“And you waited.”
“And prayed.” A lot.
“I’m excited to get back to work,” Kacey said tentatively, as though the news might upset Lacey.
“I know, Kace. It’s okay. You’ve got a gift.”
“I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you, too.”
“So, I was thinking...there’s no reason why I can’t commute on weekends. At least on weekends when I don’t have an event to attend.”
“Your room is your room. Anytime. Leave clothes here. Things in the bathroom. You have a key. Show up whenever you want.” She had things at Kacey’s condo. And still had her key, too.
“I’m not going out with anyone who doesn’t seem like someone I’d want to marry someday,” she said.
“Good.”
“You knew I’d get to this point, didn
’t you? That’s why you never took me seriously when I tried to introduce you to a new guy.”
“I hoped. But if you ended up marrying one of your fancy-pants but empty-hearted suitors, I’d have welcomed him into our family.”
“This time with Levi... I want kids of my own.”
“I want to be a mother, too.” To Levi, someday, if she and Jem made it to that point. And to children of her own.
“Did you notice number thirty passed us by last year?”
“How could I miss it?” Lacey’s grimace probably wasn’t the prettiest look she’d worn that night. “There had to be five hundred people at that party.”
“And you were a hit.”
“Because I drank too much.”
“Me, too.” Kacey’s expression sobered. “Because I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t happy when I had it all...”
“Me, too,” Lacey told her.
“So...you want some cobbler while we watch Lucy?” Kacey asked, nodding toward the old black-and-white sitcom rerun that was just starting.
Lacey turned up the sound while her sister dished up the dessert Lacey and Jem had never gotten around to eating. They sat up for another couple of hours. Watching television. Talking. Eating second helpings of cobbler.
It was only when she made it to bed that Lacey remembered the wineglasses out on the footer. She’d pulled on her robe to run out and gather their clothes so Jem could get dressed. She’d forgotten the wine.
She smiled. And fell asleep that way.
Overall, it was probably the best night she’d ever spent.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
AFTER REMOVING THE metal frames and backfilling around the footer, Jem called a couple of employees, who brought in a truck and poured the concrete for Lacey’s floor on Sunday afternoon while Lacey and Kacey took Levi back to the beach to play in the sand.
For a good bit of the time they were gone, he was jealous of a four-year-old kid. And happier than he’d been in...maybe ever...as his son came skipping back up the walk just before dinnertime, a sister on either side of him holding his hands.
“I’m the luckiest guy on the beach, Dad!” Levi said, letting go of their hands to run up to the front door of the house. “Can I put my hand in the cement?”