LLucy’s Revenge(Divine Creek Ranch 15)(15)

Their ring was the one she wanted. Not his.

He dropped the keys and the care package from Lucy on the table by the door—one that Chloe had found at a flea market and refinished for this house when they’d moved in a couple of years before.

In the bathroom, he popped a couple of Tylenol and followed them with a glass of water, undressed, and left his clothes lying right where they landed. He slung on his old fleece robe and went into the kitchen to let Cooter in and then got down a glass and his bottle of Jack Daniel’s.

A few seconds after he flopped into his chair in the living room, his old brindle bulldog, Cooter, ambled into the living room and flopped down on his feet. His canine friend looked up at him with sad eyes, snuffled a little, and then went to sleep. Even Cooter still missed Chloe.

Beck sipped the whiskey and reached over for the framed picture that sat by the answering machine. He ignored the blinking light indicating one new message and looked at the photograph in the frame. It was a shot of him and Chloe, taken at the Texas Gulf Coast on their first vacation together. Her hair was blown about by the wind and her cheeks were tanned from being in the sun. She looked happy, and Beck remembered how contented he’d been until she’d left. He’d been trapped in the vicious cycle of memories for nearly a year, knowing she was gone but still waking up loving her each morning. He wanted it to stop.

He took another sip of the whiskey, hoping it would dull the pain in his body and in his soul as he gazed at the picture. The hole in his heart ripped open wide as the image blurred.

“Good-bye, baby.”



* * * *



Lucy sighed heavily and was relieved her workday was over as she walked out to her car, casting a glance at the overcast skies. She enjoyed working for Madeleine Sinclair but sometimes her coworkers left a lot to be desired. It was a fact of life that any time a group of women worked together, there was going to be strife.

There were the pot-stirrers, who liked to get the other women riled up just so they could enjoy the drama.

There were the ones who brought all their problems with men to work with them, boring all their coworkers with details nobody wanted to hear.

There were even one or two queen bees who expected everyone to serve them.

Earlier that day, two of her coworkers, a stylist and a wax tech, had discovered that the same man was dating both of them without their knowledge. Instead of planning to lynch the cheating bastard, they’d gone after each other until Madeleine had put a stop to it. Yep, get that many women in a confined space and it eventually spelled trouble.

She scrunched up her sore, tired shoulders as she got in the car and checked her cell phone for voice mail messages.

“Sis, give me a call when you get a chance. I have good news.” Seth was not one to get overly excited. He was usually Mr. Super Cool, but he sounded a tad on the excited side.

It didn’t take but a couple of rings for him to answer, and she said, “What’s up? I need some good news.”

“You sound tired. Rough day?” She smiled at the concern in his voice and she wished it was that easy to explain. She gently opened and closed both of her hands, trying to work some of the soreness out of them.

“I’m just tired. It was a full day…after a late night.” She’d been having trouble sleeping.

“Heard from Beck yet?” She could hear the concern in his voice but his tone had gone a little steely. Protective big brother.

“It’s been a couple of weeks. Patrick’s been checking on him and said the flu really knocked him off his feet.” She’d called his cell phone and left a few voice mails over the last couple of weeks and had finally given up just a few days before. He’d get in touch if he wanted to.

Seth was quiet for a few seconds and then said, “I’m here if you need me, okay?”

Seth understood so much but he was never one to interfere unless she told him otherwise. Sometimes she wished that she’d clued him in on what had happened with Chuck, her former fiancé. By the time she’d finally broken it off with the ass-wipe it had felt “too late” to tell her big brother all the details. And she was an adult and wanted to stand on her own two feet anyway.

“Thanks. So what’s your good news?”

“Marvin from next door is moving down Main Street to another location. His shop space will be available to look at soon.”

Her jaw dropped. “No! Really?” She’d coveted the small shop space next door to Divine Ink, Seth’s tattoo studio, tucked into one of the old storefronts in the historic shopping district of downtown Divine.

“Yes. He said he’s moving north to that little shop between Batson’s Grocery and Divine Auto Repair in just a few days.”