Page 93 of Lone Star Longing
“Yeah, Lace, I’ve missed you, too.”
Beck’s heart turned over in his chest. The intimacy between them was nearly as painful as if he’d seen her with Jesse.
He wanted to talk to Lacey, but she stuck by Austin’s side, like his security blanket. Beck didn't remember them being all that close in school. Beck was glad the party had a good turnout, though. A lot of people came to welcome the new doctor to town, town council people, business people.
But damn, did Austin have to hog all of Lacey’s time? And he kept touching her tummy, real casually, like he had a right to do it. Beck had been the one to take her to her first appointment, had been beside her when Jesse turned her away. Why did Austin get to touch her when Beck only did so with her permission?
He recognized the jealousy that he never recalled experiencing before.
Finally Lacey pulled away to cut the cake, and Beck stepped up beside her to help her serve. She cast him a grateful sideways smile as she sliced the cake and slid it onto the paper plates he handed her, then he added a fork to set it on the table for people to grab.
“Thanks for doing this, Lacey,” Austin said, coming up behind her and putting his hand on her waist. “I can’t believe you went to the trouble.”
“You deserved a great party,” she said. “But Poppy, Sofia and Hailey did most of the planning.”
“It’s all great. Thank you.” He cast a grin at Beck. “Did you get a welcome back party when you came home?”
“Beck’s not staying much longer,” Lacey answered for him. “I’m sure he’ll be back on the road by the time you see your first patient.”
“Well, my first patient is next week, so...”
“About that,” Beck interrupted. “I wanted to talk to you, Lace, when you get a chance.”
She cast a glance up at him, brow furrowed, before she turned back and smiled at Mrs. Conover who took the paper plate from her hand.
When the cake was served, Beck made sure he pulled Lacey aside before Austin or Poppy or anyone else could.
“Let’s go get something to drink,” he said.
“I’ve got a water bottle around here somewhere.” She cast a glance about, but a number of plastic water bottles filled the tables, none easily identifiable as hers.
“I’ll get you another one. Come on.” He touched her elbow to indicate he wanted her to follow him.
And she could cool off in the questionable air conditioning of the bar.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked as they stepped inside, and she turned her face to the oscillating fan hanging in the corner of the ceiling.
“Well, I wanted to talk to you about the fact that I’m working in the basin, so I’m going to be doing that for a while, and I kind of decided I’m tired of going out on the road, so I’m going to, ah. I’m going to build myself a house.”
She twisted her head to look at him, eyes wide. “You are? Where?”
“I’m going to build on Mom’s land. Look, I know it’s far away from everything, and I thought about, you know, buying land closer to Midland, closer to the basin to cut my commute, but I priced it, and really, the best bang for my buck would be building on Mom’s land. I talked to my siblings, they’re okay with it. But this way I wouldn't have to worry about roads and power and water, you know? I could just build.”
She was still staring at him. “I had no idea you wanted to stay here.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t, either, when I turned off the highway to come see how Mom was doing. I didn't have any idea I wanted to stay when I met you, when we started hanging out here on Sundays, when I reconnected with everyone. But yeah, man, now I do. I like spending time with my friends. I like spending time with my mom, I like spending time here. I like the lack of urgency, I like the simplicity of it all.” Another couple walked in behind them and he couldn't elaborate, couldn't tell her he was staying because of her, because of her babies. He couldn't tell her he wanted her input on his house because he wanted her to live there too.
They reached the counter, he ordered a soda and a bottle of water, which earned an arched eyebrow from the bartender. Beck paid, handed the bottle of water to Lacey and said, “Can we get out of here for a little while?”
“The party—”
“Not long. Just...a little while.”
“Your mom?”
“Will be fine. Please, Lacey.”
Something in his tone must have convinced her, because the look in her eyes changed, and the crease between her brows disappeared. “Okay. Sure.”
