Page 6 of Ravished By Her

“Mmm,” Lacey said. She didn’t seem to want to be here, and I wondered what the story was.

The upstairs had two bedrooms and a bathroom, all done in garish tones, but the space was cheerful. Once we got it cleared out, I could put down some rugs and a new shower curtain and do my best with the rest. The floors were all beautiful hardwood, which was a blessing. No need to find rugs to cover up stained carpeting.

Lacey hovered behind me and I could feel the annoyance radiating off her like heat.

“Why don’t we talk outside?” I asked when we returned to the downstairs area.

She nodded and followed me out to the porch. I decided to lean on the railing as Lacey leaned against the house.

“Well?” she asked.

“Well, what?”

She looked over at me. “Can you do it?”

I nodded. “Yes. I can. There’s no guarantee that it will sell, but you’ll have a much better chance if it’s cleared out and touched up.”

She nodded and let out a sigh.

“Fuck,” she said, squinting off into the distance as if she was going to cry. She started pacing. Off came the hat again as she raked a hand through her hair.

“Is…everything okay?” I asked and she pivoted, as if just realizing that I was still here.

“Fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’m fine.”

Her hands clenched into fists and then she spread her fingers.

“I have somewhere to be, are you done?” she asked, her tone brusque. Ouch. It was a good thing I wasn’t sensitive.

“Yes, I have everything I need. I’ll send you over the contract with the final numbers in the next hour or so. I can start work as soon as I get the first payment.”

She nodded as if she had barely heard me.

I stood up and put my hand out. “I look forward to working with you.”

Lacey shook my hand and I headed to my car, glancing back once as she leaned on the porch railing and gazed out into the distance as if she was looking for something. As if she didn’t want to be here.

Well, at least we had that in common.

Chapter Three

My mind was reeling from the visit to the house and I had so many ideas already that I went back to the van and got out my computer to type everything out. I also started researching local junk hauling companies and pawn shops and storage units. I knew speed was Lacey’s goal, but I didn’t want her to regret completely clearing out the whole house and getting rid of something that she might want down the road. Once we sorted the junk from the non-junk, we could move the majority of it to a storage unit that she could deal with when she was ready. Not that I really knew anything about grief, but it seemed the most sensible course of action.

I made a bulleted list of my plans and fired it off in another email to Lacey. Today she had seemed…lost. As if she needed someone to come in and help her get a handle on this task. Lucky for her, this was what I was made for.

Lacey sent me back the signed contract and replied that my plan sounded fine and she would have the check for me tomorrow if I was ready to get started.

I couldn’t stop myself from jumping off the bed in the van and doing a little victory dance in the small space. I couldn’t really move as much as I wanted to, but I still put on some music and let myself go.

After I’d danced out my joy at booking the job, I went and knocked on Kai and Sterling’s door to share the news with them.

“Whoa. You look happy,” Sterling said when I walked into the house. I hadn’t changed out of my dress, but I’d thrown on some flats.

Kai whistled at me. “You look fantastic.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Should I be jealous right now?” Sterling asked, turning toward Kai, who’d been arranging her bookshelves.

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