Barefoot in the Rain (22 page)

“And now,” Clay added as he stood. “He does adult day care with heart.”

But that was wrong. That adult hadn’t
earned
Will’s heart.

“You headed out?” Lacey asked, looking up at Clay with warmth in her golden brown eyes.

“The DOT guys are coming at seven-thirty to do the embankment inspections. When the Department of Transportation shows, I’m there.” He came around the back of the table, placing his hands on Lacey’s shoulders to lean over and look at the plans. “So, Jocelyn, you like this high-end superorganic over-the-top-expensive spa and wellness center?”

Jocelyn laughed at the hint of sarcasm in his tone. “I think it’s amazing and, as an investor, I think it’s going to be quite profitable.”

“It could be,” he agreed. “But expensive as hell to build.”

“The spa isn’t important to Clay,” Lacey explained. “He’s all about the structures and design.”

He bent over and kissed her head. “Take it easy today, okay?” he whispered.

She shot him a look and nodded. “Easy as I can considering…” Her voice trailed off and they shared one more look. “Considering what we’re building here,” she finished.

“Just don’t get stressed out.” One more kiss and he straightened, giving Jocelyn a wink. “She’s the one who’s going to need a spa treatment.”

Lacey flicked away the idea with a disdainful fingertip. “I’ve had enough while I did research. I just want to get this thing done, fast. Go get the roads approved, Clay, so we can pour the asphalt and start building the privacy wall.”

He gave her shoulder a squeeze but looked at Jocelyn. “She’s a slave driver.”

“
She’s
in a hurry,” Lacey corrected. “And
we
want to stay on schedule.”

He saluted her. “Got it, boss. See ya, ladies.”

He poured another cup of coffee and left them alone in the trailer.

“You’re so happy,” Jocelyn observed.

Lacey’s eyes moistened a little. “You have no idea.”

“No, I don’t,” she said on a sigh.

Lacey reached over the plans and gave Jocelyn’s hand a squeeze. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. Rough night.”

“Were you with Will?” she asked.

“No, of course not. Why would I be with Will?”

Lacey shrugged. “Just wondering. You didn’t come over for dinner last night and Tessa and Zoe said you didn’t go out for Mexican with them. So we thought—”

“Don’t think. I spent the evening alone.”

“You do like your solitude,” Lacey said. “Zoe says being alone is like air to you.”

“Zoe’s smarter than she acts. I made a sandwich with all that lovely food you stocked in my fridge. I was really tired.”

“Tell me about it,” Lacey said. “I crashed around nine, so it’s fine.” She searched Jocelyn’s face again. “You sure you don’t want to talk about Will?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” She tapped the plans. “So how are you going to fit a life coach into all of this and what do you need from me?”

Lacey took the cue, shifting her attention to the plans. “Well, I’ll have to hire, of course. People to run the spa and treatment centers, obviously, and a fitness expert, and a few trainers. I’ll need an aesthetician and beauty specialists, and a masseuse.” Lacey sighed slowly. “It’s going to be a lot.”

“You haven’t taken on more than you can handle, have you?” Because she sounded utterly overwhelmed by the work.

“Yeah, but if I knew I had a really great spa manager, someone with incredible organization and people skills…” She leaned forward. “Maybe with a little life-coaching experience and knowledge of this community…”

The implication couldn’t be ignored. “Me? I’m…” For one flash of a second, Jocelyn imagined herself running a state-of-the-art spa, surrounded by beauty, peace, and people trying to improve themselves. It would be crisp, clean, pure—and safe. “I’m not your girl.”

“Why not?”

She tried to laugh it off. “Um, because I have a business and a life in Los Angeles.”

Lacey just lifted a brow. “You don’t love living in L.A.”

She didn’t argue that.

“And that business is in the tank at the moment.”

Deep.

“And if Zoe were here, she’d probably ask, ‘What life?’ ”

Jocelyn laughed. “So true. But you need someone trained in spa management and hospitality.”

“I’m trained in hospitality, remember? I almost have a degree in it.”

“Well, then because you need someone who…” She couldn’t think of another reason, damn it. “Who lives here. Or close by.”

Lacey dropped her elbows on the table. “I got Tessa here, didn’t I?”

“Are you serious about this?”

“Why not?”

“Aren’t
you
going to run the spa?” Jocelyn asked.

“I’m going to run the resort, or at least hire the right management, and I’m going run…” She leaned back and shook her head a little, a hint of sleeplessness suddenly evident under her eyes. “Owning this place is a huge job. Clay wants to be an architect, not a resort manager. I’m looking to farm out whatever I can and I want those people to be trusted friends. I want to surround myself with people I love and who’ll love my kids and husband, so I’m starting early recruitment. Would you even think—”

“Did you say kids? Plural?”

Lacey’s jaw dropped and she slapped a hand over her mouth. “Shit,” she muttered. “I did.”

For a second, they just stared at each other as a slow smile curve Lacey’s lips. “I suck at secrets.”

Jocelyn jumped up and let out a little scream. “Oh my God, Lacey!”

They hugged awkwardly over the table, nearly knocking it over, and then, laughing, they both scooted around for a proper embrace.

“Can you believe it?” Lacey squeaked, her eyes good and teary now.

“How far”

“Six weeks.”

Jocelyn leaned back, still holding her shoulders, looking at Lacey with new eyes.
That was
what was radiating off her. Not just love, but motherhood. And a damn understandable reason for exhaustion. “You want this.” It wasn’t a question.

“So bad.”

“Does Ashley know she’s going to be a sister?”

“We haven’t told a soul,” she said. “Not my parents, not Ashley, not Tessa.” She made a face. “Which is not going to be fun.”

“Why? She’ll be thrilled.”

“Doubtful. You know how badly she wanted a baby. All those years trying with Billy, and his new girlfriend gets pregnant before the ink was dry on the divorce settlement.”

Jocelyn waved that off. “Tessa loves you and she’s going to be the proudest aunt of all. Why are you waiting?”

“Just keeping it to ourselves, making sure everything’s okay. But I’m getting so used to the idea, and, God, how do you keep secrets so well?”

“It’s an art,” she said drily. “So you don’t have to worry about me. I won’t tell anyone until you’re ready.”

Lacey dropped back in her seat, still looking worried. “I guess I’m ready, once we tell Ashley. But I am starting
to stress out big time about running this place and having a baby.”

“You’re going to be fine,” Jocelyn assured her. “You’ll do it the same way every working mother does. With lists and help and sleep-deprivation and wine. Wine! You had wine the other night.”

“I fake-drank.” She grinned. “My plants are pretty looped, though.”

Jocelyn laughed. “You are a sneak!”

But Lacey leaned in again, reaching a hand to Jocelyn. “My offer is legit and now you know just how much I need someone like you. Maybe not immediately, but after this baby is born, we’ll be close to opening and I want this place to run so smoothly. But I also want to be a good mom.” She touched her belly, rubbing. “So, think about it, okay? Come and run my spa for me. You’ll have plenty of time to close up your business.”

She rolled her eyes. “My business is closing for me.”

“It would be so wonderful, Joss—”

The door popped open with a resounding bang followed by an equally loud, “I’m pissed!”

Tessa bounded inside, her boots hitting the floorboards so hard the whole trailer shook.

“What’s wrong?” Jocelyn and Lacey asked in perfect unison.

Tessa waved her cell phone. “The son of a bitch did it again!” She marched across the small space and slammed the phone between them, nearly collapsing the card table. “His girlfriend is pregnant again! And he had the audacity to text me. Their first kid isn’t even a year old, they still haven’t gotten married, and now he has another one on the way.”

Jocelyn and Lacey were stone silent, both blinking like they’d been caught in headlights, but Tessa was too worked up to notice. She grabbed a folding chair and practically threw it next to the table, plopping down with a soft curse.

“How can he text me like I’m supposed to be happy for him? Who does that, anyway—texts their ex-wife when their new girlfriend is pregnant? What the hell does he think I’m made of?”

They still couldn’t quite talk. Lacey swallowed hard and Jocelyn dug for the right thing to say, coming up with nothing.

Tessa looked from one to the other, then down at the plans. “What are you two discussing, anyway?”

“M-my…” Lacey stuttered, obviously unable to come up with anything.

“Job offer,” Jocelyn supplied. “She wants me to work here.”

Tessa gasped and grinned and gave a solid clap. “A capital idea!”

And just like that, they managed to steer the conversation away from babies and onto business.

W
ill climbed out of his truck at the Mimosa Community Credit Union a few minutes after it opened, the last of the stops he had to make that morning. Just as he reached for the handle of the charcoal-tinted glass door, it popped open, pushed by someone inside.

“ ’Scuse me,” he murmured, stepping to the side and nearly getting run over by Charity Grambling, who had her head down, her nose in the open end of a manila envelope.

With a soft gasp, she looked up, jerking the envelope away. Then she shot him a vile look, her features arranged in a way that screamed anger. Brows drawn, lips down, nothing but fury carved into the deep lines on her face.

Man, she’d been poorly named.

“Everything okay, Charity?”

Her dark eyes tapered as the wind lifted her frizzy carmel-colored hair, revealing a band of gray roots underneath. “No, Will. Some things are just not okay.”

He hesitated, stepping farther to the side but still holding the door for her. “Sorry to hear that,” he said, expecting her to fire a retort and stomp away.

But she just sucked in a breath so deep it made her narrow nostrils quiver.

Oh, boy. Charity was in a mood to gossip. “Hope your day gets better,” he said quickly, trying to zip by her into the air-conditioned lobby of the credit union.

But she stood stone still, five feet two inches of granite and grit. “Where’s Jocelyn?”

The question threw him enough to make him stop. Charity may be playing the good cop this week, but he’d known this woman too long to trust her. “Is someone looking for her?” he asked, purposely not answering.

“Yes, for cryin’ out loud. I am. Where is she?”

He just shook his head.

“I need to see her. I have something for her. I promised it to her.”

She had? Curiosity tweaked, but he tamped it down. “I can give her whatever you have, Charity.”

“No way. This is eyes only. Her eyes only.”

“I won’t look at it.”

She practically hooted with disbelief. “Like I’d believe a man.”

“You can believe me.”

She shook her head. “Where is she?”

“I’m sorry, Charity. I’m sworn to secrecy and my word is good. Whatever you have, give it to me. Does it have to do with her situation?”

“I’ll say it does.” She tapped the manila envelope against her hands.

“I know everything,” he said earnestly. “I know the truth and she trusts me. Is that what you want to give her?”

She clutched the envelope tighter, scrutinizing his face like she could eyeball whether or not he was a liar.

“You can trust me.” He held out his hand.

“Have her call me and come to the store.”

“She might not,” he said. “She’s keeping a very low profile. But suit yourself. I’ll tell her I saw you.” He tried to slip by her, but she inched to the side.

“I can trust you for sure?”

“You have my word.”

She shoved the envelope into his hands. “Give this to her. And if you even think about opening it, God’ll strike you down dead. And if he doesn’t, I will.”

What the hell could it be? He didn’t make the mistake of looking remotely curious, but took the envelope with a solemn nod and tucked it under his arm. “You want her to call you or anything?”

“Just…” She drew in another breath. “Be there if she falls.”

Coming from anyone else, it would have been a cliché. Coming from Charity, who hadn’t spoken five kind words in her life, the expression damn near blew him away.

And piqued his curiosity, but he kept the envelope under his arm the whole time he made his transaction at the teller window and returned to his truck. Feeling a little like he had contraband, he set the envelope on the passenger seat with his bandanna, Gatorades, and a box of protein bars that kept him going all day. After glancing
around for wayward reporters who might jump or follow him, he headed up to Barefoot Bay.