Divine Phoenix(Divine Creek Ranch 10)(18)

“Eventually it’ll be a life-size representation of the soon-to-be fiancée of some good friends of mine. Her name is Lydia Webster. If Chance and Clayton Carlisle have their way, her name is going to change to Carlisle, too.”

“Nuh-uh! Really?” The look on her face must’ve been priceless.

“Yeah, that’s one of those things about Divine that’s—”

She didn’t hear any more of what he said as her gaze landed on a piece of sketch paper on a nearby table. “What’s this?” she said, cutting him off as she lifted the drawing. It was an uncanny rendering of her about the time she’d moved away from Divine, but there was a trace of sadness that was hard to pinpoint.

Clay stuck his hands in his pockets as he approached where she stood in front of the window looking at the charcoal drawing. “It’s a drawing of you.”

“When did you do this?”

“The night of the accident.”

“Why?”

Clay looked down at the image, so his eyes were shuttered. “I was working on something else and I guess that just needed an outlet. I don’t remember you sad like that. I don’t know why I drew it that way. You slipped away from us years ago and memories of you came back to me. I didn’t know if you were just passing through or staying and I just…needed to draw you. You know how us flaky, artsy-fartsy types are,” he added with a shrug and a chuckle.

Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes. “When I look at you, Clay, the last thing I see is a flaky, artsy-fartsy type, trust me.”

“You can have it.”

“No, I want you to keep it. You’ve given me the statue and that’s enough. And I’m in Divine to stay, Clay.”

“Good enough. Maybe I’ll frame it. Lily, seriously, you don’t have to worry about women coming around. Grace Warner, a matchmaking friend of mine, gets peeved at me because I don’t date more, but between business and this.” He gestured to the clay form on a small wooden table. “I feel pretty fulfilled. Women just add unnecessary drama to my life.” He slammed his lips shut, frowned, and then added, “That did not come out the way I meant it. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you, not at all. The last woman I dated was a bit of a drama queen. A spoiled little rich girl. The black rubber marks you probably saw on my driveway were her parting gift a few months ago.”

Lily patted his bicep, noting its firmness. “And now I’ve come along and added even more drama to your life. I know you didn’t mean me in particular, Clay. But I am sorry about the incident at the hospital the other day. So…you have a vindictive ex-girlfriend running around Divine?”

Clay curled his lip. “Presley Ann Woodworth. Her daddy owns Stigall’s and a few other retail stores in the area.”

“Were you not compatible?” Duh, Miss Obvious!

“More like she didn’t get showered with the gold and jeweled trinkets she evidently thought were her due.”

“Really?”

Clay shrugged. “She didn’t like my hours, and she talked an awful lot, too. She moved on after her parting gift.” He gestured to the window in the direction of the driveway where there had indeed still been black tire marks marring the concrete surface when they’d arrived.

Clay directed her into his spare bedroom. The drapes and sheer curtains had been parted to let in light, which shone brightly on the old pine floorboards.

“It’s wonderful, Clay.” She felt like she’d been shown into a romantic bedroom in a bed-and-breakfast. He’d obviously spent time cleaning and sprucing up. There were dark-green rugs located on either side of the queen-size wrought iron bed. A fresh blue, white, and green patchwork quilt adorned the bed and created the focal point for accents around the room, on the antique washstand and dresser and a chest of drawers in the corner.

“All those drawers are empty and ready for you to put away your belongings and there are plenty of hangers in the closet. I thought about hanging everything for you so they wouldn’t be wrinkled but didn’t want to invade your privacy.”

Lily grinned and said, “Trust me, there are no corsets, garters, or bustiers tucked in those suitcases, Clay. It’s all just basic stuff.” So boring, in fact, she hated the idea of wearing any of it. There was no money for shopping for a new wardrobe, though, so she’d have to suck that up, too.

“Well, I’ll leave you to get situated. Let me know if you need anything.”

Lily returned his smile as he left the room. The clothing, mostly floppy polo shirts, T-shirts, and old blue jeans, was put away in a matter of minutes. She then set to unpacking the items in the boxes.