Page 62 of Eagle

She cut her eyes at me. “I’ll be sure to let you know if he gets out of line. It’s so nice to meet you.”

“Call me Jimmy. Let’s go out back. I need to check the grill.”

We followed Dad through the house and out onto the back porch. Part of it was covered and there was a fan on the ceiling. A rectangle patio table was surrounded by four chairs with cushions. I motioned to one for Lacy then asked, “You want something to drink?”

Dad lifted the grill lid and said, “I’d love a cold one, son.”

Lacy asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No honey, you take a load off,” Dad answered.

“Any diet soda?” she asked as she took her seat.

“Got regular in there, Lacy. Sorry. I don’t tend to watch my calories,” Dad said as he turned the skewers on the grill.

“Just ice water is fine.”

I went inside and made her a glass of ice water, grabbed asoda for me, and a beer for Dad. When I went back outside, Dad had taken a seat at the table with Lacy and they were already chatting.

“I haven’t talked to them in a while,” she said as she reached for the water.

Dad nodded. “That’s a shame. Their loss, I’m sure.”

I asked, “Your folks?” I spent so much time keeping her at arm’s length, I had never asked her about her family. I asked if there was anyone she wanted to call when we first brought them to Georgia, but when she said no, I figured she didn’t want to talk about it and left it at that.

She nodded then sipped her water. “I have an old friend back home but I haven’t talked to her in a long time.”

Dad continued with the questions. “You working anywhere?”

“Destiny’s Desires. Haven’t been there long, though.”

“Probably pulling in more than Eddie,” Dad said with a chuckle.

My jaw clenched. It was wrong for me to care that she worked there, but it bothered me. I didn’t tell her to quit or anything, but I didn’t like it. It wasn’t about her, it was about the men seeing and touching what’s mine. Especially my club brothers.

“I wouldn’t know,” she replied as she glanced at me. “But it’s quick money for sure. I stumbled into it after I left home when I found myself needing cash.”

“You don’t need money now,” I shot out.

Dad raised his brows. “Ain’t nothing wrong with a woman making her own living, son. I admire that, Lacy. Do you enjoy it?”

She shrugged. “I did a lot of pageants and danced when I wasyounger. It sort of reminds me of that, I suppose. Just a typical girl, I guess. I like to play with makeup and dress up.”

Dad nodded, continuing, “I doubt there’s much typical about you, Lacy. You staying at the clubhouse?”

I answered for her. “No. But she should be.”

“You’ll have to excuse my son, Lacy,” Dad said as he shot me a dirty look. “He isn’t used to a real woman.”

She laughed as I thrummed my fingers on the table. She definitely brought out a different side of me. Before, I never cared if any woman was coming or going. Now, I wanted her with me at all times, or I wanted to know where she was when she wasn’t. Not in a possessive way, but a protective way. Too much shit was happening and up in the air. And I couldn’t tell her about it, at least not without raising questions I wouldn’t be able to answer.

I had my own questions, though. Pageants and dance weren’t cheap or something you did on a whim. I knew nothing about her upbringing or why she left home. The way she talked, it wasn’t on good terms. She just met Dad, so I didn’t want to press her for answers now, but I wanted to circle back to that soon.

We hadn’t talked at all about my upbringing either, but she was sitting across from my Dad, so that was a start. Hopefully that would help her open up. Whatever happened may not matter anymore, and she needed to know that she had a place now…with me. I just hoped it wasn’t anything that would set me off. Did they hurt her? Kick her out?

“You alright, son?” Dad asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I was tucking my hair behind my ears when he broke my internal line of questioning. “Yeah. So what’s on the grill?” Ineeded a distraction.

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