“You and me at church. Nice isn’t it? We must do this more often Miss Lacy.” The older man winked and tapped his cane.
“Yes indeed we should.”
“I hear you’ve been missing church Miss Lacy?” Came the deep voice from over her shoulder. She turned.
“How unfortunate because it does one good to see you in a skirt rather than a raincoat with hay in your hair.”
Lacy didn’t quite know how to take that, but forced herself to smile. Why was it that he could still make her blush?
“Gannon and I going out to lunch. You ladies want to come along?”
“Oh, I don’t know. We have plans.” She answered instantly.
At just that moment Allison joined them. “Did I hear you just ask us to lunch, Thad?”
“You sure did. It’s good to see you Al. You’ve grown up.”
Allison smiled and ignored his wink. She was used to good looking guys with their puffed up words.
“Sure we’ll go. We haven’t sat at the table together for a long time. If I remember right, ever since that last picnic at our house when you dumped a bucket of ice down my back just to hear me scream.” Al reminded him. “What was I? Ten years old?”
“That scream could be heard in the next county and we boys did enjoy hearing you howl.” He laughed.
“Well, all of that is past now isn’t it?” Allison shot back to the famous Hollywood soap star.
Lacy laughed. Her sister feared no one.
“Come on, I’ll drive us.” Thad motioned for them to follow. “I’ll bring you back to your car later.”
“Deal.” Allison was in. She never turned down an invitation to be with people. Lacy wished she were more like that, and also wished she’d have brought a change of clothes. She had to suffer this white blouse through lunch, hoping not to ruin it before the day was over. It was expensive. And her with a penchant for spilling things. Not good. Oh well, she had no choice.
“Come on Gannon, let’s get these girls something to eat.” He garnered his grandfather who was flirting with Mrs. Anderson, a widow.
“Let’s do dinner one night Mrs. Anderson.” Thad heard his grandfather say.
“I would like that, Mr. Gannon.”
“It’s a date then.”
Lacy had the sudden urge to weep. Gannon was more like himself than she’d seen him in years. Perhaps she had been wrong to keep him holed up safely in his house alone and should have suggested they both come to church and go out for dinner more often.
Instead she had found herself housebound and making sure gardens were weeded and harvested and meals served, baths run and bills paid. Nothing wrong with that, but Al was showing her there was more out of life than responsibilities.
There were people. People who needed friendships, visits, outings. And she was one of them.
Chapter 8
All had dinner at a fine restaurant in Benson, thanks to Thad. Gannon was himself again, Lacy noted and smiled. Thad and Al had bantered word games over the table while waiting for their food, one outdoing the other with stories of their experiences. Some of Al’s, Lacy had never heard. She spent most of the time wondering where she’d been while her little sister was growing up.
“Hey Lace, you’re awful quiet over there. We’ve been telling our stories. Your turn.” Thad tossed across the table.
All eyes on her, Lacy felt her face flush and was glad when the waiter came with fresh water for their glasses.
“Oh what stories could I possibly tell that would be more interesting than you guys’.” She faked a laugh. “Gannon and me, we’re holding down the fort while you all go out and win the war.” She laughed again.
“Yeah, I’ve been marching to her orders ever since you left, Thad.” Gannon laughed.
Lacy felt a stab of hurt. Was she really like that? Ordering him around? She stared at her plate and picked up her glass. Dinner was delivered just in time.
The easy talk became quieter as each ate and enjoyed the food.
“Best dinner I’ve had in a long time.” Gannon said. “I can actually taste it.”
“That’s because you’re out and about.” Allison laughed. “And you’re with good company.” She raised her water glass to Gannon.
“Think I’m going to call on Mrs. Anderson, bring her here.”
“Good idea, Pops!” Thad saluted his grandfather.
Lacy dug into her meal and tried to forget Gannon’s comment and the fact that people were staring. Thad insisted they buy the priciest meals and she did. Steak and lobster, her favorite. Since her parents died there was no reason to celebrate. Birthdays came and went but the farm work never left. Perhaps Al was right. She should consider selling. Maybe even for Gannon’s sake. He looked happier than she’d seen him in years. And maybe Mrs. Anderson was just what he needed. She made it a point, between delectable bites to make sure the two of them got together after Thad left.
“What’re you smiling about over there Miss Lacy?"
“This is really good, Thad. Really good.”
“Eat up, that’s why we came here.” He lifted his glass to her.
For once she felt lovely.
As they stood to leave several people waltzed up to Thad and asked for a photo and if he wouldn’t mind, his signature on anything they had available. Lacy watched two beautiful women sidle up next to him and saw his big smile. But as soon as the photos were taken, he hooked his grandfather’s elbow and headed out the door.
She had forgotten he was a Hollywood television star.
* * *
“Lace would you put the popcorn in the microwave. I’ll take a quick shower and we can watch the movie.”
“Sure!” Lacy headed for her room and washed up then put her pj’s on for another movie night. Her heart was actually racing like the time she was ten years old and anticipated going to the ancient outdoor drive-in with the huge movie screen.
That done, she set up the DVD to play and got the popcorn bags ready. They had taken a long walk in Al’s new neighborhood that was located outside Marston by about six miles in a beautiful country setting. The condo pool was huge and set at the north end of the property, not in the middle so everyone would be looking at bathers out their windows. She loved the tree wall of new pines, which soon would be large enough to enclose the pool on one end. There were oaks that provided shade and a few picnic tables and large bathhouses with changing rooms. Outdoor badminton and volleyball courts were far enough away so that pool-goers could enjoy the quiet and take a nap in the sun.
They followed the footpath into the woods that ran alongside the property line, benches placed strategically so folks could sit down under shade.
“Al, I love this place.” Lacy sighed.
“You could come live with me.” Al invited.
Lacy laughed. “Are you kidding? You’re twenty-one and moving out on your own. You don’t need your big sister moving in with you.”
“Hey, do I detect a bit of cynicism?”
“No…I mean it. You are right to make your own way. You’ve been doing it all along, I just didn’t realize how grown up you’ve become, Al. I’m happy for you. I really am. There’s so much more for you to see and do.”
“I’d like to travel. Go someplace in Europe.”
“Really? Any place special?”
“Ummmm…maybe Italy, Spain. I don’t know yet. But my friends say I should go.”
“You should.” Lacy said firmly. “And the sooner the better. Then you can tell me all about it.” She noticed her sister didn’t say anything and glanced at her. “What’re you thinking? You have that look again.”
“I was thinking maybe you and I could go.”
“Overseas?”
“Yeah, it’s not like we’re moving to Iceland or anything. It’s a seven-hour flight to London.”
“Really? Seven hours? That’s not so bad. But then I’ve never been on a plane except once.”
“Really, when was that? I don’t think I knew about it did I?”
“No, you were away at college. I had to fly to Minneapolis and pick up Dad’s war medals. They wanted to hand them to a family member, not mail them. Dad paid and I went.”
“Wow…there’s something I didn’t know about you.”
* * *
“Press the button on the microwave. We need to get that movie started. It’s five hours long and it’s already seven.” Allison called out, combing the tangles out of her long hair as she came fresh from the shower.
“Yeah and you’ve got work tomorrow. Plus you have to take me home before you go. Maybe we should skip the movie and get me home tonight so you don’t have to get up so early.”
“Press the button. We’re watching the movie. I don’t mind getting up early. I always do anyway from living on the farm. I declare Dad and Mom woke with the chickens. Literally. I mean how could a girl sleep with all that noise and the smell of coffee and bacon in the kitchen?”
“Neither one of us can sleep past six can we? Even on our days off.”
“Right. Popcorn’s done. Pick your seat. I’ll get it. You want water or Coke? That’s all we have.”
“Coke.”
“Good. Me, too…just like at the movies.”
Lacy curled up on the opposite end of the sofa and thought about the time her mother talked about when she was a little girl in the early 1950s; how she ate popcorn in the back of the old station wagon in her princess pajamas watching The Shaggy Dog with the wired box crackling in the car window.
Funny how experiencing the simple things in life could bring up the past so easily.
Chapter 9
Monday morning Lacy was up and showered and glad to trade that skirt and fancy blouse for her jeans. Allison suggested they eat breakfast at the small café in the condo unit before she dropped her sister off at home.
“Al, I just want you to know that I’m very happy for you. That you are stepping out and managing your life so well. I was awake a lot last night thinking about the farm and what we should do with it.”
“Do you mean you’d consider selling, Lace?”
“I’ll just say I’d be more open to thinking about it.”
“Good. That farm is wearing you out and now that Thad is in the picture, I think you need to march right over there and tell him that you’ll be happy to care of Gannon but you’ll need to be paid for your time.”
“I could never do that, Al. Gosh, Gannon feels bad enough already. That would just make him feel worse, knowing his grandson was weighed down with it.”
“Oh, so you can be weighed down, a neighbor mind you, not a relative, and it’s okay?”
“You make it sound so awful. I know I complain a lot but I take seriously the verse to love your neighbor as yourself.”
“I know you do.” Allison softened her words. “I just want to make sure it’s because you want to from the heart, you know. Not just from a sense of duty.”
“I do want to.”
“That’s good, then you keep on taking meals and such, but ask Thad to get a gardener and a house cleaner. You can pay his bills, do his banking and cook. That’s good isn’t it?”
Lacy looked down at her plate for a moment before answering. “You’re right. I know it. I just don’t know how to approach Thad, how to talk to him. You know I’m bad at asking for help.”
Allison laughed. “I do know that! Duh! You never ask for help for yourself, you just give it to other people. Nothing wrong with that Lace, but you just can’t do it for everyone all the time. You’ll wear yourself out. And besides what about your writing? Have you thought of getting married, having a family?”
“Haven’t had much to think about it I guess.” She forked a big bite of scrambled eggs, mostly to keep from talking. She had no answers and hated being questioned about why she did things the way she did. She just did what was needed.
“That’s my point exactly. Thad will be here for three weeks. He’s on break, between filming so take advantage of that time. Do some stuff at home that you’d like to do, write some more, anything. Take a break okay?”
“I will.”
“Good, because I’m going to need you to help me move.”
Lacy looked up and knew her sister was being facetious and they laughed out loud.
“Just checking to see if you were listening. The crew at work will be coming out next weekend. So you can bake us some of your wonderful zucchini bread and feed us lunch, okay?”
“Of course.” She stabbed a piece of sausage. For some odd reason, she was energized from somewhere deep inside. There was a light at the end of the dark tunnel she’d been in these last few months. “Come on, finish up. You’ll be late for work.”
“Don’t worry I called a favor in this morning. I don’t have to be in until noon.”
“Really? Good, let’s head home so you can pick the stuff from mom and dad that you want. I can clean it up so when you come this weekend…”
“Okay, let’s do that.” Allison scooted her chair back. “We’ll go through some things and that way you’ll have some extra space in my bedroom, in case you want a visitor or something.”
“Visitor? Who in the world would I invite?” Lacy laughed as they made their way to Al’s car.
By the time 11:00 arrived the two had cleaned out Allison’s bedroom, taken things to the garage and packed a few boxes in Al’s trunk.
“This’ll get you started. Most of all, though, I want you to take the stuff you like from mom and dad…you’ll need it around your place.”
“Sure, Lace. I’ll take a few things but I won’t need much to remind me about mama and daddy.”
Lacy patted her sister on the back and ran down the stairs and put on the teapot. This was harder than she thought it was going to be. Allison was really leaving.
A few minutes later Allison was running down the stairs, “Oh my gosh, look at the time. I’d better be on my way. I’ll be back tomorrow.” She hollered as she ran out the back door.
* * *
The old black phone wrangled loudly. It was the original phone put in back in the 1950s and Lacy loved it. Today it interrupted her when she didn’t feel like talking to anyone. But, as always, she could never let it ring, in case Al or Gannon might need her.
“Lacy’s Lane.” She answered.
“You still answer the phone the way your parents did.” Came Thad’s masculine voice over the line.
What was she supposed to say to that? She didn’t even realize it half the time.
“It takes me back to when I used to call you and Al out to play baseball in the field.”
“Yeah, that was something wasn’t it? Seems like eons ago.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Would you have time to meet with me for lunch? I have some things I’d like to discuss with you.”
“What kinds of things?” Lacy could have bit her tongue off. She never could think before she spoke.
“It’s about Gannon and me.”
Well that doesn’t tell me much. “What time?”
“Late lunch. We just finished breakfast.” Gannon said.
“Good. Because Al and I did too.”
“Two o’clock then. I’ll pick you up.”
And just like in the old days, Thaddeus Gannon was gone. He never said goodbye or so long. He just hung up when he was done talking.
“Darn. I had other plans.” She said to the air, then began to wonder what he wanted. Maybe he was unhappy with the work she had done at Gannon’s place. Stop thinking like that Lacy Linden. She forced the negative thoughts from her mind and made a huge batch of zucchini bread in those small tins, let them cool, then wrapped them and froze them for later. She left two out for the Gannons, went upstairs, pulled off all the curtains from Al’s windows and threw them in the washer. She was headed back upstairs when she heard knocking.
“Oh dear. I forgot to look at the clock.” It was Thad.
“Sorry. Come in. I’ll change and be back down in a few minutes. Sorry.” She noticed
the elder Gannon had not come along. Instantly her mind started thinking up things. Tossing off her shirt she washed up quickly and threw on an old pair of beige capris and an orange sleeveless top and slipped into the strappy shoes, mostly because she didn’t have time to wrangle another pair out of her messy closet.
A quick stop to haul her heavy hair up again to get it out of the way and she was ready. She slowed her walk and came down the stairs to find Thad talking on her kitchen phone quietly.
When she walked in he hung up hurriedly and explained, “I left you a twenty on the dining room table. Had to make a long distance call.”
“Twenty?” I wasn’t gone long enough for you to wrack up that kind of bill. A ten will be fine.”
“Might need to use your phone again. She wouldn’t have answered my cell number. I had to call from a different number.” He shrugged.
Lacy noticed his bright happy face was now more serious.
“Hope it wasn’t bad news.”
“Nope, just girlfriend problems.”
“Ah, those.” She smiled. “Come on, let’s go eat. I’m starved.
“Good idea.” He opened the door and let her pass.
Lacy was unused to his gentlemanly behavior. She slipped past him and before she could get around the car he opened her door.
She slid into the leather seats. Nothing but the best for Thaddeus Galen Gannon, actor and star of the television daytime soap, Malibu Mansion, about the lives of an upper crust English family with a hint of royalty in their blood. Lacy had watched it a few times when Thad first came on. His character, Nick Morgan, was the arrogant eldest son of the father whose bloodline was directly in line with Queen Victoria’s, even if through the relationship of second or third cousin, twice removed.
Allison had kept her up on the episodes. She didn’t have time and besides, seeing him brought back old memories. Good ones and bad ones she didn’t want to think about.
Chapter 10
“Thanks for coming today, Lace. I’ve got a proposal for you.” Thad stuck his arm out of the open window as he drove.
“Oh no thanks, I plan to stay single.” She shot back surprised the words had come so easily.
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