Page 58 of Faking I Do
“Oh, that’s fabulous. He didn’t say anything about being engaged at the time. How perfectly romantic, what with him having such history with the town. Now, who’s the lucky bride?”
Panic set in. I took in a deep breath through my nose. Here goes nothing. Here goes everything. “The bride is me.”
CHAPTER 30
BODIE
I knockedat the door of the Cherish home, trying to brace myself for a confrontation with Lacey. As the door opened, I straightened my stance and held the bouquet of carnations out in front of me.
Mr. Cherish eyed the flowers then glanced to my face. “You shouldn’t have, son.”
My cheeks radiating heat like they’d been set on fire, I let the flowers drop to my side. “Is Lacey home, sir?”
“You just missed her. She tore out of here about ten minutes ago like the devil himself was on her tail. Is there a reason you’re bringing my daughter flowers?” He cocked his head, his eyes narrowed.
“No, sir. I mean, yes, there’s a reason, but it’s nothing special.” Not unless I wanted to admit to Lacey’s dad that I’d spent the early hours of Saturday morning testing out the theories of physics on his daughter’s limber body.
“What’d you do?” He held the door open, an invitation to come inside and spill my guts. I had taken advantage of several invites like this from Mr. Cherish over the years. I respected the man’s opinion and often sought out his advice over my own father’s. But not today. I couldn’t very well admit to screwingup where Lacey was concerned. Especially screwing up over screwing Lacey.
“Lacey overheard something she shouldn’t have. I need to find her to make it right.”
Mr. Cherish nodded. “Odds are she’s either over at Zina’s or out at the stables.”
“Thank you, sir.” I stood there, the flowers still clutched in my hands. “Would you mind making sure she gets these? In case I don’t catch up to her today?”
“Sure. Good luck, son. You know as well as I do when she gets upset about something it can take quite a while for her to calm down.”
“Yes, sir.” I handed over the flowers. They’d seemed like a good idea when I ran into the mini-mart but now they looked wilted, like a lame attempt at an apology, as Mr. Cherish held them in his hand. I took a final look at the blooms then steeled myself to track down Lacey.
A drive by Zina’s house and a quick pass by the shelter didn’t turn up Lacey’s truck. Unless she was going to great lengths to hide and didn’t want to be found, she hadn’t gone to either place. That just left the stables out on Highway 75. She’d been boarding her horse there ever since I could remember. Luke and I used to have to run her back and forth for lessons after school and on the weekends. I had always enjoyed watching her ride. She was a natural in the saddle.
I pulled up next to her truck in the dirt parking lot. If she’d taken her horse out, it might be an hour or more before she returned. I walked through the barn in search of the horse’s stall. Empty. That left me two choices. Either wait around for her to come back or head over to the Phillips House to check on the armadillo-removal attempt. Having good news to share when she returned might make our confrontation go a little smoother.
As I walked the length of the barn to head back to my truck, I ran into one of my old high school pals. He and his family owned the ranch. Like most of the folks around town, the land had been in their family for generations.
“Hey, Bodie. What brings you out here today?” Callan stopped mucking out an empty stall and stood.
“Just trying to track down Lacey. I’ve got some official town business I need to fill her in on. You see her around?”
“Yeah.” Callan wiped his brow with his sleeve. “Came through here about twenty minutes ago, fit to be tied about something.”
“Oh yeah? She say what?”
“Nah. Whatever she was working through, she didn’t want to talk about it. You want to borrow old Mercury and chase her down? She probably just went on a loop around the property.”
“That’s okay. I’ll catch up to her later.”
“Sounds good.” Callan resumed his job on the stall.
I was halfway through the barn when Callan called out behind me. “Oh, I forgot to offer my congratulations.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Congratulations on what? I didn’t want to take the time to ask about it. Could be he’d heard I had taken in a dog. Or maybe it was a belated congrats on the public safety award I’d won back in December. Either way, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding Lacey.
I didn’t want to think about what might be going through her head. After the night we’d shared on Friday, she had to be madder than a wet hen, thinking I’d played her like a fiddle. I picked up my phone and tried her number again. Straight to voice mail. Served me right. I should have shut down my dad’s ridiculous offer the first time he’d brought it up. Now look where it got me. On the outs with Lacey, right when I’d finally found an in.
I tried not to think about it as I drove over to the Phillips House. The pest-removal truck sat in the drive. Either the armadillos had multiplied and dug even more holes or the person trying to trap them had been creating more piles in an attempt to figure out where the damn animals were hiding.
I walked the perimeter of the house before I caught sight of the wildlife expert. The man held a live trap in each hand. I closed the distance between us, hoping for good news. I had to have something positive to tell Lacey. Something to balance out the bad.
