by Sable Hunter
“I did,” Trin said around a big bite of dessert. She routinely saved up calories for weeks to indulge in the delectable food served at Willow Cove. “He looked as delicious as this Godiva cake tastes.”
Marnie licked her lips and looked longingly at the chocolate concoction. “Definitely yummy. Maybe we won’t have to intervene in that romance. You think?”
“We have a few more days to watch them. I want to come back for the 4th Celebration. We’ll step in and do some matchmaking if we need to.” Cody pushed half of her own dessert, molten lava cake, toward Marnie. “Here, eat this. And if you don’t start taking care of yourself and quit starving because you think you’re not good enough for David Greer, I’m going to force you to move out of Natchitoches, Louisiana and down to Baton Rouge with me.”
“I can’t do that, Cody. He needs me.” Marnie didn’t look at either of her partners. Instead, her eyes followed a couple who’d come onto the patio. “Check out that couple being seated to our left. Who is that man? He looks familiar.”
Trinity followed Marnie’s gaze, but Cody persisted. “He needs you? David is taking advantage of you, Marnie. You practically run his business for him—at no pay!”
“No, I just keep his books for him and answer his phone once in a while. He’s not taking advantage of me.” Marnie’s voice wasn’t angry, it was just emphatic. “What I do for David, I do it because I want to.”
“His name is DeQuincy Trahan star of Gumbo Ya Ya,” Trinity whispered. “Now, that’s a man.”
“But watch,” Cody whispered. “She does for him exactly what you do for David and he’s totally oblivious.”
Marnie stiffened at Cody’s observation, but the trio casually, cautiously observed the man and the woman who sat no more than three yards away. “What’s her name, do you remember?” Trinity asked.
“Eden, something,” Marnie murmured.
“Eden Comeaux.” Cody supplied.
As they observed, Marnie tensed because she could see similarities. DeQuincy had immediately began a conversation with another customer who passed by. Eden handed him his water when he felt for it without looking, she ordered for him, picked up his napkin when it fell to the floor, moved over a few inches to block the sun from shining in his eyes and watched him like a hawk to see if he even appeared to need anything.
And the man was completely oblivious to what his companion was doing, it was like he expected it. Perhaps she’d been doing things like these for him for a long time.
Even though Marnie knew she was lying, she protested. “Mine and David’s relationship is nothing like that.”
Neither of the other girls contradicted her, although they looked skeptical. Cody’s cell phone buzzed and Trinity grabbed her hand. “Maybe that’s Morton, telling us we’ve been approved for our loan or maybe it’s about the television interview.” They were doing everything they could to hype their dating service before their grand opening date which was only a few weeks away.
“No, it’s not.” She glanced at the screen, then turned it over in her lap.
“Hunter?” Marnie asked with sympathy.
“Yea.” Cody looked absolutely miserable.
“Why don’t you just tell him the truth?” Trinity put a sympathetic hand on Cody’s arm. “You might be surprised how he reacts.”
“It’s gone on too long. I’m just going to have to end it.” Cody put the phone in her purse as if she was putting distance between herself and the man she was hurting.
“Don’t be crazy,” Trinity argued. “Hunter is an amazing man. If Crocket would talk to me the way that man talks to you, I’d think I’d died and gone to Heaven.”
“How do you know what Hunter says to me?” Cody nailed Trinity with a glare.
“Well, uh, you left your computer open and the message was right there and…he’s so cute and,” she grabbed Cody’s hand, “I didn’t mean to. Forgive me!”
Cody’s face was blank and then she smiled. “He’s handsome. Isn’t he?”
“Yea,” Marnie agreed with a giggle.
“Too handsome for me,” Cody said with a sigh.
“Nonsense. You’re beautiful. You can’t let that idiot who hurt you steal your life.” Trinity persisted. “Talk to Hunter, show him your face, he’ll love it just as much as we do.”
Cody uncharacteristically pushed her hair over her shoulder, exposing the fishhook like scar that went from the corner of her eye to the middle of her cheek. Without the concealing curtain or the sunglasses, the slight abnormality in the shape of her left eye was apparent. She appeared to be considering it, then noticed a woman standing to her right staring at her. When Cody looked up, the stranger grimaced, as if what she saw caused her discomfort. Cody snatched up her sunglasses and put them back on, never saying a word to the rude woman. Facing Trinity, she spoke brusquely, “I’ll tell Hunter the truth when you tell Crockett what happened to you two years ago.”
Trinity jerked backward as if she’d been hit. “I couldn’t. Never. This isn’t the same thing as your situation at all.”
Marnie clinked her fork on the plate. “Hey, our conversation is getting a little heavy to be airing it out in public. Who’s going to want to sign up with a dating service run by three women who have disastrous love lives like ours?”
“True.” Cody sighed. “We need to cool it.”
“Are we doing the right thing?” Trinity asked. “Or are we chasing a dream that will never come true?”
“We’re doing the right thing.” Marnie insisted. “Love exists. It has to and we have to believe it will happen to us.”
“Do you think it will happen for them?” Cody motioned over to Eden and DeQuincy. “Any blind person could see she’s head over heels in love with him.”
“Yea, and he’s acting like he doesn’t even realize she’s alive.” Trinity sighed.
“I know the feeling.” Marnie finally admitted, diving into the cake Cody had passed to her earlier.
“Do we want to work on those two or do you think Jake and Lacy are enough of a project this go-round?”
Finally they got a smile out of Cody. “I think one miracle a trip is enough. After all, we still have our own problems to work through.”
* * *
“Afternoon, Mr. Knight,” Jenny said with an unusually friendly grin when they came walking into Lacy’s office.
“How are you?” Jake said politely in return, clearly not remembering her name.
Jenny got up from her desk and came around the front. “I’m good,” she said with a bounce.
Lacy watched her look Jake up and down, damn near chewing her bottom lip off while she did. Jenny wasn’t that much younger than Lacy, only a couple of years, but there was a maturity gap which was obvious and although she liked having Jenny as her assistant, Lacy wasn’t going to just sit there and let her flirt with Jake right in front of her.
“Jenny,” Lacy said in her somewhat stern work voice. She hated using it, but her mother always told her she had to be firm or people wouldn’t respect her.
“Yeah, boss?” Jenny asked with a giggle as she looked Jake over again.
“Could you go get me the first aid kit, please?”
“What for?”
“Mr. Knight seems to have cut himself.”
“Oh no!” Jenny literally cried out. “How bad?”
“I’m fine.” Jake insisted. He enjoyed having two such beautiful women tend to him, but he was getting a little embarrassed by it.
Jenny finally noticed the napkin wrapped around his hand and she stepped closer to examine him.
“Jenny,” Lacy cut her off. “The first aid kit, please.”
Jenny cut her with her eyes. It was the first time this had ever happened, but it was understandable. Jake Knight wasn’t just some guy and they both knew it. Lacy might be drinking extra weak coffee for the next week or so, but it was worth it to her to stay in Jake’s presence and enjoy this feeling he was giving her.
“You really should’ve gotten tha
t looked at sooner,” Lacy scolded Jake.
“It was fine earlier.” He peeled back the crimson napkin. “It must’ve opened up when you tried to run off on me.”
“When you reached for my arm? Oh, my goodness!” Lacy turned her arm over, examining the sleeve of her shirt for any sign of blood.
Jake watched her, amused, as he took in the semi-disgusted look on her face, her lips pulled back from her teeth, nosed scrunched like the small bunny he’d moved off the fairway last week.
He took her arm in his. “Oh, let me see you fuddy-duddy.” He turned her arm over, meticulously checking for any telltale signs of blood. “There’s nothing there.”
Lacy’s lips settled into a smile, glad not to be covered in blood.
“Oh, don’t look so relieved,” Jake quipped. “It’s only blood.”
Lacy laughed. “I’m just not sure I want your bodily fluids all over my clothes,” Lacy said in return. Right away she knew she’d put her foot in her mouth again, but she didn’t let it get to her, didn’t let it faze her this time. Okay, maybe that wasn’t true, because the more she thought about what she’d just said, the more she liked the idea. Although, it wasn’t on her clothes where she wanted something of Jake’s, but all over her perched rear or her prone tits and she had a different bodily fluid altogether in mind.
“You okay, Lacy?” Jake asked dryly, bringing Lacy back to the moment.
“Fine. Why?”
“You looked like you were off somewhere else in your head, somewhere you were enjoying by the smile on your face.” He teased.
It was then that Lacy felt her response. Her cheeks flushed with heat and her lips involuntarily pulled back in a smile. If only he knew how much she’d been enjoying that brief sojourn into fantasy land, a land where it was just her and Jake, his strong hands on her hips, gripping her tight, driving into her from behind with deep, punishing thrusts before pulling out and painting her back with his hot seed. Yea, she’d been watching Cinemax Late Night. At least the next chance she got to be with a man, she wouldn’t just lie there’ like Stephen had accused her of doing. “Is it hot in here?” Lacy said, loosening the top button of her blouse and stepping toward the window. “Where’s Jenny with that dang first aid kit?”
“I shouldn’t have taken off the duct tape,” Jake confessed, studying the small injury. He had to change his focus from Lacy or he was about to find himself sporting a very visible erection.
“Duct tape?” Lacy couldn’t believe her ears.
“Yeah. I wrapped my hand with duct tape after I cut it.”
“Why in the world would you do a thing like that?”
“I need to get the irrigation trench along the seventh fairway dug out by the end of the day. The pipes are coming tomorrow, so I needed to keep going.”
“Why can’t the crew dig it out?” Lacy didn’t like the idea of Jake being hurt and she sure didn’t like the idea of him hurting himself further by getting it infected.
“They could, but it’s going to be a helluva lot of work so I jumped in to help them. I enjoy working with the men sometimes, getting my hands dirty. The first boss I had when I started working on golf courses was a jerk. He was younger than I am now, but he never lifted a finger to help with anything, he just drove around on his shiny white cart and barked orders. I told myself I’d never be that kind of boss.”
Lacy’s admiration for him just kept growing. “You’re a good man.”
“Found it!” Jenny announced as she came back into Lacy’s office with the white metal box in her hand. She placed it down on Lacy’s desk and opened it, spilling the contents all over the floor.
Jake and Lacy both watched as Jenny made a big show out of bending down to collect the spilled contents of the box.
“Here, let me get it,” Jake said after a moment, stepping on the other side of Jenny and retrieving the items, neatly avoiding any contact with her at all.
Lacy had been watching him to see how Jake reacted to such an overtly sexual come-on and she was surprised to see he’d almost recoiled from it, proving his worth to her even more.
Jenny stood back up, as unaware of the fact that she’d been brushed off by a guy as any twenty-two-year-old girl had ever been. She gave Lacy a look, eyebrows raised, nudging her with an elbow. “My God,” she whispered in her boss’s ear. “He’s even hotter close up.”
Which is why you need to get the hell out of here, you damn panty shield. Lacy thought to herself. Jenny needed to get the hell out of there right now. Lacy was in no mood to share Jake, but she didn’t know how to get rid of Jenny without making it seem like just that, that Lacy was getting rid of her.
Luckily, Jake took care of it for her. “Jenny, sweetheart,” he said as he arranged the contents of the first aid kit on Lacy’s desk. “Lunch got cut a bit short today and once Miss Allen here has me fixed up, I need to get right back to work. Could you go grab me a coffee from downstairs, please?”
“Of course,” Jenny said in a high pitched tone, more than eager to please this man in any way possible.
Jake held the door open for her. “Two creams, one sugar, please.” He shut the door behind her and turned to Lacy. “Sweet girl.”
“Do you ever get used to that?” Lacy asked. She just had to know if he saw it or was blind to the attention of women.
“To what?”
“That,” she said, pointing toward the door with a waving hand. “You’re almost old enough to be her father, for crying out loud.” Well, maybe her older brother. This was getting out of hand, Lacy was just Jake’s co-worker, but here she was getting jealous. “Never mind. I apologize. I’m not sure what I’m talking about right now, it’s been a long day already.”
“Still having trouble with Doc Barnes?”
Lacy busied her hands with the medical supplies on the table, unwrapping a roll of gauze and searching for tape. “Yea, he’s such a…” she paused, searching for just the right word.
“Asshole?”
“Mmmmmm…no, not that.”
“Prick?”
“Closer.”
“Jerk?”
“Mean asshole,” Lacy finally stated. “I know that’s two words, but he’s just so…” she scrunched the gauze in her hand. “You know?”
“Oh, I know. You wanna hear something?”
“Very much so.”
“The Fourth of July party he’s so proud of, the one he says everyone loves. I’ll tell you this, but it stays between you and me.”
“Promise.”
“People are sick of it. Sure, a lot of the members are older, but even they’re sick of it.”
“How do you know?”
“They tell me. See, being the superintendent of a golf course is as much about the relationships you have with the members as it is about growing grass. I can’t go out on the course without someone stopping me to talk. This time of year, the topic is usually the Fourth of July party. Last year I heard plenty about it, I heard a lot of people complaining.”
“You know I’m in charge of this event, right?”
“Of course I do, that’s why I’m telling you.”
Lacy’s ears were open. This was her chance to make an impression on her new clients. “Be specific.”
“They want new stuff, they want it updated. It’s been the same event every year since the place opened. The membership has gotten younger over the years and they want new stuff. Sure, a barbecue and dance are nice, but that doesn’t draw in sponsors, it doesn’t draw in people from the outside and as much as the party is about the members, we’re also running a business here, and this event is the perfect way to draw new clients. They’re tired of the sit down meal in the restaurant, followed by the same tired band playing the same tired songs. The only good thing is the fireworks display. Everyone loves the fireworks. But as I’m sure he made you aware, this is Doc Barnes’ party, you do it his way.”
“Yes, he’s made that perfectly clear.”
“Is this the file for the party?” Jake
said, reaching a hand across the table and snatching up the manila folder. “Shit!” He dropped the folder on the desk and picked it back up with is other hand. “Sorry,” he said, wiping a drop of blood off the folder. “Forgot about the cut.”
Lacy had forgotten also, she’d been listening so intently to what he was saying about the party that she’d forgotten why they’d come up here in the first place.
There was a knock at the door and Jake went to it. He opened the door a sliver and took the coffee mug Jenny had returned with. “Thanks, hon,” he said before closing the door in her face quickly.
“What the hell?” Jenny said incredulously behind the closed door and went to her desk to pout.
Jake took a seat on the light gray loveseat on the other side of the room. “This is your chance to make this event into something people actually look forward to. I’m sure Doc Barnes told you that everyone looks forward to it, but again, I can tell you they don’t. If you want to make a name for yourself here, Lacy, this is your chance.”
“Even if I could come up with something, we both know he’d never agree to it.” Her mind was racing in several directions.
“Convince the mean asshole.” There was something about Jake’s voice that told Lacy there was more going on with him and Doc Barnes than she knew. Well, whatever it was, she was all for outfoxing the ole’ weasel.
She was staring at Jake, considering the possibilities when she realized what was about to happen. She watched in horror as Jake was about to put his bleeding hand on the arm of the couch. “No!” she hollered. “Blood! I mean, don’t bleed on my couch.”
Jake regarded his hand. “Oh yeah, that. I wouldn’t be bleeding still if you’d take care of me like you said you were gonna.”
She gave him a death-stare. “Well, get over here and I will.”
Jake’s blood pressure spiked. Damn, this little girl was feisty. At first she seemed to be tripping over her words, fumbling around like most women did in his presence, but a sudden flash of confidence had come through in her voice and he liked it.
He offered her a smile. “Yes, ma’am.” He walked over to her at the desk.