She shut off the water, stepped out of the claw foot tub, and wrapped a towel around her. Of all the rooms in the house, the bathroom was her favorite. Paul had remodeled it before she arrived. Lacey had to give her brother credit. He knew how to take something boring and change it into something that made people say, “Wow!”
Lacey was in the middle of applying lotion to her legs and trying to ignore her thoughts about Colton when she heard a sound in the other room. She froze as soon she heard the sound. Of course, as soon as she was listening it stopped. Slowly, Lacey applied the lotion to her legs as though how quickly she progressed through her routine affected the sound on the other side of the door. When she finished with her legs, and nothing happened, she made fun of herself. “It was probably just the wind.”
In the middle of rubbing lotion on her right arm, it happened again. It sounded like someone was moving in the kitchen. This time who or whatever it was didn’t seem to care about how quickly she applied the lotion. A dragging sound was followed by a loud bang.
The first thing she did was lock the bathroom door. Then she used speed dial on her phone to call Paul. He was a police officer. He’d know what to do.
“What’s up?” His voice blared through the speaker.
“Shhh, don’t talk so loud,” Lacey whispered.
His voice changed from friendly to concerned. “What’s going on over there?”
“Does this house have ghosts or anything like that?”
“No, why?”
“Either the house is haunted, or someone is in the kitchen.”
“Where are you?”
“Hiding in the bathroom,” she answered and realized her small towel was not a sufficient cover-up. Lacey pinned the phone to her shoulder and slid into her pajama bottoms and a tank top.
“I’ll be right over.” she heard him tell Gracie that he needed to check on something at the house. Then she heard him tell her that it might be a good idea if she went along. Fearing the ghost or intruder would hear him too, Lacey lowered the volume on the phone and tried to listen to the background noise when the call suddenly ended.
All was quiet in the house. Thinking it was most likely a ghost, Lacey’s level of concern changed from fear to worry. How was she going to explain to her brother what she heard with no evidence to support it?
She called back her brother. Before he had time to speak, she whispered, “I don’t hear anything anymore. Don’t bother with coming over.”
“It’s too late I’m already here.”
Through the door, she heard the key turn in the lock. Just in case someone was in the house, she remained in the bathroom.
The lights for the kitchen clicked when Paul turned them on. “It’s safe to come out of hiding.”
Through the door, she called out, “Aren’t you going to check the other rooms?”
“You said the ghost was in the kitchen,” Paul answered her question and taunted her at the same time.
Lacey was right to be worried. He’d never let her live this down. She opened the door to the bathroom and went to the living room to explain what happened. Her mouth fell open when she saw Colton standing there beside him.
Colton’s mouth fell agape, and his eyes widened before he quickly averted his attention to Paul.
“I should have told you I brought him along. Sorry about that.”
The horror at Colton seeing her dressed in close to nothing was worse than thinking the house was haunted. Lacey wasn’t a prude. However, she wasn’t comfortable with people outside the family, especially the man who hijacked her thinking processes, seeing her in clothing that covered only a little more than a bathing suit.
She scurried to the bedroom, threw on a hoodie and some sweats, and returned to the living room where her brother and Colton obviously were in the middle of laughing at her expense. Colton’s eyes greeted her with renewed interest.
“I thought I’d bring him along,” Paul explained. “Colton grew up in this house.”
“He did?”
Colton pointed with his head. “Underneath the paint on that part of the frame is notches that’ll tell you how many inches I grew from year to year.”
As soon as he pointed it out, Lacey saw a slight indentation beneath the paint. It wasn’t enough to catch someone’s eye if they weren’t looking, but could easily be discerned by someone who knew what they were looking for.
“He says he has an explanation for your ghost.”
Lacey looked at him with renewed interest. “He does?”
“I do. Follow me.” Colton led them outside. While they walked around to the side, he said, “I like what you’ve done with the house so far.”
Other than clean out the garden, they hadn’t done much for anyone to notice the difference. Still, Lacey said, “Thank you.”
Colton pointed at a tree beside the house. His finger led them on a path up the trunk toward a window in the attic. From where they stood it was cracked less than six inches.
Paul explained the opening. “Gracie must have forgotten to close it. She opened it to let some fresh air in the attic a couple weeks ago.”
“How does that explain the noise I heard in the kitchen?”
“You do have an intruder. Just not the kind that’ll bring you any harm,” Colton explained. “That’s how squirrels get in the house.”
All the worry and fear she had felt over the past hour turned to indignation. “You’re saying a squirrel is in the house with me.”
“I’d say that is a better answer than a ghost,” Paul said.
“How do we get it out?”
“That’s easy enough,” Colton explained. “Since this if the first time you’ve heard the noise, it probably got lost in the house. You close the window and set a live trap.”
“What am I supposed to do when I catch it?”
“Set it free, of course.”
Colton was so confident with his answer Lacey didn’t want to admit that she didn’t know how to set a trap, nor how to set a squirrel free once she caught it. The whole idea gave her the hebejebes.
He must have read something in her reaction, because he added, “How about this. I’ll help you out. I have a trap at the house. When we catch the squirrel, I’ll set it free.”
With the solution to the problem in front of her, the vice grip that had taken hold of Lacey’s head slowly released its grasp. Lacey smiled with the sense of relief that came to her. “You have no idea how much I’d appreciate that.”
In that instant, all the concerns about him asking her out on a date vanished. Who cared if he was the hottest thing she had seen in quite some time and she was not. Colton Hughes became her knight in shining armor, and nothing could dim the growing admiration Lacey held for him.
CHAPTER FIVE
I'll Get Him Back One Day
Lacey sat on the porch and waited for Colton and Paul to return with the trap. While it didn’t seem logical, the thought of being in the house with an animal made her uncomfortable. Maybe it was one too many horror movies. In the quiet of the evening, she related the discomfort with her lack of roots. There she was competing for space in a house that didn’t belong to her in a town she could barely navigate.
To anyone driving through, it was a small town with one grocery store, a main street with shops, and a courthouse. After moving there, it was a complex system with inner workings that made living there easier than a larger city. For instance, in the back of the dress shop, a tailor fixed and fitted clothing for people in the community. Unless someone asked, people didn’t know the owner of the novelty store had connections to get shoes repaired. There were restaurants, but a large portion of the community met for lunch at the senior center where the young gladly connected with the older citizens.
As far as Lacey was concerned, she and the squirrel had a lot in common. Both of them got caught in a house and didn’t know what to do about it.
Paul and Colton returned with a cage that could fit a small animal. Colton pushed on th
e sides with his fingers. “The gaps between the wires are smaller. You figure a squirrel can get into the house with an opening that is the size of a fist. It’ll probably try to go back the way it came in. We’ll place this in the attic with some peanut butter, and we’ll catch you a squirrel in no time.”
Colton and Paul worked together to set the trap. “Do you think we ought to use peanuts with the peanut butter?”
“Only if they’re unsalted?”
“What kind of animal would eat unsalted peanuts?”
“One that doesn’t have a beer to wash it down.”
The affability they shared charmed Lacey. Their conversation lacked the bite of sarcasm she had grown accustomed to hearing in the larger cities. One asked a question or made a suggestion, and the other answered the question or gave a statement of affirmation. The tone set her at ease with both Colton and the situation.
Her brother and Colton worked so well together, Lacey, who began to feel unnecessary, was growing bored with the situation. Her mind drifted towards plans for the evening. Maybe it would be better if she slept on the couch. If she gave the squirrel the freedom to roam around the house, it might feel better about being caught in the trap.
At first, it barely registered that Colton was talking to Lacey when he said, “If you don’t mind my company I can stay a while and see if we can catch him.”
“That might be a good idea,” Paul answered for her. “Do you want me to take you back to the house to get your pickup?”
Both waited for Lacey to approve the suggestion.
“You don’t have to go to so much fuss for me. I appreciate all you’ve done already. I’m sure you need to get up early for work in the morning.”
“Tomorrow is Sunday,” Paul spoke first.
“Who wouldn’t want to spend time without…” Colton paused at Paul’s reaction of interest and picked up where he left off. “I mean it won’t take that much time for the squirrel to get in the trap. I’d be able to take care of it, and you’d have the rest of the weekend to relax.”
“Yeah, I don’t see her sleeping in the house with a squirrel making all kinds of noise once it gets trapped in that cage. They’re cute animals, but they can make quite the sounds when they’re trapped. It’s horrible.”
Just thinking about it made Lacey’s shoulders tighten. “Yes,” she blurted. “If it won’t take that much time. I think it’s a great idea for you to be here.”
“Then let’s skedaddle, and he’ll be back in no time.” Paul tapped Lacey on the shoulder, said, “Make sure to let me know what happens,” and turned to leave.
Colton flashed her a smile that melted all of Lacey’s concerns and left with the parting words of, “I’ll be right back.”
She sighed in contentment as she stood in front of the picture window and watched them pull away. They hadn’t driven out of her field of vision when she heard the door on the trap fall closed.
Lacey prepared herself for a howl or scream. Instead, she heard nothing. It was so quiet she thought she was mistaken. Just in case she remained still in the living room and waited for a sign that the squirrel was in the trap. Sure enough, it came, but not in the way Paul made her believe it would happen. The sound of movement against the trap was all that she heard.
She had the door open before Colton ever reached it. Pointing in the direction of the attic she said, “It’s in there, but it hasn’t started screaming yet.”
She noticed the eyebrows raise and the head turn. Colton was trying to hide that he wanted to laugh. Connecting the dots in the situation, she groaned, “Paul was messing with me?”
“Yeah,” Colton smiled. “But isn’t that what brothers are for.”
The smile erased what little indignation Lacey had mustered against her brother. She silently laughed. “I’ll get him back one day.”
Lacey didn’t agree with Colton’s decision to release the squirrel in the yard. “How do we know he isn’t going to try to come back in the house?” Making sure the window to the attic was closed, Colton explained that releasing the squirrel in the yard was the best option for both the animal and Lacey. “Squirrels are territorial creatures. This one will keep others out of the yard. As for getting back in the house. We’ll use a spray that mimics the urine of a larger animal to keep the squirrel away from the window.”
“It’s that easy?”
“Yes, that easy.”
With his job done, pangs of disappointment poked at Lacey’s heart. She enjoyed spending time with him. Now that he had no reason to stay he’d go home. He placed the cage in the bed of his pickup and to her surprise sat on the top stair of her porch. “Now that we have that taken care of, I have time to get to know you. I’d like to know what brought Lacey Sanders to Three Creeks, Montana.”
She sat beside him and began her story. “Ever since my divorce, Paul has been trying to get me to come here. He thinks I belong closer to family.” She smiled at the protective stance her brother had taken since their parents moved to Arizona.
“He mentioned that you were divorced but didn’t say why.” Colton dug for information.
While she appreciated the sentiment, it didn’t make sense to Lacey. People asked questions to get to know the other person. Experience had taught her that people like to pass tests. So they’ll give the answer they think will bring them approval. The way to gauge a person’s character is to see how they act when they don’t know they’re being watched. He was better off getting to know her when she was with her brother or Gracie in a natural setting.
Regardless, she told Colton what he wanted to know. “My husband was having an affair with somebody at his job. I walked in on them in the middle of a special meeting.” She shuddered with the recollection. “I went through all the emotions. You know anger, resentment, feeling betrayed and what not. But when it came down to the truth of the matter, I got it. While she was unscrupulous and lacked morals, she was the kind of woman any man would have a tough time resisting.”
“So you let him off the hook?” Colton seemed incredulous.
“No, I called his mother and told her what he did and then I got a better attorney than him.” She grinned, “I’m understanding, but not stupid.”
Colton laughed. “I need more friends like you in my life. My ex left me with a mountain of debt that took years to dig my way out of.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be. It taught me to not be as trusting.”
Lacey caught a hint of bitterness in his voice.
Just as quickly as she heard it, Colton tried masking it with an explanation, “I’m sure you know what I mean. They tell you one thing, but then do another.” He turned to face her, “By the way your brother thinks the world of you. He talked about you a lot before you got here. It got to where I was feeling like a horrible brother for not saying as many nice things about my sister.”
“We’re pretty close,” Lacey answered. “He kept me safe when we were growing up. I’m glad to be able to do something kind for him.”
“What do you mean?” Colton asked.
“Helping him with the house. I’m here to help him get ready to sell it.”
“What’ll you do after that?”
“Probably move to Helena,” Lacey mused. Not that she wanted to go. But what else was there to do but to go back and pick up where she left off. This time she was going to do things right. Think about herself more, and worry about what others thought less.
Her answer was greeted with silence. With his attention directed at the stars, Colton said, “I wouldn’t get too comfortable with that idea if I were you. Life has a way of showing us that our plans are simply something to help us face our problems. Usually, the answer comes to us when we’re in the middle of them—and it’s something we’d never thought of on our own.”
CHAPTER SIX
The Date
They were supposed to be on a date. Not that the seating arrangements gave any indication of their relationships. Gracie and Lacey
sat companionably in the back seat of Paul’s king cab pickup. Paul and Colton sat in the front seat and discussed the upcoming rodeo days. Gracie piped in occasionally. Lacey who knew little about the annual event sat in silence and absorbed the information. Midway to the restaurant where they were supposed to have dinner, Gracie said, “It’s quite a distance from where we live, but the food is totally worth it.”
“I wish I took you here for our first date,” Paul said.
“Aw c’mon you know chaperoning the prom was a way better idea,” Gracie beamed. “At first Noelle wasn’t comfortable with having a police officer at the dance. So I told her I’d go along to distract him a little.” She winked at her husband. “Your brother has some moves. He knew the steps to all the dances. It turns out Noelle had nothing to worry about. The kids loved him. As for me--do you know what it’s like competing with an eighteen-year-old girl for attention? And, my daughter of all people.”
Everyone in the car chuckled at the thought. “I fell in love with him then and there.”
“Then why’d you make things so difficult?” Paul asked. Without giving Gracie time to answer, he added. “She wouldn’t go out with me on a date for months after that. It about drove me crazy.”
“I didn’t believe any man would really want to have anything to do with a single mother with a teenage daughter. I was trying to wait until she grew up and then think about giving love another chance.”
“Love is not as complicated as people make it out to be,” Paul answered. “Besides who wants to be attached to someone who isn’t going to be there for the rough seasons?”
“I know, I know.” The warmth in their tone hinted at the number of times Paul reminded Gracie that his interest in her was beyond the superficial.
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