Page 23 of The Clearing Rain

They both sipped their tea in silence for a few moments.“I think it’s time,” Lacey said into the quiet kitchen.“It’s not going to get any easier the longer you leave it.Better to get it out of the way.”

He knew exactly what she meant.Time to make the inevitable phone call to his mother.To his family.To let them know their husband and father was an alleged murderer.

The tension ramped up inside his chest.He really didn’t want to do this.But there was one small ray of sunshine amongst all the darkness.“I’m going to tell her about the baby too,” he announced.It was probably the worst time to declare that Catarina was going to be a grandmother, but he hoped the news would soften the blow of finding out her ex-husband was the worst kind of liar and a cheat.

“Okay,” she replied simply.“I’ll call my family at the same time.At least then my mother can’t accuse me of playing favorites by breaking the baby news to her second,” Lacey added with a sigh.Why did everything connected with Elora have to be so fraught with heightened emotion and drama?He hated that she affected Lacey this way.“And I guess it’s time they knew about your family dramas too.”

Up till now, Lacey hadn’t mentioned anything about the mystery surrounding Serge’s disappearance, or his re-emergence from the grave.Mainly due to the fact she hadn’t spoken to her family since Christmas.But also partly because it’d only give Elora ammunition with which to attack both Lacey and Nico.She’d have to tell them eventually, and with events unfolding so quickly today, it was time they knew.“Wish me luck,” she said, rising to her feet.

He understood how hard this phone call was going to be for Lacey, he could detect the slight tremble in her voice.It’d be almost as hard as the phone call he was about to make.But it was time to break the icy wall that’d formed between Lacey and her family.This news was too important to withhold.

“I’ll do better than that.”He swung around the table and pulled her into an embrace.The feeling of her body held against his eased a little of his own tension.She was warm and supple and alive.Her presence grounded him.It was exactly what he needed.To reconnect.To remember there was more to life than this singular moment in time.They would get through this and joy and gratitude would feature again somewhere in their future.He hoped he could offer her the same comfort.The same support.

Twenty minutes later, he returned to the kitchen feeling completely drained, like a dried-up husk of a man.That phone call had been even worse than he’d imagined.He’d made a group call, bringing in Brice and Gaëlle as well, so they all heard the news together, and he didn’t have to repeat himself over and over.He could hear Lacey’s muffled voice behind the closed living room door and knew not to interrupt her.He hoped her call was going better than his, but knew it was probably a vain hope.

Busying himself, he pulled open a cupboard to see what they had by way of foodstuffs that might inspire him to cook something.A packet of dried pasta, two tins of kidney beans, rice, a jar of pesto, and—

A knock at the front door almost made him jump out of his skin and he unconsciously reached for his gun, grabbing only air, as it was still locked in the safe.“It’s only me,” came Herb’s voice from the other side of the door.“And me mate Smudge.”Nico smiled at that.Herb loved Smudge’s visits, and Nico wondered why the elderly couple didn’t just get themselves a canine friend.Herb said it was because they traveled too much, and Nico couldn’t really disagree.Owning a pet was a constant commitment.

Careful to check the peephole before opening the door just in case, Nico was confronted with a very happy dog bouncing all over him as well as a foil-covered dish being thrust toward him.“Margie made a whole batch of casseroles this morning.Told me to bring one up to you youngins, because you probably didn’t have time to cook anything.”

“Thank you, Herb.And tell Margie I’ll bring her down a basket of apples soon, they’re nearly ripe.”

“Will do, Detective.”Herb used the term loosely, more because he secretly liked the fact they had a real-life homicide detective living in their midst, than as a form of respect.

Smudge pushed his way past Nico’s knees, intent on getting inside, and Herb let go of his leash.“We’ve just had a lovely long walk, so he shouldn’t need any more exercise tonight,” Herb said, staring wistfully after the dog who’d disappeared down the hallway.

“Thank you so much.You can walk him anytime you like,” Nico said, balancing the warm dish in one hand and holding the door with the other.Normally, he’d invite the older man in, but today he and Lacey needed their space.

As if sensing his mood, Herb snapped his heels together and said, “Better be off.Got a bent spoke in my front wheel on this morning’s ride.Need to fix that quick smart.”

“Thanks again, Herb.”Nico watched the spritely old man practically skip down his front stairs and waved as he made his way down the long dirt driveway.

At least that solved the problem of what they were going to eat tonight.

The door to the living room was yanked open just as Nico passed by in the hallway, and Lacey stalked through it.“Thank God that’s over,” she huffed.

“Bad?”Nico questioned.

“Yep.Worse than I imagined.”Lacey threw up her hands in exasperation.“How dare I?How dare I keep such vital information about your father from them.”She put on a high-pitched imitation of Elora’s tone.“They could’ve been murdered in their sleep by a serial killer because they hadn’t known to take precautions,” Lacey parodied, then gave a snort of derision.“As if your father cares one whit aboutmyfamily.And you and I both know that if we thought there was any danger to them, we would’ve made sure they had protection,” she added.Lacey’s eyes were flashing, but she wasn’t nearly finished.“Oh, and she’s also not ready to become a grandmother, and how dare I get pregnant without any warning.She accused me of doing it on purpose, just so I could hold it over her.”He could see the tight lines around her mouth, the slight tremble in her lips, and the dark shadow in her eyes, and he silently cursed Elora.The woman was a narcissistic bitch, but she never owned her actions, her manipulations, or her lies.Instead, she always put the blame squarely back on the people around her.Nico wondered what it’d be like to live in an artificial world of your own creation.In a bubble of conceit where everything was always someone else’s fault.Wanting everything and everyone to dance to your tune and never the other way around.

He dropped one arm around her shoulders, still holding the casserole with the other.“If she’s going to be like that, I don’t have a problem with not inviting her down to see the grandchild she isn’t ready to have,” he said in a low rumble.He desperately wanted to protect Lacey from her mother’s emotional entanglement, but he knew not to overstep where family was concerned.Lacey wouldn’t thank him for being overbearing; she’d always wanted to solve the problem herself.But secretly, Nico thought Elora was an unsolvable problem, and he had no issue with passing a decree banning that woman from their home forever, even though he knew Lacey would never agree.Families were complicated at the best of times, blood ties the hardest of all to break.

“I have half a mind to agree with you,” Lacey grumbled.“But let’s just do this in little steps.The worst part is over.Now they know about Serge, and they know I’m pregnant.Two birds with one stone.”She gave a long, drawn-out sigh.“The ball is now in their court.”

“Hmm.”Nico’s reply echoed his doubt.But not wanting to bring Lacey down any more, he held up the still-warm casserole as he guided her into the kitchen.“We have one ray of sunshine.No need to cook tonight.Herb brought up a freshly cooked casserole from Margie.”

Lacey’s eyes brightened as she lifted her gaze to take in the foil-covered dish.“Nice.”But they soon darkened again as her thoughts slipped back to her conversation with her parents.“God, it just makes me so mad,” she blurted.“Why can’t she ever just be happy for me?Why does everything have to be such a trial?”

“I know,” Nico soothed, placing the dish on the table and turning to wrap his arms around her.

“Thank you,” she murmured into his T-shirt.“I don’t know what I’d do without you.”She tilted her head and their lips met in a chaste kiss.“Talking to my mother always makes me feel drained, and…I don’t know…dirty.I need to feel clean again.Need to wash that woman out of my soul,” Lacey stated.

“Hmm,” he murmured agreement, his lips pressed against the silken hair on the top of her head.

“Oh, God.I haven’t even asked you about how your family took the news.I’m so sorry.”She looked up and shook her head as if ridding it of all her own bad thoughts.“Tell me,” she requested.“Tell me how is Catarina?”Her green eyes filled with compassion, so deep and so profound all he wanted to do was take her and kiss her.Kiss the bad thoughts away.Bury them under an avalanche of lust and wanting.To be blameless for a few moments in time.To obliterate everything with the heat of his desire for her.His cock stirred at the idea of sex with Lacey.She must’ve felt the length of him hardening against her stomach because she took his lips with hers again, their kiss deepening as she ground her hips into his.

“Can we talk about it later?”he asked and then reclaimed her mouth.

---