Lacy (The Doves of Primrose) (21 page)

He scoffed in her ear. “I thought you were better than that. I didn’t realize you still threw temper tantrums over broken o
bjects.”

“This was special and she gets on my nerves.” Lacy finally looked up from the floor. “The way she’s always calling you
‘Mr. McClintock’ and the fact that absolutely nothing meets with her standards. She looks down her nose on me, my friends and my house.”

He studied Lacy for several seconds and she didn’t falter u
nder his inspection. She held her chin high.

“I understand the importance of the vase but she said she was sorry. It was an accident. Would you have said the same thing had one of your friends broken it? Called them all those nasty names?”

She didn’t like where this conversation was going.

“I didn’t think so.” He leaned in closer. “I’m going to go check on Lauren. I’ll see you later.”

Lacy stood fidgeting with the broom handle while listening to Kyle’s footsteps on the stairs. She bowed her head against her hand covering the top of the handle. “Why did you do that, you idiot?” she whispered to herself. Whether she liked Lauren or not, she shouldn’t have said those things. Lauren was a guest in her home and a friend of Kyle’s. He was right, had it been anyone else she wouldn’t have behaved that way. Lauren was just so obnoxious and judgmental, she had been causing hate and discontent all over the house and Lacy snapped with the loss of such a precious object. It was the last straw.

Damn that temper of hers!
It was always getting her in trouble. She needed to learn how to control it. And now she had made a fool of herself in front of Kyle and disappointed him by her behavior. That hurt more than knowing she had upset Lauren. Now she was going to have to apologize to both of them.

She leaned the broom against the railing and climbed the stairs. Lauren’s door was closed so she knocked and leaned in to listen for voices. She expected Kyle to be consoling her and that made her stomach turn. She had seen the way Lauren was with him. Hovering, fetching, pep talking; she was always near him. Kyle was oblivious but Lacy could identify the signs of someone crushing on a man. And Lauren definitely had a crush on Kyle.

She had to snap back when the door opened and Lauren’s face appeared in the gap. By the look on her face Lauren wasn’t going to make this easy on Lacy. Not that she expected her to, she knew she wouldn’t have.

“Hi.” Lacy’s soft approach didn’t move her. “I’m sorry about how I acted downstairs. I was upset and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have behaved like that or said those awful things. It was an accident and I overreacted.”

Lauren shifted her slight weight, hand still on the doorknob. “Okay. Thank you.”

Lacy’s attention was drawn to Lauren’s hand scratching her arm
through her long-sleeved shirt. Come to think of it, she had been wearing long sleeves all day, even though it was over eighty degrees. She stuck her hand out to stop the closing door and took a step closer, to Lauren’s obvious annoyance.

“Are you okay?” Lacy had recognized the kind of scratching she was doing. She squinted in the lamp light looking for more signs.

“I’m fine.” Lauren scratched again. “You can go. I accept your apology.”

Lacy looked at her and held out her hand. “Give me your arm.”

“What?” She crossed her arms, covering her elbows with her hands. “Why?”

“Because I want to see
it. I can help you, Lauren.”

Finally, Lauren relented and
stretched out her arm. Lacy gently turned back the sleeve revealing angry red skin. She pulled it a little further, noticing bumps and feeling a radiating fever. “Oh, Lauren.” Lacy turned the woman’s arm back and forth, knowing the pain she was feeling. “Why didn’t you come to me right away? We could have fixed this right up.”

“It’s only a heat rash. I’ve had them before
, just not this bad.” She pulled her arm away from Lacy.

“No, sweetie.
That’s poison oak and it’s going to get worse if we don’t take care of it.”

“Poison oak?”
Lauren crimped her lips and huffed air out her nose. “I knew I hated this place.” She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Thank you for informing me what it was. I can take care of it.”

Lacy plunked her hands on her hips. “Had a lot of poison oak
, have you?”

“No. But I’m sure I can manage.”

Lacy chewed on the inside of her cheek looking Lauren up and down before grabbing her by the hand and marching her across the hall to the bathroom. She closed the door behind them and opened the medicine cabinet.

“I’ve been using powder to clear it up
,” Lauren insisted

Lacy glanced
out from behind the mirror. “That isn’t going to do the job. Take your shirt off.”

“I beg your pardon
?” Lauren placed a hand over her chest and Lacy ducked back inside the cabinet to scan the shelves. “Lauren, you’re going to have to do it. I can’t help you otherwise.” Lacy placed a tube, a bottle and jar on the vanity. “I promise I won’t look.” She covered her eyes with her hand.

She wasn’t sure if she was imagining it or not so she split her fingers to peek between them. Sure enough
, a small giggle had escaped Lauren’s lips. But that was all it took to get her to relax. She delicately held the sleeve and pulled her arm through and then pulled it over her head. Lacy noticed the rash was all down her side too. She sucked air through her teeth and wrinkled her nose.

“You may want to take an oatmeal bath. You have it all over the place and that will take the sting and itch out.”

“Maybe later. Let’s just do this.” Lauren held out her arm.

“What kind of powder have you been putting on this?” Lacy began wiping gently with a cool, soapy washcloth.

“Baby powder.” Lauren watched Lacy work.

“You don’t want to do
that. Poison oak isn’t like your normal rash. It’s an oil that gets on your skin. You have to get it off and treat the area.” She turned on the water in the sink. “Now rinse.”

After Lauren was done Lacy dried
her skin and slathered it in calamine lotion. “You’re going to need to do this a couple times a day as well as a cool washcloth for about fifteen minutes. That will help soothe it. Hopefully you don’t get any of the nasty blisters that can come with it. It’s a good thing we’re treating it early. Out of curiosity, how did you get covered in poison oak? Was it down by the pond?”

Lauren inspected the area covered in pink liquid. “I guess so. It must have been when I was hel
ping with the props yesterday.”

Lacy nodded but couldn’t remember seeing Lauren doing an
ything of the sort. She didn’t know the woman was capable of holding anything but her tablet computer or Kyle’s drink. She reached over and picked up the bottle. “Are you allergic to any antihistamines?”

“No.”

“You may want to take this. It will help with the itching and swelling. And seriously, I would take that oatmeal bath if I were you. I have some stuff under the sink that works pretty good.”

“Mrs. – Lacy.”
Lauren flickered a smile and tried to look at Lacy but couldn’t hold her gaze for longer than a split second before looking back down. “Thank you.” She swallowed and rolled the Benadryl bottle in her hand. “Nobody’s ever been this nice to me. With the exception of Kyle.”

Lacy raised her brows
. That was the first time she had heard Lauren speak his first name. It sounded strange coming off her lips, like she wasn’t sure she could actually say it. Lacy rubbed Lauren’s shoulder, careful not to touch her rash until Lauren raised her eyes.

“I didn’t have a very good…”
Lauren sighed. Lacy knew this must be difficult for her. Confiding in someone was trusting them and she felt privileged to be here for Lauren. “Well, my parents weren’t around much. So Kyle is pretty much all I have.” She shrugged. “I know the two of you were very close once.” Lacy flinched at the strange look Lauren shot her. “It seems the two of you are hitting it off again.”

“Um,” Lacy wasn’t sure how to answer that. She felt like she was being interviewed by Kyle’s mother. “I
guess we are.” Lacy self-consciously rubbed her hands on her legs.

The constant stare Lauren had her under was making her skin burn. “
What about Brice?”

Lacy jolted. “Brice?”

Lauren’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, I don’t mean to pry. It’s none of my business. Kyle had mentioned him a couple of times. That he was your husband.”

Lacy wasn’t quite relieved
but she shook it off wondering how many friends this poor woman had. It couldn’t be many. As soon as Lacy showed her the least kindness, she was lapping it up like a puppy. A ripple of sympathy swelled in her heart. “It’s all right. My husband left me and now we’re divorced.” She twitched her shoulders.

“I’m so sorry.” Lauren reached out and rubbed Lacy’s arm. It was awkward, but nice.

“I’m getting over it.” Lauren smiled and so did Lacy. The mood soon shifted and Lacy had the feeling she needed to go. “Thanks for listening, Lauren.”

With a somber look,
Lauren held the bottle of Benadryl to her chest. “Thank you for helping me.”

Lacy smiled and nodded. Maybe the two of them had had a breakthrough. Maybe they could be friends after all. “You’re welcome.”

Chapter 19

The front door swung open as Lacy landed at the bottom of the stairs.

“What happened?”
her horrified friends asked in unison.

Scarlett picked her way over to Lacy while Emmylou inspec
ted the floor. “Oh, honey, was that Emma’s antique vase?”

Lacy simply nodded and buried her face in her
friend’s offered shoulder. She heard Emmylou join them, then felt herself being wrapped in a group hug.

“Lauren did it
. She said it was an accident.”

“Well
, she sure has a knack for being a pain in the ass.” Emmylou took the broom from Lacy and began to sweep. “I’ll take the pieces with me and see if I can glue it back together.”

“You don’t have to do that
, Em. It’s ruined. We’ll just throw it away and go on with our lives.” Lacy knelt down with the dustpan while Scarlett brought over the trash can from behind the counter.

“What the hell was she doing that knocked the thing over?” Emmylou propped the broom on end and leaned on one foot. She looked from the usual spot the vase rested to the place they just swept.

Lacy shrugged. “She said she was coming inside, slipped on a slick spot and knocked it over trying to regain her balance.”

“She’s stronger than she looks then
, because that vase propelled off the table to land clear over here,” Emmylou observed.

Lacy hadn’t noticed
that. She had been too angry at the time and when she had gone upstairs to apologize and discovering Lauren’s poison oak rash had pushed the incident from her mind
.
But the vase shards weren’t next to the doorway like they should have been; instead they were about six feet away. The table was tucked into the cove several feet from the door so she would have had to come towards the dining room in order to get close enough to the vase unless she slid that far and slammed into the table. But she and Kyle would have heard that kind of commotion. Wouldn’t they?

The grandfather clock chimed once announcing half past the hour. “We better go.” Scarlett carried the trash can back and Emmylou took the broom and
dustpan back to the closet office, making Lacy wonder how Lauren knew she could find a broom in Lacy’s office.

“What is it?” Emmylou asked when she saw Lacy’s face.

“We can talk about it on the way to the springs. Did you bring your offering?”

“Yep.”
Emmy dug in her pocket and pulled out her object to offer the ghost in return for her wish. “The earrings I was wearing the day Marcus and I met. He complimented them.”

“He did not
,” Scarlett countered with an admonishing look. “He said they looked like bottle caps,” she informed Lacy.

“Doesn’t matter.
He noticed and that’s what counts.” Emmylou looked at the earrings with a silly, faraway gaze.

“That’s right. Let’s head out. I have some flashlights ready for us on the porch.” Lacy stepped outside, distributed a flashlight to each of them and led the brigade into the night.

The hike took longer than she had expected. They lost their way twice and Lacy had to get her bearings straight by looking at the stars, which was made harder by the partial cloud cover. And these were not the wispy clouds that merely waved as they went by; these were thick, billowing clouds that signified a storm. No one had thought to check the weather report for the night.

They passed the time trekking through tall grass, around spiky yucca plants and avoiding blowouts
, by talking about Lauren and all the things about her that bugged the friends. But she had never taken less pleasure in bad-mouthing anyone before. The truth was that Lacy felt bad about the way she had treated her. Even though the woman was the single most infuriating being on the planet, Lacy knew that Lauren was having a hard time adjusting to country life. She was pretty sure that she hated being here.

The trio had made it two and a half miles before stopping next to the trickling
water to gauge the distance to the crest of the spring. Lacy sincerely hoped all the snakes had gone to bed. She did not want to run into one of the sneaky critters and risk it being a rattler or one of those six-foot bull snakes that were so common to western Nebraska.

Damn, now that thought was in her head.

“Let’s keep moving. We don’t have much farther.” Lacy glanced at her watch. “It’s eleven-forty.”

“It should be right up there by those trees.”
Emmylou pointed her flashlight to a point five hundred feet away. “If I remember right.”

Lacy nodded. “That’s the spot.”

They walked a little way until the stream disappeared underground. Lacy knew it was a couple hundred feet past that spot and they would find the spring. Nebraska really was the neatest place. Disappearing streams, springs that bubbled up from the ground, pure beauty.

The
ground was getting softer and the grass more dense the closer they got.

“Now watch where you’re stepping. I don’t want to have a r
epeat of the legend and the ground is pretty swampy.” Her foot squished into the ground as soon as the words were out of her mouth. “See?” She grabbed her leg with both hands and pulled it out of the sucking mud. She veered her course further out.

All three women shone their flashlights around looking for the crest of the spring
, a rocky overhang covered in thick grass. Emmylou was the first to spot it.

“There. It’s right there.” She sidestepped, keeping the beam directed at the location twenty feet away. Scarlett and Lacy fo
llowed, taking huge steps to avoid the marshy spots. No matter what they did their feet sucked under making it difficult to traverse. The darkness made it harder. The clouds were now closer, nearly covering the sky above them. Lacy knew they were going to get caught in it, at least for a while before they made it back to the house. But if they hurried they could avoid the worst of it.

The slurping and burping that their shoes made was making Lacy giggle. It was like being at a Tupperware party testing out the lids. Pretty soon all of them were laughing and stepping, stepping and laughing. Lacy’s boots were caked in sloppy mud and strands of grass.

“Emmy, you’re cleaning my boots when we get back.”

Emmylou chuckled as she stepped and slipped. Her arms flailed, the flashlight launched from her hand and she screamed as she plopped onto her butt in the mud. Lacy bent over laughing. “Watch out
, Emmy. It’s slippery right there.” Lacy gasped with mirth and Scarlett hooted.

“Thanks for the tip.”

Lacy had reared back laughing with Scarlett when a pile of mud slapped her on her neck and shoulder, splattering into her hair. The shock and hilarity sapped the breath from her lungs. Her shoulders were shaking with the non-stop belly laugh hissing from her. The night air echoed with the friends’ absolute amusement.

Lacy dropped to her knees when fastidious Scarlett was smacked with a handful of muck right on the cheek
, scattering the smile from her face and silencing her laughter. Lacy’s stomach ached like she’d done a thousand crunches. She held her side while the laughter kept up. Scarlett dug the mud from her face.

“Oh
, is that how it is?”

Both Emmylou and Lacy laughed
even more, though Lacy didn’t think she could. She was hysterical at this point and no longer in control. She was finally able to make her way to Emmylou and reach her hand out to help her up. The roar was beginning to bubble off now. Lacy planted her heels firmly, leveraging her weight against Emmylou’s so they both didn’t end up on their hind ends.

“Thanks, Lace. You’re a true friend.” Once they were both stabilized they looked to Scarlett still cleaning mud off her face.

“Oh, what? I’m not because I don’t like mud?” Scarlett turned her nose up while flicking her hands.

“You work in a greenhouse
, Scar. How can you not like mud?”

“That’s soil
, not mud and I generally don’t toss it all over myself.” She was holding her hands away from herself and sticking her chin out in an attempt to keep dirt off her clothes.

Lacy and Emmylou exchanged amused looks.

The friends regrouped and with a few careful steps they all made it to their destination. The water wasn’t flowing out of the mouth of the spring as fast as it was during the earlier months. Lacy was glad for it since she did believe that a woman had drowned here, although she didn’t believe in the rest of the legend.

“Okay, Emmy, make your wish and toss in the earrings
. We need to get going.”

To re-enforce Lacy’s anxiety a rumble of distant thunder rushed over them
along with a gust of cold wind. They all folded their arms protectively around their waists. The mud was drying to Lacy’s skin. She could hear her pores screaming with the moisture being wicked out.

“Just a second.
We all have to believe this is going to work. So I want you to both clear your minds of any negative thoughts and picture Marcus and me together.” Emmylou closed her eyes and opened her arms with her face to the sky. “You guys do this too.”

Lacy heaved a sigh but did as she was told. She really did wish Emmylou
happiness, no one deserved a stable, loving relationship more. With the kind of manipulative, tongue-clicking, head-shaking parents that Emmylou had she needed someone to love her just for her. In striving for the elusive perfection that Emmylou’s parents required she had become fanatical about everyone’s approval and acceptance. Even with Lacy and Scarlett, Emmylou would sometimes turn into a basket case asking them what they thought.

Leaning into the wind with her face to the open sky was r
efreshing. Lacy almost felt as though she were resting on a mat floating in the pond. She tried to focus on a picture of Emmylou and Marcus, but Kyle’s handsome face stayed front and center with his one-dimpled smile, relaxing on the shore. The sun, warming his skin and glistening on the water droplets, made a smile appear on her lips. She teetered, opening her eyes to balance. Glancing at her two best friends, she noticed they were swaying with their eyes closed too.

Lacy
resumed her pose, breathing deeply, until Emmylou announced they were finished. Emmylou squeezed the earrings in her hand, leaned over the water and tossed them in. They watched as the gold glittered and sunk below the surface into the inky depths. Several rain drops slapped Lacy’s face and arms. “Well, the good news is I won’t have to take a shower when we get back.” Emmylou, Scarlett and Lacy held hands as they stepped carefully through the marshy ground. A collective sigh of relief escaped when their footing became firmer. For the moment the rain was holding off but Lacy knew from the static in the air and the temperature drop they were in for a classic Nebraska storm. She only hoped it wouldn’t bring a tornado with it.

They made it to the place where the stream ducked under the earth. Just when the tension drained and the women started the conversation up, the sky was rent with a sharp scream.

“Scarlett!” Emmylou and Lacy both shrieked.

Lacy rushed to where Scarlett
disappeared. With Emmylou on her heels, she dropped to her knees ten feet from where Scarlett had been and started crawling, feeling for where the earth opened up, swallowing her friend. Her sick heart was pounding in her chest, she couldn’t get to the spot fast enough. Emmylou was sobbing and moaning Scarlett’s name as she crawled alongside Lacy. They frantically clawed at the ground, moving with both urgency and caution. Lacy’s arms were numb with panic so she didn’t notice the rocks slicing her palms or the stickers stabbing her fingers. Her lone thought was of reaching her friend and rescuing her. She wouldn’t accept that Scarlett was hurt… or worse.

“Scarlet
t?!” she screamed for her friend, still making her way to where she had last seen her. She bowed her head trying to get a grip on her fear and retooled her voice in an effort to remove the terror. “Scarlett, honey, answer me. Where are you?”

The rain was picking up
. Lacy felt it soaking her hair and sliding down her face. “Scarlett!” She and Emmylou finally reached the edge of some kind of hole they had never seen before. Lacy’s hands gripped the broken wood of what had to be some ancient well. She pounded the ground in anger at her inability to see anything. It was pitch black out. The storm clouds covered the moon and she had lost her flashlight when she slipped in the mud.

“Emmy
! Where’s your flashlight?”

“It broke when I fell back at the spring.” Her trapped expre
ssion and shrill voice worried Lacy.

“Damn it!” What were they going to do now? Lacy looked desperately into the night, trying to find anything they could use.

“I have mine.”

Emmylou and Lacy leaned over the hol
e.

“Scarlett! Are you okay?”

Emmylou grabbed Lacy’s arm and squeezed hard. Lacy felt the same way.

“Scarlett?”
Please God, don’t tell me that was my imagination!

Emmylou
was unwittingly shaking and pinching Lacy’s arm while they tried to cut through the darkness to see to the black bottom.