Magnetic (24 page)

“Honda…can’t go wrong with a machine like that.”

“Pardon?” Stacy looked around until she found a pair of eyes beneath a tattered ball cap peering out from between the thick hedges that divided Layne’s yard from the neighbors’.

“Your mower, it’s the top of the line. I was applauding your choice.”

“Oh,” Stacy said with a smile. “I can’t take credit for that. It belongs to Layne.” Stacy pointed to the house. “Have you met her?”

“I’ve spoken to her a few times, but she doesn’t seem to be the social type.” The face disappeared from view, and Stacy heard a gate creak. A tall man who appeared to be in his late sixties or early seventies wearing a button-down shirt over a pair of Bermuda shorts approached her. “I’m Bob Lester.” He thrust out his left hand while the other shook spastically. “Pay no mind to the shaking. I have Parkinson’s.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bob,” Stacy said as she shook his good hand. “I’m Stacy
Mayeaux
.”

Bob squinted behind his wire-rimmed glasses. “You look a lot like the
Mayeaux
that’s running for the Senate. That guy’s on the ball. I hope he stomps that windbag in office now. We need some muscle. You related because you could sure pass for his kid?”

“I get that a lot. Your yard is beautiful,” Stacy said, changing the subject. “You do it all yourself?”

“Most of it. The stuff they have me taking for the Parkinson’s is a mixed bag of tricks. When I take enough to get control of my motor function, it makes me into a zombie. If I want use of my brain, I have to cut back, but then my old hand here does whatever it wants. My wife, Deb, does the trim work, and I cut the grass. Some days when I’m lucky, I can pull a weed or two.” He pointed at the house. “You live here, too?”

“No. I’m just helping out.” Bob’s gaze was curious as it swept over her. If he was a fan of her father, then he’d be a Republican, and Stacy wondered if he was the type to want to run her out of town. “Layne doesn’t have a lot of lawn equipment, so I was thinking of renting a hedge trimmer. Is there a hardware store near here?”

“You’d probably have to find a Home Depot for that. Mason’s up the block will sell you something used, but I doubt they rent. I’ve got one you can use.” Bob looked around the yard. “And an old weed whacker that still runs good. You can borrow that too if you want.”

“I truly appreciate the offer, but I’m not comfortable borrowing someone else’s equipment. I understand lawn tools are sacred,” she said with a smile.

Bob grinned. “I thought you looked like you understood the code of the lawn.” He patted his chest. “I’m a trader. I’ll trade you that weed whacker if you’ll help me replace a wheel on my trailer. I can’t do it by myself while my hand is out of control.
Whatta
ya
say?”

“Well, that hardly seems fair. Changing a wheel will take less than an hour.”

“It’ll take you that long to crank the whacker. You’ll think yourself on the short end of the stick.”

Stacy smiled. “Let me have a look at that wheel, and we’ll debate the whacker.”

“All right, come on.”

*******

The first thing Layne noticed was the motorcycle parked in her driveway as she pulled up. She smiled, liking the idea of Stacy being inside the house waiting on her. As she got out of the car, she was bowled over by the sight of her lawn. The grass was cut, the driveway edged, and the tufts of grass that had been growing next to the flowerbeds were gone. It looked totally manicured.

Inside, Stacy was putting the finishing touches on dinner, her hair wet and wavy from a recent shower. I could get used to this really quick, Layne thought as she dumped her briefcase on the floor.

“How was your day?” Stacy asked with a smile as she greeted Layne with a kiss and a glass of wine.

“Not as productive as yours, I’m sure. I thought I was treating you to dinner tonight.”

“I’m kind of tired after being in the sun all day, and I figured you probably would be too since you didn’t get much sleep last night. Why don’t you change into something comfortable and I’ll make your plate?”

Layne leaned in close and sniffed at Stacy’s neck; her skin smelled clean and fragrant. “I’m spoiled rotten already.”

“Good,” Stacy said with a twinkle in her eye as she stepped back. “My plan is working. Go change.”

As Layne got out of her work clothes, she realized she wasn’t accustomed to such treatment, and she’d not been joking about being spoiled. She and Olivia had stressful and time-consuming jobs. Arguments often ensued over who would cook or take out the trash. She idly wondered if this was what life with Stacy would be like.

“I didn’t have a whole lot of time to think about dinner, so I just whipped up a pasta salad,” Stacy said as Layne walked into the kitchen. “I wanted to make chicken shish kebabs, but the day just got away from me.”

“This is
perf
— Oh, my God!” Layne looked out the window behind the kitchen table, her jaw sagging. The backyard looked like something out of a magazine. The hedges along the fence had been trimmed neatly as were the boxwoods lining the deck. “You did all of this by yourself?”

“Kind of.” Stacy pulled Layne’s chair out. “I had some help from Bob.”

“Bob?” Layne said as she sank into the chair.

“Your neighbor.” Stacy tossed her head toward the house next door. “Really nice guy, we spent most of the day together. He has Parkinson’s, so there’s a few things he can’t do. We worked out a few trades, and I was able to procure a weed whacker, and he let me borrow the hedge trimmer. His wife, Deb, was so happy that Bob found someone to help him with the things she couldn’t do that she made me lunch and gave me an outstanding chicken salad recipe.”

“You made friends with the neighbors?”

Stacy nodded, then looked at Layne with concern. “Did I overstep my bounds? Does this make you uncomfortable?”

“No,” Layne blurted out. “I’m just shocked at all you’ve done. ‘Procured a weed whacker’?”

“I helped Bob change a wheel on his trailer, so he and his wife could take their mower to be worked on. He bent the deck. Then I power washed his carport. He gave me the trimmer in exchange for the work.”

“You did all this for me?” Layne asked in amazement.

“I did it because I enjoyed it. I haven’t been running or going to the gym lately, so this was really great exercise.” Stacy held her fork poised over her food. “You look kind of overwhelmed. Be honest and tell me what you feel.”

“I feel…grateful.” Layne sighed. “I am overwhelmed but in a good way.”

Stacy took a bite and chewed slowly as she studied Layne’s face.

“This is the perfect meal, by the way, not too filling, cool, light, tasty—”

“Are things moving too fast for you?” Stacy asked with a slight smile.

Layne considered the question as she sipped her wine. “No, I don’t think so. I like coming home and you being here. It’s such a luxury to have dinner waiting on me and things I’ve been putting off taken care of. More important than that, I’ve enjoyed your company.”

Stacy put a hand atop Layne’s. “Then why do you look so scared?”

“I really don’t know. I guess I need time to analyze it to come up with an answer.”

“I’m trying to charm, not rope and tie you. I’ve had that done to me, and I didn’t like it at all.”

“Not by Anna, right?”

“No.” Stacy set her fork down and picked up her glass of wine. “After I left California, I settled for a while in a small town just outside of Salt Lake City. I’d been there less than a month, and I met a woman named Lisa.” Stacy massaged her brow and squinted. “I was in such a weird mental state, I guess. I wanted some normalcy back in my life and I thought companionship. Later on, I realized it was really distraction that I was looking for. I didn’t mean to lead Lisa on, but I think I misled both of us. We met for dinner one evening, and she told me that she’d found a job for me in an office because she didn’t like me working in a bar and that she’d booted her roommate so I could move in. We hadn’t discussed anything like that, and I was stunned. When I told her I wasn’t comfortable with her plans, she backed off for a few days but started with comments like, ‘the job is open any time you’re ready.’”

Stacy rubbed the back of her neck and looked at Layne with discomfort in her gaze. “I packed my things and hit the road one night and never looked back. After that, my…interactions with women were very short-lived to put it lightly. When I met Ronnie, we were on the same page, or at least I thought, so I didn’t feel any pressure.” Stacy took a sip of her wine and licked her lips. “I need to be blatantly honest with you, but I need you to promise not to read anything into what I have to say.”

“Okay.” Layne picked up her glass and held it in both hands.

Stacy pushed her plate away and wiped her hands on her napkin. “I missed Anna so much. I just wasn’t ready for it to be over when she was taken from me. I sought out women who looked like her—dark hair, petite—and when I was with them, I pretended they were her. The morning after, I always felt worse because she wasn’t there. I just ached so much for her. The night we met, you weren’t anything like the others in looks or personality, but I was stuck in my old patterns.” Stacy looked at Layne. “Anna wasn’t there that night, just you. I’ve thought a lot about that and came to a couple of conclusions. First, I think I’ve finally laid Anna to rest. And second, I think we connected that night because you were on some level like I was. You just needed to be in someone’s arms. But there’s a magnetism we’ve both admitted to. I know this sounds silly, but maybe we met at just the right time. We both took different paths to get to that night. Call it fate, luck, or whatever, but here we are. I’m not afraid to find out if this will work or not, but I hope it does.”

Layne studied Stacy’s face. “You’re not afraid of getting hurt?”

“Yeah,” Stacy said with a laugh, then turned serious. “But I’m more afraid of getting used to shutting a part of myself down. I think everyone is self-protective to varying degrees, but if you never take a chance, you only live half a life.”

Layne finished off her wine as she contemplated all that she’d heard. In front of her sat a beautiful woman who was opening her heart to her. And it scared Layne to death.

“I’ve got some things I need to do at home tonight, so I’m going to leave you to relax,” Stacy said lightly as she got up and cleared the table.

“Don’t clean up. You’ve done enough already,” Layne said as she stood.

“Most of it’s done. I’ll just—”

“Stop! Don’t ignore me,” Layne retorted hotly.

Stacy’s hands froze as she rinsed a plate. She set it in the bottom of the sink. “All right.”

Layne searched Stacy’s impassive expression as she walked over and kissed Layne on the cheek. “Good night.”

*******

Stacy’s initial reaction to Layne’s behavior was anger, but instead of letting it well inside her and begin to strengthen the barrier she’d built around her heart and was trying to tear down daily, she put herself in Layne’s shoes. Well-intentioned as she had been, Stacy had to admit to herself that she’d invaded Layne’s safe haven. Layne had tried to cope, but it was clearly displayed on her face that she felt threatened in some way. Stacy also acknowledged that she needed her own space to sort things out for herself, and obviously, so did Layne.

Layne retreated to the one place where she felt most comfortable—work. When Stacy had left, she’d retrieved her laptop and took it into her home office. For a while, she shoved away every emotion and confusing thought as she immersed herself in the daily status reports given by her team still at work in Seattle. She’d shut herself off mentally from Stacy but could not stop the feeling of loneliness that filled her chest and made her physically ache because some part of her was acknowledging that she’d hurt Stacy and didn’t like it.

Chapter 27