by G S Binkley
“Haywee… stop that… now.” Sammy frowned. He loved his sister but she could be a bit of a pest at times.
The little girl loved to grab his hair and pull it. First, she would twist it in her little fingers for a bit and then yank. When Lacy untangled her fingers from his hair, Sammy used his fingers to comb his hair in place. He was a neat little boy.
“Can you move her?” Dani asked politely. “I can’t set this down with her there.”
Gage pulled the little monkey-like Hayley back so Dani could place the tray on the bed. I don’t think this is such a good idea but……
“Honey. This is very nice of you and Derek.” Lacy gave a quick wink to Stella. “Did you do this all by yourselves?”
Derek answered for his sister. “Stella helped but it was my idea.”
“Derek!” Dani glared at him.
“Well, it was. It was my idea after you told me about it.” He declared with all the innocence of a very young altar boy.
When everything was set, Lacy and Gage started to feed the two youngest kids. “Have you two eaten?”
“Yep… well, enjoy!” Dani smiled sweetly.
“Come on now…it’s off to school.” Stella directed the pair out the door.
After Stella and the kids left, Gage asked before she stuck a piece of bacon in her mouth. “How did we rate?”
“Dani wants to go to a party Friday night.” Lacy gave Sammy a drink of juice.
Gage nearly coughed it out. “Party?”
Hayley immediately grabbed for the slightly exposed piece of bacon.
*************************
After Stella dropped the kids off at school, she picked up Lynn Lewis and drove to the doctor’s office. They were flipping through a couple of magazines as Stella nervously waited for the results of her tests.
Noticing that Stella was anxious, Lynn patted her arm. “Don’t worry. Like I always say… don’t waste good worry time when we don’t know anything for sure.”
Stella let out an edgy laugh. “Thought I’d get an early start.”
Wanting to take her friend’s mind off the impending test results, Lynn changed the subject. “Did Lacy tell you that the boys have started on that movie complex they are building for Gage?”
“Oh, no. I didn’t even know they were back from their honeymoons.” Stella allowed a brief happy memory to pass through her mind before it was replaced with a sad one. The double wedding of Hank and Jen along with Lisa and Jason was held in the Lewis’ backyard garden. Realizing this was the same place where her daughter and Lacy were married caused the sad memory to surface knowing she had missed one more important day in the life of her daughter.
“Yes, they are. For a couple of weeks now.” Lynn grinned. Being not only best friends as well as competitors, Hank and Jason tried to outdo each other by having the best and longest honeymoon. The fierce competition would have been non-stop until Lisa and Jen stepped in, each getting the honeymoons of their choice. “They just started on the plans. Hank says it will take a while to finish. But, I know my boys they’ll do a good job for Gage.”
Stella concurred. She liked all of Lacy’s family and was welcomed eagerly. “I’m sure they will. It was a very nice wedding. Thanks for inviting me. And for coming with me today.”
“Nonsense.” Lynn scrunched her eyes at Stella. “You’re part of the family. And those grandkids of ours love you so much.”
Stella cleared her throat. “I hope.. you don’t mind that… me being their grandmother, too.”
Lynn waved a dismissive hand. “Please. Between you and me, I could use the help. Especially now that Hank and Lisa are married. There’ll be a bunch more grandkids on the way….” Lynn gave Stella a sly wink. “..if I have my way about it.”
“Thank you, Lynn. You’ve been so nice to me. And that Lacy of yours… she’s been wonderful. You should be very proud of your daughter.” Stella said.
“And, you… yours.” Lynn added. Seeing a doubt cross her friend’s face, Lynn continued. “Gage is truly amazing. She’s been through so much in her life and…”
Stella interrupted. “Because of me.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Lynn inserted as she twisted fully around to face her friend. “She loves so much. I know… I can see it every time she looks at Lacy or one of the kids. From the little bits and pieces I’ve learned about Gage’s past, I know she’s had a difficult time… but what’s the amazing part is that she has this great capacity to love through all of it. That comes from somewhere. I see that same look in your eyes when you look at her.”
Stella turned away from Lynn’s piercing look.
Lynn gently guided her friend’s face back around. “Stella, I don’t know why you made the decisions you did but I do know this…. you did what you thought was in the best interest of your child. Since I’ve come to know you that much I do know about you. Okay?”
Unshed tears welled in her green eyes threatening to spill over. “Do you think Gage and I will ever be like you and Lacy? My God, what am I saying…. who knows if she’ll ever truly forgive me?”
“She will.” Lynn confirmed with a staunch belief. “Trust me on this one. Lacy will never give up on that.”
When the doctor opened the door to greet her patient, she saw the older woman crying. “Now, now… Mrs. Smith. I can assure you I have only good news for you today.”
Helping Stella up, Lynn smiled. “See. Things are looking up already.”
Chapter Two
“Hayley, come here.” Gage called to her daughter. “See what I have for you.”
Hayley continued to grin at her mom but refused to budge from the side of the coffee table. She alternately scrunched her eyes tightly; closing them then opened them wide to watch Gage tempt her with a toy. Hayley thought it was a game and she was going to win. As Gage held out the plastic baby keys, Hayley spread her tiny fingers toward them.
“Am I going to have to come over there and get you?” Gage pushed up on her knees before she crawled a couple of feet closer to her daughter. Seeing that Hayley would not move, Gage sighed. “Just a couple of steps for me, please. I’m right here to catch you. Here you go.” Gage dangled the alluring keys once again.
Hayley was tempted. And she almost succumbed to the enticing jiggle of the keys. But before she could take one step, Sammy scrambled down from his mother’s arms and ran past Hayley, nabbing the keys in Gage’s grip. He jammed them in his sister’s hand before returning to Gage.
“Hey.” Gage said as Sammy rammed into her. “What was that all about?”
Lacy shook her head at her son’s antics. “I think he’s jealous.” She leaned over and took her daughter’s arms; helping her walk the distance to Gage. Hayley plopped down on Gage’s unoccupied knee as Sammy had reserved the other side for himself.
Looking back and forth between the two, Gage’s eyes finally came to rest on Lacy. “Maybe he does love me.”
Shaking her head once again, Lacy sat across from her partner on the floor. “He always loved you. It’s just that you compared him to Derek. Where Derek took to you immediately, Sammy had both of us from the beginning. And since I breastfed him…..” Lacy abruptly stopped when she saw that lascivious look on her partner’s face.
“Well, when you explain it that way… I can see why he was always hanging around you.”
“Gage Ballant, get your mind out of the gutter…” Lacy winked. “….but keep that thought…. for later.”
A wide grin happily sprung up on Gage’s face. “Any news from abroad….”
“You mean Griff?” Lacy smiled at the inside joke as she pretended Gage said ‘a broad’. “As a matter of fact, I got an email from Shanti. All three of them are off in Venezuela somewhere filming that documentary.”
Seriously, Gage said. “You know, Lacy. I’m not so sure it was a good idea to fund that little venture.” Seeing a concerned eyebrow raise from her partner, Gage continued. “Those three… being representatives of the Unit
ed States. Can you imagine the impression the people of Venezuela will get of Americans?”
“I’m sure Shanti has it all under control.” Lacy pulled her daughter off of Gage’s lap. To her surprise, Sammy remained with Gage.
“Play with me.” He ordered the blonde.
“Oh, okay.” Gage scooted both of them near the very small racecar track spread out across the floor. “Here you go. What color do you want?” Sammy quickly picked the yellow car. “Of course, just like your brother.” She positioned it on the track and placed the remote control in his little hands. As Sammy pushed the button, Gage helped him control the speed of the car around the curves.
Excited, Sammy pulled harder on the trigger. “See.” He pointed as the racecar zoomed along the straightaway heading to the ninety-degree turn. “Faster.”
“Hold on there, Sammy. Wait.” She tried to get him to let up on the trigger but to no avail. “No.” She yelled as the little yellow car flew off the track.
Sammy mimicked his brother by jacking his arm in the air. “Yes.”
“Lacy, you’re closer.” Gage nodded toward the wayward car.
But it was Hayley that crawled faster and retrieved the car before her mother did. She quickly stuffed it in her mouth.
Sammy jumped up from between Gage’s legs and stomped to his sister. “Gimme that.” He tried to get it from her but she wiggled and fled to Lacy in hopes of finding sanctuary.
“Okay. That’s enough.” Lacy took the car and tossed it to Gage. “You two can play together…. and I mean together … nicely with the building blocks.”
Sammy pouted. “Wanna play with Gage.”
Recognizing the frown on her mother’s face, Hayley’s jibber sounded like an ‘uh oh’.
“Uh oh is right.” Lacy nodded at her daughter. To make amends with her mother, Hayley leaned her forehead in and bumped it against her mother’s temple.
“Hayley, give me a kiss, too.” Gage called. When Lacy handed her daughter to Gage, the little girl duplicated the action. “Don’t you just love it… the way she kisses?”
“Me, me.” Sammy begged as his sister watched Gage closely. He ran to Gage but stumbled over part of the racetrack. Upon landing on the blonde, he hurriedly bounced forward and with a thump hit Gage’s head with his own.
Rubbing her head lightly, she reached up with her other hand to the red spot on his temple and gently soothed it. “Wow. That was sure some kiss there, Sammy.”
Lacy first grabbed her son and checked his forehead then sat him down near the building blocks. “Sammy, I want you to play with your sister while I talk to Gage. Okay?”
Always willing to do as his mother wanted especially when it came to playing, Sammy nodded his head. Soon Lacy placed Hayley next to him and piled several colored blocks in front of her. “Now, be good.”
Gage sat up against the couch before Lacy crawled between her legs. As Gage wrapped her arms around Lacy, she placed several wispy kisses along her lover’s neck. “Mmmmm… I love you.”
“I’m counting on it.” Lacy said off-handedly.
Gage cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing… just that I love you… we all do.” Lacy quickly averted away from the subject that was on her mind. They had been together for nearly five years and Lacy was becoming more and more determined to break through Gage’s emotional armored wall. She was counting on the love that Gage professed to be eternal. Instinctively, Lacy knew that in order to penetrate the years of emotional layers that Gage had constructed it would take all of their love and more. “What did Mark have to say on the phone?”
Gage knew Lacy was avoiding what she figured would be a very serious talk. “Julie and the kids are doing great. We decided to go ahead and combine Julie’s production company with ours. The Primrose name will still be viable and Julie will put out films under her production company. And Ryan and Mark are doing the pre-production for ‘Heart of Africa’.” Gage gently ran a finger up and down Lacy’s arm. “Will you do that part of Marta in the movie? It’s only about three minutes on film but I sorta promised them I’d snag an Oscar winner to help with the film’s success.”
Lacy twisted around in Gage’s arm. “What do I get out of it? I don’t need the money.”
Gage ducked in to nuzzle her hungry lips against Lacy’s neck near her left earlobe. “A night of unbridled lust-filled exquisite love-making.”
“Oh, Koda’s back in town?” Lacy teased.
Still nuzzled against her partner’s neck, Gage growled. “He wishes. No, my dear, you get me and believe me….. you won’t want anyone else after I’m through with you.”
Lacy grasped her lover’s face between her hands. “There could never be anyone else for me… and you know it.”
Their attention was diverted momentarily when Sammy squealed. “Haywee! Quit it!” He swatted at her pesky hand. Sammy was now perfectly capable of saying his sister’s name properly; however, it became a habit to continue calling her what Derek had taught him. Lacy figured he would correct it when he was ready.
Hayley had crawled up her brother and the little blonde was tugging away at Sammy’s light brown hair for all she was worth. It only lasted a second longer until Lacy shot her daughter a disapproving look. “Hayley… honey. Why don’t you play with your blocks?”
Hayley dropped back down next to her brother. Having been scolded by her mother, she was not a happy camper but that only lasted a second. She crawled back to Sammy and gently bumped her head to his head then grinned.
Seeing that her children made amends with each other and now were playing together happily, Lacy returned her attention to Gage. “This is the life, isn’t it?”
Squeezing her lover, Gage agreed. “But what about your career? You’ve got scores of movie offers now.”
Relaxing in her lover’s arms, Lacy sighed. “I know. It seems like that doesn’t matter anymore. Oh, don’t get me wrong - I love to act. I really do. But this… with you….” Lacy held tight to Gage’s arms that were wrapped around her and nodded toward her two youngest children. “…them and the other two at school. Well, who could ask for more?”
Gage agreed wholeheartedly. And that’s why I want to make sure nothing ever happens to change all of this. “Lacy? You know, since they never did catch that guy who… ran us off the road.” She expelled a heavy sigh. “I think we really need to consider getting a bodyguard.”
Lacy’s eyes fell shut. “I know.” Even as haunting thoughts of her children being kidnapped nagged at her constantly, she didn’t want their peaceful life intruded upon by a stranger who would constantly remind her of the danger to her children. “We don’t know for sure if it was someone out to intentionally hurt us or… get to the kids.”
Gage knew she would have to be the voice of reason. “After the accident, well, you hit your head and it took a while but even you admit that the man in the black sports car bore a strong resemblance to that Jim guy that…” The next words were devastating for Gage to say, let alone admit. “..I hired to work here.”
“I don’t know for sure… it’s possible.”
The blonde leaned in for a quick peck on Lacy’s cheek. Gage knew Lacy struggled with the bombarding thoughts of her children coming into harm’s way. St. Troy was not a small town but for a larger city it was rather peaceful and gave a sense of tranquility for all its residents. “Okay. We’ll talk about this again.”
Holding even tighter to her lover’s arms, Lacy agreed. “I know.” Once Lacy had remembered bits and pieces of the accident and told Gage about the resemblance of the driver to the gardener Gage hired, the blonde informed the police. The investigation revealed no one by the name of Jim Smith and Steve at the garden place offered little information to help the police. The partial license plate revealed a California tag and that was the extent of it. This mystery would dog Lacy and Gage’s every thought until resolved.
In the meantime, Gage recognized that glint in her daughter’s eyes as s
he glared at her brother’s light brown locks again. “Hayley! Don’t you dare!” The sound of her mom’s voice stopped her in her tracks.
***********************
Gage had successfully expelled Hayley from their bed and placed her in her crib. Stealthy, Gage pushed the crib through the connecting door to Hayley’s baby room. She then jumped on the bed. “Finally! I’ve got you to myself.”
As her lover snuggled up against her, Lacy asked. “Can we talk?”
Popping her blonde head up and seeing the serious look on her partner’s face, Gage readily agreed. “Absolutely. Whatever you want.”
What I want you’re not ready to give. Lacy mentally touched on the forbidden subject she craved to discover. Through the years Gage conversationally revealed little nuggets of truth that proffered more questions than answers. She poignantly caught her lover’s caring green eyes with an intense look. “One day you’re going to have to face that past of yours and I want to be there with you.”
Her eyelids slammed shut as Gage sucked in a deep disturbed breath. “I know. I love you for being so patient with me, Lacy. I’m glad I have you now and…”
“You’re stuck with me.” Lacy finished. “For eternity.”
Gage placed a sweet and gentle kiss on her lover’s lips. “You are too good to me.”
Shaking her head, a very vivid memory lurched to the forefront of her mind. “That’s not true.” Lacy shushed her lover before she could disagree. “Every time I get stressed out or to the point of being on my last nerve, I always end up taking it out on you.”
“Now, that’s not true.”
“I blew up at you on the movie set with Sammy, remember?” Lacy brushed a kiss against her lover’s temple.
“Doesn’t count. You were sick.” Gage snuggled closer. The blonde recalled the incident when Sammy got away from her after seeing his mother during the scene they were shooting and she had to chase after him. If it weren’t for Lacy, Sammy would have been knocked over by the cameraman.