Chapter 30
BODIE
I knocked at the door of the Cherish home, trying to brace myself for a confrontation with Lacey. As the door opened, I straightened my stance and held the bouquet of carnations out in front of me.
Mr. Cherish eyed the flowers then glanced to my face. “You shouldn’t have, son.”
My cheeks radiating heat like they’d been set on fire, I let the flowers drop to my side. “Is Lacey home, sir?”
“You just missed her. She tore out of here about ten minutes ago like the devil himself was on her tail. Is there a reason you’re bringing my daughter flowers?” He cocked his head, his eyes narrowed.
“No, sir. I mean, yes, there’s a reason, but it’s nothing special.” Not unless I wanted to admit to Lacey’s dad that I’d spent the early hours of Saturday morning testing out the theories of physics on his daughter’s limber body.
“What’d you do?” He held the door open, an invitation to come inside and spill my guts.
I had taken advantage of several invites like this from Mr. Cherish over the years.
I respected the man’s opinion and often sought out his advice over my own father’s.
But not today. I couldn’t very well admit to screwing up where Lacey was concerned.
Especially screwing up over screwing Lacey.
“Lacey overheard something she shouldn’t have. I need to find her to make it right.”
Mr. Cherish nodded. “Odds are she’s either over at Zina’s or out at the stables.”
“Thank you, sir.” I stood there, the flowers still clutched in my hands. “Would you mind making sure she gets these? In case I don’t catch up to her today?”
“Sure. Good luck, son. You know as well as I do when she gets upset about something it can take quite a while for her to calm down.”
“Yes, sir.” I handed over the flowers. They’d seemed like a good idea when I ran into the mini-mart but now they looked wilted, like a lame attempt at an apology, as Mr. Cherish held them in his hand. I took a final look at the blooms then steeled myself to track down Lacey.
A drive by Zina’s house and a quick pass by the shelter didn’t turn up Lacey’s truck.
Unless she was going to great lengths to hide and didn’t want to be found, she hadn’t gone to either place.
That just left the stables out on Highway 75.
She’d been boarding her horse there ever since I could remember.
Luke and I used to have to run her back and forth for lessons after school and on the weekends.
I had always enjoyed watching her ride. She was a natural in the saddle.
I pulled up next to her truck in the dirt parking lot.
If she’d taken her horse out, it might be an hour or more before she returned.
I walked through the barn in search of the horse’s stall.
Empty. That left me two choices. Either wait around for her to come back or head over to the Phillips House to check on the armadillo-removal attempt.
Having good news to share when she returned might make our confrontation go a little smoother.
As I walked the length of the barn to head back to my truck, I ran into one of my old high school pals. He and his family owned the ranch. Like most of the folks around town, the land had been in their family for generations.
“Hey, Bodie. What brings you out here today?” Callan stopped mucking out an empty stall and stood.
“Just trying to track down Lacey. I’ve got some official town business I need to fill her in on. You see her around?”
“Yeah.” Callan wiped his brow with his sleeve. “Came through here about twenty minutes ago, fit to be tied about something.”
“Oh yeah? She say what?”
“Nah. Whatever she was working through, she didn’t want to talk about it. You want to borrow old Mercury and chase her down? She probably just went on a loop around the property.”
“That’s okay. I’ll catch up to her later.”
“Sounds good.” Callan resumed his job on the stall.
I was halfway through the barn when Callan called out behind me. “Oh, I forgot to offer my congratulations.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Congratulations on what? I didn’t want to take the time to ask about it. Could be he’d heard I had taken in a dog. Or maybe it was a belated congrats on the public safety award I’d won back in December. Either way, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding Lacey.
I didn’t want to think about what might be going through her head.
After the night we’d shared on Friday, she had to be madder than a wet hen, thinking I’d played her like a fiddle.
I picked up my phone and tried her number again.
Straight to voice mail. Served me right.
I should have shut down my dad’s ridiculous offer the first time he’d brought it up.
Now look where it got me. On the outs with Lacey, right when I’d finally found an in.
I tried not to think about it as I drove over to the Phillips House. The pest-removal truck sat in the drive. Either the armadillos had multiplied and dug even more holes or the person trying to trap them had been creating more piles in an attempt to figure out where the damn animals were hiding.
I walked the perimeter of the house before I caught sight of the wildlife expert. The man held a live trap in each hand. I closed the distance between us, hoping for good news. I had to have something positive to tell Lacey. Something to balance out the bad.
“How’s it going?” I tipped my hat at the man.
“Been at it all weekend. You’ve got some wily critters, that’s for sure.” He held up the trap in his right hand. A small armadillo peered at me through the wire cage. “Just got two more. The traps have been snapping all night.”
“What are you going to do with them now that you’ve caught them?” As much as I wanted the damn critters long gone, I didn’t want them turned into boots or belts or something else.
“We release ’em way out in the country.” He shrugged. “It’s the most humane thing to do. Got about six already. I’ll reset the traps again tonight but I think we may have caught them all.”
I nodded. “Great, thanks. Y’all planning on filling in the holes all over the yard, too?”
“Sorry, Deputy. Mayor Cherish didn’t pay for the all-in-one service. Said she’d take care of that herself.”
Figured. Lacey would cut as many corners as she could to save a few bucks. “All right, then. I’ll figure that out.”
“Saw a shovel in the garage.” The man nodded toward the building that used to operate as the carriage house.
“Thanks.” I waited until I reached my truck and loaded the traps into the back.
With nothing but time on my hands and a giant hole I needed to dig myself out of, I might as well start by filling some in.
I found the shovel in the garage and got to work.
An hour passed, then two. By the time the sun began to disappear behind a bank of heavy gray clouds, I’d filled in all the holes I could find.
That ought to put a smile on Lacey’s face.
One less thing for her to have to worry about.
Thinking of Lacey made me wonder where she was. Had she blown off some of the anger I’d created? Hopefully giving her the afternoon to cool down would work in my favor. As I put the shovel back in the garage, I pulled out my phone, ready to track her down again and try to make amends.
“Hey, Bodie.” She answered on the second ring, her voice calm, clear, and sounding the slightest bit happy.
“Hi. Where have you been this afternoon? I stopped by the house.”
“My dad gave me the flowers you dropped off. That was so sweet of you. Thanks for thinking of me.”
Why wasn’t she swearing up a storm? Did I get it wrong? My gut told me to proceed with caution. Something wasn’t right. The singsong tone in her voice was a dead giveaway. “You’re welcome.”
“I went out for a ride. It’s been so long since the poor horse got a chance to stretch his legs. I’m sorry I missed you. You should have told me you’d be stopping by. I made a brisket and some apple crumble for dessert. Do we still have dinner plans?”
I checked my watch. It was almost six and the only thing waiting on me at home was a knocked-up dog and a freezer full of frozen tamales. “I’m over at the Phillips House right now. I need to swing by home and feed Shotgun but other than that I’m not doing anything tonight.”
“I could make up a couple of plates for us and run them over. What do you think?”
She sounded genuine. My gut warmed at the thought of a home-cooked meal and practically sparked as I envisioned the kind of things we might be able to get to after we ate and I came clean about the offer from Mayor Little. “Yeah, that sounds great.”
“I’ll see you in a little while, then.” Her smile traveled right through the phone.
There was no way she was pissed at me. I’d seen her angry before and if Lacey had one area where she struggled it was in wearing her heart on her sleeve.
She’d always been like an open book. A weight lifted from my shoulders and I smiled.
“Looking forward to it, Sweets.”
“Oh, me, too.” She disconnected.
Hell, what had I been so worried about? I looked around the yard. I’d just wasted a couple of hours filling in holes for no reason. Granted, Lacey wouldn’t have to worry about it now but I’d wasted hours’ worth of energy worried she’d never want to see hide nor hair of me again.
The thing with my dad and pops must be making me paranoid. I’d do best to come clean with Lacey tonight before she caught wind of it otherwise. Having her find out from someone else would definitely put a kink in our budding relationship. A relationship… is that what I wanted?
Luke wouldn’t like it. But he was thousands of miles away.
By the time he made it home it would be old news.
Mr. Cherish might have a bone or two to pick.
It’s not every day he was arrested by the man who’d become his daughter’s boyfriend.
I shook my head. Boyfriend sounded too juvenile.
Lover. No, that didn’t work, either. Made it sound like we were having some sort of illicit fling. Significant other?
Was I ready for a significant other? She couldn’t just be an “other.” I spent the drive home trying to come up with a way to classify whatever was growing between me and Lacey but made no progress.
By the time I’d taken a shower and put on a fresh pair of jeans and a pressed button-down flannel I’d about given up. Why did I have to name it?
I’d let it grow naturally. Someday in the future, the distant future, we’d figure it out together. So when the doorbell rang, I rose from the couch, a little extra pep in my step.
Shotgun got there first, her rear end wiggling so fast she knocked herself over. I pulled the door open, a smile on my lips, ready for a kiss from whatever she wanted to call herself.
“Hey there, Lacey.” My smile faded slightly at the sight of Lacey standing on my doorstep, a familiar woman in tow.
“You remember Samantha, don’t you, sugar pie?” Her eyes widened then narrowed.
“Sure I do.” I held out my hand to the reporter. Why would Lacey be coming over with the magazine reporter? Especially on a Sunday night?
Lacey brushed past me, her arms full of foil-wrapped containers. “Samantha was in town this weekend but has to head back tomorrow. Since Adeline backed out I didn’t have any choice but to tell her our news.”
“Our news…” I trailed behind the two women to the kitchen, Shotgun at my heels.
“Lacey told me how the two of you didn’t want to steal Adeline’s thunder. I think that’s so sweet. Readers are going to love it.”
I nodded, a smile pasted on my face. What was she talking about? I tried to catch Lacey’s eye. She looked comfortable in my kitchen as she opened up cabinets, pulled out plates, and set out the dinner she’d brought on the counter.
“So are you ready to talk about the big event?” Samantha asked. She opened up a notebook and clicked her pen. “Tell me, Deputy Phillips, what does it feel like to be engaged to the mayor?”