Twice the Trouble

by Sandra Dailey

  Lacey glared at him. “My work doesn’t give me much time for a social life.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. I usually work from sunup to sundown and I travel a lot. My so-called relationships have a short shelf life.” Why had he admitted that? He turned into a parking lot and slipped into a spot near a large, brick building.

  “I hope your business won’t take long here. I want to be home before dark.”

  Exiting the cool car, they met a wall of stifling heat. “It shouldn’t take long.” Alex walked to her side of the car and took her arm. He’d decided what trap would have the most impact. “You have identification with you, I hope.”

  Lacey’s gaze snapped to the Orange County Courthouse sign. Her eyes widened. “Are you planning to have me evicted from my house? If so, you’re in the wrong county. And no matter where you go, you’ll be in for one hell of a fight.”

  “What do I look like, Lacey, some kind of villain? I promise I won’t tie you to any railroad tracks. We’re simply here to apply for our marriage license.”

  “Our what? You’ve got to be kidding!” Lacey tried to pull her arm away, but his grip tightened. “I wouldn’t marry you now if hounds from hell were nipping at my heels.”

  “Maybe you won’t have to.” Alex reasoned. “If you can come up with the money for the property by the end of a month, you’re off the hook. If not, you’ll have to be my wife to keep the place.”

  “That’s all you’re giving me? One month, thirty lousy days?” She tried to pull away from him and failed again. “You know I won’t be able to get that kind of money in that short time. This is extortion, plain and simple. You are a villain, you asshole!”

  “Maybe you’re right. Those railroad tracks are sounding pretty damn good right now.” Alex couldn’t hold back a grin. “You know, you’re really kind of cute when you curse. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you do it.”

  Alex started tugging her toward the courthouse steps, but Lacey dug in her heels and made the task twice as hard.

  “You know this won’t work,” she said. “We don’t even know each other anymore. Why are you doing this to me?”

  Alex stopped and glared down at her. “There was a time when this was all either of us wanted. Do you find the idea of being my wife that repulsive now, Lacey?”

  Lacey straightened and pushed her hair out of her face. “You don’t understand. I have a lot of responsibilities. More than you can imagine. I couldn’t be a good wife for anyone. Dammit, I wouldn’t even know how to be married.”

  The sincere sound in her voice and the pleading look in her eyes made Alex soften slightly. “Does anyone start out knowing how to be married? I don’t think so. They stumble through it together and figure it out.”

  “You’re talking about people who love each other, Alex. That’s not us, not anymore.”

  She looked so sad, it softened him up a little more. It had been a shock, seeing her today, touching her, hearing her voice. This plan wasn’t only about punishing her for the past. He needed time to sort through the myriad of emotions bombarding him. In the meantime, he couldn’t let her slip through his fingers.

  “Here’s the deal. We’ll only see each other on occasional weekends. You’ll live on Indian Lakes and I’ll stay here. Can you handle that in exchange for your precious home? A very large and somewhat expensive piece of property, I might add. It would just be a part-time marriage, but a marriage none the less. I’d expect you to be loyal to me, only me. That’s the deal if you want to keep your home sweet home.”

  Lacey gave a frustrated sigh. “How long would you expect this arrangement to last?”

  Shit, was she already planning the divorce? It seemed she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. His heart hardened right back to the way it had started. “We’ll spend time together until I get bored, which probably won’t take long, but I won’t allow a divorce for thirteen years. I figure that’s how much time you owe me.”

  “I don’t owe you a single second,” Lacey retorted.

  “Do you want the property or not?”

  If Lacey ground her teeth any harder, she’d crack a molar. “The property would belong to me, free and clear, I’d hold the deed to the entire place?”

  “You’d still have to pay the property tax and insurance every year, but yeah. I can have a prenuptial agreement drawn up first thing Monday morning.”

  Lacey looked around and then shook her head. “I don’t know how I’d manage to come here on weekends. My grandfather is watching the place now, but he’s not as strong as he used to be. Besides that, my truck is on its last legs.”

  “You’d only need to be here if I have any kind of social engagement, otherwise, I can come to Indian Lakes. It’d be nice to get away from the city once in a while.”

  “Where would you stay in Indian Lakes?”

  Alex released her. He stepped back and crossed his arms. “With my wife, of course. You’ve got ten seconds to decide if that’s going to be you. If not, you’d better go home and start packing.”

  Lacey made another deep sigh. “Let’s get this over with then.”

  Alex followed his blushing bride up the stone steps.

  At the clerk’s desk, they were given family law booklets to read, how romantic. Then, they were directed to the waiting area.

  Alex sat on hard plastic chair against the wall. Lacey chose a chair three seats away.

  A young woman sitting catty-cornered from Lacey leaned forward to get her attention. “This has got to be the most exciting day of my life,” she said breathlessly. “My fiancé and I took the premarital prep course so we could get married right away. Is that what the two of you did?”

  “No.” Lacey smiled. “I didn’t expect to be here at all, but my ex-boyfriend is blackmailing me, so here I am.”

  Alex listened, but didn’t look up from his booklet. “Lacey, behave,” he said in a bored tone. “Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean you have to spoil it for everyone.”

  The young woman looked confused and a little alarmed, but she quickly recovered when a clerk called her name.

  After forty long minutes, it was Alex and Lacey’s turn to stand at the glass-partitioned counter. A middle-aged woman with half glasses, a pencil in her hair, and a jaded expression pushed a form through a slot under the glass. “Fill this out and return it with both of your picture IDs, please.”

  Alex was amused by the way Lacey blocked his view while she filled out her half of the form. He made a point of reading every word she’d written before completing his half. The questions were generic and nothing he didn’t already know about her.

  “Did the two of you take the premarital preparation course within the last thirty days?” the clerk asked.

  “No,” Alex answered. “We just ran into each other this afternoon.”

  The clerk rolled her eyes, as though she’d heard that line a hundred times before. “It’ll cost ninety-three-fifty, and then you’ll have a three-day waiting period.”

  “Do you really think that’s long enough?” Lacey said. “This is a big step, and I could use a few more months to think about it.”

  “I hear that U-Haul has great local rates.” Alex peeled a hundred dollar bill from his money clip and slid it through the window slot. He turned to Lacey. “You can keep the change. Apply it toward your moving expenses.”

  The ride back to his office building was silent as before, but somehow seemed more so. It wasn’t because he didn’t know what to say. There just didn’t seem to be anything left to say.

  Alex parked in the same choice spot he’d left earlier and shut off the ignition. He walked around to the passenger side and opened Lacey’s door.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” she asked again.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Alex smirked. “Retribution.”

  Alex cringed when Lacey slammed the door of his treasured BMW and strode to the next island in the lot. She stopped beside an older than dirt Ford pickup
with more primer than paint and rust holes along the bottom the size of baseballs.

  Alex rushed to catch up to her. “You can’t be serious,” He looked the truck over.

  “Hey, this happens to be an antique.” Lacey seemed truly offended. “It just needs a little fixing up. I admit it’s not pretty, but what do you expect from a farm truck?”

  “I expect you to be able to make it home without having to add three quarts of oil.”

  “Seriously, Alex, I’ll be fine. I’ve been driving this thing forever.”

  “You, and how many others before you?” Alex pulled a business card from his breast pocket. “Call me when you get home. Just so I know that Old Rusty got you there safely.”

  Lacey snatched the card from his fingers. “Whatever, I really need to get on the road. Granddad is going to be furious that I’m so late.” She turned and opened the creaky driver’s door.

  “What, no kiss good-bye?”

  “Now you’re the one who’s not serious.” Alex spun her around and trapped her against the side of the truck bed. Impulsively, he took her mouth in a deep, bone-melting kiss. He didn’t know why he did it, but he realized that he’d wanted to, since the moment he saw her standing in his office. It was still a natural, primal instinct to press his body to hers and find a way inside. As much as he hated her, his body still craved her. From the desperate little whine she emitted as she leaned close, he suspected Lacey’s body might still remember his as well.

  His hands roamed down her narrow back and pressed her closer. Her smell, her taste, her warmth…were even better than he remembered. He tried to relieve the throbbing tension in his groin by rubbing against her soft belly.

  The feel of his hard length must have brought Lacey to her senses. She pulled away touching her fingers to her lips and looking stunned. “We can’t do this. I’m not ready for this.”

  He’d been foolish to go so far, but Alex was an expert at covering his thoughts and feelings. He grinned and winked before he walked away. “Gotcha.”

  Chapter Three

  “What took you so damned long to get back? It’s nearly dark outside.”

  Clarence Carlyle slowly lifted himself out of the rocking chair in Lacey’s living room. He looked older every day with thin, gray hair, and dull, lifeless eyes. His hands were covered with liver spots and the veins stood out on them. His lined face held a permanent scowl. How long had it been since the man felt the urge to smile?

  “You’re welcome to have supper here tonight, Granddad.”

  “You know I don’t see well enough to drive at night,” he roared. “I suppose, if I ran off into a ditch and died, it wouldn’t be any skin off your nose.”

  Lacey was never sure how to respond when he said things like that. She wondered if her grandfather had any love for her at all. She’d been nothing but a burden and a disappointment to him since her parents died. It was a fact he’d never hidden.

  “At least tell me that your trip wasn’t wasted,” he groused.

  “I spoke to the man who owns the real estate company. He wants to divide this place into two-acre lots and sell it off as ranchettes, but he’s agreed to give me a month to come up with the money to buy the whole place.”

  “It’s too bad you don’t have the money. This’ll be a miserable town if a bunch of city dudes move in trying to act like ranchers.”

  “Are you sure you can’t help me out, Granddad? I’d be guaranteed a loan with your signature.” Lacey hated to beg. Especially when she knew the outcome would be unsuccessful.

  Clarence Carlyle had been the president of Indian Lakes’ only bank for forty years. Everyone knew and respected him. Even though he was an unpleasant sort, you never knew when you might have to make a late payment or need a loan. He still carried a lot of clout in the community.

  “You moved out of my house eight years ago,” he said. “I told you then that this farm was a bad idea. You’re trying to do the work of a man. Nothing good can come from it. Now, maybe you can get a regular job and start acting like a woman. You’re lucky enough the man was willing to talk to you. Why he’d bother, I can’t imagine. Surely he could see that you’re not up for this responsibility.”

  Lacey’s face flamed with temper. “I’ve run this farm for eight years. It’s kept food on the table and a roof overhead.”

  Clarence sauntered to the door with a limp. “You’re going to have to figure this out on your own, girl. I’m too old to keep pulling you out of messes.”

  He didn’t know how badly those words hurt her. He probably wouldn’t care if he did.

  “The man’s looking for a wife,” Lacey informed him. “He says if I marry him, he’ll let me keep the place.”

  Clarence croaked out a dry laugh. “Are you that stupid? He’ll spend a night or two with you, and then be on his way. He’ll leave you out on the street. No self-respecting man would have anything more than that to do with you.”

  “What if the man was Alex Benson?” Lacey countered.

  Clarence stopped in the doorway. He looked more furious than Lacey had ever seen him. “After all I’ve done for you. I can’t believe that you’d speak that man’s name in my presence.”

  Lacey jumped when the screen door slammed behind him. He had a way of making her feel small and dirty. Sometimes she wished he’d let her be taken into foster care after her parents died. Her life would have been so much different now.

  The fatal car accident was the most horrible event of her life, but seventeen-year-old Lacey had taken a small amount of comfort in the fact that her parents died together. They’d been so in love, neither of them would have survived without the other. Sometimes she wished she’d been with them.

  On the evening after the funeral, everyone in town gathered at her grandfather’s house. They all loved John and Lily Carlyle.

  “What a sweet couple,” they all said. “It’s such a shame.”

  Of course there’s always a fly in the ointment. Miss Dell, from the drugstore cosmetics counter, had pulled Lacey aside. “Lacey, honey, you’re a lucky girl. Your grandfather can raise you like a proper lady now. I don’t know what your parents were thinking when they let you work in the fields like a common farmhand.”

  Lacey had been brought up to respect her elders. She made no reply to Miss Dell’s callous comment. She walked out her grandfather’s back door and then broke into a run for the lake. That’s where Alex had found her. She and Alex had known each other all their lives, but that was the first time he’d seen her as a woman.

  “Mom, are you okay?”

  Lacey was startled from her memories. She smiled down at her son and brushed the unruly curls from his forehead. “Yeah, I’m okay. I was just having a moment of nostalgia. Old people tend to do that, you know. Did you get your chores done like I asked you to?”

  “Yes ma’am, for the most part.” Jerrod dug his toe into the dirt and twisted out a divot. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  Lacey raised a brow. She knew the bull was about to leave the barn. “Oh?”

  “Well, yes’m. You see, Granddad says inside chores are a woman’s work and I tend to agree.”

  Lacey rolled her eyes. Clarence Carlyle had struck again. She forced herself to look sincere. “I’ve always thought that was an old-fashioned notion, but if that’s what you really think, we could give it a try.”

  Jerrod’s smile beamed in the moonlight. “Really Mom, do you mean it? No more dishes or dusting and stuff?”

  “Sure,” Lacey shrugged. “I’ll miss working with you, but I think you can take care of this place on your own now. The new fence posts and wire are in the barn for the west side of the pasture. You’ll find the paint in there too. After you lay the new floor on the porch, you’ll need to paint the railing, and then the shutters will have to be done to match. Maybe you should clean out the feed bins first though. You can do that along with mucking out the stalls. If you get a chance to take a break, the dogs need to be bathed and dipped. I want to start y
ou out easy.”

  Jerrod nearly shook with panic. “I’d have to do all that by myself?”

  “Well son.” Lacey smiled. “You are the only man around here and all that stuff is man’s work, according to your granddad. I guess I’ll finally have enough time to teach your sister how to knit and sew. Personally, I’m not looking forward to her cooking, but if you can take it, I guess I can too. She has to learn woman’s work sooner or later.”

  “Not even Granddad can take Jenna’s cooking, and he’ll eat about anything.” Jerrod grimaced. “I’m thinking he may be wrong about this man’s work and woman’s work stuff. Things get done pretty well around here the way they are.”

  “I’ve always thought we made a good team.” Lacey kissed the top of Jerrod’s head and watched him walk back to the house.

  She looked across the lake and waited for her grandfather’s kitchen light to come on before she followed. She did care about the old man, no matter how mean he was. He had taken care of her all those years ago and, besides the kids, he was all the family she had.

  ****

  Seaman Apprentice Alex Benson walked out of the mailroom with two envelopes in his hand. He’d been disappointed so many times, he was afraid to look at them.

  He’d been in the Navy for six months. The first two were spent on basic training, the second two, training for a job as a carrier crewmember. Now that he was aboard ship, his routine was still hectic. No matter how busy he was, though, he still found time to write to Lacey. He wished he could say the same for her. Not once had she answered one of his letters.

  Lacey had been upset with him for going into the Navy. Why couldn’t she understand that he was trying to prepare for their future? College would have been expensive and taken too much time. With the Navy, he’d be trained in a career field within a year and he was already putting away money.

  Aboard ship, he was more homesick for Lacey than he’d been on dry land. Her continued silence caused him to suspect all kinds of crazy things. Could she have lied when she said she loved him? Had she gotten tired of waiting for him already? Could she be seeing someone else?