A Woman In Love: Book Four (The Woman I Love Series 4)

by G S Binkley

  It further infuriated Lacy that her partner wasn’t rebuking the offending intimate gestures from the stranger. Sitting the bottle of water aside, Lacy determinedly strolled across the room, prepared for battle if it came to that. “Excuse me!” Pulling Gage from her shocked state, Lacy got both of their attentions. “I believe you’re flirting with my woman.” Cold ice blue eyes shifted quickly to her lover before landing squarely on the dark headed stranger.

  “Oh!” Gail withdrew from the blonde but held her ground still well within Gage’s personal space.

  Lacy immediately cupped her arm through Gage’s and jerked the blonde closer like a rag doll. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Gage? You mind introducing us.”

  “Uh…” The blonde’s voice stumbled.

  The shorter dark haired woman extended her hand. “I’m Gail Randall. Gage and I were friends a long time ago.” Smiling, the green-eyed woman added. “Very close friends.”

  With a tight smile, Lacy shook her hand. “I see.”

  Gail tilted her head as if she was contemplating something then spat sarcastically. “Why Gage you never told her about us?”

  There was only one other time Gage had witnessed that evil streak in her old friend and the thought of it brought back hordes of dark memories, threatening to overcome the shaken blonde. “Uh… no.”

  “Secrets don’t make friends.” Gail said with a haunting laugh.

  This brought out an evil streak in Lacy to match that of the stranger. “Gage and I have no secrets… there are just some things that are too trivial to even mention.”

  “Touché.” Gail’s green eyes examined her competition. She’s a formidable force but then again… so can I be… if necessary.

  Finally coming out of her stupor, Gage spoke. “Gail, this is Lacy Levine…”

  “Ballant.” Lacy added without missing a beat.

  “Ballant.” Gage gulped then continued. “And Lacy, Gail.”

  “Yes, we’ve already met.” Lacy smiled at her partner but it didn’t reach her cool blue eyes.

  Nervously, Gage shifted her green eyes between the two. “So you have. Well…”

  When the three stood there for a long moment in silence, Lacy finally asked. “Gail, would you like to have dinner with us tonight?” She believed in the theory of keeping your enemy close so you could keep an eye on them.

  Surprised, Gail composed herself and smiled. “Actually, I just came to get my book signed.” She handed it to Gage. “Would you be so kind? For old time’s sake.” Gail purred.

  “Sure.” Gage quickly signed her name and noted that Lacy was trying to see what she wrote. Handing the book back to her old friend, Gage dismissed Lacy’s idea of dinner. “I’m afraid Lacy forgot that we have plans tonight so about dinner…”

  Touching Gage’s face with the tips of her fingers, Gail stared deeply into the blonde’s eyes. “I understand…” And as if stating a deeper meaning that only the blonde would understand, she continued. “…about everything.”

  Relieved and bewildered, Gage sighed but looked steadily into Gail’s green eyes as she recalled their past together. But I don’t.

  Lacy recognized a sexual torrent undertone transpired between the two and she was not thrilled with her partner’s silence. “Perhaps another time?”

  Dragging her hungry eyes from Gage, the shorter woman looked at Lacy. “Perhaps.” Turning back to the blonde, Gail smiled sweetly. “Thank you.” Then leaned in to kiss Gage on the cheek. Before another word was spoken, Gail Randall had walked out of Gage’s life for the second time.

  **********************

  On the ride home, Lacy remained quiet much to Gage’s chagrin. “Lacy? Are you going to talk to me?” When her partner remained silent, Gage asked. “Never?”

  Leaving a space between them in the back of the cab, Lacy turned to her partner and with a stone look on her face, she proclaimed. “Oh, now you want to talk. How convenient.”

  ***********************

  Without a word, Lacy crossed their huge suite entering her bedroom and slammed the door. Stella watched with concerned green eyes as Gage dragged behind.

  Hearing the door slam, Derek ran out of his bedroom. “Where’s mom?”

  Stella held him back while an inpatient Gage said. “Derek? Can it wait? Your mom…” She stood there at loss of words barely noticing her son’s new hairstyle. Your mom what? Your mom’s gonna leave me. Your mom’s mad at me.

  The grandmother interceded. “Your mom’s not feeling well. Let’s give it a bit of time. Okay?”

  Derek crunched his eyebrows together, thinking heavily. “Gage, would you ask mom about letting me have a tattoo?” The little guy figured that if anyone could sway his mom than it would be Gage. He astutely pointed out the fact that Dani got her ears pierced. When Gage didn’t respond, Derek remembered that his dad was all for Dani getting her ears pierced even though his mom was against it. Seeing that Gage wasn’t paying attention to him, he shrugged. “Never mind.” Off he ran to his room searching for his older sister.

  Touching her daughter’s arm, Stella asked. “Are you okay?”

  With a blank look on her face, Gage felt her world about to collapse. “I don’t know.” She turned toward their bedroom. “I guess I’m gonna be find.”

  With that said, Stella watched her daughter slowly walk toward the door Lacy recently slammed shut. “I guess I should ask the kids what they want to eat and call room service.” The family had plans to go out to eat but now it seemed like that was out of the question.

  ***********************

  “Derek, don’t take too long.” Dani reluctantly handed her cell phone to her brother. “I don’t want to use up all of my minutes.”

  “It’s Saturday.” Derek rolled his eyes. Even he knew she had unlimited minutes on the weekend. “I’m just calling dad.”

  “I know but I’m expecting a call…” Dani noticed something out the corner of her eye. “Hayley! What the heck are you up to now?”

  The tiny blonde was crawling up on the long cabinet where her younger brother was sitting while he applied Dani’s purple lip gloss to the mirror. When Dani saw Sammy, she ran across the room. “Oh no you two… not again.”

  Stella heard the commotion when she entered the kid’s room. Seeing that Dani was prying the various make-up items out of both Hayley and Sammy’s hands, she had to laugh. “Here let me help. I was going to see what you guys wanted to eat but…” The mirror was covered with markings. “I guess we better clean this up first.”

  Derek overheard his grandmother and since he couldn’t reach his father decided he would help out. He ran out of their room and straight to the suite’s telephone. “Hello? Room Service. I’d like to order…”

  **********************

  Gage quietly shut the door to their bedroom. Guilt overwhelmed her upon seeing Lacy lying on the bed. She could tell her partner was crying yet tried to cover it. The blonde stood there staring at Lacy not knowing what to say. It was true. Gage remembered the conversation she had with Lacy after it was revealed at Mark’s bachelor party that the blonde was once involved with Mitchell Stone.

  Praying the conversation had ended, Gage released a heavy sigh and then it happened. Lacy asked one more question.

  “Anyone else I should know about?”

  Gage shivered at the question her lover asked as an uneasy rumbling stirred in her in the darkest, deepest part of her memory. A distant recollection tried to scratch its way to the surface bringing with it an overwhelming and crippling pain so great that Gage pushed the dark remembrance back. Bolting the door to the secret that was so dark and profound, it had changed her life drastically. The lock and chain she applied so many years ago to restrain this memory from ever reaching her conscious state now laid dormant again as Gage tossed the key away for good and prayed it would never return. Her simple answer did not put to rest the uneasy feeling that still hung in the air between Gage and her lover. “No.”

  The blonde knew s
he had lied to her partner. And the other thing that she realized was that she had lied to herself by suppressing that part of her life and now it was reaching from the far corner of her life, threatening to destroy everything she treasured. No reasoning in the world could every justify this lie even though it was one that Gage herself pushed from her conscious mind so far back that even she hardly remembered it until it came barreling forward with the sudden appearance of Gail Randall.

  ***********************

  After Derek had ordered plenty of food for his family, he punched in his dad’s number again. This time he was successful. “Dad? Hi, this is Derek.”

  Laughing, David said. “I know son.”

  Oh, the sound of that word warmed the little boy’s heart. Derek could not honestly remember his dad ever calling him that before until he stayed with his father during the last month. “How ya doing?”

  “You know me, top of the world. Couldn’t be better.” David sipped his cocktail. “So what’d you call for? Time is money.” The not so busy man joked.

  “Remember you told me I need to…” Derek tried to remember the big word ‘assertive’ his father used. “…do things my own way.”

  Nodding, David inserted the word his son had forgot. “Assert yourself.”

  “Yeah, right. I think I should assert myself. Don’t you think so?” Derek asked in a very vague way.

  “Absolutely. If there’s something you want, you get it.” David was happy to supply his son with some sound advice. “Don’t let anybody stand in your way. You got to take what you want.” If the slightly inebriated man had heard himself, he would have realized that the advice he gave was really directed at himself and not his nine-year-old son.

  Determined, Derek vowed. “I’m gonna do that.”

  “Way to go boy. I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks dad.”

  But before David could ask his son just exactly what Derek’s plans were, the boy disconnected the line. “Hmmm…” Not giving anymore thought to the conversation, he added. “That’s my boy.”

  ************************

  The knock on the door brought room service and even Dani was surprised when seven trays of food arrived. Stella stood in total disbelief. “Where… I think you have the wrong room. We didn’t order this.”

  One of the attendants supplied the older woman a slip.

  Stella just stared at it while Dani perused the dessert cart. “Who wants cake?”

  “Me… me. I do.” Sammy reached up and over the cart to grab a piece for him and his little sister.

  “Honey, wait.” Stella tried to deal the two youngest kids and at the same time get the attendant to take some of the food back. “Dani, put them over at the table and get them something…” She glanced at a couple of the carts. “Substantial to eat.”

  Dani herded the two youngest kids to the table then headed back to check on what was available.

  “Just sign right there, ma’am.” The tall attendant pointed at the slip.

  “Where’s Derek?” Running her eyes around the room to find him since his name was on the order slip, Stella was at a loss. “Dani? Is Derek in his room?”

  “Uh uhh…” Dani placed some food on a couple of plates then sat them down in front of Sammy and Hayley.

  “We want cake.” Sammy declared after seeing the dessert cart before.

  “Cake! Cake...” Hayley echoed.

  The hotel attendant frowned a bit before asking Stella. “Little guy about this high…” He motioned with his hand. “… with dark hair… kinda spiked?”

  Twisting around quickly, Stella confirmed. “Yes, that’s him.”

  The hotel attendant jerked his thumb over his shoulder and said. “He was asking the concierge about some place in the village.”

  Stella swallowed hard. “A tattoo place?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Gage! Lacy!” Stella yelled.

  When Dani’s eyes popped open, she expelled. “Uh oh.” Sammy and Hayley echoed the same sentiment as Lacy and Gage ran from their room.

  ***********************

  Fortunately, the concierge was smart enough to sidetrack the young boy who wanted directions to the village until he could get word to the boy’s parents. When Lacy and Gage arrived in the lobby, the concierge pointed at Derek, happily playing with the pinball machine. Derek thought he was waiting for the concierge to hail him a cab. He was quite surprised when a determined tap planted hard down on his shoulder.

  “Derek!” Grabbing his hand, Lacy was barely able to control her over taxed emotional state. “Come with me!”

  The young gray-eyed boy shot an evil glare at the concierge at being ratted out and mumbled. “Fuck this!”

  That brought his mother to a standstill. Seizing, Lacy grasped her son’s hand tighter, pulling him closer. Without looking back, she steadfastly led him as she walked to the elevator.

  Gage followed behind knowing that she had added to her partner’s overwrought state. Right before Stella screamed their names, Gage’s fingers were a mere millimeter from Lacy’s arm. Determined, she vowed to expel every demon inside her and face her fears before Lacy even if it meant the woman she loved would leave her. Now with this latest development with Derek, Gage withdrew, bundling back up the hidden past she was about to release to the only woman who would ever understand. Gage felt she had missed her chance but dealing with Derek was much more important right now. And so it was, the time for her cleansing was put on hold, another strain in their already precarious relationship.

  Chapter Ten

  The long plane ride home didn’t soothe the aching distance between Lacy and Gage. As a matter of fact, Lacy had Derek sitting next to her the whole trip while Gage was content to be sandwiched between Sammy and Hayley. Sparing glances between the two partners only seemed to make each of them ponder their future together.

  When Lacy readily agreed to Dani’s request of having her friends over for a swimming party the very next day after they arrived back home, doubt in Gage’s mind plagued her and caused her to feel even guiltier. She contemplated several times writing a letter to Lacy and just leaving. She’d be better off without me.

  As for Lacy, she felt alone. Alone in having to handle Derek’s behavior since Gage continued to withdraw from any interaction with him. Alone in the fact that Lacy was very open with her partner about her past and Gage refused to allow her any entrance into much of the blonde’s history. And now with this new revelation of a former love that she distinctly remembered asking Gage about and her partner lying to her, Lacy was at a loss as what to do. Derek needs me now as do the rest of my children. But I need Gage…all of her.

  So the day after they arrived home, they set out that afternoon for some fun in the sun even though the two grown-ups knew for them it would be more like torture. Gage and Dani picked up her two close friends, Katie and Cindy. When they arrived back home, Lacy was at the beach with the rest of the children. Stella was in the kitchen preparing some snacks. Gage sent the trio on down to the beach while she talked to her mother.

  “Need some help?” Gage asked.

  Stella meticulously cut the sandwiches in front of her but paid careful attention to her forlorn daughter. “No. But I guess I could use some company.”

  Gage plopped down on the chair and grabbed a sandwich. “Where’s the banana? You know I like peanut butter and banana sandwiches.”

  “I do. And those aren’t for you.” Stella smiled, and then reached around to get another tray with several sandwiches prepared the way her daughter liked them. “Here.”

  Having already bit into the plain peanut butter sandwich, Gage shrugged. “Save one of those for me later.” The blonde winked.

  “I can do that.” Stella watched her daughter chew diligently on her sandwich. “You wanna tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?”

  “Hmmm….”

  Stella sat down next to her daughter. “Don’t hmmm… me. Gage, listen, I know something’s goi
ng on between you and Lacy. That’s obvious.” She reached out her hand and laid it over her daughter’s hand. “I’m here… if you need to someone to talk to.” Then a dark memory shot to the forefront of her mind. “I know I haven’t been there in the…”

  “Stop it.” Gage turned her hand over, now holding her mother’s hand. “I understand. I really do. We’ve already resolved that. Lacy told me once that a person at some point in their lives has to stop blaming their parents or others for what their lives have become and it’s really about time that I do that but…”

  “But what?”

  Gage released a heavy sigh. “Now she won’t talk to me.”

  Stella got up and pulled her daughter into her arms. She savored the feel of Gage being so close to her. “Honey, Lacy loves you more than life itself. And I’d bet everything I have that she’s the woman… the only one that can help you with whatever it is that you’re struggling with.” The older woman realized that the remnants of her daughter’s childhood and everything that happened to her was the impenetrable wall blocking Gage from fully opening up. And she blamed herself even after Gage forgave her but this was something her daughter had to face and she would only traverse that minefield with Lacy. The only thing Stella could do was to step back and assure her daughter that she would be there for her.

  Gage kissed her mother’s cheek. “Thank you.” Releasing her mom, the blonde smiled. “You coming swimming?”

  Stella slapped her daughter’s arm slightly. “Me? In a bathing suit? I don’t think so. But I tell you what, I’ll bring some food down later and find me a nice big shade tree to sit under.”

  “Deal.” Gage gave her mother a quick hug before she headed to the shore to join the rest of her family.

  ************************

  “Derek? Wait for Gage to get here.” Lacy said for the third time to her rambunctious child who was playing on one of the jet skis.

  Scrunching his eyebrows together, he glared straight forward so his mother couldn’t see him. “I can ride by myself you know.”