“Are you sure you’re not missing anything?” one of the police officers was asking Maeve as Lacey walked toward her.
“I’ll have to have Lacey and Bess check their stuff, but it doesn’t look it. My laptop, TV, even my jewelry is still here. I can’t believe they wouldn’t take any jewelry. They obviously have no sense of style.”
It was clear from the officer’s face that he wasn’t certain whether Maeve was being serious.
Lacey interrupted, hugging her friend. “Thank God, you are all right.”
“Oh, I’m fine. Just a little shook up and wondering how the hell I’m going to clean up this mess.”
“Don’t worry about that. We’ll take care of it together. How did they get in?”
“They broke the window on the French door and turned the knob. God, I never really thought about how easy it is to break into this place.” She shook her head. “You should go up to your room and make sure they didn’t take anything. It didn’t look like it, though.”
Dazed, Lacey stepped into her room, feeling the horror of seeing everything she owned tossed onto the floor. She tried to keep herself from wondering what would have happened had she been home at the time.
“Lacey!” A panicked shout downstairs interrupted her thoughts. Was that Mick’s voice?
“Lacey!”
She darted downstairs and saw a police officer standing at the door holding up his hand as if that would prevent Mick from entering the home. “Do you live here?” the officer was asking him.
“No. I’m a friend. What’s going on here?” Mick’s eyes frantically searched the room.
“He’s okay, Officer.” Lacey stood frozen in the middle of the stairs. “What are you doing here, Mick?”
Mick pushed forward at the sight of her, and wrapped her in his arms. “My God, when I saw all the police cars, I thought the worst.” He took her face in his hands and pressed kisses to her cheeks and forehead, as if to assure himself that she was real. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Flustered by the feel of his lips innocently touching her skin, she had to remind herself that she was still mad at him.
Maeve’s voice came from the kitchen doorway. “Uh, I’m fine, too, Mick. Do I get a greeting like that?”
Mick laughed and greeted her with a firm kiss on the cheek. “How’s that?”
“You could do better. It’s been a rough day,” Maeve answered with a smirk.
“Someone broke into the house,” Lacey explained. “The place is a mess. But nothing’s missing.”
“Was anyone here?”
“No one. Bess is shopping. She doesn’t even know. Maeve was getting her hair colored.”
Maeve sent Lacey a glare.
Lacey corrected. “I mean, highlighted. Just some summer-like highlights. I was at the office,” she finished, narrowing her gaze on him. “But I guess you know that, don’t you?”
“About that.” Mick took a deep breath. “Can we talk?” Mick shot a look over to Maeve and the nearby officer.
Maeve touched the ring-free officer lightly on the arm and guided him into the next room. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your thoroughness, Officer…” she began in her slightly Southern drawl as she sent a wink to Lacey over her shoulder.
Lacey looked at Mick, the remnants of anger in her eyes. “So why did you come here? Or are you just early for Scrabble night?”
“I went to your office first. It was closed, so I took a chance and came here. I couldn’t say this right over the phone.” He took her hand. “I’m sorry, Lacey. You’d never take advantage of someone you care so much about. And I was completely disrespectful coming to your office and blowing up like that.”
At Lacey’s silence, Mick looked down at their clasped hands, visibly struggling for the right words. “Your friendship—it means more to me than I ever thought it would. Or could. I don’t know how to explain it. I look forward to every moment I have with you.”
Suddenly, the stress of the day was pouring down Lacey’s cheeks unchecked.
Mick swallowed a curse. “Oh, God, Lacey, please don’t cry. I feel bad enough,” he said, putting his arm around her. “Look, I’ve got real issues. I’m an asshole, actually.”
“We’ve all got issues.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have those great legs to even things out,” he said, hoping to make her smile. “I think I’ve got—you know—trust issues. God, I sound like Dr. Phil or Oprah or something. But I’ve had a hard time trusting people lately. I’m always waiting for them to put a knife in my back.”