Lacy (The Doves of Primrose) (26 page)

Neither one of them had ever spoken the truth before. Lacy had wondered if Brice knew the truth all along and that was the reason for his lying and cheating. Now she knew for sure. He had spent their entire marriage punishing her for what she had done to him.

Lacy looked at the ground and struggled for an easy breath. “That may be true, Brice
, but doesn’t that prove to you that we should be divorced?”

The screen door slammed and Lacy spun around. Her eyes clashed with steel blue
bearing down on her. The sun was below the tree line, just touching the horizon, casting brilliant orange light onto Kyle, making Lacy cower. He had heard what Brice said. Her chest collapsed and her stomach was now several feet below the earth. Every inch of her vibrated with terror.

“Oh
, great.” Brice threw his hand up. “What do you want? Can’t you see we were having a private conversation?”

Kyle
descended the stairs with deliberate steps. “Then you should have gone somewhere a little more private or kept your voices down. Especially when you decide to discuss me.”

His gaze transferred from Brice to Lacy and she wished she could evaporate. He studied her for a brief moment and she did her best to look as apologetic as she felt.
“All this time.” He shook his head ever so slightly. “And you never thought to tell me, to include me in something as big as that?”

“You tucked your tail and ran outta here. I was the only one she could count on,” Brice interrupted.

The sardonic twist of Kyle’s mouth scared Lacy as he shifted to address Brice. “The absolute absurdity of that is nothing short of a lion trying to convince a gazelle they’re friends. Now shut up or I will shut you up.”

Brice opened his mouth to protest but closed it as soon as Kyle straightened, flexing his muscles and blasting him with his icy stare. Satisfied he had quelled Brice’s attempt to speak, Kyle turned back to Lacy. The hurt etched in his face nearly sent her to her knees.

“Is that true, Lacy? Were you pregnant with my baby?”

Her face contorted with agony and her throat clamped shut with regret
, cutting off any response. She nodded. His jaw flexed and his nostrils flared as he tried to hold on to his emotions.

“What happened?” His voice was hoarse and his eyes were no longer focused on her.

Lacy forced her lips to part. She glanced once to Brice who was still standing close by. “I lost the baby.” Sorrow escaped and her body shook, she wanted desperately to wrap her arms around Kyle. This was almost as bad as losing the baby the first time. Tears glistened in the corners of his eyes, and her heart, what was left of it, wrenched. “I’m so sorry, Kyle.” She took a step forward.

He threw up his hand to cut her off and turned. “I can’t believe you didn’t have the guts to tell me that
we were going to have a baby.”

She crumpled with his inability to look at her. Reaching her hands out in vain, tears streaked down her cheeks. “I didn’t know until you were gone.” The words burst from her in sobs. She wanted to make him understand. “I thought… I hated you then. Even though I shouldn’t have – it was just with everything that happened I couldn’t…” She grabbed handfuls of
her own hair, trying to explain as quickly as she could all the reasons she did what she did and stopped when his gaze settled on her and she saw that it was useless. She dropped her hands and lifted her chin. He would never understand and she couldn’t blame him for it.

“Okay.” With one last look he walked past her and around the side of the house.

Her head dropped forward. Brice moved next to her. “He’s still an asshole.”

She raised her head and stared in disbelief. “Look who’s tal
king.”

The confusion written on his face was all the confirmation she needed. Brice didn’t give a deuce about her. Lacy let out a sound of disgust and left him standing on the lawn.

**********

A baby?

Kyle’s brain was on fire as he stormed away from Lacy and that asshole husband of hers. It had taken every bit of strength not to smash his face in. What was he supposed to do about this? Should he do anything? He couldn’t understand why she hadn’t told him about their baby. Why hadn’t she contacted him when she found out that she was pregnant? And then to lose their child. Just the thought of a miscarriage tore him to pieces and he wasn’t even the one who had to go through it.

His hardened heart softened a tiny bit when he thought of Lacy having to suffer through that. How awful was it? He didn’t know. He didn’t know because she didn’t think to include him! His anger was battling with his compassion and love and it made him sick. He wanted to hate Lacy for
this. He did hate her for it. She married another man, Brice Campbell of all people, when she found out that she was pregnant with his baby. How could she do that to him?

He paced back and forth between the trees
, trying to sort through all of his emotions, to piece together some kind of explanation for her betrayal. And then the conversation in the kitchen popped into his mind. He remembered Lacy telling him about Eric and Sam and how she thought Kyle was responsible for what had happened to her. He still didn’t know exactly what that was, yet. He only had his imagination and that was telling him it was something awful.

He leaned against the closest tree and slid to the ground, sta
ring out over the prairie grass. Darkness was minutes from sheathing the land and the birds had grown silent. He wished his thoughts would do the same. He was working on absolutely no sleep. Knowing that forced him to realize he may be blowing this all out of proportion. But damn it, she had lied to him. He could possibly understand her keeping it from him eight years ago, when she thought he was a monster. She was eighteen and most likely scared. But to continue to keep it from him after they had started again? She had had many opportunities to tell him about the pregnancy.

Okay
, now he was just lying to himself. He knew he wouldn’t have had the guts to tell her something like that after a couple of days of getting to know each other again. For more than half of that time she had still thought he was the same jerk from before. He had almost convinced her differently and then Brice had shown back up and shot everything he had built straight to hell.

And to think all he had wanted to do was explain to Lacy what she had seen in his trailer this afternoon. Mrs. Walters had poin
ted him out to the lawn and then the whole world went haywire. He closed his eyes and tipped his head against the tree. He could almost fall asleep out here. It was so peaceful.

On the backs of his eyelids he pictured a smiling, plump baby with wild hair and blue eyes in the arms of her mother. He felt his lips curve in a smile at the vision of her giggling and waving her little hand while he snapped her picture. That could have been his life. If only he had known. He would have taken better care of Lacy than Brice ever did. They wouldn’t have lost their baby had he been by her side. Oh God, how he wished
he would have been by her side.

He wished so many other things too. But you can’t go back. If he could he wouldn’t have let his brother leave the house that night, he wouldn’t have allowed Lacy to run from him, he wouldn’t have gone eight years without coming home to see his parents.
So many regrets. But he was here and he was determined to have what he wanted.

He drifted off to sleep beneath the cottonwood trees on the lawn of
The Dove House with thoughts of the life he was going to build with Lacy no matter what kind of fuss she kicked up. He had seen the torture in her eyes and the anguish in her body when she confessed to the baby. She loved him, no matter how inept she was at saying it. He knew she did.

When he woke it was to a hooting owl flying overhead
. The night had settled in, blanketing the inky sky in thousands of stars. He had no idea what time it was, but gauging by the moon it had to be around ten. He rubbed the sleep from his face and stood up. There were still lights on in the house. He debated going in, wondering if Lacy was inside or if she had gone to her room in the barn. He knew how tired she must be after last night’s fiasco and the long day that followed.  His stomach growled, making his decision for him.

The front door was open
to let in the night breeze, the only barrier being the screen door. He opened it quietly and stepped inside, looking into the dark dining room. “Thank God,” he spoke to the empty room and went to the kitchen to raid the fridge.

Chapter 24

Lacy retreated to the serenity of the pond to watch the glitte
ring water as the sun went down. She sat with her feet in the water, calming her rampaging mind. Her life was a disaster. She didn’t think she would ever have to tell Kyle about their baby. At no time had she believed that he would ever come back into her life and when he did, she hadn’t had time to tell him. Had the relationship continued, which there was every indication that it would, she would have told him and hoped he would understand.

But she hadn’t even explained what had driven them apart that summer. S
he had hinted at it but never came out and told him. Had she done that, he would have been able to understand. If she had had the guts to tell him she loved him it would have softened the blow. None of that happened and here she was, sobbing her eyes out on the dock where they had shared such life-altering times. This was her favorite place; she always found peace here. The place where Kyle lived in her memories.

If her eyes weren’t completely empty of tears she would cry more. Now that she had gone more than thirty-six hours without sleep her body was numb. Even if she could
lie down she knew sleep would evade her. Too many things had happened, too many things were still stomping through her mind. The sky grew darker and she knew the mosquitoes would be out on the hunt. She slapped one dead on her arm as proof.

Walking back to the house she felt as though she had aged ten years in one day. She went to the barn and gathered some co
mfortable clothes, intent on a hot shower. She entered the house and decided to let the breeze filter through the screen door. A couple of people were still milling about downstairs and Mrs. Walters was cleaning up the dining room while chatting with Marcus. In the back of her mind she hoped that Marcus would start paying attention to Emmylou. Someone should get what she wanted, and Emmylou was as deserving as anyone.

“Excuse me
, Lacy.”

She closed her eyes and gathered a deep breath before turning. “Yes
, Lauren?” The woman fidgeted, scratched her arm and bit down on her bottom lip. Just hours ago Lacy had wanted to strangle her, but looking at the dejected waif she almost felt sorry for her.

“I hoped we could talk
--”

“We don’t need to. Honestly
, Lauren, it’s fine. I understand. I’m not mad.”

Lauren perked up and narrowed her eyes.
“About what?”

Now Lacy was
confused. She shook her head. “About earlier. The trailer,” she helped. “What I walked in on.”

“Oh.” Lauren waved a hand. “That was nothing. Kyle was simply helping me with my poison oak.”

Lacy scratched behind her ear, trying to focus, picturing the scene in her mind. “Oh, okay.”

“What I wanted to talk to you about was this house.”

Here we go
, Lacy thought, yearning for the shower she could feel slipping away. She waited for the daring task that she would be required to perform at Lauren’s request.

“I have been hearing some disturbing
things.”

Exhaustion seeped into every pore. Lacy didn’t think she was going to make it through this conversation.
She rubbed her forehead. “This is a very old house, it creaks and groans, the chimneys can be drafty and so can the windows.”

“No, these aren’t normal
.” Lacy simply stared at her. “It sounds like someone is behind the walls in my room.”

Lacy sighed. She could tell by the set of Lauren’s face that she wasn’t going to let this go until Lacy had dealt with it. “I didn’t tell you this before but there are secret passageways in the walls of the house. My great-great-grandfather was eccentric about things like that. It’s why the walls are so thick. My room – your room – was the maid’s room and happens to have one of those passageways so she could go downstairs
to fetch breakfast without being seen by anyone.”

Lauren appeared traumatized by that information. Her hand was pressed to her chest
, making Lacy want to roll her eyes. “Well, if that’s true then there could be someone behind the wall watching me, waiting to attack.” Lacy was thinking it was more likely an animal was in there and even then it would soon learn that Lauren wasn’t someone it wanted to tangle with. “I don’t think I’ll be able to have a moment’s peace knowing that I could be killed at any moment.”

All Lacy wanted was a hot shower and sleep,
and now she was going to have to spend all night moving Lauren into another room or tracking down some hypothetical killer hiding in the secret passageways. “Would you like to move to a different room? I don’t have an empty one but I think we could find someone to trade with you.”

Lauren
sort of crumpled her mouth. The gears seemed to be turning behind her sea green eyes. She twisted her hands together before answering, “I like that room. I don’t really want to exchange it. That sounds like a lot of trouble to go to.”

You’ve got that right,
Lacy thought.

“Maybe
….” Lauren took a breath. “Maybe if you could go up there and check, just to see what’s making that noise. I’d feel better.”

“Sure, why not?” That was easier than moving. Lacy led the way to her old room and stopped before opening the door. She looked questioningly at Lauren who nodded her approval to co
ntinue inside. Lacy turned the doorknob and entered. She glanced around. It was spotless as always; since they had checked in Lacy hadn’t had to give this room anything but a once-over before moving on to bigger cleaning projects. Like Kyle’s room.

“The doorway is in the closet.” Lacy parted the hanging clothes and slid her hand down the wall to find the release. It had been years since she had actually been through the passage. The boxes had been stacked against the door after she moved back in and in high school she only used it when she was coming in b
efore dawn so her mother would think she had been asleep since one o’clock curfew. But usually her mother was entertaining a guest or passed out so she didn’t have to bother.

Her hand landed on the lever
. She looked over her shoulder at Lauren, finding her wide-eyed, watching every movement. “It’s gonna be okay, Lauren. I’ve had this thing blocked off for months. If anything, it may be a bird or a squirrel that got trapped in here from the attic vent.”

The woman nodded and swallowed
, clutching some of her hanging clothes for protection.

Lacy pushed the lever down, releasing the door without the usual grinding thud she remembered. She shrugged it off.  She pushed the door open and flipped the switch on the wall.

“Lighting was installed in here by my grandmother, Bonnie, back in the fifties. She liked to give tours and tell the stories of guests hiding in here when their wives or the law came looking.” She was trying to put Lauren at ease while they stepped further into the passageway. “You may have heard this, but it was rumored that the James’s gang used this as a hideout before and after they robbed the train in the next town.”

“Fascinating.”
Lauren was following directly behind Lacy, a strange expression on her face, or it could have just been the light playing tricks. Lacy narrowed her eyes for a moment before continuing. She felt some kind of urgency coming from Lauren. Lacy couldn’t understand why she was so upset about it. She didn’t have to follow Lacy into the passage if it was going to freak her out so much. The narrow, winding stairs were ten feet from the door, and Lacy stopped at the top of them.

“You don’t have to come with me. I can handle it.” Lacy rea
lly wanted to just tell her to go back so she would stop trampling her feet.

“No, I’m fine. I’ll follow you.”

“Okay.” Lacy turned to take the first step. Her foot extended and then she spotted it. Her silver picture frame hanging from a nail on the wall. Kyle’s handsome smiling face was circled in swirls and hearts. “What the hell?” Lacy barely got the words out before hands shot out from behind her, shoving her, sending her weight forward and breaking her balance. She flew forward and down, face first. The stairs came up to meet her as she cracked her cheek against the rough wood. Every roll and flip of her body connected with the sharp edges of the stairs and sturdy wall. Pain burst at every impact point, spreading until everything was hurting. Rushes of light tumbled and mixed with the dark. She closed her eyes a second before her head slammed against the floor at the bottom of the steps.

Stars popped before her
eyes and numbness blanketed her mind. She blinked hard trying to clear it. Lacy registered footsteps thudding above her, but the sludge that was her brain wouldn’t move. Blonde hair and white teeth flashed a moment before blackness faded in.

**********

Kyle was standing in the kitchen eating a sandwich when his cell phone rang. Excited about the name on caller ID, he answered immediately. “What do you have for me?”

He listened intently as Mike, his private investigator friend, explained all the details of Brice’s activities in the past four months. He tried to remain as silent as he could but he let out the occasional “You’ve got to be kidding me,” and “Uh-huh” while taking it all in. Turns out Brice Campbell had been a very bad boy and was in some serious trouble.

“And Kyle, I’ve got something else for you.” Mike’s voice was the same straightforward style as always.

Expecting to hear about the other matter Kyle had him
investigating, he prepared to take notes on where he could find his dear friends Eric and Sam. His mind was already conjuring ideas for their reunion and how much pleasure he would get from exacting revenge.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, buddy, but while I was tracking Brice, Lauren’s phone number popped up several times. The most recent was early Monday morning.”

Kyle gripped the phone, straining to understand while his mind spun with shock and confusion.

Mike made a guttural noise in his throat and Kyle knew it must be strange news if a hardened investigator was baffled by it. “Kyle, the call came through at
three twenty-two a.m. I don’t know what that means but it seemed odd to me.”

That was just minutes before good old Brice came knocking on
The Dove House door. Mike cut in again with further information that made Kyle’s blood run cold. His punishing grip on the phone cracked the cover. He was about to answer when a thumping noise similar to what he had heard before interrupted.

“Hang on, Mike.” He set the ph
one on the counter and listened. Nothing. He tilted his head, engaging his ears, tuning them to any strange sound. Just when he thought that he had imagined it and was bringing the phone back to his ear it happened again. The dragging, thudding followed by something else. Was that a person moaning?

He shook his head. He must be crazy. It wasn’t possible. “Mike, are you there?” Kyle listened to his friend’s details while moving out of the kitchen, through the dining room and into the hall. Just then…
thud, thud, thud.
It was like someone was pounding on the walls from the inside.

“Hey, there.”

Kyle jumped and turned to see Lauren walking towards him. He hung the phone up and tucked it in his back pocket. He hadn’t talked to Lauren since pushing her off him in the trailer after Lacy burst in on them. He knew she had been angry, but that stunt had actually scared him a little. She had never been anything but professional and distant with him from the day she started working for him.

“Hi.” He moved cautiously. She was dressed in a slinky
white dress that shimmered in the intermittent moonlight and barely touched the tops of her thighs. The hallway was mostly dark but he could make out the freshly styled hair and bare feet.

“I was looking for you.” She walked right up to him and backed him against the wall. She had shocke
d him into compliance again.

“Lauren, what has gotten into you?” He tried to make it sound
light while still inflecting his opposition. Gauging from their earlier encounter and the wild look in her eyes right now he didn’t think setting her off would be a good idea.

She purred and traced a finger over his chest.
“You, hopefully.”

“Jesus, Lauren!” This had gone too far! He twisted sideways and stepped away from her but she growled playfully and grabbed his hips. He swiped at her arms, pushing them away and scrambling for distance.

“Don’t play hard to get with me, Kyle. I don’t fight fair.” Her voice rose and Kyle’s heart flipped.

“Lauren, why are you acting like this?” He was trying to talk sense to a woman who had obviously gone
around the bend. Damn, she was quick. He took a wrong step and she had him trapped next to the doorway of the study.

Her eyes blazed as they devoured him and her hand was pressed against his chest with her other hand wrapped around the door jamb. Her feet were planted on either side of him. He wasn’t quite sure if he should fight her off or try reasoning with her.

He snapped his head in the direction of another thudding sound. “Did you hear that?” he asked Lauren.