Alex

“I CAN’T JUST TAKE off and come get you,” I told my mom as she called me mid-Sunday morning. Sara was upstairs getting ready; Lacey and I were taking the kids two towns over for brunch. Lacey was watching me out of the corner of her eye whilst I spoke, she was supposed to be playing an old ass game of monopoly with Logan.

“Your roll,” he told her.

I turned away from them and spoke more sternly but quietly into the phone, “You have to finish the treatment.” I tried not to lose my temper, she always got emotional when I lost my temper.

“I’m medicated and doing well. I haven’t had any alcohol or drugs in weeks and this place is full of... weirdos,” she whispered the last word and I rubbed my forehead with my pincer fingers.  

“They’re not weirdos, they’re other addicts and I’m happy the medication is working but you have to stay to the end,” I urged.

I heard her voice break, “Don’t you want me home?” she asked weakly.

“Jeez, Mom, way to turn this round on me,” I rumbled, trying to maintain my composure. I turned, caught Lacey’s worried stare and left the room, stepping out the back door into the yard where we always had the staff breakfast. I pulled the door shut behind me, “we want you home well Mom. We want you back in a decent state so we don’t have to watch you and care for you.”

“Alex...” she began on a self-pitied cry.

“Mom!” I said quickly with authority, “before you come home I want to meet with your doctor. I want you to be discharged and given the all clear to return otherwise...” I took a deep breath, “there’s no place for you back at Bishops.”

“What?” she rasped, “that’s my home, where I was born. My Daddy’s farm. I work there, I run the place.” She started to yelp.

“You haven’t run this place in a decade if we’re honest,” I swallowed hard, “nothing here belongs to you anymore and I have the job as manager until you’re well. If we don’t deem you well, then you won’t come back.”

She started to weep softly into the phone, “My own son casting me out.” She sobbed, “how could you?”

“I’m telling you to do your time and come back well. I’m not casting you out, I’m just done being your nursemaid and I won’t have Sara and Logan grow up the way I did.”

 “Is Lacey still there, does she know about me?” she asked in a low voice, not even gracing my last words with acknowledgement. I’d wanted to keep Lacey’s presence from her, but Logan had blurted it out innocently a few weeks before and it added to her worry.

“Yes, she’s still here and yes, she knows you’re sick and she would agree that if you’re well, there’s a job here for you,” I added. I loved my mom, but I needed this rehab to work, to see her sober and well because otherwise my life would forever be taking care of her. I wanted a life and Lacey made me realize that more and more.

“I’ll stay,” she said quietly.

“Get your doctor to call me,” I grunted into the phone.

“Can I speak to Logan?” she asked on a whimper.

“Next time, Mom. You’re too emotional right now and he’s happy playing and...” I sighed.

“I get it. Next time,” she muttered defeated. “I love you Alex. I know you’re doing tough love.”

“Mom,” I shook my head, “I’m just trying to do the best for everyone here, there’s no agenda.”

“No kid deserves me as a Mom,” she added, self-pity evident again. Anger welled in my chest but I knew what she needed. It killed me to give it to her, but she had conceded so far and she needed a pick me up.

“You were the prettiest Mom at the school gates and by far the most fun. Who wouldn’t want that, huh?” I said through gritted teeth.

“I tried my best,” she tittered perking up as she spoke, “we did have so much fun when you were little.” I left her on a happy note and didn’t mention that we were so happy because back then both her parents were alive to cover up her shit and keep her on the straight and narrow.

I stepped back inside, and Lacey stood as I did. “Go wash up, Loge, and tell Sara to get a move on,” I snapped at the little dude because my mom had agitated the shit out of me. He didn’t deserve it. He nodded and bounded off upstairs.

“Your mom?” she asked tentatively. She knew damned well it was.

I placed my cell in my back pocket and wiped my nose with the back of my hand, “Yeah,” I tugged my mouth up at the side.

“Wanna talk about it?” she asked. She looked adorable, her blue eyes blazing up at me with concern.

“No,” I shook my head and laughed. “It’s too early in anyone’s day for her crazy.”

Lacey stepped forward and hugged me. I tucked her head under my chin and wrapped my arms around her. “Tell me later,” she uttered, and I took a deep breath.

“Yeah,” I blew out the breath.       

We drove two towns over to the cutest pancake house that my grandpa used to take me to when I was a little kid. The kids ordered pancakes topped with all sorts of sweet gooeyness, bacon, eggs and hashed browns. I got pancakes and sausage. Lacey ordered eggs and toast. We all looked at her like she was crazy. 

“I don’t eat pancakes,” she shrugged.

“Why?” Sara asked, “I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like pancakes.”

“I guess since high school when I realized how many calories were in them,” she smiled lightly.

“But they’re so goooood,” I grinned, drawing out the last word and wiggling my eyebrows.

Sara giggled, “I think I’d rather be fat than give up pancakes.”

“Atta girl,” I tapped the peak of the cap she wore playfully.

“You’re not fat though, Lacey, you could eat some pancakes, you got plenty of room,” Logan added and Lacey laughed.

“You guys are bad food pushers,” she shook her head with a smirk.

“I think when mine get here we’re sharing,” I winked at her.

“One mouthful,” she held up a manicured index finger, and I knocked it down from my place opposite her at the table.

“You’ll want more than one,” Logan beamed, warning her, “they’re really delicious.”

“We’ll see,” she glanced at me and I watched her playful face, licking my lips and wondering how long until I could get her alone again and taste those plump, pink lips. She narrowed her eyes as she must have sensed my dirty mind working overtime.

“You’re a bad man, Alex Miller,” she shook her head, “very bad!”

 

I didn’t try to hide me and Lacey after that, whatever it was.

She’d had her fill of the books weeks ago and only came into the office to chat rather than to see more numbers. We’d changed suppliers for a few things and she’d made good suggestions on areas she saw us pissing money and I’d agreed. The basic turnover of staff was the most expensive outgoing, but we needed all those heads and Lacey saw that everyone had their part to play. She sat opposite me at staff breakfast and where I used to will her away, now I watched her eat and remembered her in my bed only half an hour before. Yes, she started eating breakfast... farm life required a full stomach.

I had a deep sense of duty where Bishops Hill was concerned and although with Lacey came something I didn’t ever want—a boss—I also got someone who was willing to share the burden. She talked sense and eased my concerns on stuff, we talked business and she offered an opinion which I did too. She listened to my issues and bounced back ideas and with her I felt less like the poor little guy who’d been saddled with his siblings trying to keep his head above water on a farm that was his birthright and had been sold from underneath him. I felt like someone’s partner. She never pulled rank, and I didn’t feel so alone.

She and Mabel were swiftly progressing their bakery idea. It was only a pilot for now but Mabel and Lacey would hire new staff to run the place if it took off. They were turning an old cottage into the bakery and work was well underway. Lacey wanted to start small and then build up to a full farmshop. She spent her days there painting and planning. A car park had been flattened out of some scrub land and she’d been advertising all over town and in a wide radius beyond Celebration Falls. Her grand opening party was already planned to have a Halloween theme and before we knew it she’d already been with us three months.

My mom would be released at the end of September and then after that I had no idea what would happen with us. Lacey didn’t talk about going home but I knew that Bishops wasn’t her home. I walked up to the little bakery one afternoon to see her in action. The day was warm, but the air had been cooling. We didn’t get harsh winters, but we felt a drop in temperature and it was starting in the fall.

I rounded the dirt track that led to the property that sat at the very edge of Bishops, a great place for a shop but somewhere no one had lived for some time. I saw her walking out of the front door and throwing pieces of cardboard down outside then walking back in as I approached. She wore cute little khaki shorts rolled up her thighs and a black tank-top. I trotted to the doorway and was greeted by the view of her ass as she bent over something. I leaned on the doorframe and licked my lips.

“Hey,” I ground out. She straightened and turned quickly.

“Oh God,” she placed her hand on her chest, “you scared me.” Her grin was a mile wide. She wore a pair of worker style boots that I had noticed recently—she must have ordered them online. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she looked darn cute all sweaty from work. She stepped towards me and placed her hands on my chest, rising to her tiptoes for a kiss.

“I wanted to catch you on the hop,” I said, looking over her head at the progress and smiling. What was the front room and hallway was now gutted and one big room with a glass display counter along the whole back wall. It was hip height, so the staff could stand behind it. The walls were lined with shelves that had a country feel with all the exposed brickwork and maple wood. It was looking great, and I knew she’d done a lot of the cleaning and painting herself. “This looks awesome, Lacey.” I said with pride.

She shrugged and placed her hands on her hips, turning to survey the place through my eyes, “It’s different, huh?”

I placed my hands on her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze, “It looks real good.” I rumbled. “You need any help? I’ve got some time.”

She turned and gave me an excited smile, “You wanna help?”

“Sure,” I nodded, “you wanna drive out and do more flyers or have any heavy lifting for me?”

She laughed, “All the heavy stuff is in and I painted myself,” she sighed.“Edmund was all booked up and he couldn’t dump any more of the townsfolk for me,” she smirked. “Eric offered...” she trailed off.

“But you liked getting your hands dirty?” I raised an eyebrow, and she looked a little shy.

“It felt good,” she widened her eyes and looked euphoric, “I never do anything like this myself and I’m good at it.”

“Of course you are,” I laughed, “you’re good at everything you do.”

“A fan of my work?” she teased with a raised eyebrow and I pulled her back into me for a hug.

“Always,” I kissed her head, “so what you wanna do?”

She shrugged and surveyed the room again, “You know what I’d like to do?” she turned in my arms and looked up at me with an expectant smile.

“What?”

“Meet the kids off the bus and go get dinner.” She placed her hands on my chest, “then I need a hot bath and a massage.”

I bent my forehead to lean it to hers, “Done.” The kids had been back at school a few weeks and with Sara in her sophomore year of high school I was expecting her usual nonsense, but Lacey always seem to cut her off at the pass when it came to her shit. She laughed and chatted to Lacey like she had struggled to with me. Logan liked having Lacey around too.

They didn’t ask outright if Lacey and I were dating but she was around more than she wasn’t, and so I guess it was implied. “You heard a date for your mom?” She asked casually, turning away from me and bending to sweep dirt onto a dustpan.

“I need to go meet with her doctor in two weeks and then they’ll give her a release date.” I hated talking about her coming back, I knew her being home would crush the little utopia we all had going on and although her going had been less than ideal, now it felt like there was no place for her back at Bishops. Lacey and I hadn’t discussed that, but I guess we didn’t need to, we had no commitment, it was all just a bit of fun. She was still married for God’s sake.

“Well let me know if you need me to watch the kids or whatever.” She stood, emptied her dust pan and rubbed her hands on her shorts. She had changed a lot since she arrived: her face less flawlessly made up, her clothes rough around the edges, and her hair now styled for comfort and less for the catwalk. I liked her Montana look. “How long ‘till the bus gets in?”She turned her wrist to see her watch.

“A half hour.”

“I’ll go change,” she looked down at her outfit.

“Nah, you look great. I’m not changing. Let’s go check on the horses instead. I want to quickly pet Bullseye” I put my hand out, and she took it.

“You’re a fool for that horse,” she laughed as she closed the door to the new shop before we walked away.

“I’m loyal and he misses me,” I grumbled squeezing her hand.

“You’re too cute,” she body bumped me lightly, and I wondered if I’d ever felt so happy.