“Come on, Jack. We can make it down to O’Toole’s for last call.”
“I’m in bed.”
“It’s a Saturday night,” Mick insisted. “You always tell me you’re never alone on a Saturday night.”
“Technically, it’s Sunday morning. And who said I’m alone?”
Mick heard the soft laughter of a female voice in the background. It pissed him off even more. Everyone in Annapolis was getting laid right now except him. “You shouldn’t have picked up the phone then.”
“I had to find out how it went tonight. You wore your dress blues, for God’s sake. Don’t tell me you still didn’t get lucky.”
“Then I won’t tell you that. You can just assume it.”
“You must be dying. Don’t get me wrong. I think Lacey’s great, but you better start meeting some other women or your dick will shrivel up and fall off.”
Mick winced. “That’s why I called. I need to get out. Now.”
“You’re out of luck, bro. I’m in some hot company, and you’re not invited.”
Mick heard the rustling of sheets and envisioned the lusty shifting of flesh over flesh. Envy simmered inside his veins. “Next week then.”
“Can’t. Got too much to do before the brigade leaves for Thanksgiving. And so do you. But the week after, you’re on.”
Mick shut his phone with a sense of finality. After Thanksgiving then.
He grabbed a beer from the fridge and tried to shake the idea that looking for another woman was somehow wrong.
Lacey and he were just friends. She made that clear.
And he had to stop thinking of her somehow, didn’t he?
PART TWO
Twenty-one years ago
Till today, Lacey had never seen her sister in pigtails. Even at nine years old, the sweetness of pigtails seemed incongruous with Vi’s sharp business sense.
Hearing her sister approach, Vi didn’t even glance over her shoulder as she stirred the lemonade. “Are you coming or what?” she asked Lacey.
“I guess so. Why are you in one of my dresses?”
Vi owned no dresses of her own. She preferred pants or shorts. “I’m selling lemonade. Goes with the territory.” She carried the large thermos of lemonade out to the wagon. “Grab those cups and that sign, will you?”
Lacey did as she was told, as always, accepting her role as Vi’s assistant in this business venture rather than a full partner. “But no one ever drives up our street, Vi. We’ll never sell any lemonade.”
“That’s why we’re mobilizing our lemonade stand,” Vi explained, heaving an impatient sigh as she taped the sign to the wagon. It read:
“Ice-Cold Lemonade. Just 99 cents a cup!”
“A whole dollar for a cup of lemonade?” Lacey gasped.
“Not a whole dollar. 99 cents,” Vi corrected.
“But they’ll never pay that much for a cup of lemonade. I was thinking maybe we’d ask for a dime. I don’t know.” Lacey floundered, as usual, in matters of business.
“They’ll pay a dollar a cup where we’re headed,” Vi said with a scheming glint in her eyes. “I saw they were laying tar about five blocks away. Nothing more refreshing than a cup of lemonade when you’ve been laying tar on a hot August day, I’ll bet.” She began pulling the wagon down the driveway with resolve.
Lacey trudged behind her in the scorching heat. Her eyes watered as the smell of tar eventually began wafting in their direction.
Vi’s voice was laced in sugary-sweetness as she locked eyes with the first man in a hard hat she saw. “Hi! Want to buy a nice, refreshing cup of ice-cold lemonade?”
“Kid, you’re charging a dollar for a cup?”
“Just 99 cents, sir,” Vi responded, unwavering. “It’s really good and I paid for the ingredients out of my own allowance.”
Lacey just stood there, pasting a grim smile on her face, with no idea what to say.
“Hey, Bob! Get a load of this!” one of the workers called out, attracting the attention of at least five more. “The kid’s selling dollar-cups of lemonade. Paid for it all out of her allowance.”
“Cute.”
“Sure, what the hell,” another man said, despite the company of such young girls. “I’ll take a cup. Here’s a buck. Keep the change.”
“Thank you very much, sir!” Vi chirped.
“I’ll take one, too. Looks good.”
“Can’t resist the pigtails. I’ll take two, kid. You got chutzpah.”
Within minutes, the thermos was emptied, and Vi’s pockets bulged with dollar bills.
When they arrived home, Lacey watched Vi rip the infernal pigtails from her hair with a scowl. “What are you gaping at?” Vi snapped.