LLucy’s Revenge(Divine Creek Ranch 15)(27)

That was Lucy. Always taking care of everyone. He saw it in the way she soothingly rubbed backs when she was with her friends—except for his. He’d stopped her once, several months before when she’d attempted it and she’d never repeated the action since. That memory made him feel like a total asshole even though she hadn’t seemed surprised by his rejection. He knew it for what it was. He wouldn’t let himself grow attached to her because his heart had been holding on to a love that was long gone. Those brown eyes he always saw were nothing more than a memory. A painful memory.

“Beck?” Cassie inquired, gently rousing him from his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, sorry.”

He paid the bill and Cassie smiled and waved as she began putting Lucy’s order together, and he pulled away. He had the momentary impulse to pull over and go tell Lucy good morning before she went on her way but she’d probably think he was an idiot for doing that. She had to get to work and he’d already held up the line long enough.

He watched in the rearview mirror as she pulled up and spoke to Cassie and then smiled brightly and focused her gaze on his truck. His heart did a little happy dance as she kissed her fingertips and waved at him. Score one point for the horndog! He waved back and went on his way. As he made the turn back out onto Main Street, he caught a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror and was taken aback by the purely idiotic grin he wore on his face.

He headed back out of Divine to the house, contemplating his next move. He could afford to take a couple of hours off that morning if need be. It was still a bit too early in the day to be working near the hives. The girls got in a dither if he worked with the hives too early in the day and he was all about accommodating his girls. He thought about accommodating another girl and pulled over on the side of the road as he took his cell phone out of his pocket. He knew just who to call for advice. A minute later the call connected.

Lily Cook’s voice came on the line and Beck said, “Hey, Lily, it’s Beck. I need a recommendation from you.”

“Sure. What for?” The smile in her voice brought one to his face as well. He was going a little sappy lately.

“Can you tell me where I could get a good haircut and shave in this town?”

She suggested a couple of places he could call for an appointment. After he wrote down the information, he dialed the number and made an appointment for the following day.

He nearly continued on his way after ending that call. He looked down the road that led to his house, pondering the fact that he’d walked to Lucy’s house when he’d been heartbroken, sick, and probably at the lowest point of his life. Patrick was right. There was a part of him that had been reaching for her.

He dialed the number and waited for the call to connect.

“A Divine Retreat. How may I help you?” The familiar voice was like honey, sweet and sexy, sliding across his senses.

“Hey, boss lady. I hear you give a mean massage.”



* * * *



Lucy hung up the phone, a little stunned. “What the hell am I supposed to do with that?” she asked to herself in the relative quiet of her tiny office.

“You say something, Miss Carter?” Lucas Abbott asked as he poked his head around the doorframe. He smiled at her, realizing he’d startled her. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure if you were talking to me or not.” His green gaze and the smile on his lips were flirtatious and she smiled back, but didn’t flirt. Life was complicated enough right now.

“No. I just have a customer coming in, that’s all. Are you done in the back room for now?”

“Sure. We’re waiting on a couple of cosmetic fixtures for the bathroom but I won’t have them until later this afternoon, so you could use the room if you want to. You have a customer coming in even before the shop is opened?”

“Yeah, it’s a friend. It’s a good thing the health inspection is already completed. How close are we to being done?”

“Josh and I should be finished as soon as he gets back with those wrought iron pieces for the bathroom. We’ll install them after you finish with your customer and we can call this job done. Nothing like working right down to the wire, is there?” he asked with a smile.

Lucy chuckled as she picked up the stack of CDs from the table by her desk. “Yeah. I have to get things rolling as fast as I can to stay within my budget.” Her last appointment at Madeleine’s had been two weeks before so she was on a shoestring budget for the time being. Seth kept asking how she was doing money-wise, and offering to help her until she got on her feet, but she wanted to do this all on her own.

“My sister said she made an appointment with you for later this week. She was excited that you’d moved from Madeleine’s over into your new place. One of the stylists over there has some kind of grudge against her or something and she didn’t much care for going in there except to see you.”