Ladd Fortune (25 page)

“
Did you have fun at your
picnic?” Aunt Frannie asked.

“
I did.”

“
Oh, good. That man is as
handsome as they come. I might of taken a shine to him myself, if I
hadn’t met Deacon first. Course, he’s dead and gone and plumb
plugged my heart closed, but you know my eye wanders on occasion.”
She winked. “It’s a natural affliction I was born with.”

Lacy clasped her hands together. “Oh,
Aunt Frannie, this one is divine.”

“
Divine, is he? I like the
sound of that!”

“
Oh
yes
. He kissed me today—out on the
trail.”

Aunt Frannie scowled. “Now don’t you go
giving away your milk ‘til he buys the carton.”

Lacy stuck out her lower lip and served
up her best pout. “Aunt Frannie, my clock is ticking. Besides, he
asked me to dinner and I made him wait. Wouldn’t be right if I gave
in so easily.” That, and she wanted to tell Annie about the gold
right away.

“
What do you call a
kiss?”

“
If I don’t encourage him,
he might move on and leave me an old spinster.”

Frannie fanned herself, exclaiming,
“Lord a’mercy! I expect you to wait long enough to give your child
a right proper daddy. If you haven’t learned a thing from watching
that sister of yours, I don’t know what I’m going to
do.”

Annie. Yes. That was exactly who she
wanted to talk to, this minute. “Do you know where Annie
is?”

“
Child, I’m not her keeper!
Only recently became yours.” Frannie eyed her like a nuisance bunny
in her flower bed. “Now tell me, do I have to instill a curfew for
you and this young man of yours?”

Young man? Lacy almost laughed, but
thought better of it. No sense getting Aunt Frannie all worked up
over her interested in an older man. She might go so far as to
forbid it! Lacy forced a serious expression onto her face. “No,
Aunt Frannie. I’ll behave.”

“
Promise?”

Lacy slipped a hand behind her waist
and crossed her fingers, same as she did with Malcolm in the
forest. “Promise.” Everyone knew it wasn’t a sin to break a promise
when your fingers were crossed. Lacy checked her watch, a slim
silver band at her wrist. Three-thirty. “Now, do you think Annie
will still be at work? She must work until five, right?” Aunt
Frannie simply stared at her. “What?”

“
What mischief do you have
up your pretty little sleeve, young lady?”

“
Nothing.”

“
Nothing?” Frannie shook her
head and stuffed strands of red hair back into the base of her hair
net. “You and your ‘nothing’ are becoming a pattern around
here.”

Lacy enclosed her palm over Frannie’s
forearm and assured her, “I promise, Aunt Frannie.” And this time
she meant it. Lacy wasn’t out to cause any mischief. She was out to
help Annie by letting her know there was gold on Ladd Springs. Gold
on Ladd Springs! But she had to hurry. What if Jeremiah tried to go
back there and steal it all? “Toodles!”

With a kiss to her aunt’s cheek, Lacy
breezed out the front door, chimes singing her exit. Annie would
have to forgive her now—once she understood Lacy was willing to
help her get Ladd Springs. And when she told her about the gold,
she’d be begging for help. Spinning in place, Lacy caught sight of
Annie’s daughter farther down the sidewalk, accompanied by a
brown-haired boy. Lacy waved. “Oh, hey there!”

As the girl walked toward her, she
glared at Lacy with sharp blue eyes underscored by heavy black
pencil. Add her long black hair and ivory skin and Lacy thought it
gave her a vampiress look. The resemblance to Annie was
striking—though where Annie was mature and attractive, the child
was plagued by a case of acne, spots that stood out against her
pale skin. There was a time Lacy had faced the same battle, and
knew Casey’s would pass, too. The boy with her was pure
country—jeans, boots, good-looking and well-built. As they neared,
Lacy realized it was the same boy she had seen with Loretta at
Whiskey Joe’s.

Startled by the realization, it was
nothing compared to their reaction to her. Neither teen was
friendly, both cold as river snakes. Oh—they must not know who she
was! Lacy put forth her best smile and said, “Hi. I’m your Aunt
Lacy.”

The girl hardened her stare but said
nothing.

Sullen, moody, Annie had
been no different at that age. She’d get annoyed with Lacy for
breathing back then, as if she could do a thing to stop it! The
teenagers passed.
Well go on and be grumpy,
see if I care
. Lacy was too busy for
drama—she had a relationship to mend! She called after them, “Have
a nice day, kids!”

Casey Owens watched Lacy as she hurried
down the sidewalk, dubbing her short skirt and black boots a bit
young for her age. That was her aunt? How embarrassing.

“
Who’s that?” Troy asked,
opening the door to Fran’s.

“
My mom’s
sister.”

Troy gaped. “For real?”

Casey nodded. Entering the diner, she
was hit by the same old aroma. Fried chicken, fried fish, fried
potatoes—everything was fried. Other than biscuits and pies, the
menu was fried to a crispy brown. Casey didn’t like any of it. She
only came here because she received free food.

“
How come I’ve never seen
her before?” Troy asked, choosing a booth in the corner, away from
prying eyes and nosy neighbors.

Casey slid in across from him and
replied, “She’s back in town.”

“
Where from?”

“
Atlanta, I think. My mom
doesn’t talk about her much.”

“
How come?”

Casey shrugged. “Never said.” All she
knew was that the two of them had some kind of feud going on. She
glanced around the restaurant, recalling her run-in with Delaney
Wilkins a month or so back when Casey told her straight to her face
that she knew Delaney hated her and that’s why she working to get
Ladd Springs for Felicity. But then again, who didn’t have a feud
going on? “My mom says she’s staying with Fran.”

Fran pulled up to the table and glanced
between her and Troy. “Hey, sugar. Did I hear someone callin’ my
name?”

Casey nodded. “I was telling Troy about
Lacy.”

Fran smiled. “It’s great to have her
back, isn’t it?” When neither Casey nor Troy responded, she let it
drop. “Two cokes for you kids?” Both nodded. “Are you hungry?” They
looked at each other and shook their heads in unison. Smiling all
bright and happy, Fran tried, “How about a biscuit? Just made a
fresh batch.”

“
No, thanks,” Casey replied
and checked with Troy.

“
No, ma’am. I’ve already
eaten lunch.”

“
All-righty. Two cokes,
coming right up.”

Once Fran had moved out of earshot,
Troy hunkered over the table and said, “I hear your mom is trying
to get you a share of Ladd Springs, on account of your inheritance
and all.”

Casey grimaced and sank back into her
seat. “She says it’s for me, but I think it’s more for
her.”

“
Why would you think
that?”

“
Because she hates Delaney,
she wants money, I don’t know.”

“
That doesn’t sound
right.”

“
Tell
her
that. I bet if she does get her
hands on it that land I’m never gonna see any of it.”

Emotion stormed Troy’s expression. “But
you’re the rightful heir, not her. You’re the one who deserves it,
especially since she made you live without a daddy.”

Casey looked away. She didn’t want to
hear about her miserable life, especially not from Troy, the kid
with tons of money, the one with awesome parents. The Parkers spent
time with their kids, took them on vacations, went to their school
functions. Her mom didn’t hardly do any of that stuff, let alone
care about whether or not she had a father in the house. No matter.
Her mom would probably embarrass her if she did show up. Spotting
Fran on her way with the cokes, Casey dumped her gaze to the
table.

“
Sorry,” Troy
mumbled.

“
Two cokes,” Fran announced
and slid them on the table. Setting straws alongside, she prodded,
“Those biscuits back there are warm and moist. You let me know if
you change your mind about food, you hear?”

“
Yes, ma’am,” Troy replied.
“We will, thank you.”

Casey’s gaze tracked Fran’s black-soled
comfort-wear as she walked across the black and white checkered
floor. Normally a fan of the biscuits, Casey didn’t feel like being
a fan of anything at the moment.

“
Listen, I wanted to tell
you that I’m leaving this summer.”

Jerking her head up, Casey shot
forward. “What?”

“
I’m going to work with a
horse trainer outside Murfreesboro.”

“
Murfreesboro? Who?
How?”

“
Some guy my dad knows. He
runs a ranch up there and I called him about a job.”

“
You told your
dad?”

Troy stilled. “Naw, not yet.” He tore
open the straw and stuck it into his coke. “I wanted to be sure I
had someplace to go first.” Chucking the balled white paper toward
the ketchup container, he picked up his drink and dragged a long
sip.

Casey slumped. “Wow.”

“
I want us to keep in touch,
though.”

“
You do?” she asked,
instantly feeling foolish.

His mouth tipped into a small smile.
Troy shook the overgrown bangs from his eyes and asked, “Why do you
always act so surprised when I say stuff like that?”

Because she couldn’t believe it.
Because he’d never said it before. “I don’t know.” Casey shrugged
and evaded him with a glance toward the kitchen. “I always thought
you kinda liked Felicity.” Then there was that older woman he was
with yesterday, the one her “daddy” came in and made a scene
over.

“
Aw, dad gum. Felicity’s
only a friend. She likes Travis, anyway, not me.”

Casey’s attention intensified. “She
does?” When he nodded yes, she detected a hint of sadness in his
eyes. Did it upset him? Did Troy want Felicity to like him,
instead?

“
I like you
Casey.”

Anxious excitement pumped in her chest.
Fine time to tell her—he was leaving.

“
I wanna have some fun
before I go.” Sipping again from his coke, Troy held her in his
gaze. Nerves rippled and frayed. “Do you wanna go out
tonight?”

“
Go out?” Like out out, as
in boyfriend, girlfriend? she wanted to ask, but didn’t dare. There
was no way she was sticking her neck out that far.

“
There you go again, acting
all shocked.” A boyish grin seized hold and he asked, “Is there
something wrong with me?”

“
No—not at all. I just...”
Involuntarily, she glanced at the booth he’d been sitting at with
the blonde woman.

Troy whipped his head around and his
eyes lit up with the realization. “You worried about that woman you
saw me here with yesterday?”

“
No.” Casey shrugged again
but refused to look at him. Of course she was worried about that
woman. What were they doing together? Wasn’t he the one acting all
interested in her welfare, yet he was cavorting with the enemy? She
didn’t understand him. Though she wanted to, in the worst
way.

“
She don’t mean nothing to
me.”

Casey stared at him, distrust pricking
at her heart. “Then why have lunch with her?”

Anger thundered beneath his voice as he
replied, “Listen. That woman means nothing to me. I was only using
her for information.”

“
Information? What kind of
information?”

“
You don’t worry about
that,” he said firmly, closing the subject with a dead-bolt. Troy
reached over and tried to grab her hand, but she withdrew it,
depositing both hands into her lap. Displeased, he repeated, “Do
you wanna go out with me? I can pick you up. We can talk,” he
added, as though that would convince her.

Did he have other intentions? Or was he
only after friendship?

When she hesitated, he persisted.
“C’mon, Casey, don’t play like this.”

Play like what? she wondered. Play like
she didn’t want to be with a guy who was obviously interested in
someone else? He was, wasn’t he?

“
I’ll follow you around if
you don’t.” A light smirk curved his mouth to one side. “I’ll make
you’re momma think I’m crazy.” The imagery tugged a smile from her
as she watched him beg. It was warming to her ego. “I mean it. You
don’t agree, she’ll make you, just to get rid of me.”

Casey doubted that but enjoyed how hard
Troy was working. It made her feel good. Maybe it was true he
didn’t like that woman. Her heart dipped. But Troy was leaving.
Right when they got together, he would be gone. It wasn’t
fair.

Troy acted like a sad puppy dog, his
brown eyes pleading. “I’m waiting.”

Shouldn’t she take every second she
could before he was gone? “Okay. I’ll go.” Of course she would.
Casey would take Troy any way she could get him.