Breaking Lacy (Nick & Lacy Book 1) Page 3

  Just, maybe not the one everyone thinks.

  “I don’t know what to think,” said Kevin, while still surrendering to the attack of Claire and her roaming fingers.

  “Ya know what, little brother? Why don’t you have a little faith in your girl? You know better than to think Lace would get mixed up with anyone who might try to take advantage of her. She’s a smart girl. You have no reason not to trust her.” Then I nodded toward Claire’s hand massaging Kevin’s leg, so close to home now that her pinkie finger grazed his bulge. He sucked in his breath. “Which is more than she could say for you.”

  I put out my cigarette as Claire rolled over onto her back in laughter. “Oh, come on, Nick. You said you didn’t care if we did it.”

  “I don’t care,” I said truthfully. As I slid my jacket on, I glanced over to Kevin. “Seriously. You and Claire do whatever you want.”

  I went to the door, and when I turned back to look at them, Claire placed her hand squarely over his crotch and nuzzled his neck with kisses. She lifted her gaze to me and smiled.

  “Going on a beer run. Be back in a few.” After I make a stop next door and send Lacy over to catch them. “You two have fun.”

  Kevin turned his head to look at Claire, who raised one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows in invitation.

  Just when it looked like they were about to kiss, and I thought for sure he was a goner, the Cary’s car slid to a stop in the driveway between our two houses. Three car doors slammed shut, and then the Cary clan chattered on their way to the Dalton front door. Kevin cast a glance out the window in alarm, and disappointment dimmed the sexual light in his eyes.

  “Hey, wait up, Nick. I’ll come too.”

  Kevin stood, awkwardly considering his worked-up state, and went through the door that I held open for him. I took one last glance back to Claire, who said, “Better luck next time, right?”

  I cursed under my breath on my way out. Damn the Cary’s!

  It didn’t matter. There was a massive rift between Kevin and Lacy to work with now, which was all I needed for inspiration in coming up with a plan B.

  Nick

  After dinner, I sat in shadows on my back porch smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. I had just taken a swig when the Dalton’s back door opened.

  “It’s a pretty night out, ain’t it, Lacy?”

  When I turned to look, Lacy followed Mark off the porch to the yard. In the glow of moonlight, her long dark hair appeared streaked with strands of silver. The night air was crisp, and she wrapped her arms around herself when a slight breeze stirred the fallen leaves. She vigorously rubbed her hands up and down her arms, no doubt regretting the thin cardigan she wore with her pretty, ankle-length skirt. Mark, being more of a gentleman than my brother gave him credit for, took off his coat.

  “Here,” Mark said, holding out his jacket. Lacy took it. As she shrugged it on, Mark fired up a smoke and leaned up against the oak tree in the center of the Dalton’s backyard, taking a drag. “So, where’s Kevin tonight? You two are usually out on a date. You’re hardly ever here for these family get-together’s anymore.”

  With her head bowed, apparently either unable to speak or not knowing what to say, Lacy simply shrugged.

  “You alright, Lacy? You’ve been quiet all night. Wanna ditch the folks and ride down to Shorty’s to grab a shake and talk while they do their Martini thing?”

  “I appreciate it, Mark, but I don’t really feel up for it tonight.”

  “You mean Kevin wouldn’t like it.”

  Lacy sighed at the taunt. “Kevin knows you and I are just friends, and he’s perfectly fine with that,” she lied.

  “Yeah, right.” He nodded toward my second-floor bedroom window on the side of the house and chuckled. “He’s probably up there in his room spying on us right now.”

  “No, he’s not,” However, Lacy glanced up to my window too, no doubt wondering if Mark was right about Kevin spying on them. “Besides, that’s Nick’s room.”

  “Nick, eh? God, I haven’t seen him in years. Is he still around? Or did he finish college and move away yet?”

  When the breeze picked up, Lacy hugged herself. She glanced up at my room again, her gaze lingering for a moment. “No,” she said, so softly that I barely heard her. “He still comes home most weekends.”

  “Damn, I’d love to tap his girl.” He blew an appreciative whistle.

  Lacy snorted as she turned around to face Mark. “No offense, Mark, but I think Claire is a little out of your league.”

  “Why? Every other guy in town has had a ride on the Claire Express. What makes you think I couldn’t?”

  “Besides the fact that you’re gay?” she asked, almost causing me to choke on my cigarette smoke.

  “Hey, hey, hey.” He looks toward the Dalton back door, presumably to make sure their parents weren’t listening. “You’re the only one who knows so don’t be blurting it out like that. And I’m bi. There’s a difference,” he corrected. “Which means I like all ass, especially easy ass, like Claire.”

  “I don’t care what anybody says about Claire, she’s always really nice to me and, friend or not, I’m not going to listen to you talk trash about her.”

  That’s why I loved Lacy. She was good. Even when there was nothing in it for her but a clean conscience, she was good. She knew Claire, and she knew Mark was right, but defended her anyway when no one else, including me, would have.

  Lacy crossed her arms over her chest proudly and tilted her chin higher. “But since you brought it up, why would Claire want anything to do with you when she has Nick? He’s the greatest guy in the world.”

  “Couldn’t be that great or his girl wouldn’t screw around on him.”

  “You take that back right now, Mark Cary. You don’t know anything about Nick!”

  Carrying on despite Lacy’s outburst, Mark dug himself deeper into the hole by saying, “I do know it’s gotta suck for a guy’s ego to know that his girlfriend would screw his own kid brother if you gave either one of ’em half a chance.”

  Lacy sucked in her breath over the brutal honesty in Mark’s words.

  “I’m sorry, Lacy,” Mark said. He took a step closer to her, sounding truly remorseful. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just, I hate that you have to put up with Kevin and his bullshit, and it’s hard to bite my tongue sometimes. I heard about what happened this afternoon. He called Jeff to bitch about it earlier. By now I’d say half the school already knows. It just pisses me off.”

  After a few moments, Lacy gathered her wits and stammered, “Everyone knows? I-it doesn’t mean anything. He’ll get over this in a day or two and we’ll be okay again.”

  Yet, as soon as the words were out Lacy sobbed, and Mark shushed her into a comforting embrace. “Oh Lacy, when are you ever going to get it through your thick skull that if he was worth it, he should be standing behind you instead of trying to stand in your way.”

  Lacy let out another sob, and Mark just held her, consoling her, being the caring friend that he was.

  Suddenly, the back door opened and Kevin started out. “Hey, man, Mom said-”

  Kevin stopped with the screen door half open, his gaze following mine.

  Mark was only being a friend to a friend in need, but judging from the fury on Kevin’s face when I looked at him, I knew he believed the worst. He stormed back into the house, missing the part where Lacy pulled away from Mark, wiping her eyes. “Thank you, Mark.”

  “Anytime. How about let’s go see if your mom has dessert ready yet?” he suggested.

  Lacy wiped her cheeks and agreed.

  “Hey, what did you think of that history assignment?” he asked, and the Dalton’s back door closing cut off her response.

  I relaxed back in my chair, applauding the timing of Providence, and immediately started scheming of ways to benefit from this fortunate turn of events.

  Lacy

  “Lacy? You okay, baby?” asked my mother, when she knocked on my bedroom door later, aft
er the Cary’s had gone.

  I lay on my bed with my face buried in the pillow. Sitting up, I quickly wiped my cheeks clean and straightened my hair.

  “I’m okay, Momma. You can come in.”

  My mother entered and crossed the room to sit down on the bed beside me. She rubbed a soothing hand over my back for a few moments before tilting her head to rest against mine.

  “Kevin will come around, honey. Just give him a few days.”

  I choked down a sob and forced my tears back.

  “Why don’t we go to Asheville and do some Christmas shopping tomorrow? We’ll spend the day just us girls, and after Kevin’s had all day to think about this, I’m sure by the time we return home he’ll be ready to talk and listen to reason.”

  My first instinct was to say no. I’d already made up my mind to spend the day in my room crying and feeling sorry for myself, maybe emptying my sadness in a new song for a few hours. But the more I mulled over my mother’s suggestion, the better her idea sounded. I was too strong to cave in to Kevin’s pressure. He wanted me at home feeling guilty and sorry, hoping that his silent treatment would wear down my resolve. For as long as we’d been arguing over my career, I had never once backed down. One thing Mark said tonight was right on target: He should be standing behind you instead of trying to stand in your way.

  “Yeah, we can do that,” I said, sniffling back the remainder of my tears with determination. “I still have to get gifts for Andy and Nick anyway.”

  “Good.” Momma stood up to leave then. “I should go call Rhonda before she goes to bed to make sure she can watch the shop tomorrow.”

  My mother owned and operated the town’s only music store, where she sold sheet music and instruments, and gave music and singing lessons. Rhonda worked at the store with her, but rarely tended the shop on her own unless momma was sick or needed a day off to run errands.

  When I didn’t move from my place on the bed, Momma came back to stand in front of me so I could wrap my arms around her waist and bury my face against her bosom. She stroked my hair and leaned down to kiss the top of my head. I closed my eyes, inhaling her wonderful jasmine perfume.

  I was lucky to have such a caring mother, and the bonds based on friendship and equality that we shared. Most of the girls I knew at school could never have such an open and honest relationship with their parents, and if anything, usually complained about them.

  “I love you, Momma,” I choked out, almost moved to tears again by the depth of truth in those words.

  “I love you, sweetie.” She tilted my head back so she could look down at me with her tender smile. “Remember what I said last night about life’s little tornadoes?”

  Did I ever. I could never have predicted how quickly I would learn the lesson of those words either. “Yes.”

  She smiled and kissed my forehead, lingering to stare directly into my eyes. “This is not one of them.”

  Nick

  I lay on my bed replaying the scene between Lacy and Mark. The Cary’s had just left when Kevin came to my room.

  “Can you believe her?” Kevin sagged onto the foot of my bed and stared out my window toward Lacy’s. “I knew this would happen. Didn’t I tell you just today?”

  “Maybe you should talk to Lace. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation. She loves you, bro. You know that.”

  There. I’d done my part at diplomacy. If my brother doubted Lacy’s moral goodness and trusted her integrity so little, if he was too much of a schmuck to realize there was more to what he saw than it seemed, he deserved to lose her.

  “No. I saw her with my own eyes. I told you this would happen.” He punched the mattress and gritted his teeth. “I fucking knew it!”

  “Dude, Lace has never given you any reason to doubt her before. She’s not like Claire. I think you need to talk to her.”

  Okay, now I’d really done all I could do in the name of blood loyalty. If he screwed things up with Lacy, he had no one to blame but himself now, regardless of any schemes I was cooking up at that moment.

  While Kevin pondered my words of sensibility, the phone rang.

  “Speak,” I answered.

  “Hey, shugah,” said Claire on the other end. “Your mom and dad still up?”

  I cast a weary glance at Kevin and sighed. “Nope. They’re both in bed. Why?”

  “Wanna come over?” I shook my head in disbelief at the suggestive tone in her voice. “God, you’re such a nympho! You were just over here this afternoon!”

  “Yeah, but Kara and I were screwing around when her boyfriend called and wanted her to hang. Just when we were getting good and hot! I’m totally blue-balled right now. Come save me.”

  “Claire, I’m tired. I’m not getting up and going out this late just to come service you.”

  I caught a glimpse of Lacy’s silhouette as she paced back and forth in her room and was struck by a rare bolt of inspiration.

  I turned my gaze to my brother, watching him, plotting his ruin and destruction, and how I might profit from his downfall if I took decisive action tonight. Of course, success depended on logistics that could prove beyond my control, as was shown in my first attempt this afternoon, but there would be no harm done if I failed—again.

  “You can come over here if you want, though. Just be quiet when you sneak in.”

  “Cool! Hey, how’s the drama playing out with Kev and Lacy? Have they talked yet?”

  I let out a sardonic chuckle and looked at my brother, whose dejected stare was still lost across the way. “Long story. I’ll let him tell you about it when you get here.”

  “Awesome. I’m on my way.”

  I hung up with Claire.

  Phase one of plan B was now in motion.

  I no sooner hung up the phone before it rang yet again.

  “Talk,” I answered.

  “Hi, Nick. It’s Lacy.”

  She sounded remarkably collected considering the day’s events, and my heart immediately went soft when I thought of how strong and resilient she was. Indeed, she would be able to handle what I had in mind for her tonight.

  “Hey, Lace, how’s it goin’?”

  “Not bad. Is Kevin still up?”

  “Kevin?” I glanced over at my brother, who was hanging on my every word. He shook his head emphatically and held his forefinger up to his lips.

  “Cute? A little shorter than you? Lives two doors down the hall?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I think I’ve seen a little dipstick like that running around here.” Kevin slapped my leg and continued shaking his head. “Sorry, Lace. He crashed early.”

  “I didn’t wake you too, did I?”

  “Nah, you’re good.”

  “Okay, well, will you just tell Kevin to call or come over first thing when he gets up in the morning? I really need to talk to him.”

  Suddenly I felt guilty for what was going to happen to her later tonight if things went as planned.

  “Yeah, I’ll tell him.”

  We said our goodbyes and hung up. I lay down with my hands behind my head and studied Kevin for a minute. He sullenly stared at the shadow still moving behind her window.

  “Are you really, honest to God in love with Lace that much, or is this just a pride thing?”

  His gaze finally shifted from the window to a lint ball on my navy bed quilt. He searched for his answer in the stitching along the seam for a moment. “Yes, I really love her. She’s my best friend in the world. We’re planning to get married so what do you think?”

  “I think there’s a difference between being in love with the woman she’s become, and loving her because of the history you have together.”

  “I really do love her,” he said firmly, though I thought he considered his answer for a split-second too long. “We are more like friends because she never let us get really physical, but that would’ve changed once we were married. If only she hadn’t lied to me.”

  “I’ll tell ya, Kev, wounded pride is almost as bad as a
broken heart. I’ll never forget the first time I caught Claire fucking around on me. Man, I was pissed!”

  I leaned over the edge of the mattress, pulled two warm beers from under my bed, and handed one to Kevin. I tossed him a smoke and lit one for myself too. We both stared at her window in silence while we smoked and took a few swigs of beer.

  “Then I realized I wasn’t hurt because she cheated, but because she made me look like a dumbass. I was ready to kick her to the curb, but you know how hard it is for a guy to get some ass, right?”

  “Rub it in why don’t cha,” said Kevin sourly, before turning his beer up and emptying half the bottle in one gulp.

  “I’m not trying to rub it in, Kevin. You and Lace wore diapers together, man. It was just expected that you’d get together. Everyone thought so. Doesn’t mean you should’ve. No offense, kid, but I’ve never seen you look at Lace the way you look at Claire. If there wasn’t something real there to begin with, sleeping with her wouldn’t have changed that.”

  “This is me and Lacy, Nick. Don’t you get that?” He truly did look and sound devastated. “It’s been Lacy and me since we were six years old and I kissed her under that tree in her yard one day.”

  I took a swig of my beer and nudged his leg with my foot. “Hell, Kev, she was like my kid sister growing up. I care about her just as much as you do. It’s only natural that you feel a strong attachment, but that doesn’t make it the real deal. If I’m wrong, though, and you do really care as much as you claim, then you should talk to her and let her explain this, don’t cha think?”

  “Maybe, but I’m too pissed off right now.” He punched the mattress again. “God, I can’t believe she kept this New York thing from me!”

  I was surprised that he seemed more upset about the nonexistent trip to New York than he was over catching her in Mark Cary’s arms. Maybe he truly was in love with her if a lie of omission could take priority over a betrayal.

  “So, is it over or what?”