Changing Her Heart (12 page)

As Bob left, he looked at Randy and coughed a few times. George elbowed him in the ribs, then dragged him outside.

“Poor Bob,” Lacey said. “Do you think he's coming down with a cold? Isn't their wedding next weekend?”

“Bob's fine. Don't worry about him. I just have to make one last check to make sure everything in the sound room is locked up, and then we can leave, too.”

He walked Lacey to her car while Pastor Ron locked up the building, then drove away, leaving them all alone in the parking lot, everything around them dark.

He waited while Lacey unlocked the door, but he deliberately stood in the way so she couldn't open it to get inside.

“Lacey, before you go, we should talk. I think—”

His words were cut off as she pressed one finger to his lips.

“Shh. I know what you're going to say. It's okay.
It was just a dumb accident. Don't worry about it. But while we're talking about it, I wanted you to know something.”

As she removed her finger, Randy gritted his teeth, ready to have a strip torn off him for being so reckless for going out on the slippery rocks in his leather shoes, which were now probably ruined.

“If the same thing would have happened to Eric, he would yelled and screamed and blamed Susan. I know, I've seen it happen. It wouldn't even matter if it was in front of the kids. He always makes it clear that whatever happens is Susan's fault. Even if she started crying, he'd still continue to scream at her. Then the first minute he had a chance, he would go out and start drinking, saying she drove him to it.” She smiled, and her eyes shone in the reflection of the lights overhead. “You only asked about the pictures, and then we rushed off to church—we even made it without being late. Oh! The pictures!” She stopped talking and began to dig through her purse. “I almost forgot to give you back your cell phone.”

Randy accepted it, pressed it to the waistband on his pants, then froze as he felt his cheeks heat up in a blush, which seemed to be happening a lot lately. “Oops. I changed so fast, I didn't grab my belt. Besides, it was pretty wet. The clip for my phone is still lying on the bathroom floor with everything else.” He simply dropped the phone into his pocket.

“I'm sorry I laughed at you, but you were so funny. I'm really glad you weren't hurt. That's too bad about your watch.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I can buy a new one. It's not a big deal.”

Lacey stepped closer, raising one hand to touch his shoulder. “You are a decent man, Randy Reynolds.”

Before he could respond, she rose up on her tiptoes, leaned forward and brushed a gentle kiss to his lips.

Randy closed his eyes, enjoying the moment, but it was too short. When she lowered herself, Randy couldn't take the separation. He reached forward and cupped her face in his palms. “Lacey,” he muttered as he lowered his head “I, uh…I…” He brought his lips to hers and finished his sentence, whispering with their lips touching. “I like you a lot.” And then he kissed her with all the love in his heart and soul. She stiffened only for a brief second, then melted into him.

Randy's heart pounded and he couldn't breathe. He wondered if this was what it was like to die and go to heaven. He released her face, and wrapped his arms around her back, kissing her fully, not stopping until the sound of a truck with a bad muffler passed them on the street, reminding him where they were.

They were in a parking lot.

Again.

It seemed the only times he'd ever kissed Lacey had been in parking lots somewhere.

A decent man wouldn't have been kissing the woman he loved in a parking lot. A decent man would have done something more romantic, especially since he knew that it was going to take a lot of work to show her the man he had become, versus the pathetic creature he once had been. God had pulled him out of the pit, and he had to prove to Lacey that he was going to stay out of the pit.

She looked up into his face, still wrapped in his arms.

Her voice came out in a husky whisper. “I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow.”

This time he released her and stepped back.

“Yeah. Tomorrow. Work.”

He stood where he was, not walking to his own car until Lacey's car was out of sight.

L
acey stopped and turned around as she left the store. “Good night, Brittany. Remember, if you have any problems, just call me.”

She hadn't taken her first step into the mall when a familiar, handsome, blue-eyed face greeted her. “Hi, Lacey. Ready for supper?”

She really wasn't hungry. Actually, she hadn't been hungry since the end of the church service the previous evening.

“Well, I…”

Her voice trailed off as Randy's charming smile dropped, and he gave her the saddest puppy-dog eyes. She almost asked if he practiced his expression on widows and orphans. “Yes, of course I'm ready. I was going to say that I haven't eaten all day.”

“Great. I was thinking that we'd go someplace different this time. You know, steak and seafood.”

“Are you sure? That's a bit expensive.”

He waved a piece of paper in the air under her nose. “But I have a coupon. I got it off the Internet. Buy one meal, get one free.”

She couldn't argue with him, because she'd once used the same argument on him. She'd just received her coupon in the mail.

“Okay, but aren't you going out with Eric tonight?”

“Yes, but we still have to eat.”

They left the mall, and Randy gave her directions to an out-of-the-way restaurant she'd never been to. Judging from his unfamiliarity with the staff, it appeared he hadn't been there before, either.

A waiter appeared promptly. “Can I get you folks something to drink?” He offered the liquor menu to Randy.

Randy smiled politely. “I'll just have coffee. Lacey?”

“Me, too, please.”

After they'd ordered and the waiter left them alone with two steaming cups of fragrant coffee, Lacey looked up at Randy.

“Don't you find it difficult in situations like this? We usually go to family and fast-food places, where they don't serve liquor. But this place is different. It's quite nice.”

Randy folded his hands in front of him on the table. “I'm not going to lie and say it's always easy,
especially when I go out with a group of people and I'm the only one not drinking anything stronger than fruit juice, but life isn't always easy. I simply tell myself that God knows best. He gives good advice, but only if we follow it.”

“God cautions us against alcohol abuse, but there are many instances in the Bible of people drinking wine. Jesus even drank wine.”

“That may be so, but I don't believe Jesus had a problem with it. That's one of the reasons it's so hard for most people to stick to a diet.”

Lacey stared at Randy. “What are you talking about?” She couldn't see his stomach with the table between them, but she knew he didn't have an ounce of fat on him. “You've probably never been on a diet in your life.” Unlike herself. She'd been on more diets than she could count, and none of them ended up with a permanent goal she was satisfied with.

Randy pressed his hands over that very flat stomach. “No. I'm lucky that I have a high metabolism. But as you know, I have had a problem with alcohol. When we have a problem with something that tempts us that's bad, God says we're not merely to resist it, we're to run from it. We're to resist the devil, but my Bible version uses the word
‘flee'
when dealing with temptation.”

“Does it still tempt you?”

“I'll be honest with you, and realistic. Most of the
time, no, I'm not tempted, but sometimes I am. Most people don't know my history, so often people who don't know me well try to cajole me into having ‘just one.' But it's a proven fact that an alcoholic can't stop at ‘just one.' Maybe they can for a short amount of time, but soon one leads to two, and two leads to three, and three leads right back to the old cycles of total destruction. That's why the only answer is exactly what God says. Flee from it. Don't toy with it. Total abstinence. That's why it's sometimes easier to quit drinking than stick to a diet. It's possible to not drink, but it's not possible to not eat.”

“I've never thought of it that way.”

Randy reached over the table and grasped her hands in his. “You've got to believe me when I say I'm finished with all forms of substance abuse. God pulled me out of that life and set me onto solid ground. It's important that you believe me, and that you trust me. If you want, go ahead and talk to Paul, Adrian and Bob.”

“That's okay. I believe you.”

And it was true. For the first time, she thought she really could believe him. In all the situations they'd been in together, he'd behaved more than admirably. She couldn't help but compare him to everything she'd ever seen Eric say or do, and in every case, Randy did the exact opposite of everything Eric would have done.

She'd been very honest when she told Randy that he was a decent man.

Except, she didn't know why she'd kissed him. It wasn't even a big surprise that he'd turned the tables on her, and kissed her back in the way he had. She had to admit that she'd enjoyed it, too.

In order to distract herself, Lacey picked up her coffee mug and took a long, slow sip. Thankfully the waiter arrived with their meals, and she could change the subject.

“Is everyone ready for Bob's wedding this weekend?”

“Yup. Rehearsal is Friday, and the wedding is Saturday.”

“That's two of your friends who look like they've settled down.”

“Actually, I think Paul is settling down, too. He's been going out with a woman he's known for years, and it looks pretty serious. I'm really the last one left.” He reached forward and wrapped his fingers around her hand. “Or maybe I'm not.”

“I don't think I want to discuss this.”

Randy released her hand and smiled. He was so handsome when he smiled, and now, with the candlelight from the table sparkling in his eyes, Lacey felt as if she could have melted into a little puddle on the chair.

“That's okay. We've seen each other every day for
a long time now, and we're going to keep seeing each other every day. I think you know how I feel about you, and I'm hoping that you feel the same. We'll just see how it goes.”

Lacey didn't know if that was a promise or a threat.

Randy held up his coffee mug in the form of a single toast, winked and took a sip.

Lacey nearly choked. Of course she liked Randy, but the thought of falling in love with him was too frightening to consider.

Her father hadn't been drunk all the time. Most of the time he'd been a good man, and a good father and, she thought, a good husband. But when he did drink, she knew he drank a lot. Then, all it had taken was one bad episode and their lives had been changed forever.

Echoes of her mother crying and the misery of having everything in her life stripped away due to the ravages of her father's alcohol abuse roared through her. She couldn't live like that. Nor could she bear the heartache of what she saw happening to Susan; there were too many bad days compared to too few good ones—at least until Randy had started helping Eric deal with his life, and his addiction.

But Randy wasn't her father, nor was he Eric. Randy was a unique individual. Sometimes a little too unique, but those qualities in him made her love him even more.

This time Lacey did choke.

She did love him. She didn't know when it happened, but it definitely had happened.

“Lacey? Are you okay? Here, have some water.”

She took a slow sip, and coughed into her napkin. “It's okay. I'm fine. I must just have a frog in my throat.”

“Are you nearly done? We have to get going to Eric and Susan's pretty soon.”

She quickly finished off her last bite. “I'm done. We can go. This was delicious. Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” Randy signaled the waiter. “The timing is perfect. I told you we'd be fine.”

“By the way, while we were talking about Bob and George's wedding, I meant to ask, what should I wear?”

Randy chuckled. “You work in a clothing store. Don't tell me you don't know what to wear to a wedding.”

“I just need to know if it's casual or dressy, and how many people will be attending.”

“It's probably going to be a little more dressy because George's family is going to be there, as well as some friends of their family. George's parents are divorced, and she hasn't seen her mother since she was a child. I hear that George found out where her mother is, and she'll be coming, too, as well as some of her family from that side. She's pretty excited. Bob said he'd know later in the week exactly how
many people are going to be there. But her father is really rich, so I guess that means some of the people there will be really dressed up.” Randy pressed his palm to his chest. “Of course, I don't have to worry. I'm going to be all decked out in my rented tuxedo. Final fittings are on Thursday. I'll bet you can hardly wait to see how handsome and debonair I'm going to look.”

Lacey couldn't tell if he was being serious or facetious. Although she had no doubt that he would look great in a tux. She just never intended to tell him so.

 

Randy looked at himself in the mirror, and straightened his bow tie. “I sure look great in this monkey suit, don't I?” He stepped back and did his best imitation of a James Bond pose.

“What are you doing?”

Randy didn't move as he replied. “It's okay, Bob. You look good, too. But you don't have to worry. You've already impressed the woman of your dreams and she's going to marry you in less than an hour. I still haven't completely impressed the woman of my dreams.”

“Still, it sounds like things have been going well since last Sunday.”

“Yeah. We had a little talk on Monday, and after that something changed. It's been real subtle, but it's there. I plan to ask her to marry me tonight. I figure
that a wedding is pretty romantic, so this is a real good opportunity to catch her when the mood is right.”

“That seems kind of fast. Are you sure you're ready for that kind of commitment?”

Randy turned to his best friend. Visions and memories of kissing Lacey danced through his head. She wouldn't have kissed him like that if she didn't mean it. And that hopefully meant she was ready to kick their relationship up a notch, too, like he was. “I'm more than ready. Your family was always good to me, but this is the one thing I've always had missing in my life and now God has given me the chance to have it. I'm going to do everything I can to make it happen.”

Bob grinned. “In other words, every little bit helps, including that rented suit.”

Randy wiggled the bow tie, making it crooked once again. “I've heard that nothing impresses a woman more than formal wear and good manners.”

“Or a uniform. That's how I got George, I'm sure.”

Randy gave Bob a playful punch in the forearm. “That's not a uniform. Those are called coveralls, and George wears the exact same ones as you do. I don't think that sort of thing would work for me because Lacey works in a ladies' clothing store. Although, the first time I met her was when I was buying panty hose.” He shuddered at the thought, even still. “Now let's get out there.”

The second Randy stepped outside the small room, Bob's two brothers barged past him, trapping Bob in the room with them. Once they made sure that Bob was dressed, they called out, and Bob's three sisters joined the swarm. Randy did nothing to rescue his friend. He knew it was pointless to resist. Besides, they were just trying to keep Bob busy so he wouldn't have time to be nervous.

Randy stepped into the sanctuary.

He fought the urge to wipe his sweaty palms down the legs of his spiffy rented tux.

He was probably more nervous than Bob, which didn't make any sense, but that didn't change the fact that it was true.

He spotted Lacey almost immediately. She was sitting in the same spot they'd sat in during Sunday's evening service, wearing a pretty blue dress. As he got closer, he saw that her shoes and some kind of fluffy thing she'd stuck in her hair were all the same color as the dress.

“Wow. You look gorgeous,” he said as he lowered himself into the seat beside her.

Her cheeks turned the cutest shade of pink. It made him want to kiss her, except that kissing in the middle of a crowded church was no less improper than doing so in a dark, deserted parking lot. “You look pretty good yourself. But shouldn't you be somewhere else?”

“Not yet. Bob's family needs some time alone with him. If you can call being surrounded by five siblings being alone. It's actually quite a heyday in there.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Randy saw Paul and Adrian appear together.

Randy stood. “Maybe you're right, it's time to get this show on the road. I'll see you later. Remember, pick the chair closest to me for the dinner. I want to make goo-goo eyes at you all night.”

Her cheeks darkened again, but she didn't comment, so Randy thought that was a good time to make his exit.

He took his place at the front with his three friends, just as they'd been shown at the rehearsal. When the music changed, the bridesmaids came up the aisle, followed by George and her father.

He leaned closer to Bob. “Wow. I don't think I've ever seen George in a dress before. She's gorgeous.”

Bob smiled like an idiot, not taking his eyes off his future wife. “Yeah.”

Randy looked at Bob, then back to George for a minute, then watched Lacey, who was also watching George and her father walking slowly up the aisle.

Randy could see himself going all stupid over Lacey, just like that. In fact, he wanted to go all stupid like that.

He managed to hold himself together until Bob and Georgette started saying their vows.

He'd never had someone love him unconditionally before. The love and commitment between Bob and George made them almost glow, especially when Bob ever-so-gently slipped the ring on her finger.