Authors: Julie Lessman
Volleyball under his arm, Jack battled a scowl by swiping the sweat on his face with the sleeve of his shirt, his mood as damp as his body over an unexpected loss. Not the volleyball game, which his team was winning handily because of him, Matt, and the preacher guy. But the loss of his cool which he was losing by the moment due to one major flaw in this newfound friendship with Lacey.
Pretty boy pastor Chase Griffin.
The preacher boy who could spike like nobody’s business—on the court and off, apparently, given the moony smiles on half of the girls, spiking both balls and hearts with the serve of a smile.
Not that Jack wasn’t drawing his fair share of attention from the female sector, because they’d welcomed him with open arms. Especially Kelly—flirting and teasing and trying to make him feel at home. But he would never feel “at home” in a church building ever again, nor with a woman shackled by so-called morality. His mouth went flat. Hypocrisy wasn’t his thing.
“Come on, Jack, let’s send ’em packin’,” Chase called from the front of the net, getting on Jack’s last nerve when he commenced to sparring with Lacey on the other side.
Again.
Jaw grinding, Jack took four paces back and tossed the ball high, vaulting it in the air to execute a perfect jump shot left over from championship volleyball days in college. His extreme competitive streak surfaced, and he slammed the ball through the air like he wanted to slam ol’ Pastor Chase, sending
him
packin’ along with the other team. The bullet found its mark—a curveball rocket that plummeted between Lacey and another guy like a comet in a statuary, eliciting groans and gaping mouths when both of them missed it standing still. Cheers exploded on his side of the net while everyone slapped him on the back.
“Great shot,” Preacher Boy said with a pump of Jack’s hand, making him feel like a heel for hating him. He actually was a pretty solid guy according to Matt, a former Navy Seal who had a “Come-to-Jesus” meeting with a piece of shrapnel in Afghanistan. Somebody Jack would actually be friends with if the guy wasn’t ogling Lacey all night. Lips clamped in a tight smile, Jack exhaled his frustration through his nose, well aware he was being a jerk and hating himself for it. “Thanks, Rev,” he said, coining his own nickname for a guy he had no intention of getting to know better. “You’ve got a pretty mean arm yourself.”
“Hey, Chase, where d’ya want the chow?” one of the guys called from across the gym, pizza boxes stacked high in his hands. Chase turned to wave him towards the back door, and Jack suddenly felt like a real jerk. Closing his eyes, he gouged the bridge of his nose, wondering where in the world the nice guy went. The one he used to be—a lover of family, kids, and senior citizens—who had purposely chosen a career path to help others, not harangue them. Matt had told him what a great guy Chase was, even funding the food for these gatherings out of his own pocket, and yet here he was, unwilling to cut the guy a break. A deflated sigh trickled out as he became painfully aware that the guy he used to be had gone
awol
for a long while now. Especially since graduation, it seemed—drinking more, losing his temper more, acting like a snot-nosed punk instead of a physician who’d graduated with top honors and a spot on the Memorial pedes team. A “Romeo hotshot,” Lacey had called him, and she was right, playing the field hard when all he ever really wanted was to be married to one woman.
The one who’d left him high and dry.
He jolted when the rev slapped him on the back. “I hope you’re planning to come back because it sure is nice to have an ace in the hole,” Chase said, strolling to the sideline to grab a bottled water from a cooler.
“Oh, he’ll be back,” Matt said, hooking an arm to Jack’s shoulder. “Won’t you, buddy?”
Jack slid him a narrow gaze. “Wedding-related events only, I believe the fine print said,” he muttered under his breath, “until after the wedding.” He grabbed the Dasani that Chase threw his way before nodding his thanks.
Matt upended his water, eyes glittering with that annoying twinkle whenever he thought he had the upper hand. “Wedding-
party
-related events, Jack my boy, and since most everybody here is involved in the wedding in some way, these weekly games more than qualify.”
Shrugging Matt’s hand off his shoulder, Jack grilled him with a mock glare. “My, my—first gambling, now blackmail. What’s next, Matt—carousing on River Street?”
“Naw, did that last week after the volleyball game.” Matt raised his water bottle in a smug toast. “To-go cups of Red Bull and a record number of tracts handed out for those who’ve gone astray.” He winked. “Saved one for you, just in case.”
Jack bit back a snide remark and stretched his arms high, twisting side to side to loosen both his muscles and his mood. “Rather have the Red Bull, man,” he said with a lazy grin, determined to clean up his act on his own,
without
any lame religion or tracts. “My butt’s draggin’ from patchin’ and painting.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right—the job you tried to pawn off on me.” Matt glugged his water several seconds before swiping his mouth with the back of his hand, shooting him an evil grin. “Good practice for the gazebo and landscaping, bro.”
Two fingers to his teeth, Chase silenced the gym with an ear-splitting whistle and a nod toward the back door. “Okay, everybody—save the jawin’ for the pizza out on the picnic tables, and a big thanks to the ladies for pitching in with home-baked cookies.” Hefting the cooler with an impressive swell of biceps, he ambled toward the playground like the Pied Piper, fawning females and sweaty guys following in his wake.
Determined to make the best of the evening for Matt’s sake, Jack followed his cousin, reveling in the crisp sea air that cooled the sweat on his skin the moment he stepped outside. The scent of honeysuckle from a tangle of bushes by the door gave way to the mouthwatering smell of cheese and pepperoni spiced with garlic and oregano, and for the first time all night, he actually sort of enjoyed being here.
With a rumble of his stomach, Jack clambered onto the bench of the table Nicki saved for her wedding party, grateful Preacher Boy was seated at the other end. Chase said grace, but at the sound of “amen,” appreciative groans and laughter circled along with the pizza. Snatching two pieces from a box piled high with every vegetable known to man, Jack flinched when somebody kicked his leg. A grin eased across his face at the sight of Lacey on the other side, eyes scanning the sky with great drama while she nibbled on a ridiculously flat piece of cheese pizza—her favorite. “Hey, what was that for, Carmichael?” he said, aiming a crumb of bacon that bounced off her nose.
“For being such an annoying jock and making us lose.” Chin high, she sailed the bacon right back, landing it in his hair. “And don’t play with your food, O’Bryen. Don’t you know there are people starving in China?”
Bolting down his first piece, Matt reached for another two, tossing one on Jack’s plate before he popped a pepperoni in his mouth. “Hey, there’s starving people here too, Lace, and victory always makes winners ravenous, right, Doc?”
“You bet,” Jack said with an easy smile, eyes crinkling with humor as he slowly bit into his pizza, his gaze pinned to Lacey’s. “It’s hard work harnessing all that natural athletic power to avoid debilitating the other side.”
“Yeah, and in a church no less,” Matt piped up, wolfing his pizza down in mere seconds.
“It’s a school gym, sweetheart, not a church,” Nicki said with a patient smile, her tone as thin as her hazel eyes. She fluttered her lashes. “And I don’t believe you’ve
seen
debilitation yet, darling.”
“Uh-oh, I smell a Scrabble game coming,” Lacey said with a bob of her head, licking sauce off her finger.
Dual groans rose from Matt and Jack’s side of the table while everybody entered the fray, guys against girls over a noisy discussion of the best and worst games to play. When the boxes were empty and the cookies all gone, somebody challenged the group with a wiffle ball and bat, and in no time, both teams were flying the bases, expending what energy remained from a night of challenge and chatter, laughter and fun.
Much as Jack hated to admit it, he’d had a pretty good time and even promised Kelly and several of the other girls that he’d try and come back.
Try?
He issued a silent grunt as he helped pick up trash and close the windows in the gym.
Like I have a choice.
“So who’s coming over for Speed Scrabble?” Nicki asked with a devious rub of her hands, sizing up those who hadn’t yet left.
“I’m game,” Sarah said with a yawn, “but I warn you—I turn into a pumpkin at midnight.”
“Great, that’s a fourteen-point word,” Nate said with a tweak of her neck.
“Sure wish I could.” Kelly shot Nicki a look of regret before her gaze flicked to Jack. “But I’ve got some prep work to do for a meeting tomorrow, so I need to scoot.”
“I’ve got a grueling day tomorrow, too, so I’ll pass.” Justin draped an arm around Kelly’s shoulders. “Come on, Kel, I’ll walk you to your car.”
“Oh, bummer, you guys!” Nicki wrapped her in a hug. “Well, don’t stay up all night, all right?” She pinched Justin’s cheek before spinning around to Jack. “So … how ’bout you, Jack? Although my competitive nature warns against inviting a medical doctor with a high-powered vocabulary, I think I can give you a run for your money.”
Gaze flicking to where Lacey was clowning around with Matt and Chase, Jack had a sudden urge to say yes. After all, this friendship with Lacey could only be a good thing, right? He reached for his gym bag, eyes meeting Nicki’s once again. “Sure, why not?” He teased her with a slow smile. “I’ll try not to use any big words.”
“Since I’m in the medical field as well, Doctor, don’t forget I know some too,” she said with a cocky wag of her head, but the warmth in her eyes told him he was making inroads with Lacey’s cousin as well as Lacey. He winced when she put two fingers to her mouth in a shrill whistle that rivaled the Rev’s. “Okay, people—my house in ten, and first one there gets to go first.”
“I’m riding with him,” Sarah called, racing after Nate while he darted for the door. She saluted Matt and Chase on her way out as they stored the volleyball equipment in the closet.
Lacey strolled over with her purse and gym bag, head tilted at Jack with a dare in her eyes. “So, O’Bryen, you heading home … or to humiliation?”
He laughed, gym bag draped over his shoulder. “I might remind you, Carmichael, I know enough high-dollar words to incur stroke in a hypochondriac, so it remains to be seen over whose downfall this will be.”
“Ooooooh, so the doctor’s a little full of himself, is he?” She shifted her bag to her other hand to adjust the purse on her shoulder. “Well … let’s just see who burns whom when you take on an English teacher with a degree in communications. Who, I might add, aced every vocabulary test from grades one through eight.”
A lazy grin slid across his lips. “Bring it on, Teach,” he said, reaching to take the gym bag from her hand. “And I’ll even drive you to your demise.”
The grin stiffened on her face as she glanced over her shoulder at Matt and Chase, her good humor fading into an awkward chew of her lip. “Uh … Chase already volunteered to give me a lift, so you’re off the hook, Brye.” She faced him again with a bright smile that came off forced, giving a tiny shrug. “What can I say? He lured me with Oreo overloads for the troops, and we both know I can’t say no to temptation like that.”
The pizza in his stomach felt like a volleyball made of lead. Shaking his head, he “tsked” to deflect the jealousy that suddenly coated his throat like bile. “Imagine that.” His smile was casual as he handed the bag back. “Bald-faced temptation, and from a pastor at that.” He glanced at his watch and frowned, schooling his voice to convey disappointment he didn’t feel at all. “Oh man …” he said with a ridge in his brow, well aware Lacey could probably see right through him. She always had. “I just remembered I promised Davey bass fishing at daybreak, so I probably should call it a night.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked up with a lop-sided smile that held a hint of an apology. “The little guy gave me a chug bug lure for my birthday that he wants to try, and the top-water bite is especially good early in the morning, so …”
Her eyes softened, socking him in the gut when he caught a glimpse of hurt before she gave him a perky smile. “Sure. Besides, it’s kind of tough to compete with a little boy and a bass,
especially
with a Scrabble game where you get your butt kicked by an ex-girlfriend.”
He laughed, head bowed while he scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I thought about that.” He peered up, the tender look on her face twisting him inside out. “Look, I’m gonna run, but will you let Matt and Nicki know?”
“Absolutely,” she said, her ponytail swinging to and fro when she whirled to join the others on the far side of the gym. “Probably just as well,” she called over her shoulder, hand to her mouth. “First Oreo overload, then trouncing Dr. Jock ‘take it to the mat’ O’Bryen in a game he can’t win?” She gave him a salute with a mischievous gleam in her eye. “Not sure I can handle the temptation, you know?”
Yeah, I know
. He returned her wave with a sick feeling as he made his way to the door.
Neither can I.
“So … now that you’ve spent some time with him, what do you think of Chase?”
Lacey’s smile skewed as she lay on Mamaw’s patio lounger, eyes closed while she soaked up the summer sun next to her cousin, both in their swimsuits. A gentle breeze cooled the sweat on her skin, the scent of honeysuckle mingling with the coconut of Coppertone, taking her back to summers squealing over high school crushes while they worked on their tans.
Until
she fell hard for a senior, that is,
her best friend’s older brother, whom she’d grown up with as a neighbor and friend.
Friend.
The smile faded from Lacey’s lips as she recalled the almost imperceptible look of hurt in Jack’s eyes when she’d told him Chase was driving her home last night. She expelled a withering sigh at the memory, quite certain navigating the waters of friendship with an ex-boyfriend she’d once planned to marry would be no easy matter. Heaven knows she had already wounded him enough in the past; she sure didn’t want to do it again, which was why friendship was undoubtedly the best course. Or at least she’d thought so when they struck their truce. Chill bumps pebbled her skin despite the heat of the day. A truce that reintroduced them to the same easy fun and flirting friendship they’d enjoyed years ago … before their feelings had ripened into love. A wave of melancholy struck hard, and she sighed again.
“
Please
tell me that lovesick sigh is for Chase, because I gotta tell you, Lace, he’s only seen you a handful of times at church, but the guy is already smitten, according to Matt.”
“Uh … no … but I think he’s a really great guy,” she managed, tone nonchalant.
Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the heat of Nicki’s stare, punctuated by her impatient tone. “But …?”
She squinted at her cousin out of the corner of her eye. “But what? He’s loaded with smarts, looks, personality, and faith—a poster boy for every church-going girl.”
“
But …?
” Nicki popped up. Her look torched a hole in Lacey’s composure.
Venting with a noisy exhale, Lacey sat up and snatched her mug of ice water, glugging a few swallows before she poured some in her hand to pat on her face and neck. “Come on, Nick, what’s with all the ‘buts’?” She set her water aside to tilt her face to the sun, arms braced behind her as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “I like Chase, I do—he’s a lot of fun.”
“Ohhhhhhh no you don’t, kiddo.” Nicki said. “You’re not going to sidetrack me that easily, so let me be perfectly clear in case you’re hoping to weasel out with some lame response.” Swinging her legs to the patio, she perched on the edge of her chaise, head ducked as she peered up at Lacey with a gaze so potent it made Lacey squirm. “Do-you-like Chase?”
“Yes, of course ...” Lacey’s words tumbled out in a rush, her mind desperate to derail a conversation she did
not
want to have. “Didn’t you hear what I just—”
“
Enough-to-date-him?
” Nicki interrupted, each syllable clipped like a threat.
Lacey rolled her eyes, lips thinning to wry. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a
really
pushy person?”
“Matt. Daily. Don’t change the subject.” She flicked a fly off her shoulder, eyes welded to Lacey’s with soldering precision. “Enough to date him?”
“Well … sure …” she said slowly, barely able to get the words out for the gulp in her throat. She flopped back on the chaise and shut her eyes, wishing she could shut out her cousin as well. She swallowed hard, her voice barely audible. “Someday.”
“
Some
day …?” Nicki’s tone rose several octaves, continuing the climb to near-shriek. “What the heck is that supposed to mean, Lace—‘
someday
’? What’s wrong with ‘
now’?
”
Eyelids barely lifting, Lacey snuck a peek Nicki’s way, quite sure her cousin would give her nothing but grief over what she was about to say. “I’m just not sure it’s such a good idea to date him right
now
, that’s all.”
Nicki’s jaw dropped like it’d been greased with 10w40. “Oh. My. Gosh.” She slumped back on the chaise. “It’s O’Bryen, isn’t it? You still have feelings for him.”
A groan slipped from Lacey’s lips. “Oh, for crying out loud, Nick, of course I have feelings for Jack!” She shimmied further into the chaise, burrowing in like it was a bunker, ready to hold her ground. “We were closer than air and I was going to marry the man, for heaven’s sake. But that’s all in the past now, and all I want is to maintain an amiable friendship, for both my sake
and
yours.” Her mood drooped at the unlikely notion of mere friendship with a man who still stirred her, both body and soul.
She inhaled deeply, hoping to fill her lungs with confidence as well as with air. After all, she could do anything for two months, right? Her eyelids flipped up. Couldn’t she? She chewed on the edge of her lip, eyes begging Nicki to understand. “Come on, Nick, the way I hurt him when I left years ago, it almost feels as if … well, as if dating Chase right now would be rubbing salt in the wound, you know?”
“Are you kidding me?” Nicki gaped in protest. “Matt says Jack’s out with a different woman every other night, and we’re talking
way
more than a kiss at the door. And
you’re
worried about dating a pastor who’ll help get you over that loser ex in San Diego?”
Lacey winced, the thought of Jack involved with other women finding its mark. Unbidden, she felt the sting of moisture at the back of her eyes.
Hate to tell you this, Nick, but it’s not the ex in San Diego I need to get over …
Scooting to the edge of her seat, Nicki reached to give Lacey’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Look, Lace, I know you want to move on with your life, and I thought we agreed that dating a decent guy would help you do that?”
Lacey opened one eye to a slit. “You agreed, not me, until you badgered me nonstop the first week I arrived.”
“Yes I did,” Nicki conceded with a sharp nod, “but only because I love you and as a nurse, I know what’s best for you.”
The edge of Lacey’s mouth quirked. “Oh, so now I’m a medical problem?”
Nicki wrinkled her nose, teasing with a rasp of air through clenched teeth. “Actually, it’s more of a mental problem, Lace, but don’t worry—I did a rotation in psych, so we’re good.”
“Oh, real funny, Nurse Ratchet.” Lacey flicked water from her mug at her cousin before her grin tapered off into a sad smile. “But to be honest, I’d say it’s more of a heart problem,” she said quietly, thinking of all the hearts she’d broken and needed to mend.
Nicki pushed a toe against Lacey’s hip, rocking the chaise as well as her cousin’s body. “Well, cheer up, kiddo—I just happen to have the name of a great cardiologist who might even give you a family discount …”
“Ouch,” Lacey said with a scrunch of shoulders. “Low blow, Phillips.”
“Sorry, cuz, but now that we’re on the subject …” Nicki adjusted her chaise to sitting position and plopped back, sympathy softening her gaze. “Have you given any thought as to when or where you’re going to approach your dad, otherwise known as Memorial’s Dr. Snark?”
A harsh chuckle erupted from Lacey’s throat. “Only every day,” she said, clicking her chaise into position to sit up like Nicki. “And then my stomach gets nauseous and I break out in a cold sweat.” She released a heavy sigh. “So I pop a couple of Tums, take a shower, and pray like crazy that I can buck up and face the fear.”
Nicki tipped her head, confusion reigning over her sea of freckles. “You know, Lace, I remember all the blow-outs you had with your dad in high school and the night he kicked you out of the house, of course, before you left Isle of Hope. And there’s no question he changed for the worse after you and your mom left, but … to be honest, growing up, Uncle Ben always struck me as a pretty decent guy.”
“Ha!” Lacey shifted on the chaise. “That’s because he wouldn’t dare give the cold shoulder to relatives or friends—he was a ‘pillar of the community,’ you know. But Mom and me?” She wrinkled her nose. “Most of the time it was like living in an ice palace with occasional thaws until Mom and he would go at it again, and then he was a ‘pillar’ all right, with a heart of stone to match.”
“That’s so odd,” Nicki said, nose scrunched as her eyes narrowed in thought. “All I ever remember are things like Uncle Ben cuddling you whenever we watched movies on vacation or you sitting on his lap in the boat with that goofy grin whenever he’d let you steer. I mean, I know you two got into some awful rows, but you always seemed fine at family get-togethers and vacations, you know?”
Yes, she knew. Those wonderful pinpricks of light and love when she actually thought her dad had cared, only to be snuffed out when Mom or she had triggered his ire. And then gone altogether when she started dating boys, his disappointment in her becoming more real than his love, as if she had betrayed him by growing up into a woman.
“I thought so too,” she said quietly, “which is why it hurt all the more when he shut me and Mom out of his life, like we weren’t worth the trouble to love.” Her laugh was bitter. “Our relationship pretty much sank into the bottom of the river after that, especially when he called me a whore and kicked me out of the house.”
Her shoulders slumped at just how impossibly difficult reconciliation with her father would be, especially since
she’d
been the one who rejected
him
after her mother died, too poisoned by bitterness to give him another chance.
“Although he’s never come out and said it, deep down I think he blames me for the way our lives turned out,” she whispered, unable to keep the quiver from her voice. Moisture smarted in her eyes when the familiar ache of rejection reared its head, a specter that had followed her around since she’d been small, when Daddy was never around. Medical school, residency, and a new practice saw to that, leaving Mom and her the dregs of a man they only wanted to love.
“Everything?” Disbelief coated Nicki’s tone.
Lacey expelled a cumbersome sigh. “That’s the feeling I’ve always had—from the arguments he had with Mom while I was growing up, to her affair with Jack’s dad, and then finally Mom’s death.” She looked over at Nicki with a sheen of moisture. “It’s all the culmination of something I’ve felt from little on, Nick—my dad just didn’t like me.”
Nicki shook her head. “I’m sorry, Lace, I just don’t believe that, at least not growing up. I wasn’t around much in the early years when we lived in California, I know, but whenever our families vacationed together, Uncle Ben seemed to fawn over you. It wasn’t until we moved back to Isle of Hope after Mom died that I noticed the strain between you two.”
Head cocked, Lacey gave it some thought. “The vacations were wonderful, as I recall, but it always seemed like once Daddy got back home, work consumed all of his time, and we seldom saw that loving side of him.” Her gaze trailed into Mamaw’s yard while her mind trailed into the past, heart weighted with so much grief and guilt over a father she didn’t fully understand. “And then the moment boys started noticing me—
whoa!
—he morphed into this browbeating tyrant, lecturing me on morality so much that I all I wanted to do was defy, defy, defy!”
Nicki grunted her agreement. “And then I moved back—the she-devil from California—and all hell broke loose.”
A grin surfaced on Lacey’s face. “Yeah, but it was
you
who saved my life by master-minding the seduction of one Jackson Alexander O’Bryen, remember? A California makeover that helped open the eyes of the hottest senior in high school so he would know I was alive.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure he always knew you were alive, Lace—you were his sisters’ best friend, after all, always underfoot.” She winked. “I just made sure his
hormones
knew you were alive.”
Lacey laughed, helping to dispel the malaise that had settled inside. “You were a freakin’ miracle worker, Nurse Phillips, turning my lost and lonely teen years into endless summers I will never forget.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said with a droll smile. “
That’s
the problem, Ms. Carmichael—you need to forget those summers, or at least the guy who made them endless.” She cocked a russet brow. “Trust me, Jack certainly has. I’m pretty sure he’s not thinking about
you
when he wines, dines, and heaven knows what else half the nurses at Memorial, so why should you?”
Lacey blinked, Nicki’s reminder of Jack’s current lifestyle jabbing deeper than she liked. There was no question Jack had moved on with his life, and maybe Nicki was right. Maybe it was time for her to do the same.
“I guess you have a point,” Lacey said, expelling a weary breath that deflated her good mood.
“You bet I do, and it’s not on my head like yours when it comes to Jack O’Bryen.”
“Okay, okay, ‘point’ taken, and no pun intended.” She secured a loose strand of hair with a bobby pin and sat back with eyes closed, allowing the sun to work its magic in melting some of her concerns away. “So, yes, I will go out with Chase if he asks me, but
only
when Jack’s not around and
only
if Chase cools it in group settings when he is.” Her chin notched up to signify her mind was made up. “I refuse to flaunt another guy in front of my old boyfriend, at least until after the wedding. By then I’m praying our friendship will be comfortably casual and remote.”