SEAL the Deal(98)

“You get completely lost in her, don’t you?” Maeve’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

Lacey glanced up. “That’s it. That’s exactly it. She makes life simpler somehow. If she’s okay, then everything’s okay.”

Bess looked at the clock. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your appointment? I can take over from here.”

Lacey didn’t lift her eyes from the baby. “There’s nothing more important in my day than this. Carolyn Miron can wait, waterfront property or not.” Lacey had no idea why Carolyn had asked her to meet for coffee. She had learned last week from the district attorney that Carolyn’s son had changed his plea to guilty for two counts of breaking and entering. Lacey had thought that bizarre chapter in her life was closed now.

Maeve’s forehead creased with worry. “Are you sure you want to go? Maybe one of us should go with you.”

“She’s harmless, Maeve. Maybe she just needs to talk.” Lacey smiled at her protective friend. “I promise I’ll call as soon as I’m done.”

Jack burst in from the baby’s room. “What is this?” he demanded holding a tiny shirt that had “Go Army! Beat Navy!” printed boldly across the front.

Maeve looked up. “Watch your tone around the baby, Jack.”

He held up his hands in defense. “Okay, my bad. But who gave her this?”

“Tyler sent it for Abigail when he got back to West Point,” Bess said without compunction.

“That cadet?” His eyes flared. “It’s bad enough he was the first guy to get to hold the baby. But then this?” He waved the shirt in the air.

Bess rose to quickly snatch it out of his hand. “It was sweet. I promise I won’t have her wear it on Army-Navy game day.”

“Football,” Lacey explained in a whisper to the baby, “brings out the worst in men.”

As Jack moved to sit beside Abigail, Lacey saw him do a double take at something on his sleeve. It was brown and she’d bet it wasn’t chocolate.

“Crap,” he muttered. “That’s the last time I’ll change a diaper in uniform.”

“Shh,” Lacey said quietly. “I think she’s dozing.” Abigail smacked her lips a little, contented. Her tiny blue eyes flickered shut.

Under the warm spring sun as the new leaves waved happily in the breeze, Maeve’s little home seemed complete with this new life inside of it, even while another life was so uncertain.

***

Carolyn Miron stirred the creamer in her cup. “I want to thank you for meeting me like this. I feel horribly for all that my family put you through these past months.”

Lacey felt immediately relieved by the tone of the conversation. “Carolyn, I was just so sorry to have to hand over those personal belongings to the police.”

“You had no choice.” Carolyn shook her head. “I have to admit, I always knew that my husband was up to something, though I never would have suspected he was blackmailing someone. Lou—” she sighed, “—was not a good man. But my son?” Her hand trembling slightly, she raised her cup to her lips. “After he decided to take the plea bargain last week, Jeffrey confessed to me that he was heavily in debt from gambling. His father had told him about the photographs a few years ago—probably bragging about it, knowing Lou. So when Lou died, my son thought it might be an easy way to make money.”

Setting the cup down, the older woman stared emptily out the café’s window. Her voice was hollow. “I never would have thought he would turn out to be so much like his father. Or maybe I just didn’t want to see it.”

Lacey wished she knew the right thing to say. “I’m so sorry for what you’re going through.”

Carolyn waved her hand dismissively. “At any rate, I’ve decided to move up north to be with my daughter and her family. I need the support right now.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

“And now that the police have confirmed that Lou died of natural causes, they’ve taken the police tape down from the house.” She took an uneasy breath. “So I was wondering if there’s any chance you might relist the property for me.”

Lacey felt conflicted, with all the trouble the Miron listing had already caused her. “I—”

Carolyn interrupted. “I give you my word that I’ll take the first reasonable offer that comes this time. And if it’s appropriate, I’d be comfortable in offering you a higher commission.”

Cha-ching! The tug of profit prodded Lacey to jump at the offer just as her cell phone vibrated. Glancing into the depths of her purse, she saw Jack’s number light up the screen. Jack calling in the middle of a workday was a rarity. Suddenly trembling, she grasped her phone. “Carolyn, this may be important. Would you mind if I took this outside?”