The intro music had just come to an end when her phone vibrated from an incoming call. As she turned to see who it was, Lacey watched her phone plummet into the toilet. Her connection to reality swayed in the water, and her heart sank with it.
Trying to keep a positive focus she thanked the heavens that she purchased the insurance protection plan. All she had to do was take a trip to the cell phone store in Ashbrook, and she’d have a new cell phone. It was an inconvenience, not a tragedy.
Out of nowhere unstoppable tears leaked out of her eyes. Her attempts to wipe them away proved to be useless. For every tear, she brushed aside two more were right behind it. Knowing there were no witnesses to judge her for her meltdown, Lacey gave in to her sadness. She sobbed for herself. She cried for being stupid enough to love a man who would have an affair with his secretary when his wife worked in the same office. She cried for being stupid enough to think that moving to a small town would be easy. And then she cried because Colton just left. He didn’t try to convince her that their relationship was worth a little grief from her brother. He just left. Then she cried because she didn’t have any chocolate ice cream. When she purged her soul of her sadness, Lacey washed her face and finished painting the bathroom. Because whether or not she liked it—she knew that life goes on.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Places To Go And People To See
After several hours of begging sleep to stay with her for more than a thirty minute burst, relief came with the last one eyed peek at the alarm clock at five in the morning.
Lacey woke in confusion to a loud banging sound. At first, she thought it was just a dream. Then she looked over at the clock. It was 12:40 in the afternoon! The second time she heard the pounding on her front door she recognized the sound as being her brother’s knock. She stumbled down the stairs to the front door. The brightness of the sun almost blinded her when she opened the door.
She stepped away to make room for Paul to come inside the house. He sternly asked, “What is going on?”
“I had a rough week and needed some sleep.” For the life of her, Lacey did not understand, nor care to know why he was angry with her.
“So you don’t answer your phone.”
In light of the previous day’s events, Lacey didn’t have the energy for her brother’s gruff tone. She was miserable because she put his expectations above her happiness. He needed to go away for a day or two. The attitude came out in her voice. “I dropped it in the toilet. Are you happy? I am stuck in the middle of small town Montana disconnected from a world where I could go buy some ice cream at midnight if I wanted.”
Paul took a step back. “You had a rough night too?”
“What do you need?” Yes, she was good and cranky.
“What in the name of all that’s good happened last night?”
“I don’t know,” Lacey threw her hands in the air. “One minute he was talking marriage and I told him that I had to take care of the house for you; and the next minute you’re here mad at me for not picking up my phone. I know I said I’d help you remodel, but I did not sign up for all this other mess. This was supposed to be easy.” Her voice rose toward hysteria with each job she had accomplished, “Paint some walls. Change some curtains. Add some flowers and bushes to make the landscape more appealing. Maybe you should have got someone else to do the job.”
She expected Paul to tell her to settle down. That’s what she would have told herself. Instead, his voice softened with concern. “But I didn’t want anyone else. I wanted you to make a home here in Three Creeks. Look, most siblings don’t get along the way we do. They get jealous of each other, or they’re too busy knocking each other off a high horse. I like you as a person and want you to feel like you’re a part of my family. That’s why I had you move here. I figured if you had a home you’d want to stick around. It wasn’t meant to be a prison.”
It made so much sense Lacey didn’t have a response. So she said, “Oh. Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?”
“I thought it was obvious.”
“Well, I’m feeling kind of stupid right now. I just ruined a perfectly good relationship for a house.”
“Which explains how I ended up trying to convince a drunk Colton that I did not tell you that you couldn’t marry him.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “If it’ll make you feel any better, he isn’t talking to me either.”
“I’m so sorry.” Lacey didn’t know what to do. If she left, things would smooth over between the friends, but then it went against her brother’s will to have family around him. “Things moved so quickly. I almost couldn’t believe that he’d propose after a short amount of time.”
Paul stepped in the house and closed the door behind him. “The best way to explain it is to say that’s how it is with men around here. Once we get an idea in our head, it’s solid. I knew by the way he looked at you that first day at the graduation party, it was a matter of time.”
“Why didn’t you say something to me?” she grumbled. The Colton that left the night prior didn’t seem as hooked as her brother made him out to be. Her rejection of him may have been more than their budding relationship was able to withstand.
“Gracie did.” He waited for her to figure out when the enlightening event supposedly happened.
She tilted her head and focused on the ceiling as though the writing would appear on the wall. Over the many discussions they shared, not once had Gracie mentioned that Colton was in love with her. In fairness, fearing that things were moving too quickly, Lacey never shared the depth of her feelings for him.
“On our double date,” Paul began. When nothing registered, he added, “In the bathroom… I know you talked about more than lipstick color.”
It registered and hindsight altered the memory. When they were on the date, Lacey thought they were trying to keep Colton away from her; when in fact, the three of them were testing the waters. Gracie had said as much when she asked if Lacey liked Colton and wanted to see him again.
Using her newly acquired writing on the wall skill, she saw the future, and it wasn’t very bright. It was more of a dark haze of loneliness. The night prior, Colton never argued. He hadn’t declared his undying love. It only took her saying no, and he accepted it. Her head hurt all over again. If she had known then what she knew now, her response would have been completely different. She’d have asked questions and tested his feelings for her. Yet, she knew she didn’t have to; his actions spoke louder than any answer he’d have given her.
Lacey sighed in resignation to the situation. “It’s a mess. I’m sorry Paul.”
“It’ll blow over soon enough,” Paul chuckled. “I have Colton’s riding mower in my garage. He’ll have to talk to me sooner or later, and we’ll get things fixed.”
Taking in to account her history with men, Lacey figured it would be too late for her. A pint of ice cream was what she needed to help clear her mind. Then she’d figure out how to approach the situation with Colton.
Even though the matter wasn’t fixed to her liking, Paul had made her feel better about what happened. Lacy smiled her thanks to her brother, and said, “I have to go to the store.”
Paul placed his hands on Lacey’s shoulders and pointed her in the direction of the stairs leading to her room. “You. Go get dressed. We have people to see and places to be. Then you can get your ice cream.” When Lacey groaned, he added, “You didn’t think you’d get out of the annual small-town family football showdown. Did you?”
Truth be told, she had forgot about the community game. Lacey never answered her brother’s question, but if she had, her answer would have been, “Yes, I did.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Deja Vu
“You will love it!” She could tell that Paul, in light of the previous night’s events, was trying to convince her that the day would not be as horrible as she felt. “They have tables and booths with crafts. There’s all kinds of food.” When he said, “I know there’s ice cream,” she forced herself to
smile. How could she not love her brother who may have fumbled occasionally but always tried to make things better.
“This is where I met Gracie.”
“I thought you met at a dance.”
“No, that was our first real date. We met at the football game.”
“I’m too tired to play football,” Lacey complained. She just wanted to go off in some corner and eat a vat of chocolate ice cream.
“ It’s a one point for crossing the goal line version of flag football, not the NFL. This is more about getting together with your neighbors and having fun.” Paul parked his pickup at the end of a long row of cars. “C’mon you’ll have fun. And, Colton will be there.”
If she didn’t know better, Lacey would have accused her brother of summoning the man into existence. He appeared from another row of pickups. With another woman. Already?
It made sense Colton would also be there. When you live in a town of fewer than two thousand people, the likelihood of seeing somebody you didn’t want to see was bound to happen. Lacey just wished it was later than sooner. She stiffened her shoulders and prepared herself for the worst. Through her sunglasses, she glared at her brother and said, “That ice cream better be good.”
Paul and Lacey met up with Gracie’s family who had chairs set up at the corner of the football field. Every person, including Paul, wore navy blue t-shirts with black sleeves. Lacey stuck out like a sore thumb in her pink v-neck t-shirt. Twice in one day, she glared at Paul, “You could have told me to wear something different.”
He ignored her anger and continued with the explanation. “This is a process of elimination situation. Each team must have four women and six men. We play for twenty minutes. The team that wins moves on.” With Gracie, her sisters and nieces, and Noelle on the team, Lacey understood why what she wore didn’t matter. The odds of her sitting on the sidelines to watch were very high. She sat down to smooth her ruffled feathers and focused on the intention of the gathering. They were there to have some family fun.
The first teams to play were Paul’s family versus Parker’s Hardware. With the first play, Lacey felt the small-town feel Paul tried to get her to embrace. There were no stars on either team. And, Paul failed to mention the rule that stipulated a woman must touch the ball on every other play. As a result, plays intended to dominate a game were waylaid by a situation like the town librarian zig zagging in a formation that was almost professional to avoid having her flag taken. When she reached the end zone, she reverted back to her normal personality and clapped with delight at making some points for her team. There was no way to know which team was going to win.
Paul’s team won their first game and stayed on the edge of the field to watch the next teams play. It turned out that the second game was the Hughes family vs. the Cahill family. The sight of Colton in knee length loose fitting cargo shorts, his fitted v-neck t-shirt, and Oakley sunglasses set back the progress Lacey had made in trying to forget she had feelings for him. She rose from her chair and said, “I’m going for ice cream.”
Gracie’s mother asked, “Weren’t you just eating some before the game?”
“Yes, and it was so delicious I think I’ll have more.”
She overheard Gracie’s mother say, “Does she know that Nikki’s ice cream shop is at the edge of town?”
With everyone watching the football game, the line for the ice cream was short enough for Lacey to buy it and return to see Colton catch the pass that won the game for his family. He ran to the side and hugged an older woman that had to be related to his mother. “That’s his grandmother,” Gracie came up alongside to answer the questions Lacey kept in her head. She pointed at the woman Lacey saw with Colton in the parking lot—and that’s his sister-in-law Taryn. Lacey recognized the name from the stories he told about his brother’s family. She was glad she kept her first impression of what she thought about Taryn and Colton to herself.
They were so engrossed in their conversation about the Hughes family, neither Lacey nor Gracie saw the football headed in their direction until it knocked Lacey’s ice cream out of her hands. She jumped back more from the quick turn of events than any pain. Luckily the ice cream fell away from, not toward her into a clump of the grass in front of her.
As her eyes perceived a handsome man running towards her a feeling of deja vu came over her. When he was close enough to be heard, he offered a breathy apology. “Sorry about that. My son thinks he’s still the quarterback for the Bobcats.
Lacey had never been so glad to be wearing sunglasses. Otherwise, he’d have seen her eyes pop out of her head. She assured him that she would be fine, but he wouldn’t believe her until she agreed to allow him to buy a replacement bowl of ice cream after the game he was playing. Lacey turned to Gracie who was beside her the whole time and said, “Is that how attractive men introduce themselves in this town.”
Gracie’s eyes followed him onto the field. “No, you seem to have cornered that market.” Her face brightened at something she saw behind Lacey. “Speaking of the devil.” She directed her attention to Colton who was now standing beside Lacey. “How’s your head feeling?”
“It’s better.” He spoke to Lacey, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“I need to go check on something.” Gracie moved faster than Lacey had time to ask her to stick around.
In the absence of her ice cream and cell phone, she didn’t have anything to fiddle with. As a last resort, she stuffed them in her back pocket.
Colton followed suit and shoved his thumbs into his front pockets. “How are you doing?”
Lacey scraped the grass with the front of her sneaker. She said the only thing that didn’t sound needy, angry or lame. “Fine.”
“I was worried when you didn’t respond to my texts.”
She hadn’t received the texts. She didn’t know whether to be happy because he wanted to make peace or concerned because he was severing the ties between them. Her eyes welled with tears. Her sunglasses were the only thing she had to shield them from Colton. If she spoke, he’d know by her voice fine was the last thing she was. Lacey turned her head toward the sun. Maybe gravity had the power to keep her tears in place. When it didn’t work, she turned her back to Colton.
“Hey.” He snatched at her hand and leaned forward to make his face level with hers. “What’s going on? You can talk to me.”
She took a deep breath to control her voice. “I’m okay. Really. I just feel stupid. You were perfect, and I blew it.”
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the forehead. “Aww, baby. You’re just a bad liar. I told you I could handle the truth and you lied to me and then gave the lamest reason for not wanting to get married. I expected we should wait. I’m not ready. You’re ugly. But you’re really going to let your brother come between you and happiness?”
A man’s voice called out to them, “What are you doing to make Lacey cry?”
Colton yelled over his shoulder, “I’m asking her to marry me!”
“That makes sense.” Lacey recognized the voice as belonging to her brother.
“What do you say?” He bent on one knee, reached deep into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a ring. “Lacey Sanders, I am in love with you. The past three months have been the happiest I’ve ever had. In all honesty, I cannot see my future without you in it. I tried last night and failed miserably. I promise to love you for the rest of my life. In front of the entire town of Three Creeks, Montana, I am asking you to marry me. Please, say yes.”
The world in Lacey’s head swirled in the dramatic shift in the situation. She quietly considered his question. If she said yes, would it be to make Colton happy or was it something she wanted for herself? He liked to go out, and she was a homebody. He liked attention, and she was happy blending in with the curtains.
Lacey asked herself if she saw herself happy in twenty years with Colton by her side. The clouds in her head cleared and she knew it wasn’t the ice cream influencing her. Then she felt the warmth tha
t came to her heart whenever she was with him. A vision of the smile they shared that day when they reached for the same fork and their hands touched accompanied the feeling. It matched the one she saw from the man patiently waiting for her answer to his question. She slowly nodded her response.
Colton’s smile grew wider, but he didn’t move. He was waiting for something. Most likely a definitive answer to his question.
Her words finally came back to Lacey and she whispered, “Yes.” Hearing it emboldened her, and she spoke a little louder, “I said yes.”
“You said yes! You’re going to marry me.” Colton jumped up from his kneeling position and pulled Lacey into a hug. He spoke to himself as well as the crowd. “She said yes.”
People around them erupted in hoots and hollers of joy. With steady hands, Colton placed the ring on her finger. When the ring was firmly in place, he took her cheeks into his hands and kissed her so strongly it took Lacey’s breath away.
Paul’s big brother tone of voice pulled them back to reality. “Don’t get too caught up in the kissy kissy smoochy smoochy. We’ve got a game to play.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Need New Socks
Paul waved for Lacey to join him. “C’mon Lace. We’re meeting on the other end of the field.”
“Wait? What teams are playing?”
“It’s us versus the Hughes’ team.”
Did he really think she was going to play against Colton? She wanted the rest of the world to go away and be alone with the man she was going to marry. But things were never that simple with her brother. She’d have to take baby steps to walk away from the situation. “Um, how about I sit this one out? You have enough women on your team.”
Piece of Cake: Small Town Stories Novella #1 Page 5