She shook her head as she said, "So you and your ex are not planning to get back together?"
"That's a big no. That idea was never on the table for either of us. Our big issue was you."
Lacy felt like an idiot, a schoolgirl. She rolled her eyes as she said, "And how did that discussion turn out?"
"In a nutshell? Stephanie didn't like you, not even a little bit."
"But she only saw me for a second, and as I recall, I didn't say a thing."
"That was good enough for her. As it turns out, I like you enough for the both of us, so her vote didn't count."
Lacy could feel her cheeks heating up. "So we're good, you and me?"
Mike raised his brows and stared directly into her eyes. "That depends on your story. Where have you been all day? You don't look sick to me."
Lacy sighed heavily and dropped the back of her head against the cushion. She honestly didn't have the heart to go back to the horrors of Jeremy's story, not so soon, but really had no choice in the matter. Not if she wanted to set things right with Mike. And suddenly, nothing else mattered.
"After I drove away from your apartment," she began. "I somehow found myself in the parking lot of your... "
Lacy paused to correct herself. "Of our church. I went inside, read the bible for a long time, and then I fell asleep."
"You went to church," Mike said, his expression stunned.
She smiled. "It seems I had a few things to square away with the Lord. Once I did that, I was so exhausted, I conked out. I woke up to the sound of someone crying. It was Jeremy Hankins."
"Ah, geeze." Mike rubbed his forehead. "I didn't want to have to bring the Hankins name up tonight, but now that you have, I guess I ought to tell you that the FBI arrested Jeremy's mother this afternoon on kidnapping charges, with more to follow."
Lacy didn't know an arrest had already been made, but had plenty of details to add to Mike's information. She quickly filled him in on the story Jeremy had told.
"What a mess," Mike said when Lacy finished. "I kind of figured Carole had something to do with Candee's death, but never dreamed that she'd involve her own son in the crime. What kind of mother does that?"
Lacy shrugged. "A psychopath?"
"At the very least." He stared down at the floor. "I wonder what will become of Jeremy. Since he's a juvenile, things shouldn't get too rough for him, especially if Brian continues to work with him, but what kind of future can a kid like that hope for? His mother trained him to be a criminal."
"Maybe we can help with that," Lacy said brightly. "Maybe we can visit him while he's locked up, or even take him to church now and then. If he has positive role models surrounding him, he might just turn out all right."
"We, as in us," Mike said thoughtfully. "I like the sound of that."
He leaned over and reached into his jacket pocket. Then he withdrew the gift box Lacy had prepared for him, peeled off the lid to reveal the contents, and said, "What is this fancy, sparkling confection? Your way of one-upping me on marshmallow making?"
"Not exactly."
"Then exactly what."
"I had a plan this morning but it got messed up." She blew out a sigh. "Instead of me, your charming ex-girlfriend gave you my heart, which loses something in translation."
Mike studied her a long moment, then quietly asked, "Is this symbolic for the real thing?"
"Oh, Mike," she said, her own heart overflowing. "I love you, and I think I have for a long, long time. I don't know why I couldn't face up to it before."
His eyes impossibly dark, his voice a couple of notches lower, he softly said, "Come here."
The pizza forgotten, the only thing Lacy hungered for now was a taste of Mike. She crawled across the cushion separating them and threw herself into his open arms.
Mike needed no encouragement. He took Lacy's mouth with his own, branding her with a kiss that was as lusty as it was amorous, a deeply passionate promise of the years ahead of them.
When they finally came up for air, Mike nuzzled the side of Lacy's neck and growled, "I hope you're not planning on having a long engagement."
Her own breath coming in short gasps, she said, "No, definitely not."
"Great. Let's get married tonight."
She laughed. "That sounds like a really good idea, but there are a couple of things we need to do first."
"Like what?"
"Mostly girl stuff, but there is something you have to do before I can become your wife."
"Name it, it's done. I'd do anything for you."
"Really?"
"Really. Anything at all."
"That's good to know." Lacy smiled, the corners of her mouth twitching with just a hint of mirth. "We need to go to Napoleon so you can ask my brother for my hand in marriage. I'll drive."
"Oh, Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me."
Psalm 30:2
The End
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Page forward for the Marshmallow Recipe featured in CINNAMON GIRL
followed by an excerpt from
GHOST OF A CHANCE
Second Chance at Love Series
Book Two
Marshmallow Recipe
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INGREDIENTS
Vegetable Oil, for brushing
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin (3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons)
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS
Step 1: Brush a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with oil. Line with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Brush parchment with oil; set aside.
Step 2: Put granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water into medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook, without stirring, until mixture registers 238 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 9 minutes.
Step 3: Meanwhile, put 3/4 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer; sprinkle with gelatin. Let soften 5 minutes.
Step 4: Attach bowl with gelatin to mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. With mixer on low speed, beat hot syrup into gelatin mixture. Gradually raise speed to high; beat until mixture is very stiff, about 12 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with an offset spatula, Set aside, uncovered, until firm, about 3 hours.
Step 5: Sift 1 cup confectioners' sugar onto a work surface. Unmold marshmallow onto confectioner's sugar; remove parchment. Lightly brush a sharp knife with oil, then cut marshmallow into 2-inch squares. Sift remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar into a small bowl, and roll each marshmallow in the sugar to coat. Marshmallows can be stored in airtight container up to a week.
YIELD: 24 marshmallows
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Page forward and complete your journey
with an excerpt from
GHOST OF A CHANCE
Second Chance at Love Series
Book Two
Excerpt from
Ghost of a Chance
Second Chance at Love Series
Book Two
by
S.J. MacIver
Josh's hands were in Tori's hair, those wispy baby-fine locks slipping through his fingers like raindrops. He shouldn't be doing this, he knew, shouldn't have allowed it to happen the first time, but how could he stop now? Tori was the unattainable, his idea of the perfect mate, a woman far too good for mortal man. Much too good for him.
Then again, he was no longer mortal. In fact, they were both dead. Were the rules different in purgatory or limbo, wherever they were? Maybe there were no guidelines at all with the exception of their angel/guide's crazy ideas of keeping them in line
. What if this moment was all they would have of the afterlife, of each other?
Tori moaned suddenly and shifted her position. Now they were almost face to face, her sweet breath feathering the rim of Josh's ear, the pulse at her throat beating softly against his lips. Nothing else mattered but the feel of Tori here in his arms. He kissed her, gently at first, and then passion overtook him. He kissed her deeply, stroking the hollow of her throat, and imagined what it must be like to make love to her, the epitome of womanhood.
That thought and that alone cooled his ardor and gave him pause. He knew Tori had dated during her college years and that she'd dated off and on as his assistant, but also knew in his heart that she was still pure, an innocent. She'd told him early in their friendship that she intended to wait until she married the presumed father of her children before letting things get too physical, and as far as he knew, she'd kept that vow. If there could be any changing of her mind, it would have to come from her, not him.
Josh released her... and promptly fell off of the couch. As he lay there trying to figure out what was real and what was imaginary, it occurred to him that if the accident hadn't happened, he might never have known the sheer pleasure of simply lying in Tori's arms; would never have felt so completely happy; most of all, would never have realized that Tori Olson truly was a woman worth dying for. And because of that, she was sort of his.
For now.
The following morning when Josh awoke he realized immediately that he was still lying on the floor. As he rose up on one elbow, he saw a few customers were already milling about the store and that Tori was standing in front of the bay window. She appeared to be in some kind of trance as she stared out at the living world. Her hair lay in its usual soft waves, not mussed or flattened in any way, and her skin was the same ivory shade with just a subtle glow around the cheeks. Not bad for a dead woman, he thought with a chuckle.
Ghost of a Chance
Second Chance at Love Series
Book Two
by
S.J. MacIver
~
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Ghost of a Chance
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit S.J. MacIver's eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/SJMacIver
~
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S.J. MacIver, in an unusual twist of order, is a native Californian now living in North Dakota. Between reading and writing, the author enjoys visits to a nearby local wildlife refuge, traveling both near and far, and a married life that has spanned a lifetime.
Table of Contents
Cover
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Marshmallow Recipe
Excerpt from GHOST OF A CHANCE - Second Chance at Love Series, Book 2
Meet S.J. MacIver
Cinnamon Girl Page 17