Virginia - Tidewater Lover (Americana 46 - Virginia)

CHAPTER ONE

The ring of the telephone checked the step Lacey Andrews had taken away from her desk. The light was blinking on the interoffice line. Shifting the stack of file folders to her left arm, Lacey reached across the desk to answer it. The movement swung her silky brown hair forward. She tucked it behind her right ear before lifting the receiver to the same ear.
"Lacey speaking," she identified herself automatically.
"You have a call from a Margo Richards on line three," was the reply.
A dark eyebrow flicked upward in surprise at her cousin's name. "Thanks, Jane." And Lacey pressed the plastic button of the third line, wondering with faint cynicism why Margo was phoning her. "Hello, Margo." Her brown eyes glanced toward the ceiling. Lacey knew this would not be a short conversation. Her cousin could spend an hour just saying what time it was.
"I'm sorry to call you at work, Lacey," the melodic voice rushed on, hardly a trace of sincere apology in her tone. "I don't mean to get you into any trouble with your boss, but I simply couldn't wait until tonight to talk to you."
"You aren't getting me into trouble. There are no restrictions against receiving personal calls," Lacey explained with amused patience. "What is it that's so urgent?"
"I wanted to let you know that Bob and I are leaving tomorrow to fly to Florida to visit his parents. From there we'll be taking a two-week cruise in the Caribbean."
"Sounds marvelous!" Not for anything would Lacey permit even the tiniest suggestion of envy to creep into her voice. She adjusted a box pleat on her plaid skirt and settled down for a long dissertation from her cousin.
"It is exciting, isn't it?" Margo gushed. "It all happened so quickly, too. I mentioned in passing to Bob how romantic a cruise like that would be—and you know how Bob is. If I liked the moon, he'd try to buy it."
Poor man, Lacey thought. She hoped he would learn to say no to Margo before she spent all his money. Lacey was certain that Margo truly loved Bob, but she doubted if her love would ever mature as long as her slightest whim was indulged as if she were still a child.
"I've been dashing around madly ever since he told me," Margo continued. "Half of my summer wardrobe was so sadly dated that I would have been embarrassed if I'd worn it. Oh, Lacey, I wish you could see this gorgeous gown I bought! It's so daring I don't know if Bob will let me wear it. And there's this stunning pair of satin evening pajamas in a shimmering blue that's pos—"
"Margo, I'd love to hear all about your new clothes," Lacey interrupted, knowing that if she didn't stop her cousin now, she wouldn't. Margo's conversation was threatening to run longer than normal. Next she would be hearing the entertainment schedule of the cruise ship. A strong sense of loyalty to her job demanded that Lacey not spend an hour on a private phone call. "But I'm fairly busy at the moment. Maybe you should call me tonight."
"But that's just it. Bob and I are invited to a dinner party tonight—that's why I'm calling you now." There was an incredulous note in Margo's voice, as if she couldn't understand why Lacey was so stupid as not to have reasoned it out by herself.
Lacey gritted her teeth and smiled rigidly at the receiver. "Well, I really appreciate your letting me know you're going to be leaving." What else could she say?
"Oh, but that isn't why I called. I thought I told you." Lacey could imagine Margo's wide-eyed look of innocence.
"No, Margo, you didn't," she replied, concealing an impatient sigh. "Exactly why have you phoned?"
"I ran into Sally Drummond yesterday. Quite by accident," Margo assured her as she identified a close friend of Lacey's. "I was on my way to the car with an armful of packages when she came out of a restaurant."
Lacey sat down on the edge of her desk. She had absolutely no idea what Sally had to do with this phone call, but she would learn. There was simply no way to speed up Margo's explanation. It was an irritating fact, but unchangeable.
"I stopped to say hello," Margo went on. "Then we got to gossiping a bit—you know how that goes. Anyway, one subject led to another until finally we were talking about you."
"Really?" Lacey murmured dryly.
"Nothing bad or anything like that," Margo laughed. "Sally mentioned that you were going on vacation next week for two weeks, but she wasn't sure if you'd made any specific plans. Is that right?"
"Yes," Lacey admitted grudgingly. Her little excursions would pale in comparison to Margo's cruise.
"You aren't going away anywhere?"
"I thought I'd spend a couple of days with the folks, but outside of that, I'm just going to relax and do nothing."
"That's great!" Margo declared enthusiastically.
Lacey didn't think she would go as far as to say that, but it would be a refreshing change from the hectic pace of the office. Still, it was doubtful if Margo had had that reasoning in mind when she made her comment.
The truth was Lacey couldn't afford to leave the Tidewater area of Virginia to go anywhere on her vacation. A variety of unforeseen expenses, the largest being some major repairs to her ear, had drained Lacey's savings account almost dry, but she was too proud to volunteer that information to her cousin.
"Why do you ask?" She tried to hurry Margo to the point of this conversation.
"I've been worried about our house and all our beautiful things," Margo stated. "Situated the way we are on the beach, virtually isolated from any close neighbors, you just never know what might happen. Especially with all the summer tourists that are showing up now. Someone could break into the house and steal everything we have the instant they noticed it was vacant. I've been in an absolute quandary as to what to do about it. You know what beautiful things we have, Lacey."
"Yes," Lacey agreed. Over a month ago Margo had taken her on a tour of the place, to show off—no other term could fit more perfectly—her home. She hated to admit to being envious, but she had fallen in love with her cousin's home.
"I was sitting here this morning, worrying myself half sick with what might happen while Bob and I are on the ship. Then I remembered Sally telling me that you were going on vacation and I knew I had the perfect solution. You could babysit the house while we're gone!"
Lacey hesitated. "I suppose…I could."
As she ran the idea over in her mind, it sounded like the perfect plan. A vacation spent in luxurious surroundings with the ocean and beach at her doorstep. It was something she wouldn't have been able to afford at twice her salary.
"I just knew you'd help me out!" Margo exclaimed.
"It will be my pleasure," Lacey returned sincerely, already picturing lazy days in the sun. Maybe she would even splurge on a new swimsuit.
"There is one thing," Margo paused. "I told you we were leaving tomorrow. Well, I just hate the thought of the house being empty for an hour. Could you…would you stay here tomorrow night?"
Breathing in deeply, Lacey wondered if her cousin knew what she was asking. Commuting from Virginia Beach to Newport News during rush hour traffic would practically mean rising with the sun. But tomorrow was Thursday. If she could arrange to have Saturday morning off, it would mean only having to make the round trip once.
"Sure," Lacey agreed finally. "I'll pack and drive out after work tomorrow."
"I'll be eternally grateful for this," Margo vowed effusively. "Now there's plenty of food, et cetera, in the house and I'll leave the front door key in the flowerpot near the door."
"Okay."
"You just make yourself at home, Lacey. Listen, I really have to run—I still have oodles of packing to do. See you when we get back from the Caribbean. Bye!"
"Bye." But Lacey's response was given to the dial tone buzzing in her ear.
Shrugging, she replaced the receiver on its cradle. It was typical of Margo. Once her objective was achieved she lost interest. But Lacey didn't bear any grudge. Thanks to Margo, her two weeks' vacation had suddenly taken on a new perspective.
Of course, she still had to talk to Mike Bowman, her employer, about Saturday morning. Straightening from the desk, Lacey walked to the twin set of metal cabinets in her office and deposited the folders on top. As she opened a drawer to begin the filing, the door to her office opened and Mike Bowman, who was one of the chief engineers for the construction company, walked in.
"Hello, Lacey," he greeted her absently, frowning as he paused beside her desk to go through the stack of messages waiting for him.
Brushing aside the sleek brown hair that curved across one side of her forehead, Lacey studied him for an instant. Mike was in his late thirties, a peppering of gray showing up in his dark hair; a confirmed bachelor—so he claimed.
Even with her limited experience, Lacey knew she could search a long time and never find an easier person to work for, nor one more fun on a date. They had dated occasionally in the last few months, although neither had spread the fact around to the others in the office. Mike was good-looking in a strong, dependable kind of way.
"Judging by your expression, I won't ask how your meeting went," Lacey offered with a sympathetic gleam in her brown eyes.