SEAL the Deal (33 page)

“Don’t they say that any publicity is good
publicity?”

“You might be right about that. My phone
has been ringing off the hook. It seems there’s an odd subsection of the
population who think it might be cool to have Lacey the Crime-Fighting Real
Estate Agent sell their property.”

Mick laughed on the other end.

“I don’t know though, Mick. Maybe real
estate just isn’t for me, anyway.”

“Don’t say that. You’re a great real
estate agent.”

“That’s in question. But thanks. I don’t
know if I really enjoy it though. I love taking care of people, walking them
through a process, holding their hands through the ups and downs. But you know?
I really hate the sales part. Maybe I should go back to school. Get my masters
in psychology or social work. If I can make enough in real estate to cover some
night classes, it might be possible.”

“That’s a great idea.”

Mick’s enthusiasm bolstered her spirits. “You
really think so?”

 “Of course. You’d be a natural in
that line of work.” He paused. “Now, Lacey? Go home. Sitting there any longer
can’t be good for you. Besides, you happen to have an invitation to a movie
tonight from a rather hot-looking sailor.”

 “Sounds wonderful. But tell Jack I’d
prefer going with you.” Lacey brightened at the deep laughter on the other end
of the phone.

***

Mick put his cell phone back in his
pocket.

“How’s she doing?” Jack asked, tapping out
something on his computer.

“Not great. I’m worried about her. She put
so much work into that listing. I hate to see her lose it.”

“She can’t let it get to her, though.”

Mick pushed himself back from his desk. “She
actually mentioned the possibility of going back to school so she could do something
else. Something people-focused, but without the sales.”

“Like a psych, maybe?”

“Yeah, or social worker,” Mick added.

“I could see her doing something like that.”

Mick pulled his chair back into his desk
and began clicking on his keyboard intermittently, his mind drifting.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Jack tilt
his head in Mick’s direction. “Might free her up to move, too. That is, if she
ever wanted,” he offered noncommittally.

Mick’s back straightened. “Why would she
want to move?”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “I have no idea.”

“There’s more keeping Lacey from marrying
me than that.”

The corner of his mouth edging up into a
smile, Jack’s eyes widened. “Who said anything about marriage?”

Mick bristled. “If I get back into the
SEALs, Lacey would be miserable. She’d be worried all the time.”

“Uh, Mick, hate to point it out, but she’d
be miserable and worried whether or not she was your wife. She loves you. Goes
with the territory, man.”

Mick stood to look out the window, hoping
some answers would spell themselves out in the clouds. Minutes passed in an
uncomfortable silence, and Jack resumed typing.

“I actually looked at rings the other
day,” Mick suddenly confessed.

Jack’s hands dropped from his keyboard,
and he turned to read Mick’s face.

Mick shrugged. “I might have even picked
one out.”

“No shit? Congratulations, man!” He rose
to shake his hand and gave him a swift thump in the shoulder.

“I know she’s going to say no, but—”

“Wow, great attitude, Mick.”

“—but I had to let her know how I
felt. She’s doing a great job of building a life for herself here. And she’s
happy, and that’s the most important thing. But I thought I should let her know
how I feel. Tell her that maybe if she’d be open to a life with me, then maybe
we could work something out.”

“Very poetic,” Jack mumbled.

“So I thought I’d throw the idea out
there.”

“Send it up the flagpole and see if she
salutes.”

Mick laughed feebly. “Yeah.”

“You know, just having a conversation with
her might have sufficed. The ring might be overkill.”

“You think? I thought it might increase my
chances.”

Jack rolled his eyes.

“And it comes with a thirty-day return
policy,” Mick offered honestly.

Jack burst out laughing. “Very practical
of you. Do me a favor and don’t tell her that, okay?”

Mick’s sigh was deep, almost painful. “Seriously
though, what do I have to offer but a future of sleepless nights and moves
across the country?”

“Uh, maybe your lifelong devotion. Maybe
the possibility of having children if she wants. Maybe the idea of growing old
together.”

Mick was quiet as Jack’s words settled in.
“Well, keep your mouth shut till I get the nerve.”

Jack nodded. “I swear it,” he said,
raising his right hand with mock solemnity. “Seriously, man. You have my word. I
never go back on it. So how many days left?”

“What do you mean?”

“How many days left on the return policy? How
long have you been sitting on this?”

Mick shrugged. “A week or so.”

“And you were thinking of asking her…
when? Before retirement?”

“When I get the nerve, asshole.”

Jack held up his hands and turned back to
his work.

“Sorry, man. I’m on edge.” Mick raked his fingers
through his hair. “I was actually hoping sometime before Spring Break. That
way, if she actually does say yes, we might be able to fly out to her parents
so that I could ask them a bit more formally.”

“Nice touch.”

“But then the whole police thing happened,
and I didn’t think the timing was right.”

“True enough.” Nodding sagely, Jack
glanced at his watch and gathered some files from his desk. “Well, I’m off to
tell three mids that they failed their last exam.”

“Be kind, Jack. Nuclear physics doesn’t
come easily to most of us.”

Jack smirked. “Apparently, it’s easier
than proposing to a woman.”

Shifting uneasily in her kitchen chair,
Lacey gazed out into the morning rainfall watching the birds battling for seed
on Maeve’s feeder. “Mick, did you hear what I said?” she asked awkwardly into
the phone.

“No, I’m sorry. I was thinking about
something else. What did you say?”

“I offered to fix you dinner at your place
tonight, rather than go out.”

“God, no,” Mick said too quickly.

“Is my cooking that bad?”

“No, what do you mean?”

Lacey heaved a sigh, getting up from the
kitchen table to pour another cup of coffee. “Your refusal was a little too
enthusiastic.”

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to do something
special tonight. That’s all. It’s been a while since I’ve taken you out.”

 “You took me out just a few days
ago.”

“Something nicer, though.” His voice was grave.
“No, we definitely need to talk.”

His strange tone did not escape Lacey. “And
we can’t talk at your house?”

Lacey could hear him swallowing a curse. “No,
Lacey. We can’t.” There was a lengthy pause. “We’re going to Eagle’s Point.”

Frowning, Lacey’s eyes met Bess’s as her
friend shuffled into the kitchen. “Okay. I’ll see you at seven, then.” Hanging
up her phone, she stared out the window watching the thick drops of rain pound
into Maeve’s already battered lawn.

Bess touched her shoulder. “Why so glum?”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing. Want some more juice?”

Bess leaned on the kitchen table during
her descent to the chair. “No. I’ve peed enough this morning. Are you and Mick
still going to dinner tonight?”

“I think so.”

“Are things all right with you two?”

“I have no idea, really. He’s been acting
so strange lately.”

“How so?”

“He’s so distracted. Stressed about
something, but never says what. I don’t know. Maybe he’s just not comfortable
in our relationship anymore.”

Maeve walked into the kitchen. “Mick
isn’t? Why? What’s going on?”

Lacey rolled her eyes, suddenly wanting to
change the subject. “Nothing. Really.”

Bess glanced over her shoulder at Maeve. “Lacey
thinks Mick is ready to break up.”

“I didn’t say that, Bess. But there’s
something going on. I don’t know. Maybe it’s all in my head.” Setting her
coffee mug in the dishwasher, she tried to make light of the situation. “Well,
if he is going to dump me, I hope he does it before Wednesday. I saw a hell of
a funeral coming up in the obituaries. The guy owned four acres of sandy beach
waterfront.”

Maeve snorted. “Now you’re sounding like
Vi.”

Lacey tried to grin, but the moisture welling
in her eyes gave her away. Withdrawing from the looks of sympathy from her
friends, she trudged out of the kitchen.

***

“We really could just go down to O’Toole’s,”
Lacey said as Mick held the car door open. “We’re not celebrating anything.”

Mick shut the door behind her and hopped
into the other side. “Sure we are. It’s the start of Spring Break.”

“Well, I guess that is something. But Eagle’s
Point? I’d be content celebrating anywhere with you.”

Putting one hand on hers, he backed out of
the driveway. “That’s what I love about you.” The words fell so easily from his
lips now, so different from any other time in his life. He nodded inwardly,
knowing that Lacey was right for him.

If he could just get the nerve to propose.
Asking a woman to potentially end her career and follow him to who-knows-where
wasn’t an easy thing to do. It was a wonder anyone ever got married in the
military.

At least Eagle’s Point was the right
setting for a proposal. His tightly knotted stomach churned. God, it would be
so much easier to ask her in an email.

“Besides, Eagle’s Point is special to us,”
he went on. “If you hadn’t volunteered to help with the fall fundraiser there,
I never would have seen you again.”

“Oh,” Lacey said so awkwardly it made Mick
glance her way. She looked wary at the mention of the fall fundraiser, full of
regret. But when their eyes met, she smiled brightly, making Mick wonder if he
had imagined it.

Driving over the Naval Academy Bridge,
Mick warmed at the sight of anchor lights bobbing in the creek below them. Annapolis’s
waterways were filling with sailboats again, the surest sign of warmer weather
ahead. The rain had finally stopped that afternoon and a spell of southern breezes
cleared the sky for the full moon that reflected in the water. Mick felt oddly
calmed by its presence, until he felt the pressure of the ring box in his
pocket as he shifted into first gear approaching a turn.

The winding road that led to Eagle’s Point
offered a wealth of memories for Mick, remembering their two shared evenings at
the historic mansion when they were both still fighting their feelings for each
other. They had come so far since then. As he stepped out of the car and opened
her door, he gazed momentarily at the starry skies above him. A line of clouds
was rolling in low in the western sky. Don’t rain, Mick ordered them silently. He
wanted everything tonight to be perfect.

Lacey stiffened noticeably at the touch of
his hand on her waist as he led her into the restaurant and to the table that
waited for them, with a bottle of her favorite Chardonnay already on ice.

“This is the same table we sat at when we
first came here together.” Lacey’s voice sounded distant at the realization.

“I called in advance. I figure the table
might be lucky for me,” Mick said with a grin, nodding thanks to the waiter as
he poured their wine.

When the waiter left, Lacey tossed back her
Chardonnay like it was Gatorade after running a triathlon. Mick eye’s widened.
“Want another glass?”

Lacey didn’t answer, and her jaw clenched
visibly. “Mick, can I ask you something?”

Mick shifted uneasily at her tone. “Of
course.”

“You’ve been acting a little odd lately.”

Mick reached for his glass and wished
desperately he had ordered Scotch. “How so?”

Lacey balked momentarily. “Just as though
there is something on your mind.”

“Like what?”

Lacey almost laughed. “You tell me.”

Mick’s shoulder’s sagged. “Have I been
that obvious?”

“I guess. What’s going on, Mick? Did I do
something to upset you?”

“You? God, no. It’s not you at all.” Lowering
his hands, he nervously pulled apart a dinner roll without eating it. It was
now or never. “You know I love you, right?”

Lacey hesitated, confusion glazing her
eyes. “Yes.”

Mick nodded. “Well, I do. And because I do,
I can’t help feeling like you deserve a lot better than me. A life with me is
just filled with a lot of instability. And your life is here, in Annapolis, right?”