DESPITE THE UNANSWERED questions that spun in her mind and her heart unraveling a little more with each passing minute, when they’d arrived back at the cottage, Lacy had fallen asleep in Dane’s arms just as he’d suggested, and surprisingly, she’d slept right through the night.
Dane awoke in a full sweat. He shot straight up in bed, and Lacy followed.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. She watched his eyes dart around the room.
“Just a bad dream. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked.
He climbed from the bed and grabbed a towel from the bathroom. “It was my mom. She was right there with me, like she was in all the pictures at my dad’s house. She was pushing me from behind.” He washed his face and came back to the bedroom. “I haven’t dreamed of her in years.”
“Maybe you’re really missing her right now because you were thinking about our future and having kids,” Lacy said.
He smiled and touched her cheek. “Maybe.”
“You’d better get ready. The alarm should go off in five minutes. I want to get ready early, too. I’m going to stop by that toy store in town and pick up a few things for Katie and Charlie before I meet them.” She touched his side as she walked into the bathroom. “I’m really looking forward to spending the day with them. I think it’ll be fun. What’s the plan after you’re done? Do you want to call me?”
He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the back of her neck. “Yeah, I want to call you. I always want to talk to my friend.”
“Then I hope I’m the only friend you’re talking with,” Lacy teased.
“I was thinking that we might go to the concert at Nauset Beach tonight.” He turned her in his arms and kissed her lips.
“That sounds like fun. Can we ask Rob and Sheila to come? Kids love the beach, and most kids like music. I bet they’d have a blast,” she said. “Well, if they don’t get worn-out at the fair.”
“Man, I l…like you,” he said.
“Careful now. No breaking our promise.” The pact had become a joke, but Lacy felt that it was also a way for them to skirt around their real feelings, and while she was as keen as the next person when it came to jokes, in her heart she longed to hear him say those three words that tickled her tongue every time she was in his arms.
KATIE HELD LACY’S hand in one hand and tucked the stuffed bear Lacy had brought her under her other arm as they walked through the Barnstable County Fair. Every few steps, she did a little skip, sending her pigtails bouncing. Charlie walked beside Sheila, his lanky arms dangling by his sides and a brooding frown on his pink lips.
“I wanna ride the big roller coaster.” Charlie pouted.
“You’re a little too short. Remember? You have to be as tall as the wooden bear was,” Sheila reminded him.
Charlie had been just a few inches shorter than the required height, and he hadn’t let it go since. “How about the petting zoo?” Lacy asked.
“Animals are for babies,” Charlie said. With his light skin and a spray of freckles across his nose, he reminded Lacy of Alfalfa from The Little Rascals. She’d had a difficult time finding an appropriate toy for him, as he was too old for stuffed animals and she wasn’t sure what he liked, but he seemed to enjoy the Matchbox truck she’d bought him, which was clenched within his fist.
“Babies? I love animals and I’m not a baby,” Lacy said.
“Charlie, be nice.” Sheila wore a pair of navy blue shorts and a colorful tank top. Her long hair flowed freely down her back, and after reprimanding Charlie, she mouthed, Sorry, to Lacy.
Lacy mouthed back, It’s okay.
“Animals! Animals!” Katie yelled.
“Sheila, why don’t you take Katie in, and I’ll hang out here with Charlie,” Lacy offered.
“Animals are for babies, but I’m big enough to watch Katie.” Charlie stuck his chin out at Sheila and reached for Katie’s hand. “I’ll take her in.”
Sheila scanned the petting area, which was separated into an area for children only and an area for adults and children. “Great idea, Charlie. Why don’t you take her into that one? I trust you, Charlie. You hold her hand and stay with her every second. I’ll stand right here and watch. Katie, give me your bear.”
They watched the kids go through the gate. Charlie held Katie’s hand so tight that his arm looked rigid, and Katie stared up at him adoringly. Lacy leaned against the fence.
Sheila shook her head. “Am I a horrible mother for letting him take her in alone?”
“What? No. You’re a good mother. Anyone can see that,” Lacy assured her. “He needs to feel important, and letting him take her makes him feel that way.”
“Even though I kind of tricked him and had him take her into the children-only area?”
“Look at them,” Lacy said.
They watched the kids petting a baby goat. Katie giggled when the goat touched her with his nose, and Charlie stepped between the goat and Katie, then asked Katie if she was okay.
“They’re happy, and he feels valued and grown-up. I’d say that’s good parenting. Now, if you’d have wandered off to smoke a cigarette and drink a beer while they were in there, then you might qualify as a sucky mom.”
Sheila sighed. “Thanks, Lacy. I’m just sidetracked, I guess.”
“With all the stuff you and Rob have been dealing with, I think you wouldn’t be human if you weren’t knocked a little off-kilter.”
“I guess.” Sheila waved to the kids. “Did Rob tell you and Dane why I needed a break?”
Lacy shook her head, wondering exactly how they’d gotten back together so quickly.
“Because for fourteen years I’ve worried. Every time he leaves for a trip, I wonder what’s going to happen to him. I don’t worry about women or any of the other silliness that people worry about, but life and death, that’s hanging over our heads every time my husband goes to work.” Sheila wiped her eyes and looked at Lacy. “You don’t worry about Dane?”
“Sure I do, but he’s assured me that he’s careful. He says that there’s—”
“A better chance of getting hit by a car than bitten by a shark. I’ve heard it all a million times. For all these years, Rob has done what he loves doing with little regard for what it does to the people who love him,” Sheila said.
“Sheila, Rob cares. Besides, you knew what he did when you married him, right?” Lacy asked.
“Yeah. Before Brave, he worked with another company. That one went under, and sometimes I wish Brave would do the same.” She looked up at Lacy with sad eyes. “I know how awful that sounds. You know what Dane does. You know the risks. Is it stopping you from being with him?”
Lacy shook her head. “I’m not sure anything could keep me from him.”
“That’s the problem,” Sheila said. “I’d do anything to be with Rob. He’s my Superman. I still get butterflies when I see him, but now I worry about the kids needing him around more often. You’re lucky. Dane’s a lot younger than Rob. His reflexes are still fast. He’s virile and focused. Lately, Rob’s slowing down. He’s getting tired. He’s had a long career doing what he loves. I’d just like for him to do something else now. Something safer.”
“He loves you and the kids, Sheila,” Lacy said.
Sheila nodded. “He does. He adores us, and last night he told me he’d decided that I was right. I think we both needed time to clear our heads so we could see things more clearly. We realized that we couldn’t live without each other, and Rob realized that it was time for a change. He’s giving Dane a month’s notice after the dive today.”
“Really? Dane will be devastated,” Lacy said.
“He will, and I feel bad, but it’s time,” Sheila said.
“See, the fact that he made that decision shows you that what you have is true love,” Lacy said. Neither of us is willing to give up anything. Does that mean we don’t have true love? She swallowed the thought. “I’m so glad you guys have worked it out.”
Lacy hugged Sheila, silently pushing her concerns out of her head. Those were Sheila’s worries, but they weren’t Lacy’s. Lacy hadn’t spent nearly a year worried about if Dane was going to live through each day. She’d been too busy lying in wait, wanting to see him, longing to hear his voice—and working her butt off just to keep from worrying about the women it turned out he hadn’t even been with.