Beyond Affection (6 page)

Two hours later, they lay side by side in Lacie’s queen-sized bed, just as they had when they were teenagers.  “I’m glad you’re here,” Lacie confided in the dark.  “I think if I had to wait until tomorrow to tell you I would have exploded.”

Corinne laughed.  “I’m still not sure I believe that really happened.  It’s just too good to be true.”

“Believe it.  Now that you know everything, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”

Corinne had been listening with rapt attention, but Lacie always knew when something was on her younger sister’s mind.  Even if she hadn’t picked up on it, the telltale twisting of the hair tie in her hands would have clued her in. 

Corinne exhaled heavily, not bothering to deny it.  “Tomorrow, okay?  Let’s just bask in the afterglow of your perfect date tonight.  You can keep replaying it in your head, and I’ll do the same, pretending it was me instead of you.”

“Okay,” Lacie chuckled, setting her worries aside for a little while longer. 

I
n the morning, Corinne seemed even more preoccupied.  She brooded over two cups of coffee and munched down some granola at Lacie’s insistence before finally raising the white flag.

“Alright!” she said.  “I’ll tell you.  But promise me you’ll listen and not jump down my throat and say I’m just being paranoid, okay?”

The somber look on Corinne’s face was worrisome.  For as much as Lacie teased her younger sister about overreacting, she knew that when she got
that
look it was serious.  She slid into the chair next to her and gave Corinne her full and undivided attention.  “Okay.  I promise.”

“I caught Craig sneaking into your apartment last night,” Corinne blurted out.

“What?!?”

“He had a key.  Did you give him a key?” Corinne looked at her sister accusingly.

“Well, yes, but it’s only for emergencies,” Lacie said, slightly shaken.  “I have one to his place, too, but I’ve never used it.  What did he want?”

“He said he was looking for some chamomile tea or something, that Shelly had an upset stomach from eating too much pizza.”

The tone of Corinne’s voice revealed her thoughts on the matter more clearly than her words.  Lacie caught the reflexive defense on the tip of her tongue, remembering her promise.  “You don’t believe him.”

“No,” Corinne confirmed.  “Before he realized I was here I saw him going through your desk.  You don’t keep chamomile in your desk, do you?”

Lacie shook her head.  Her hands gripped harder around her oversized “Teaching is Heart Work” mug, disturbed by Corinne’s reveal.  

“Whatever he was looking for, I don’t think he found it.  I made some noise to make it sound like I was coming out of your bathroom, and when I came back out, he was in the kitchen, getting the tea.” 

A shiver went down Lacie’s spine.  Craig had been in her apartment hundreds of times, knew where everything was.  Why did that suddenly seem overly intrusive?

At least now she knew why Corinne was creeped out.  “That’s why you stayed.”

“Partly.  I really did want to hear about your date with Shane.  But yeah.  I was afraid if I didn’t, he’d be waiting for you when you got home.  I don’t think he was very happy about you going out, Lace.”

No, he’d made that obvious.  The look in his eyes when they’d been leaving was quite telling.  Thankfully, Shelly had been there.  If she hadn’t, Craig would have no doubt been far more vocal in expressing his opinions.

“Thanks, Rinn.”  Lacie gave her sister a hug and moved over to the desk.  What in the world would be of interest to Craig?  Bills, her planner, a few articles.  At first glance, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.  Papers were strewn in what looked to be haphazard, random stacks, but Lacie knew what to look for.

Rinn stepped up quietly beside her.  “See anything?”

“Yeah.  My file on Brian.  It’s not where I left it.” She spotted it a few inches to the left, picking it up to examine it.  The papers inside were out of order, as if someone had been rifling through them and had hastily shoved them back.  In the three years that Brian had been missing, Lacie hadn’t given up hope, ceaselessly writing letters, making phone calls, ensuring that no one forgot that he was still out there somewhere.  She’d carefully documented everything in that file.

“Is there anything missing?”

Lacie went through everything twice more before she answered.  “It doesn’t look like it, but something’s not right.”  She held up an aerial photo, an enhanced view of something that looked like it might have come from Google Earth.  “This looks different to me.”

“Different how?” Corinne asked, squinting.  “Just looks like a rocky desert to me.” 

“I can’t put my finger on it,” Lacie said, but knew something was off.  At that moment she wished she had Shane’s photographic memory.  “This is a satellite photo of the area where Brian’s unit was attacked.”

Corinne sucked in a breath.  “How did you get that?”

“Don’t ask.  I’m not sure it’s entirely legal.”

“Oh, Lace.”

Lacie set her shoulders and gave her a determined look.  “Hey, if it helps bring Brian home, it’s worth it.”

“Do you think Craig switched photos?” Corinne asked, tapping her teeth like she always did when pondering something.  “But why would he do that?  For what purpose?  I know I said I think Craig’s a little - ” she swirled an index finger in a tiny circle next to her temple “- but that seems a little farfetched, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe he thinks he can use it somehow, and he doesn’t want me involved.  He’s forever telling me I’m going to tick off the wrong people one of these days, and warning me to let him handle it.”

“Maybe he’s right, Lace.  He knows a lot more about how the Army works than you do.”

“I know.  But I just can’t sit back and do nothing, Rinn.  Brian is still out there...”  Lacie’s voice cracked.

“I know,” Corinne said, hugging her.  “I miss him, too.  And we
will
get him home.  But promise me you won’t say anything to Craig about this, okay?  He doesn’t know I saw him outside of the kitchen last night, and I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Lacie promised she would, and Corinne left shortly thereafter.  Lacie took a long, hot shower, pushing thoughts of Craig and whatever he was up to out of her mind, preferring to relive her amazing date with Shane over and over instead, wondering when he would call. Her phone rang as she was towel drying her hair.  She lunged for it, thinking it might be him.

“Lacie?” a little girl’s voice said over the phone. 

“Shelly?” 

“Um, yeah.  Um, the pancakes are almost ready.  Daddy says you need to bring the whipped cream.”

“Okay,” Lacie said, cursing herself for having forgotten.  “Give me five minutes and I’ll be over, okay?  You want fresh strawberries, too?”

Shelly squealed an affirmation before Lacie disconnected the call.  She rushed around, hurriedly pulling on a clean pair of jeans and a long-sleeved cotton T, running a brush through her damp hair, and gathering the supplies from her fridge.  She had completely forgotten about their weekly breakfast date, her mind distracted by a gorgeous Irishman with silky black hair and blue eyes that sent electricity into her most sensitive parts every time they landed on her.

She didn’t bother with shoes; she was only going across the hall.  Her own door had barely closed when Craig’s opened up.    “Here, let me help you with that,” Craig said, taking the bowl of fresh berries and the can of whipped cream.  There was a slight edge to his voice.  Yep, he was displeased.

“Thanks,” she said, stepping into his place as if she hadn’t noticed.

Shelly kept up a steady stream of conversation while they made and ate pancakes, finger painting them with whipped cream and adding features with chocolate chips and strawberries.  Craig continued to eye Lacie closely, but said little.  Lacie had the distinct impression he was brooding.

When they’d had their fill, Lacie began to clean up.  Craig noticed she was only using one hand.

“Your hand still bothering you?”

“A little.  I was thinking I might head down to the ER and get it x-rayed later.”

Craig looked as though he was about to protest, then thought better of it.  “Alright.  Shelly and I will drive you over.”

“No.” Lacie shook her head.  “I don’t want Shelly in an ER.  It will scare her.  And I already have a ride lined up.”

“Is it Callaghan?” Craig hissed with enough vehemence that Lacie took a step back.

“No,” she said, eyeing him warily.  “Corinne is going with me.  We were going to do some shopping afterward.”

Craig visibly relaxed.

“What is it you’ve got against him, anyway?”  Lacie recalled Corinne’s hypothesis that Craig was the reason so few men actually asked her out.  He
was
intimidating.  She hoped Shane Callaghan would not be deterred, then dismissed that thought entirely.  As gentle as he had been with her, she had sensed something dangerous lurking beneath the surface.  Shane certainly didn’t give the impression of a man who scared easily.

“He’s sniffing around you, that’s what,” Craig said decisively, casting a quick glance into the living room where Shelly was happily coloring in front of the television.  “What do you see in him anyway?” 

“Honestly, Craig, I don’t pry into your sex life.”  Lacie moved away from the sink to gather the last of the dishes from the table.

“
You’re having sex with him?!?
”  Craig reached out and grabbed her by her injured hand, forcing her to face him.

“Of course not!” Lacie hissed, fighting the pain, which was overshadowed only by her total mortification of even having this conversation with him.  “God, Craig, you’ve known me my whole life!  I would think you’d know better than that.”

His grip loosened a little, but he did not release her until she pushed at his arm.  “I do know you, babe, which is how I know that you are way over your head with this one.”

“I beg your pardon?”  She forced herself to take even breaths as the pain seared up her forearm.  Craig was too worked up to notice.

“These Callaghans, they’re like wolves, prowling around looking for little innocent lambs.  They sink their fangs into you, rip you to shreds, then stalk back into the woods to wait for their next victim, leaving you to stitch yourself back together.”

That was a rather ironic analogy coming from the man who currently looked like he was ready to lay waste to everything within a five-mile radius.  She couldn’t imagine the same wild look on Shane’s face; she instinctively knew he would always be in complete command of himself. 

Feeling the need to defend both Shane and his family, she said, “Five of them are happily married, and utterly devoted to their wives and children.”

Her words only seemed to inflame him more.  “Not your man, Lace.  What does that tell you?”

Her chin tilted upward.  “That he hasn’t met the right one yet.”

“Jesus Christ, look at the stars in your eyes!” he said in disbelief.  “You think it might be you, don’t you?”

“I don’t think anything, you big idiot,” she said through clenched teeth, her voice an angry whisper.  “We’ve only seen each other a couple of times.”

He nodded, as if she had just proven his point.  “Ah, but the Callaghan men say they recognize their soul mates right away.  If it was you, you’d already know.”

They believed in love at first sight?  That was news to her.  She refused to read anything into it.  For all she knew, that statement was as biased and fabricated as his wolf-lamb analogy.  “Where did you hear that?”

“Doesn’t matter, does it?  It’s true.  Do yourself a favor, Lacie, and forget this guy before he breaks your heart and I’m cleaning up what’s left.”

Her irritation swelled suddenly into an uncharacteristic rage.  “Why don’t you do me a favor and stay the fuck out of my business!”

Craig’s eyes opened wide as Lacie’s hand flew up to her mouth.  Lacie had never cursed at him; she appeared to be every bit as shocked as he was.  She never used the “F” word, not to anyone.

Almost as stunned as he was, Lacie was out the door and back in her own apartment before he could respond. 

S
hane fingered the small mobile device, flipping it over and over in his hand, fighting the urge to call Lacie just yet.  It had been exactly seventeen hours and thirty seven minutes since he’d done the honorable thing and left Lacie at her doorstep with naught but a brush of a kiss across the back of her hand. 

What he had wanted to do, what his body had begged him to do, was sweep her into his arms and carry her to her bed where he would spend the night making mad, passionate love to her.  His entire body ached with want; just the image of her in that little black dress had him tight with need, unable to sit still.  It was such an unusual state for him that he wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. 

Shane flexed his hands in frustration.  It wasn’t as if he’d never been sexually attracted to a woman before.  But this – what he was feeling for Lacie – went way beyond simple desire.  This was a burning deep in his gut, a soul-deep need to take her and make her his own.

Suddenly, everything stopped.  Every one of his senses shut down momentarily, allowing him to give complete focus to the realization that exploded in his brain:  Lacie was his
croie
.  His heart. 

It was a stunning revelation.  On some level he might have suspected, given the instant and powerful connection between the two of them.  He’d seen the same thing happen to five of his brothers over the past few years.  Had it been like this for them, too?  Had they experienced this sudden shift in their universes where everything finally fell into place?  As if, up to that point, everything had always been just a little bit off and they’d never realized it? 

When his mind came back online, it was crystal clear.  His senses were more acute than they had ever been.  Even physically he felt a change.  Every part of him now had a single, united purpose:  to join in mind, body, and soul with Lacie.

Absently rubbing his chest over the spot where his heart beat with renewed vigor, he wondered if it was like this for Lacie, too.  According to Taryn, his brother Jake’s wife, she had experienced something similar.  His other sisters by marriage – Lexi, Maggie, Nicki, and Rebecca – had said the same.  Did that mean Lacie was thinking of him right now, wishing she was with him until her heart ached?  Was she reliving their date over and over in her mind, relishing every look, touch, scent, sound and taste?  Was her body a prison of stark, raw need?