different.
“Where would you like to go? What is the first place you would visit?” he asks, sitting forward, looking interested and not at all dismissive as I assumed he might be.
“Rovaniemi,” I tell him, my mind already wandering.
“Rovaniemi?” he asks, frowning. “Where’s that?”
“Finland. Arctic Circle. It looks like such a magical place.”
He looks stumped, clearly not familiar with it.
“It’s supposed to be one of the best places to stargaze in the world. They have these glass igloos that you can stay in, so you are surrounded by snow, but you are warm in bed, just falling asleep under the stars,” I say, sitting forward, resting my hands near his on the table, my voice turning whimsical as I dream about it in my head.
“An igloo?” Harvey pipes up, and I nod, giving him a wide smile.
“Plus, it’s where Santa's village is, and I would really like to see that,” I tell him excitedly, and his mouth drops open.
“That would be so cool…” he says in awe, making me smile.
“Very cool.” Even though I’m an adult, Christmas is my favorite holiday.
“Sounds like fun. So you like astronomy?” Hudson’s handsome features make me breathless, and my mouth moves before my mind catches on. I like this. Our conversation is light, nothing too deep, while still getting to know each other.
“I just like stargazing. There’s something settling about it. I like looking up and seeing the different stars in the night sky.”
“So you like the stars?” he says, smiling, looking content. Like he is happy with what he is uncovering about me.
“I wish on one every night,” I whisper to him, our gazes locked for another moment. My chest feels like it is pulling me to him and I sense the same feelings from him as his eyes look deep into my soul. Our hands are near each other’s on the table and I feel his touch and look down quickly, seeing his finger tap mine before it curls around it, like a little secret finger hold. I take in a deep breath and look back at him before Rochelle comes back.
“Here we are. One chocolate brownie, and your usual, Lacy darlin’,” she says, sliding the dishes on the table and I pull my hand back, away from Hudson and to make room for the dishes. “And an extra spoon for the doc.” She passes a spoon to Hudson, whose eyes are wide, looking between the sundae and brownie. Both portions are huge.
“Thanks, Rochelle,” I tell her, and she smiles.
“Always a pleasure for you, honey.” When she gives my shoulders a squeeze, my heart drops again at the sympathetic look she gives me before she leaves us to it. Everything felt normal, if just for a few minutes .
“This is yum…” Harvey is barely audible over his full mouth, chocolate sauce already dripping from his lips.
“That does look yummy,” I tell him, chuckling, and he nods, clearly enjoying it.
I look at my sundae. Ice cream, chocolate syrup, cream, nuts, and sprinkles, with a big red cherry on top. Nothing could be more delicious.
“Do you want to try?” I say to Hudson, who is eyeing it like he wants to devour it all himself.
“I can’t say no to that offer.” He laughs, and I smile as I push the dish toward him to taste test. As he does, I grab the cherry from the top, my favorite part, popping it in my mouth and enjoying the sweetness before twirling the stem and making a knot with my tongue. Yet another thing I do. Every Saturday. Alone at this diner. It’s always the first thing I do before I dig in. As I take the stem out of my mouth and place it on my napkin, the knot perfectly tied in the middle, I look back at Hudson, whose lips are parted, watching me, his spoon halfway from my dish and his mouth.
“Ahh, you okay?” I ask, confused, as I take a spoonful of ice cream, and he clears his throat.
“Yeah, just… you like cherries, huh?” he asks, eating his spoonful quickly.
“Oh, yeah… College trick,” I tell him, my cherry habit happening so automatically that I totally forgot about how it might look to someone witnessing it. I take a spoonful of ice cream to cool down my flush.
“Can I try?” Harvey asks, his spoon already digging into my ice cream .
“Delicious, right?” I ask him, seeing him nod in approval.
“Here, try mine!” Harvey says, pushing his chocolate brownie toward me.
I take a spoonful and bring it to my mouth, the warm chocolate cake hitting my tongue, and I hum in approval as I close my eyes and savor it.
“Mmmmmmm… So good,” I murmur, opening my eyes, again seeing Hudson watching me, his eyes barely blinking.
“You, ahhh… you’ve got a bit of syrup,” he says, rubbing his lip.
“Ohhh.” I grab a napkin, my cheeks heating all over again.
“No, just here…” His eyes are hooked on my face as he points to a spot on his lower lip. I swipe my finger across my lower lip, following his instructions, and feel the syrup gathering on my finger before sucking it from my skin. He swallows as his eyes watch the movement, his stare almost burning into me, pupils dilating as my heart beats out of my chest.
“Thanks,” I whisper, not confident in my own breath as his stare continues to heat my insides.
“Anytime,” he murmurs. With his eyes on me, a silent feeling bounces around us, both overwhelming and intense.
“How about we try them together? They are both good, but things are always better together,” Harvey says, startling us from our intense gaze as he scoops up a little brownie, then dunks it in my ice cream, his spoon now full of both before he shoves it in his mouth. I watch him devour the sweet treat as I wonder what the hell just happened. The sizzling tension between Hudson and me is something I haven’t experienced before. I take a deep breath in and count it out in my mind. It doesn’t take long for my nerves to settle as Hudson and Harvey both smile and laugh, and we all eat up our treats, chatting some more and enjoying the afternoon together. It’s the best Saturday sundae I’ve had in forever.