Page 3 of Operation: Unify

“Thanks for warning me. If I’d gone to the cabin office tomorrow and you hadn’t been there, I would’ve freaked. This is just so sudden.”

“I like to prevent all things freak.” Lacy laughed and grabbed a few tees from a drawer.

“How long will you be gone?”

That was a good question. Truthfully, she should be able to go, watch the house of the address Melinda had given her until she found proof something weird was going on, take that to the police and let them do the hard stuff. A week. Tops.

“I’ll be back soon enough. I’m sure. Hopefully between Christmas and New Years if not before.”

“Good. Connor has been putting presents on the sofa in the living room for a week and I’m excited to be included this year. I was hoping you’d be there. I guess I’ll have to put up the tree.”

She wanted to be there too. Hopefully, a week would be enough to convince him that not only had she left, but that she was willingly returning. Then, she could tell him that she’d never stopped loving him. She picked up her wedding ring off her dresser. She still wore it most days. For this trip, she’d leave it home though. He had to feel the separation and seeing that ring would do it.

“I’ll talk to you soon. You can do this, Ferd.”

“Thanks, Lacy. I’ll be praying for you and whoever needs you so urgently.”

“Thank you.” She hung up the phone and bowed her head.

“Lord, I need you to comfort Connor this next week. Let him feel Your presence. Fill him with the assurance that I’ll return and that I want a relationship with him. Help him heal, Lord.”

She checked the temperatures in New Mexico and snorted. They probably thought it was cold there. She’d be fine with her flannel shirts and her leather jacket for cold days, if those happened. At the door, she paused, thinking about Connor and how she should tell him. They’d talked less than twenty minutes before, and she’d told him she wouldn’t be leaving until after the new year started. Things had changed so quickly.

She pressed his image in her phone, and it rang only once before he picked up. “Lacy? What’s up?”

“I just got a call from Melinda, from church. She needs my help for a few days. I’m headed to New Mexico. I’ve already let Ferd know.”

“You called Ferd before me?” His question was like ice water down her back. She’d always called him first. What was wrong with her?

“It wasn’t an intentional slight. I had just finished talking to you when Melinda called. So, I didn’t call you right back. I called Ferd because she is going to be doing my job.”

“If you’re sure she can.”

“I am.” Lacy unlocked her car door from up in her room then headed down to put her bag in the back seat. “Look, I’ll be as fast as I can, but I don’t know when I’ll be returning.”

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”

She desperately wanted to tell him that she loved him. She forgave him for divorcing her and forcing her to live through that pain. She forgave him for making her remain only a friend when she would’ve gladly been so much more. And she was sorry for building the wall of distrust between them because she was hurt.

“I’ll keep in touch.”

He remained silent for a minute. “Good. I want to know you make it there and that everything is okay. I’ll be worried about you. If anything happens, you know you can call me.”

She smiled at the fact that he’d said pretty much what she’d said to Ferd, and it was calming knowing he was there, maybe hours away, but he would answer. “Thanks. I won’t make you worry.”

“Too late for that.” He snorted. “Just do what you need to do and come back here, where you belong.”

Words clogged her throat. This was the man she loved with all her heart. The big teddy bear of a man who was both cuddly and protective. “I will. I promise.”

Chapter Two

Connor headed to his office and unlocked the door. He’d stopped by the upstairs window and noted Lacy’s little red car was already gone. Since she rarely left the ranch, the missing vehicle was obvious. So was the pain in his chest.

She hadn’t sent him a text yet that morning, meaning she was either already in trouble or wasn’t to her destination yet. Where could she be going that would take her all night? He pushed open the office door and headed to his desk. Ordinarily, he wanted it open to welcome anyone in. Now, he wanted to close it, blocking out everyone and all the questions sure to arise. Questions he had no answers for. Questions people would ask him because he knew Lacy best.

Ferd leaned against his doorjamb and tilted her head to the side. “I know you usually ignore me, but never quite that bad. I was sitting right in the living room and even said ‘hello’.” Her brows rose in question.

Ferd looked far too much like him for him to ever deny that she was his half-sister. Even some of her mannerisms were like his, which had been a strange experience. His father’s genesmust have been strong because, to his eyes, she didn’t look at all like Gloria.

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