“Duh,” her sister said. “He’s like white on rice, Lace. You being the rice.”
Lacie laughed, but inside she squirmed. Craig was attentive, and he did seem to be around alot. Lacie chalked it up to having too much time on his hands and too few outside interests. He was lost without his wife, lost without Brian. As Brian’s sister and Mikaela’s best friend, maybe he saw a bit of both of them in her and clung to that.
“He’s a little overprotective, I admit, but it’s not like he’s a stalker or anything.”
Corinne snorted, but thankfully let it go. There were more important issues at stake here. “So... a name?”
Lacie’s grin was brilliant, her unease dissipating instantly as visions of blue eyes and a sexy grin filled her mind. “Shane Callaghan.”
Corinne, rooting through Lacie’s limited jewelry collection, whirled around in shock. “Really?”
“Really,” said Lacie, pleased with her sister’s response.
“Oh. My. God. He is the epitome of hot. How’d you manage that?” Corinne handed her an antique silver bracelet with tiny blue sapphires and a matching necklace, then plopped down on the bed. “Dish.” Cross-legged, leaning forward eagerly with her elbows on her knees, she demanded the information.
Lacie obliged, relaying the story of how they met while Corinne stared, open-mouthed. “You fell asleep in his class, drooled on his hand, fell over a desk, and walked into a doorway?”
“Pretty much.”
“Think it would work for me?”
Lacie laughed. “Like you could ever be anything less than graceful, Rinn. Syrup doesn’t move as fluidly as you do.”
“So true,” Corinne admitted without a trace of vanity. She’d been taking ballet and gymnastics since she was a toddler. She didn’t walk as much as flowed.
She pointed at the tape covering Lacie’s hand. It stood out like an eyesore against the elegant black dress. “We need to do something about that, though,” she remarked. “Do you need it?”
Lacie looked at her hand. It still ached if she moved a certain way, making her think that she might have fractured a few bones after all. She’d meant to go down and get it x-rayed, but it had been a busy week.
“No, I think I’ll be alright.” She held out her hand for Corinne to cut the wrap with a small pair of cuticle scissors. As long as she didn’t move it too much, she’d be okay for a couple of hours. She would just make sure she didn’t order any food that required a two-handed maneuver, like cutting.
Lacie was just about finished dressing when Corinne glanced out the window. “Uh-oh. Don’t look now, but here comes Craig and Shelly with a pizza and a stack of movies from Redbox.”
A stab of guilt shot through Lacie before she could fully squelch it. “It’s Friday night,” she said, hoping Corinne didn’t catch the forced casualness in her voice.
As part of a joint custody agreement with his in-laws, Craig had his daughter on the weekends. Craig’s wife - Shelly’s mother - died tragically in a car crash two years earlier. Fortunately, Shelly had been too young to fully comprehend what had happened.
Lacie thought the world of the little girl; she was such a sweetie. Shelly was in Lacie’s morning class. Ever since Craig moved into the apartment across the hall six months earlier, it had become somewhat of a tradition to order takeout and watch movies together. It had never been an issue before; Lacie rarely had other plans.
Corinne pinned her older sister with a look. “He doesn’t know you’ve got a date, does he?”
Lacie didn’t meet her eyes, focusing on sliding on the thigh-high hose instead. “It didn’t come up.”
“Oh, Lace. It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Lacie breathed. She didn’t bother lying to her sister, she’d see right through it.
Corinne had been the first one to say something to Lacie when Craig’s interest seemed to go beyond what might be considered reasonable, but Lacie had any number of rationalizations for his behavior – they had grown up together, Craig had always been like a second big brother, he felt an added responsibility since Brian had gone missing. Corinne pointed out that those same reasons could be applied to her as well, but that Craig’s obsession only seemed to extend to Lacie. Over the last few months, Lacie found herself agreeing with Corinne more and more, though she would not admit it, not yet. She was getting close, though. Maybe it was because he was living right across the hall, but the overall effect now bordered on smothering.
“Have you tried talking with him about it?”
“Yes. Hasn’t helped much, though. And afterwards I feel really bad, you know? Like I just kicked a puppy or something.”