He also had no idea Lacey had a past that could someday come calling, disturbing her life and rousing compelling emotions she didn’t feel when she was with him, she thought, guiltily glancing at Ty.
“And what?” Ty asked, picking up on what she hadn’t said.
She shook her head. “Nothing. There are just people who’d miss me and be concerned.”
He let out a slow, patient groan. “I’m not dragging you out of here kicking and screaming. Take the time you need to get your things here in order. Then if you forget anyone, you can always call from the road.” He paused, his eyes narrowing. “Unless there’s someone important that you haven’t mentioned?”
“Such as?” She hedged, knowing the coming conversation was going to be difficult.
He massaged his forehead with his fingers. “Boyfriend or someone you need to check in with?” His words sounded brittle as he spoke.
She drew a deep breath. “As a matter of fact, there is someone.” Guilt immediately swamped her.
“I see,” he said stiffly.
She’d been living on her own for ten years and had no reason to feel as if she’d betrayed Ty by seeing someone else. Yet looking into Ty’s eyes, she did feel guilty. Terribly guilty.
“His name is Alex,” she said, forcing herself to admit the truth and hopefully keep the other man real to her in the process. “And I can’t just pick up and leave without getting in touch with him.”
Ty inclined his head, the motion curt. “Well, nobody’s stopping you from checking in with the important people in your life.”
She swallowed hard, the sense that she’d somehow hurt him filling her with intense pain. “Fine. We’ll talk more tomorrow, okay?”
Without answering, he strode past her and headed back to the couch. He lay down and Digger jumped on top of his legs, settling in.
“Hussy,” Lacey muttered to her pet as she walked back to her room and closed the door behind her.
She wasn’t comfortable with how she’d left things with Ty but then she wasn’t comfortable with the state of her life these days. It was a tough thing to admit, seeing as how she prided herself on survival and doing well. But she hated feeling unsettled and her inability to commit to Alex was but one symptom.
A few short hours with Ty and already she sensed the difference in her reactions to both men. She shivered, knowing in her heart that difference meant something important. And knowing, too, that her time in Hawken’s Cove would define exactly what.
Ten years ago, Lacey had left a life behind and hopped a bus for New York City with no idea what to expect there. Tomorrow she was about to go back to where it all began except this time, she knew exactly what awaited her. She tossed and turned for the rest of the night.
The only thing that kept her from changing her mind was her parents. If she didn’t go back, nothing would be left of her family and their legacy. Nothing good, anyway. She owed it to them to take control of what was rightfully hers. She owed it to herself to finally put the past behind her by facing it, not running away.
Even if that past included Ty.
TY AWOKE with Lilly’s ugly mutt stretched out on top of him and the sun streaming in through the open window blinds in Lilly’s apartment. He hadn’t slept well but who could blame him? Between his smelly couch mate and Lilly’s revelation that there was someone special in her life, sleep had eluded him.
It wasn’t like he’d expected her to become a nun. Hell he hadn’t been celibate, either. Nor had he come back to Lilly looking for a relationship of any kind. Yet when he thought of her with another guy, every protective instinct he possessed kicked into high gear. Those same instincts never took over when it came to other women, not even Gloria who he’d been sleeping with for the past few months. Yet those damn instincts were alive and well with Lilly, full-blown and making him crazy. Despite the fact that he had no right to feel anything at all.
He’d helped set her on the path to this new life, but she’d opted to stay in it. To not come home for the past ten years.To stay out of touch, secluded and alone. The best thing for everyone involved was to bring her home, let her handle her personal affairs and then allow her to return to New York City. To her boyfriend, her business, her life. Maybe in settling Lilly’s past, he’d find a way to settle his own and move on. Because if seeing her again proved anything, it was that he needed to put her behind him, this time for good.
He glanced toward her still closed bedroom door. Since he was up first, he showered and changed before letting himself think about his growling stomach.
He glanced down at the mutt who’d followed him loyally around Lilly’s apartment, going so far as to push open the bathroom door that wouldn’t lock and lick his damp legs when he’d stepped out of the shower. “I wish I could feed you, but I don’t know where your food is.”
“She needs to go out first,” Lilly said, stepping out of her bedroom fully dressed.
Ty cocked his head to one side. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“I’ve been up since five. I showered and dressed before you dragged your lazy body out of bed at six- thirty.”
So she’d heard him puttering around out here. “Have you eaten?” he asked.
She shook her head. “You?”
“Not yet.”
“How about you come with me to walk Digger and we’ll pick up something to eat while we’re out?” she suggested.
“Sounds like a plan.”
She hooked Digger on a leash, grabbed a plastic bag from a kitchen drawer, and together they walked down the flights of stairs, onto the front stoop and out to the sidewalk. The sun was just rising over the tall buildings and a chill hovered in the air.
Digger didn’t seem to mind. She took off at a run, tempered by Lilly’s hold on the leash, pausing only when she’d reached a small patch of dirt and a lone tree.
Ty shook his head and laughed.
“What can I say? She’s a creature of habit,” Lilly said. “And this is her favorite spot.”
Once the dog had finished and Ty had taken the bag from Lilly to clean up and throw away, they took a more leisurely walk around the city. Everything was familiar to Lilly and she was familiar to most people they met. The kid at the Starbucks counter knew her by name as did the owner of the newsstand on the corner. Along the way, she pointed out some buildings where she worked and stopped to pet some dogs she knew from walking them during the week.
Ty had the distinct sense she wanted him to see her life, where and how she lived, firsthand. Now that he had, he knew for certain how well she’d done for herself and how content she was here in her city life.
He paused on the sidewalk. “So what made you decide to go back? What ultimately swayed you?” he asked.
She halted in her tracks beside him. “It’s not a simple one thing.” She bit the bottom of her lip. “As many reasons as I have not to go with you, I have at least as many reasons
“Any chance you’ll share some of them?”
He tipped his head to one side, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hands. He wanted to get inside her head and understand what made her tick.
“You made most of the arguments yourself. I owe it to my parents not to let my uncle steal from them. I owe it to myself to stand up for what’s mine. Most of all, I guess I think facing him will give me closure.”
He nodded. “You never really put that part of your life to rest, have you?”
She shook her head. “I can’t forget that I turned a lot of people’s lives upside-down.”
Some of those people, like his mother, had helped set things in motion, Ty thought. It was such a complicated issue because by taking Lilly in, his mother had ultimately saved her life. It’d also given them blood money, he thought.
He glanced Lilly’s way. Her brows were furrowed in concern, her distress over the upset she’d caused obvious. He needed to reassure her that she’d done the right thing.
“Hey, those people cared about you. They did what they wanted to do. Nobody forced them and you have to admit, it was pretty amazing that we pulled it off.” He grinned, the adventurous thrill of that time coming back to him.
She burst out laughing. “Leave it to you to turn it into an exciting caper.”
He smiled grimly because up until the moment she’d walked out of his life, that’s exactly what it had been.
