All the Days of Her Life (5 page)

“I’m not a gossip, Monet. I don’t care what you do with your dinner.”

Monet’s expression reminded Lacey of a cornered cat. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed, then she arched one delicate brow and asked, “What’s that in your hand? From here, it looks like a needle. Tell me, Lacey, are you doing drugs?”

L
ACEY FELT COLOR
drain from her face. She clutched the syringe so tightly that the tip of the needle jabbed her palm, making her wince. She felt blood trickle from the prick.

“I asked you a question?” Monet said, moving closer. “I mean, I’m not judging you if you are using. If that’s your bag, your secret’s safe with me. Just like I know my secret’s safe with you.”

“I don’t do drugs,” Lacey said, forming the words with precision.

“Then why the needle?”

For a moment, Lacey’s mind went blank and panic rose in a wave. She couldn’t tell Monet the truth. Not Monet. “I have allergies,” she said, amazed at how easily the lie came to her. “I take shots to build up my resistance.”

Monet looked disappointed in the explanation. “Well, maybe I believe you and maybe I don’t.”

“I don’t care what you believe.” Lacey slipped the syringe into her purse and went to the sink, where she rinsed off the line of blood made by the needle’s tip.

“But you’re still going to keep your mouth shut about me, aren’t you? People will believe what I tell them about you. And if I say you’re doing drugs …” Monet allowed the sentence to trail, implicit with innuendo.

“I told you I wouldn’t say anything to anybody about your dinner-purging routine. I keep my word.” She made eye contact in the mirror with Monet to emphasize her point.

“See that you do,” Monet said, and swished out of the bathroom.

Lacey let the water run on her hands and watched them tremble.
Too close a call
, she told herself. All she needed was Monet spreading stories about her. Lacey sighed and stared absently into the mirror. She saw dark circles under her eyes. When had they cropped up? She
was
feeling tired. And hungry too. She dried her hands and on her way back to join Terri, she stopped at a vending machine and bought a package of peanut butter crackers and a diet cola.

Lacey worked alongside Terri until Ms. Kasch sent everybody home for the night. Exhausted, Lacey went to her car. Todd pulled alongside and asked, “Got a minute?”

She nodded, wishing she didn’t feel so dragged out. He invited her into his sports car. “Where’s
your bird dog?” She climbed into the contoured front seat, the chilly February air reviving her.

“Monet had to leave earlier. Something about meeting her agent for breakfast in the morning. Besides, she’s not my keeper, you know.”

“Could have fooled me.” Lacey watched Todd’s face in the light of the mercury lamps of the parking lot.

“I choose who I want to see,” he said. “And right now I want to see you.”

Her heart tripped a beat, but she decided to play it cool. “So you’re seeing me. Is it a thrill?”

He laughed outright. “It’s a thrill.” He reached over and toyed with a tendril of her blond hair. “Your hair feels like silk.”

Her mouth went dry and she ran out of clever things to say. “Todd, what do you want?”

“I was thinking I’d like to take you out sometime. Would you say yes?”

“Ask me and see.”

“How about Saturday night? There’s a party at a house on South Beach. It should be a real blow-out.”

She would have preferred a simple movie date, a quiet evening of one on one. “I’ll go with you.”

He grinned. “I’ll pick you up at nine.”

They talked over a few more plans, then she got out of his car and into her own. Once he’d driven away, Lacey sat and stared out over the metallic hood of her car feeling … hollow. Somehow, she’d always thought that having Todd ask her out
would be a red-letter moment, but now that it had happened, she felt deflated and let down.

Lacey wished she felt better physically because that would make her feel better emotionally. “You’re just wiped out,” she said aloud. Suddenly, an overwhelming urge to go to the bathroom hit her. Quickly, she shoved the car into gear and headed out of the parking lot, hoping that she could hold it until she got home.

“You looked pale and tired, Lacey. Maybe going to this party tonight isn’t such a hot idea.” Lacey’s mother eyed her daughter speculatively. “And you look thinner too. I think you’re overdoing things with school and the play.”

To keep from screaming, Lacey took a deep breath. “Mom, I’m fine. I look pale because it’s winter and haven’t been out in the sun, I look thinner because I am thinner. I’m trying to knock off a few pounds before spring and bathing suits come back into fashion.”

“Is that wise? I mean, you have discussed this with Uncle Nelson, haven’t you?”

Lacey had not consulted her mother’s brother, of course. He’d never approve of Lacey’s juggling of her insulin doses, but she couldn’t tell her mother. “I might have mentioned it on the phone.” Lacey hated to lie, but she liked the way her body was looking and her clothes were fitting and didn’t want to spoil it.

“Well, just so long as he knows what’s going on.”

Lacey eyed the clock. They were standing in the
kitchen, where the table was piled with one of her mother’s work projects. Todd was late and Lacey kept wishing he’d hurry up and come for her. “I can handle my diabetes,” she declared. “Haven’t I been doing it for years?”

“It’s a mystery to me why you even have diabetes,” her mother groused. “I don’t know for sure, of course, but I doubt it came from my side of the family.”

Lacey ignored her mother’s subtle swipe at her father. “I didn’t wish it on myself, you know.”

Her mother glanced up, surprise stamped on her face. “I didn’t say that you did. Goodness, who would? I’m simply concerned about you and want to be certain you’re taking good care of yourself.”

“Well, don’t be. It’s my problem, and I’m handling it.”

“You have an appointment next Friday with Uncle Nelson. His office called to remind us.”

Inwardly, Lacey groaned. She couldn’t go for her regular three-month checkup next Friday. Her uncle would discover what she was doing and make her stop. “I won’t forget,” Lacey told her mother, deciding that she’d call her uncle’s office on Monday and reschedule the appointment for the following month. Surely by then she’d have lost all the weight she wanted.

Mercifully, the doorbell rang. “Todd’s here.” Lacey called, hurrying to the front door.

“Don’t be too late,” her mother called after her.

Lacey pretended not to hear her. She’d stay out as
late as she wanted. She was sick and tired of adults telling her what to do!

The party was in full swing when Lacey and Todd arrived at a soaring modern house of white stucco, glass block, and jutting decks of concrete set with Spanish tile. A live band blasted out the newest hits, and people crowded in rooms and on winding stone staircases. The back of the house faced the beach, where a partial moon glimmered down on a rolling surf. The night was cool but pleasant, almost balmy, heavy with the scent of salty surf.

“Have a beer,” Todd yelled, thrusting a bottle into Lacey’s hand. She didn’t want it, but she didn’t want to appear uncool either. She took a few deep swallows, trying to disguise her dislike of the bitter taste.

“Who’s party is it?” she asked above the music.

“Don’t know. I got an invite from a friend of my brother’s. He’s in college.”

Lacey could tell that it was an older crowd. She didn’t know a soul except Todd and missed the familiar faces of her high school friends. “Anybody else we know going to be here?”

“Not hardly.” Todd grabbed her hand. “Let’s go find something to eat. I’m hungry.”

She wasn’t, but she tagged along after him, dodging people. In the dining room, a glass-topped table stood laden with food. Chairs had been pushed against the wall and dark hardwood floors gleamed under a spectacular chandelier. Todd grabbed two
plates and heaped them with food. “I can’t eat all that,” she said.

“Come on, this stuff’s great. Don’t be like Monet, always whining about calories.”

Lacey stiffened. The last thing she wanted was to be compared negatively to Monet. “I can probably outeat you, buster,” she quipped.

Todd grinned. “That’s more like it.”

The beer had gone to her head and the smell of the food was making her nauseated. She had to go to the bathroom too. Why hadn’t she given herself a little more insulin before her date? She wouldn’t be feeling so queasy, or thirsty.

“I’ll be right back,” she told Todd, and set her plate down. He gave her a questioning look. “I need to find the powder room,” she explained, and hurried off.

She found the bathroom, then she decided to go outside and get some fresh air. She hoped it would clear her head and calm the queasiness. The night air was invigorating, and the music wasn’t so blaring.

She gazed at the surf, then at the moon. “It almost looks like you could walk to the moon, doesn’t it?” a voice said beside her.

She turned and stared dumbstruck at Jeff McKensie.

“W
HAT ARE YOU
doing here?” she asked as soon as she could find her voice.

“A frat brother dragged me.” His gaze appraised her. “How about you? Isn’t this a little out of your high school league?”

Miffed that he would remind her she was too young to fit in, she said in her frostiest tone, “My date brought me. I didn’t know I needed your approval.”

He threw up his hands and backed off. “Whoa! Don’t go for the jugular. I’m surprised to see you, that’s all.”

“I didn’t expect to meet anyone I knew, let anyone you,” she said. “You took me by surprise too.”

“So where’s your date?” Jeff glanced about, but
the only other people on the terrace were couples in embraces.

“He went for something to eat.”

“Since you’re alone temporarily and since we seem to be the only people out here without our lips locked, how about going for a walk along the beach with me?”

“I shouldn’t.”

“Why? If your date snaps his fingers, do you have to jump?”

“I’m not anybody’s lapdog. I just think it’s a courtesy not to run off with another guy. Call me old-fashioned.” Yet, as she spoke, she spied Todd through the glass doors dancing with a tall redhead.

“Then I’ll walk by myself,” Jeff said, starting down the steps.

She watched Todd and the redhead nuzzle each other’s necks and felt jealousy, then anger. Why would Todd do such a thing? “Wait, I’ll come with you,” she told Jeff, losing any sense of loyalty toward Todd. “I’ve always liked the beach at night.”

“Even if you have to see it with me?”

“That’s not nice. I have nothing against you.”

“You avoid me like the plague.”

By now they were walking along the shoreline, dodging the softly rolling waves. “I tried to explain to you that it’s nothing personal. Besides, by now I figured you’d be knee deep in girlfriends.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Well, you’re attractive and—” She interrupted
herself because she hadn’t planned to tell him any such thing.

“Tell me more.” He’d stopped walking and caught her arm.

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She could see his eyes sparkling in the moonlight, and she was furious with herself and at him for being able to get to her so quickly. “I’m going back to the house.”

Jeff’s hands traveled up her arms and took hold of her shoulders. She pulled against his insistent tug, and met resistance. “I keep thinking of this past summer, Lacey. I keep remembering the woods around Jenny House and the fireworks.”

“The fireworks were great on the Fourth of July,” she whispered, feeling snared by his gaze. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she felt powerless to move away from him.

“I wasn’t thinking about those fireworks.”

“What other ones were there?”

“These,” he whispered, dipping his head downward.

When his mouth touched hers, Lacey felt transported to the woods of North Carolina. The scent of the sea faded. The sound of the surf receded. Her arms floated effortlessly around Jeff’s neck, and a slow-melting fire flowed through her veins. She rose on tiptoe and gave herself to the kiss. To the sensations pulsing through her. His lips felt warm and strong, the kiss burning and fiery on her skin.