Discovering Pride (Pride Series) (8 page)

I
n the next few days it seemed everywhere Lacey went, Aaron was there.

When she was at the grocery
 
mart getting
 
some cinnamon for her homemade rolls, he had magically materialized behind her. Then, he had continued to walk with her around the
 
small store as she collected her items, causing her to be frustrated. Her cheeks had heated to a toasty red by the time they reached the checkout. She had been so frustrated; she had forgotten half of the items on her list.

Now, as she stood in her kitchen and added more flour to her cinnamon rolls, she thought of how the whole town was probably talking about her and Aaron.  She remembered how Mary, from church, had discreetly followed the pair around the store, at a safe distance of course, listening to them.

Aaron didn’t help matters, it seemed he was always touching her: either her elbow while they were walking; holding her hand; or even touching the back of her neck below her hair line. Remembering, she stopped stirring her dough and reached up with a flour covered hand to feel the spot on her neck.

Taking a deep breath now, she continued to stir the dough mixture with more vigor.

She had spent years building up her spitfire reputation around town.
 
She was sure this was going to hurt it.  

Dumping the dough out of the bowl she started to knead it and thought about how Aaron had helped her take
 her
groceries out to her car and kissed her. Kissed her! Right in front of the large store windows.  In front of everyone!

Lacey swore she had
 
heard a hush fall over the town in that very moment and that the moments  following were filled with a buzz that flew outwards as the event was retold to everyone within a hundred mile radius.

Feeling her checks burn she looked down and realized she was holding the dough in her hands as if her small fingers were wrapped around Aaron’s neck.  Plopping it back on the counter she proceeded to beat the heck out of it.

Her rolls were probably going to be tough and dry all thanks to Dr. Stevens.

Before he came into town she prided herself on her reputation. She was sure that was the reason most people kept clear of her and her personal life.  But now,
 
after a kiss outside the mart, she might as well
 
be wearing a sign on her chest that
 
read, “
Give me any and all advice on dating
”.

Her building frustration almost got the better of her earlier when someone attempted to give her advice on how to maintain a good relationship.

Relationship? Dating? Was that what they were doing?

She paused as she placed the dough in a big bowl. 

Just because she felt funny when she saw Aaron did not mean she wanted a relationship with him? Did it?

She shrugged and set a cloth on top of the bowl and set it aside to let it rise.  Starting her clean-up process
 
before she started making her famous cinnamon and sugar glaze she tried to relax. Baking always made her feel more centered.

How could a doctor, let alone a very attractive man be after her? She always tried to keep her head down and
 had learned in the past to stay clear of “beautiful” men. What little experience she had in the past with the opposite sex never seemed to turn out for the best. It wasn’t that she was scared of men; she had learned her lessons early in life to be wary of men with promises and big smiles.  Aaron’s smile was one of the biggest and brightest she’d ever seen.

She was halfway through cleaning when she realized she was using window cleaner on the counter where she had mixed her dough.  Looking down she saw the big blue glob of cleaner and dry flour.  She couldn’t even clean properly without Aaron getting in the way. Throwing her rag down in frustration, she started cleaning up the mess correctly.

What was a man like that doing here? More importantly, what would it take to keep a man like that interested in staying in Pride?

What the hell was he doing here?

Looking across the large space that was soon to be his kitchen, he came up blank.
  He could just close his eyes and see what it was he wanted, yet when he opened them, nothing seemed right.

The place stilled looked empty, but thanks to the Jordan brothers, he now had drywall. He’d even hired a few local guys to do the tape and texture on the walls.  They should be finishing up tomorrow which meant he had to figure out the layout of his kitchen tonight.

He remembered reading somewhere about the kitchen triangle rule, but for the life of him couldn’t remember what it was. He had done the wiring and plumbing in the kitchen so that he would have options.

Looking
 
across the large space he still came up blank. Should he put the refrigerator there or across the room? He knew the sink would go over there under the window, but looking at things, he thought it might go just as nicely on the island facing his living room.

Then there was the stove.  He had the electric in place and knew exactly where it belonged, or so he thought.

Was it against some kitchen rule to have the stove too close to your refrigerator?

Taking a big
 
breath he stepped back and once again closed his eyes and
 
tried to picture himself standing in the room making a simple meal. He opened his eyes when nothing came to mind.

“Fine then, let’s try something else.” he closed his eyes once more.

This time out of the darkness he saw Lacey’s face. 
 
She was smiling. Good. Then he pictured her shoulders and arms as they were busy with a simple task of chopping fresh vegetables on a large wood cutting board…his cutting board.

She stood chopping them on the large island in the center of the kitchen…his kitchen.

The sink was in place under the large
 
window and the gas stove top in place on the island next to her with a pan
 
sizzling with some type of meat. He could almost smell the rich food she was making.

A large glassed door refrigerator sat on the opposite wall stocked with fresh items. A pair of large
 
double stacked ovens sat across the room.

Then Lacey turned and pulled the vegetables into the pan while she smiled at him.

He almost lost his concentration, but he refocused on the walls and
 
cabinets.  He could see
 
they were a dark color, maybe dark oak,
 
no, cherry cabinets with glass doors on a few cupboards here and there. The walls were a nice rich olive green. Four large bar stools sat on the bar side of the island.

Opening his eyes, he got to work making her kitchen.

It was on one of her many runs to take food over to Megan’s bed and breakfast that it happened. She was arranging the turkey sandwiches, fresh baked rolls, and homemade macadamia nut cookies while chatting with Megan when Megan squealed.

“What? What’s wrong?” Lacey rushed to Megan’s side. Then she noticed that Megan had a smile on her
 
face and started laughing.   Lacey, pale and shaking, finally figured it out.

“Did the baby just kick? Oh, let me feel.”
 
She placed her hands on Megan’s
 
round belly.

Megan smiled and covered Lacey hands with her own just as the baby kicked again.

Just then Todd walked in to see his sister kneeling on the floor in front of his
 
wife. 
 
He noticed they had identical smiles and both had a hand on Megan’s belly.

“What,
 
what’s wrong?” he rushed over to his wife.

“
Your son or daughter was just showing us how
 
excited he/she is that auntie Lacey was here.”

Lacey
 
stood up and stepped back, enjoying the scene. Her
 
brother was kissing his wife and their hands were now joined over the movement of the new life they had created.

To have a second chance is an incredible gift, but for
 
these two people to
 
have that chance was something indescribable.

Leaving the pair to enjoy the moment
 
she quietly went out to the dining area and finished setting up the food for the guests. Lately, it seemed, there had been a lot of guests coming and going at the B&B. So much, in fact, that Iian and herself had been busy stocking the place with meals.

Todd had been helping out. Lately he had been taking more and more time off from running the shipping company.  He was working from his home office all the time now. She was sure it was due to
 
his fear for Megan and the baby’s health. But
 
both mom and baby were very healthy and progressing just nicely.  Lacey could tell Megan was not only feeling well, it appeared that pregnancy suited her.