Chapter 44
LACEY
I skipped up the steps to Bodie’s place, hardly able to contain my excitement.
I hadn’t seen him or heard from him since he walked out on the interview a few days ago.
Work must have been keeping him extremely busy.
I didn’t want to bother him, but with the big day barreling toward us, I had to share my news.
I knocked on the door, too excited to stand still. “Bodie? I know you’re in there, your truck’s outside.”
The door opened a crack. “What do you need?”
“Bodie?” I tried to peer into the darkness. He must have had all the shades pulled.
“Yeah?” His voice came out rough, like he hadn’t used it for a while.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. What’s up? I didn’t miss anything, did I? Wedding’s not for another week, right?” He shielded his eyes from the sun as I pushed the door open a bit more.
“What’s going on?” The stale smell of air that had been undisturbed for too long wafted past me. I wedged my way between the door and the frame. “I’m coming in.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary. I need to clean up first. Place isn’t fit to be seen—”
I elbowed my way past him into the foyer. He had on a pair of shorts, no shirt. I sucked in a breath at the sight of his bare chest. My gaze moved from the scruff covering his chin to the pizza boxes littering the kitchen counter. The thrill of sharing my news faded. “What the heck is going on?”
“It’s fine, really. Just taking some time to work through some stuff.”
“What kind of stuff? Why didn’t you come talk to me? To Dad?” I turned on him. “What’s happening with you?”
“Nothing. Just doing my part to keep the good folks of Idont safe.”
“Ido,” I whispered.
“That’s right.” The edges of his mouth tipped up in a flimsy smile. “Have I told you how proud I am of you?”
I let out a laugh. “You’re proud of me? The man who wears a gun every day, risking his life for strangers?”
“Not anymore.” He turned away from me, heading toward the couch. “Gun and badge have been turned in. At least until I get cleared.”
“Cleared? From what?” I’d been crazy busy trying to finalize the details for the upcoming wedding and the grand opening of the Phillips House.
Had I missed something? Had I been so focused on myself and my goal of securing the article in the magazine that I completely missed something major going down?
“I didn’t want you to worry.” He slumped onto the sectional. “It’s going to be fine. Suarez will go through the evidence and realize I didn’t have anything to do with it. But until then . . . I guess I get to catch up on all those TV shows I never have time to watch.”
“You took down your dad?” A ball of dread plopped into my gut while I waited for him to respond.
He nodded. “It was for the best.”
“Oh, Bodie.” I climbed onto the couch, pulling his head against my chest. “I’m so sorry. That must have been so hard.”
His hands roamed over my back. I relished the way I fit against him.
“Arresting your dad was harder.”
I pulled away, meeting his gaze. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Dad’s pissed, Pops is livid, and my mom has pretty much stopped speaking to me. But it was worth it.”
“Why did you do it?” His family had skirted the law for years. What had they done that made him finally turn them in?
He shifted me off his lap, settling me next to him on the couch. “It’s not important.”
“Why didn’t you call?” My dad and I were the closest thing he had to family, even before his dad and granddad got arrested. “I would have come over. You could have talked to my dad.”
“By the way, your dad should be getting cleared sometime soon. Turns out Buck had something to do with him ending up behind the wheel of that golf cart that night.”
“What?” My father had a history of drinking too much. Even if it hadn’t been all his fault, he still made the decision to get behind the wheel.
“I’m not saying he’s totally free, but I think they’re going to lift the house arrest. Maybe not in time for him to attend the wedding but shouldn’t be long after that.”
The wedding. The whole reason I’d come over was to tell him my good news. “Hey, this probably isn’t a good time, but I just found out Samantha chose us to showcase in the magazine article. Swynton is out and Ido is in.”
“That’s great.” He gave me a smile, a real one this time. “You did it, Lacey.”
“We did it.” I grinned at him.
“You’re right. I should get cleaned up, we need to celebrate.”
“Aw, you don’t have to do that. I can tell you’re not feeling up to it.”
“And that’s exactly why we need to. We’ve only got a few days left before you never have to see me again. People ought to see us out in public. We need to remind them how in love we are, remember?”
I swatted at his chest, a part of me wishing for nothing more than to stay in all night and hold him close instead. “One night won’t matter.”
He let out a sigh, like the weight of the world rested on his broad shoulders. “You’re so close to making it happen. Don’t give up now, okay? Give me ten minutes to shower.”
“Okay.” I waited while he took his time dragging himself off the couch.
Then I gathered the empty cans, paper plates, and take-out containers from the coffee table and took them into the kitchen.
Shotgun followed, her tummy hanging low to the ground.
I bent down to run a hand over the dog’s back. “What’s going on with Bodie, huh?”
Shotgun didn’t answer although life would have been much easier if she could talk.
Maybe then I would know what Bodie had been going through while he’d been keeping his distance.
It had to be killing him to know he was the reason his dad and his pops were arrested.
While I waited for him to get cleaned up, I filled the dishwasher and took the trash to the bin in the garage.
As I walked back into the kitchen, my phone pinged.
I groaned as I read the message from Adeline:
Adeline: You’re going to be sorry.
Why couldn’t she leave well enough alone? Adeline had been a thorn in my side for far too long. It was time to put our petty rivalry behind us. I typed out a reply.
Me: Wishing you nothing but the best.
Adeline might have had the tastiest cake, the most beautiful flowers, the biggest ring, the most people at her reception, but she’d never have what I had—an entire town supporting my dreams.
Bodie came out of the bedroom, his muscular thighs encased in a pair of clean jeans and a concert T shirt snug around his shoulders.
I grinned. I had one more thing that Adeline never would—one hell of a hot fiancé.
Even if I wouldn’t be able to keep him, he was mine for the next week and I planned to enjoy him, even if what we had wasn’t real.