by Taylor Hart
Her father had quizzed Dom all the way there. Dom thought it was funny that Lacey kept giving him so many worried looks, like he would go off binder. Sometimes, he would hesitate and wink at her before he answered just to keep her guessing.
He actually found her father pretty interesting, as far as fathers go. Not that he’d met that many fathers. Just one, and that girl hadn’t worked out. But he wouldn’t think about that right now. He had a focus, a mission.
Her father was big in the business world. He owned his own consulting company and what sounded like a nice amount of real estate in different locations. Dom imagined if anyone wanted an education in business, they could ask her father. He had clients all over the world. If Dom really had been Lacey’s boyfriend, he might be a bit intimidated.
Good thing he was just a hired one. It enabled him to relax and just look at this situation like he was operating within mission parameters.
When they pulled into Snow Valley, her father explained they were under orders to stop at the flower shop because Lacey’s mother wanted to see her before anyone else in Snow Valley saw her and came in to brag about it. “She’s working a big wedding right now, so she couldn’t come with me.”
Dom noticed how cozy the town was. Every street lamp was decorated with snowflakes, and each shop boasted Christmas décor. Lacey excitedly gave him the tour as they drove through the single-lane streets, even calling him babe.
He thought that was a nice touch.
When they got to the shop, Lacey flew out of the SUV and ran to the door, flinging it back and rushing in.
As Dom got out, her father laughed and patted his shoulder. “Guess her mom still trumps the boyfriend.”
Dom gazed through the glass as she and her mother held each other, and he thought about what he would do if he were given the chance to see his mom again. Unwillingly, he blinked, surprised at the emotion churning inside of him.
“It is a thing of beauty to see her and her mother reunited.”
“Yeah.”
Her father grinned at him, and Dom realized he was the kind of father who noticed things. He would be watching Dom like a hawk. “Tell your parents and brother thanks for giving you up this holiday. But don’t think that qualifies you to have Lacey for next Christmas, understand?” he said a bit severely, though it was softened with a wink.
Dom let out a light laugh. “Wouldn’t dream of asking.” If he accomplished his mission, Lacey and Oliver would be back together.
For some reason, that thought felt wrong.
He and her father stood there, watching the women some more, and her father put a hand on Dom’s shoulder. “I like you already, Dom.”
“Really?” he asked. “Why?”
“You get her bag, you’re getting a MBA in business, and you wait patiently while she gets reacquainted with her mother. Those are all good things. You can tell a lot about a man by his actions.”
Dom swallowed his guilt. It wasn’t in his nature to misrepresent who he was. He would leave after this weekend and never see these people again. He reminded himself he was here for one purpose, and he wasn’t about to waste time feeling bad about helping Lacey.
“Let’s get in there.” Her father moved to the door and opened it for him.
They went into the flower shop, and Lacey turned to him, a happy look on her face. “Dom, come meet my mother.”
“Dom?” her mother repeated.
Her father intercepted. “The boy’s name is Rhett Dominick, but he likes to be called Dom. Of course, our daughter, the maniac Rhett Butler fan, still calls him that sometimes.” He shook his head.
Her mother gave her a strange look, then turned to put her hand out. “So nice to meet you, Dom.”
Dom noticed how closely she and Lacey resembled each other, but it was obvious Lacey’s mother was a lot more fragile. Beautiful, but still small and fragile. Lacey was probably six inches taller. “Nice to meet you too. Thanks for having me.”
Lacey’s father stood at her mother’s side, putting his arm around her. He pulled her into him and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Her mother turned and smiled. “Missed you. Glad you’re home.”
He smiled back. It wasn’t a long moment, but it was very telling.
Lacey’s mom turned to Lacey. “I’m so excited you’re back. I have Christmas Eve dinner planned for six-thirty.” Looking at her watch, she sighed. “Your father probably told you I have a big order for the Porter wedding this Saturday. But you’re probably hungry now. Why don’t you go get something to eat and give Dom a tour of the town? We’ll meet you back at our house. You can also make sure the guesthouse has everything he needs.” She shrugged, looking remorsefully at Dom. “We’re those parents who insist you have distance from our daughter at night.”
Respectfully, Dom nodded. “Sounds good.” He didn’t care. The idea of having a whole guesthouse to himself sounded perfect.
Her father gave Lacey his keys. “Here, take these. I’m staying to help your mom.”
Her mother pulled Lacey in for another hug. “It’s so good to have you home.” Dom saw tears in her eyes. “One last thing. You already know the Hastings are coming for Christmas, but …” She looked at her husband.
“What?” Lacey looked wary.
Her father held a hand up. “I guess Oliver’s fiancée’s family is out of town this Christmas, so we agreed Linda could come too.”
Lacey let out a breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“Sorry,” her father said, giving Dom a sympathetic look.
Understanding pulsed through Dom. Her father felt bad for him because Lacey was clearly jealous of Oliver.
“It’s fine,” Lacey answered, but it obviously wasn’t fine.
Dom thought this might be the appropriate time to remind her she had a boyfriend. Reaching out, he took her hand. “Hey, let’s get going on that tour. You’ve been bragging about this town, and frankly, Scarlett, I’m hungry.” He did his best Rhett Butler impersonation.
Giving him an incredulous look, Lacey’s eyes fluttered.
Her mother laughed and hit her father gently in the arm. “Ha, ha, ha. He’s doing Rhett Butter. That was a good one.”
The look on Lacey’s face turned to confusion as she stared at his hand. Hers felt cold, Dom thought.
Lacey pursed her lips. “Okay. Let’s go show you around.” She tugged his arm as she walked to the door.
Good save, Dom, he congratulated himself.
“Have fun, you two,” Lacey’s mom called out.
Not stopping her brisk walk, Lacey dropped his hand as they neared the SUV. “Yep, I’ll give you the tour.” Her voice sounded off.
Dom slipped into the passenger side as Lacey started the SUV, barely closing the door before she zoomed off. “How dare you?” she snapped.
“How dare I what?” he asked, baffled. Wouldn’t she be happy he’d just saved her?
Getting to the end of Main Street, Lacey jerked the steering wheel hard into a parking lot and found a spot. She parked the car and turned to him, her hand shaking. “First you have the audacity to tell them your name isn’t Rhett. Then you … you … manage me back there.”
He hesitated, then decided to let her have it. “Because you were freaking out and being rude to your boyfriend. You were obviously upset your ex and his fiancée are coming tomorrow, but if I’m your boyfriend—” He pounded his hand into his chest. “—you wouldn’t act that way, would you?”
Looking caught, Lacey muttered something he didn’t understand under her breath, staring out the window. “Don’t hold my hand either,” she said resentfully. “I don’t want that. That was completely out of line.”
He was stupefied. Out of line? His mind raced. This was absurd. She obviously couldn’t pull off this mission. She didn’t even know what she wanted from him.
It occurred to Dom that the decision to come here had been wrong. He didn’t care if his cousin pitied him for spen
ding Christmas alone. Alone was better than this nutcase. “Look, sweetheart,” he said in a patronizing tone. “I don’t need this. I honestly think your best bet might just be telling the guy point-blank you want him back, because from what I saw back there, you don’t have any kind of poker face.” Making a snap decision, he turned and grabbed his bag from the back seat. “I’ll just get an Uber to the airport. You can make something up about how I was jealous you’re still in love with him.”
He kicked the door open and yanked his bag over his shoulder. What had he been thinking, pretending to be her boyfriend? Especially since this girl didn’t even want to hold his hand. Missions suck when you’re assigned a weak team that can’t hack it.
Getting all the way out, he shut the door and started walking around the truck, stepping onto the snowy sidewalk carefully. Yep, this was an insane idea. He would just get a flight back to Colorado and spend a quiet weekend by himself at the apartment. He would watch some games, and he would not worry about a spoiled princess who wanted to connive her way back into some ex-boyfriend’s life.
Which was stupid, if you asked him. She was beautiful. Obviously, she was a talented dancer. What did she want with a guy who didn’t want her? He looked down the street toward the town. So what if this was a cute, cozy town? Who cared?
“Wait!” He heard her calling after him.
Already roughly ten feet away, he was surprised at how quickly she caught up.
“Wait! Wait. Please. I’m sorry.”
Feeling like he was in some romance movie, he exhaled sharply. “No.” He opened the inside of his coat pocket and handed her the envelope of money. “I’m sorry. Good luck.”
“No. You keep it.” She quit walking, pushing the envelope away.
He got three steps farther before he stopped. No way. First of all, he had never really needed the money, and second of all, having money that wasn’t his had never suited him. He backed up, holding it out. “No, take the money.”
Her eyes met his. They were glassy, and she looked like she was on the verge of crying. “No.” She rushed back to the truck. “I’ll get you the rest of it. This is my fault.”
Standing there, he watched her grab her purse, get another envelope out, and then rush back to him. Streams of tears were running down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
He didn’t take it, despite her attempts to push the envelope against his chest. “What is the matter with you?” he grumbled, wishing there was a drill sergeant around somewhere to put this weakling back into place.
Looking like she was having a full-on breakdown, she shook her head. “I just … just take the stupid money.” She dropped the envelope and rushed to the truck.
There was no way he’d keep the two thousand dollars. He picked up the envelope and jogged back.
As she started up the truck, he yanked open the passenger door and dropped himself in, putting his bag on his lap.
She took off, but gave him an exasperated look. “What are you doing?”
He felt more determined than ever. There was someone to pity here, and it wasn’t him. “What did the guy do to you to mess you up this bad?”
She upped her speed until they were off of Main Street. “Why are you sitting here?” Turning onto the highway, she sped up even more.
“Hey. Where are we going?”
“You got back in the car. You don’t get to ask questions.”
With a scoff, he threw up his hands. “Okay.” He already regretted climbing back into the SUV. “Look, if you think speed will scare me, you’re wrong, unless you can go Mach 3.”
When she floored it, Dom felt the rush speed always gave him. Granted, there was never a time he didn’t want to be the one pushing on the accelerator, but it made him smile nevertheless.
Barely half a minute had passed before they heard sirens wailing behind them. Dom looked in the mirror and saw the flashing red lights.
Lacey swore and cut her speed. “I thought we were far enough out to avoid Hank.” She pulled over to the edge of the road.
Within seconds, a cop was at her door. She pushed the button to roll down the window, and Dom saw the cop had a wide grin on his face. “Well, Lacey Hamilton. I figured it must be you when I saw your father’s vehicle speeding this way.”
Plastering on a false grin, Lacey turned to the cop. “Hey, Hank. I’m sorry. Was I speeding?”
Hank let out a chugging laugh. “Uh, yeah. Clocked you at ninety, girl. That’s a two-hundred-dollar ticket, and I think you’re about to go off dad’s insurance this year when you graduate, right?”
Interesting, it really was a small town. Dom kept his face neutral.
The officer peeked his head in the window, and a big grin spread over his face. “Well, this must be your new someone.” He reached over Lacey to offer Dom his hand. They shook, and he pulled back. “Hank Martin. I actually went to high school with her father and Janet. I was here when Janet and her father got back together. I was at their wedding.” He lifted his eyebrows, clearly very proud of himself. “I was in the flower shop getting my wife something just a minute ago, and her father said she brought someone home for Christmas.”
“Nice to meet you,” Dom said, masking his confusion. Was the guy giving her a ticket or not?
Lacey cleared her throat, the cutesy smile still on her face. “Hank, how is Sandra doing?”
Hank lost the cop stance entirely and fell into easy conversation with Lacey about his kid.
After about five minutes, Hank looked at his phone. “Okay, Lacey. I’ll let you off this time because you haven’t been back for almost nine months. And you obviously have your new beau.” He shook his finger enough for both of them, then leaned forward conspiratorially and sighed. “I was a bit sad to hear Oliver asked Linda to marry him. I thought for sure you would come back here, settle down, and have babies with him.” Hank glanced to Dom and put up a hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean nothing by that.”
Dom flashed him a grin. “No offense taken.”
Hank scratched his head and turned away. “Keep your speed down,” he hollered back.
“Thanks, Hank!” Lacey shouted before putting up the window. She pulled away, dutifully maintaining the speed limit as she headed back toward town.
Dom waited for her to talk to him.
“Are you staying or not?” she asked quietly.
A tiny bit of humor weaved into him. That had been very interesting. “You want me to?”
After a beat, she said, “I wasn’t ready to see Oliver and Linda together. I mean, I know they got engaged, but I thought I’d have him by himself for Christmas, ya know?” She looked dreadfully pitiful again. “I really don’t know what to do now. I would appreciate it if you helped me figure it out.”
Dom sighed. This plan was on the edge of crashing and burning, and it had only been a couple of hours. But what was the alternative? Go back to Colorado? Did he really want to do that?
She turned into a place called Big C’s Diner.
“This place any good?”
A large grin warmed her face as she cut the engine. “The best.”
They both got out, and he followed her in. Lacey waved to a waitress, who rushed over and hugged her.
Lacey turned to Dom. “Julie, this is Dom. Dom, this is Julie.”
Julie had her hair on top of her head and was excitedly chewing gum. She gave him a once-over that made Dom a bit uncomfortable, as did her low whistle. “Hmm, he is cute. I thought your momma said you were dating a Rhett.” She pumped her eyebrows. “Like Rhett Butler.”
Lacey let out a nervous laugh. “Hmm. Nope, she must have gotten it wrong.” Quickly, she turned to Dom. “There’s the menu.” She pointed to the side. “Do you know what you want, sweetie?”
Her calling him sweetie sounded funny, but Dom tried not to react, picking up a menu and browsing its contents. He didn’t know how he’d entered this upside-down world, but he was hungry.
“Did you hear the whole gang is back in town?” Julie leaned
in to Lacey. “And I heard Oliver and Linda, the new fiancée, are going to your house tomorrow for Christmas dinner?”
Dom glanced at Lacey, who kept her eyes focused on the menu. Man, this town was brutal. He could see why Lacey was a wreck. No privacy. “Yep,” was all Lacey said.
“Well, we’ll all be at the Toys for Kids on Saturday, right? It’s so amazing how your parents do that every year. Maybe we could, I don’t know, all get together or something? I know Jack would love to see the gang too. Did you hear he got a job at the mine right outside of town?”
“No.” Lacey smiled. “That’s great.”
Julie nodded. “It’s a good job, and it gives us security.”
Dom thought Lacey looked sad at Julie’s words. “That’s great,” he agreed.
Julie pulled out her notebook and turned to Dom. “The burger’s the best thing on the menu—that, and those sweet potato fries.”
He looked at Lacey, who was very intent on the menu. He could tell she was done talking with Julie. “You order first, honey.” He pointedly emphasized that last word.
Wincing, she looked up at Julie. “Side salad with chicken.”
“Let me guess: with light dressing.” Julie looked bored. “I know you have to keep up the dancer body, but boring.” She rolled her eyes.
Lacey didn’t seem to take it as an insult and put the menu away. “And water.”
Julie rolled her eyes again and scribbled something down, casting a look at Dom. “Please tell me you’re more adventurous.”
“I’ll take the BLT with fries. Thanks.” He shut the menu and put it back. “With a water.”
Putting her head to the side, she sighed. “Well, it’s better than a salad.” She flashed a grin that showed off her extremely bright lipstick. As she buzzed off, she yelled over her shoulder, “Be right back with the waters!”
Lacey turned to look at him. “I’m sorry. For all of that.” She let out a breath and looked around. “Being back here. I don’t know what I’m doing.” Her hand shook, and she put it down on the table. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I thought I could have him alone, but I don’t know what I’m going to do when I see him and she’s there.” She looked out of the window. “This was a pretty stupid idea, wasn’t it?”
