Page 103 of Lone Star Longing
Slowly she ended the kiss, drawing back, just as the pump started buzzing in the stock tank.
He turned his face away from her, for which she was glad. She didn't like him seeing her so vulnerable.
“I guess it’s empty.”
He rose in a fluid motion and unplugged the pump, then retrieved it before bending and lifting the tub on its side to dump out the rest of the water that the pump couldn't get. Behind him, Lacey saw a scorpion scurry from beneath the pool, and she shuddered as Beck rolled the pool and set it against the base of the tree.
“You’ll be able to get it down?” he asked over his shoulder. “It’s not that heavy when it’s empty.”
“I can do it.”
“I’d say call me if you need help, but I’m going to be up in the basin for the next three days. I rented a room, so I won’t be back until Sunday.”
His words sent a pulse of sadness through her. She didn't see him that often now, but knowing he was over a hundred miles away for days....
“I’m going to say thanks to your dad and Marianne, then will you walk me out to the truck?”
She didn't want him to leave yet, but she nodded anyway. He took her hand as they walked into the house. The cool air hit the wet skin that hadn’t dried in their brief time on the porch. Lacey felt self-conscious when her dad and Marianne noticed their joined hands, as Beck bid them good night, then drew Lacey behind him out the front door, where he turned her into his arms and kissed her again, his hand at the small of her back bringing her body against his. She slid her hands from his chest up to his strong shoulders, let her hands rest there as his mouth moved over hers, igniting those sparklers again. She tried to remember what her obstetrician had said about the urges common in this trimester, but no, this was more. This was a man who wanted her, who wanted to be a part of her life.
She was ready to let him in.
“Be safe,” she said, hearing the breathlessness in her own voice when he broke the kiss and started down the steps to the truck.
“Yeah, I will. I’ll be back Sunday. See you at The Wheel House?”
She nodded, feeling his absence as a physical sensation as she watched him climb into his truck. “I’ll see you Sunday.”
Chapter Twenty Four
“HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOWwhat to do with Matt Junior.” Poppy chattered as she made the turn Lacey indicated, toward the hospital. “He’s going to be the reason I retire at thirty, swear to God. And does his mama do anything about it? Not one thing. I think she’s overwhelmed because she has so many kids to keep track of, but Matt is just running wild.”
Poppy had talked about her class, and in particular the incorrigible Matt Dunfry Junior, almost the whole ride up. Matt, and her principal with her grand ideas, and the weekly meetings that were more inservice than meetings, and Lacey was feeling pretty bad about dragging her to San Angelo on a school night for birthing classes.
She should have just taken the classes online, but she’d wanted to be more involved than that.
She practically rolled out of the car once Poppy found a parking spot, then shook her hands out to her side as she stood outside the hospital meeting room where the first birthing class was to be held. Poppy rubbed her back lightly.
