Page 81 of Faking I Do
“Not a problem. I’m glad to see you’ve found a new profession.” And I was, too. It didn’t do anyone any good to have a wild card like Jonah on the loose with no direction and a chip on his shoulder.
“Mayor Cherish is going to have me frost your wedding cake, too.”
“What’s that?” I shook my head. I must have heard Jonah wrong.
“That’s one way my dad said I could practice my mortar skills. Turns out frosting a cake is just like laying bricks. Consistency of the spread is key.” He waved his hand in front of him like he was spreading a layer of mortar over an imaginary brick wall.
“Is that so?” I glanced toward Lacey. She must have noticed my arrival since she’d turned off the hose and appeared to be headed my way.
“Yes, sir. You’re going to have the best wedding cake this place has ever seen.”
I didn’t doubt it, seeing as how it would be the first wedding cake the event center had ever seen. “Sounds good. I’ll catch you later.” I had more important things to do than chat with Jonah. I hadn’t seen Lacey for over a week and my body seemed to actually be going through withdrawal.
“Hey, Deputy.” She stopped in front of me, a grin on her face that reflected how I felt deep down inside.
“Hey, yourself.” I couldn’t help but smile. Seeing her erased the past seven days. Why had I stayed away for so long? I lifted her shades to sit on top of her head, needing to see her eyes. The look she gave me made heat flare in my gut.
Shotgun walked in a circle around us, wrapping us up in her leash, then tried to nose her way between our legs.
“Feeling a little neglected?” she asked Shotgun.
The dog whined, tail wagging. I cleared my throat as I tried to untangle the leash from our legs.
“You ready for our interview today?” Free from the leash, she stepped back. “I’ve got a binder of stuff we can go over real quick before the reporter shows up.”
“Don’t you think we should hug or something? How would you greet your fiancé if you hadn’t seen him for a week?” I leaned close, muttering against her ear. The scent of hay and horses did little to soothe my nerves. I’d been on edge for the past two days thinking about the meeting with the reporter this afternoon.
She wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “I suppose you’re right. Is anyone watching?”
Holding her in my arms, I didn’t care who was watching. I dropped my chin, grazing her lips with mine. A lightnessbloomed in my chest, radiating through my limbs. This is what I’d missed—holding Lacey tight against me, tasting her on my lips, breathing in her scent.
“Whoa, we don’t want to give them too much of a show.” She pulled back first. “I can’t wait for you to see the inside. Come on.”
I followed her up the steps and into the house. The floors had been refinished and now gleamed under my boots. Daylight filtered through the windows and the stained glass transom, casting tiny rainbows across the wood floors. The smell of lemon and ammonia surrounded me. The entire first floor had been restored to what looked like its original glory.
“This looks amazing. How did you get this all done?” Everywhere I looked progress had been made. I ran a finger along the mantel of the fireplace in the front sitting room. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere.
“I had, I mean have, so much help. Jojo’s been by several times. Even Helmut stopped in with lunch a couple of times for the crew. And Zina’s been my right-hand woman.”
“It’s incredible.” I slowly spun around, taking it all in. “You’re incredible.”
Her face pinked. “Honestly, all I’ve done is keep track of the to-do lists.”
“I doubt that.” Suddenly I had a new appreciation for Lacey. Was there anything the woman couldn’t do?
“How’s Shotgun?” She bent to scratch the pup behind the ears. “When is she due?”
I groaned. “Another couple of weeks or so.”
“And then what?” Lacey glanced up at me, expectant.
Shrugging, I squatted next to her and ran my hand down Shotgun’s back. “I don’t know.”
“I talked to Zina. She said she’d love for you to keep her.”
“Puppies? I can barely take care of . . . oh, never mind.”
“You weren’t going to say you can barely take care of yourself, were you?” she asked.
