Page 13 of Love, Lacey Donovan
A year had gone by as quickly as turning a page. My lease was up in a few months, and I didn’t have a plan. I’d never stayed this long in one place before, but I couldn’t imagine leaving Mossy Oak. The thought of starting over—finding a new job, new dogs to walk, new friends—had always excited me in the past, but now it had never seemed so unappealing.
Aslan tugged on the leash, and I tore my gaze from the view to glance down at him. I would miss Aslan more than anything when I left Mossy Oak.
“Summer does ballet?” I asked him.
He answered me with a crooked grin and a soulful stare.
We finished our walk, and I secured Aslan back in the mudroom before venturing into the kitchen. The house was eerily quiet. I missed the horrible music Beckett blasted while he was “working.”
The house seemed too big and empty without him.
I pulledup in the carpool line at Pinewood Elementary behind a Chevy Suburban with a stick-family decal in the back window. One of the stick figures was delivering a high kick to the face of the basketball-toting figure next to it. I guessed either this family had a sick sense of humor or their kid liked martial arts.
Putting my car into park, I laid the seat back and prepared for a few blissful minutes of uninterrupted reading. Usually I would have already finished the new Miranda Lockhart romance, but I was having a hard time falling into her latest story. Maybe it was because I couldn’t picture anyone other than Beckett Vinroot as the leading man.
I grabbed my book and flipped it to the front cover. The cover model was a dark-haired man in a suit carrying a bouquet of roses. His perfect jawline was dusted with just the right amount of beard scruff. His eyes blazed, promising sinful nights more romantic than the Paris backdrop behind him. He was hot enough to make my cheeks burn, but he had nothing on Beckett.
The memory of Beckett pumping iron, his chest muscles rippling with each movement, had me rolling down the window to let in some fresh cold air.
“Hi!” Came a high-pitched voice from the other side of my window.
“Shit!” I jumped when I saw a woman standing outside the car.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said. “I thought you saw me.” She smiled, revealing a row of perfect white teeth. “You rolled down the window.”
I dropped the book into my lap and turned to face her. Dressed for the cold weather, she wore a puffy coat, a knit hat, and gloves. Oversized sunglasses covered the top half of her face.
“I’m Chelsea.” She extended a gloved wave. “Kaylee’s mom?”
I nodded as if I knew who the hell Kaylee was.
“Are you a nanny?”
“A nanny? No. I’m just doing a favor for a friend.”
“The new kid?”
“Um…yeah.”
“It’s too bad her mom has to work such long hours. Kaylee told me Summer’s mom never volunteers or brings snacks.” She gave me an appraising look. “I can’t imagine handing off my responsibilities as a mother to anyone else. This time is precious, you know?”
I shook my head. “Not really,” I said. “I’m not Summer’s mom, but I know she is doing the best she can.”
“I didn’t mean Summer’s mom is doing anything wrong. But it won’t be long until the girls are off to college. I don’t want to waste a moment. I’m not judging or anything.” She pointed to her perfect-toothed smile. “This is a judgement-free zone.”
Her eyes slid over my face, lingering on the diamond stud piercing my nose. It was probably good she couldn’t see my tattoos under my jacket.
“How old are you anyway?”
“Twenty-five.”
She blew out a relieved breath. “I’m only thirty-two. And holding.” She tugged the glove off her right hand and pulled a phone out of her coat pocket. “Let me get your number.”
“Why?”
Her finger hovered over the screen, and her eyebrows bunched together. “So we can arrange for a sleepover,” she said.Duh.
“You had better call Pressly for arrangements.”
