Colorado 03 Lady Luck (67 page)

Then they honed in.

And they honed in on a woman I knew. She was
the librarian in town. She went to see Dominic and Dominic declared
that her hair was the third best head of hair in Carnal behind
Lauren Jackson’s and my own (though, I wondered if he was being
nice, still, he said it like he meant it). It was a thick, shining
sheet of real auburn, dark, hints and highlights of red and rust,
it was gorgeous. And with her pale skin, bright blue eyes,
fantastic cheekbones and that hair, she was extremely pretty.

But she was a total librarian. To my
recollection, I’d seen her four times, twice at the salon, once at
La-La Land and once at the grocery store and each time she was in a
dress, nice, stylish, hinting at her figure which was curvy and
sweet but by no means showing off or doing anything to get even a
little attention. And this was because she was shy,
super
shy. When you were talking to
her, she often didn’t meet your eyes, she smiled in a way you could
swear it was an allusion (which, incidentally, I thought was cool)
and she had a melodic voice that was nevertheless very quiet, like
a librarian’s voice should be.

And her name was Faye. Faye Goodknight.

Really, that was her name. Faye
Goodknight.

Totally awesome name.

And just then, as my eyes honed in on her,
she was staring at Chace Keaton.

No, not staring at him, she was gazing at
him
longingly.

Hmm. I liked that.

Then I watched her body jerk, her eyes cut
to me, feeling mine on her. But before I could smile, her face
flamed and she looked away.

Totally shy.

I chanced a glance at Chace. He had an open
file folder on the table beside him, head bent to it, pen
scribbling on it, plate set aside, finished eating but not done
with what he was doing.

A very pretty woman who was into him had
been staring at him and he didn’t know she existed.

I didn’t like that.

His wife had recently died but still, he
didn’t like her and eventually he had to get back up on that
horse.

The waitress came, took my order and when I
was done, movement caught my eye and I watched Faye carrying her
bag of takeaway coming my way to pass me to go to the door.

“Hey, Faye,” I called when she got close,
her eyes tipped up, skimmed through me and she lifted her hand to
tuck a shining, sheath of hair behind her ear.

“Uh, hey, Lexie,” she murmured then hurried
by me.

I lost sight of her and was going to turn to
watch her go but for some reason my eyes went to Chace and my body
went still.

He was staring after Faye. I knew it. And
he not only knew she existed, he
really
knew she existed.

And the expression on his face hurt to
witness.

I’d never seen anything like that before but
I figured it would be what a starving man looked like when he saw a
plate of bread in front of him but he was too weak and it was too
far for him to get to, he’d never make it so he was going to waste
away without trying.

He wasn’t even going to reach.

Yes, that was what his expression looked
like.

I knew it because I’d never seen that
expression on my face but I felt that feeling for weeks when Ty and
I were apart.

I tore my eyes from him, caught the eyes of
the waitress, she tipped up her chin, finished refilling the coffee
cup she was filling and came to me.

“Somethin’ else you need?” she asked.

“Yes, um… do you know Faye Goodknight?”

“Uh, yeah. Known her since she was about
three. Lived here all her life, same’s me.”

“Is she married?”

The waitress, whose nameplate said Poppy,
burst out laughing.

I waited for her to be done but I did it
with a smile so she wouldn’t think I was rude.

Then she quit laughing and said, “No, hon,
Faye ain’t married. Reason she’s a librarian, she lives in a
book…
all
the time.
Life goes on
around her, she has no clue. Head in the clouds, rest a’ her
wrapped in a cocoon. Don’t know if she’s ever even
dated.”

That was just plain weird.

Therefore I pointed out this weirdness.
“But, that’s weird. She’s very pretty.”

“Yup,” Poppy agreed.

“So, you would think…” I started to deduce
then quit and asked quietly, “Did something happen to her?”

Poppy’s brows went up. “To Faye?”

I nodded.

She shook her head. “Nope. No way. Nothin’
ever happens to Faye. Not one thing. Some folks are just that way.
She’s always been quiet. She’s always liked fantasy worlds better’n
real ones. Just her way. She’s a sweet little thing. Comes from a
good family she’s close to, she’s just…” Poppy shrugged,
“Faye.”

Very pretty. Good family. Librarian. Very
possibly a virgin. Just the woman you’d set up in a house behind a
white picket fence who would bake pies, be the leader of your
daughter’s Brownie troop who you could train to give world class
head.

Her looks, her demeanor, her age which I
figured was not far off mine and her possible virgin status meaning
she was probably one of two of her type in the entire state of
Colorado. Which made her, at my approximation, one of maybe one
hundred in the entire United States of America.

Worth hanging around Carnal for, let her sit
waiting in the wings as you sowed your wild oats, even if your boss
was dirty, stinking filth.

Then suddenly she’s completely out of your
reach when you’re forced to marry the town’s crazy, playing slut,
your father is a sleazebag, albeit a rich one, and even though you
were shoved in the mud but risked a lot to pull yourself out and
get clean, you’d never quit feeling dirty.

I nodded to Poppy again and asked, “Can you
do me a favor?”

“Sure,” she replied.

“Can you change my order from takeaway and
serve it at Detective Keaton’s table?”

She blinked. Then her mouth dropped open.
Then her eyes darted back and forth between me and Chace’s table. I
came in relatively frequently but never chitchatted with her
because she was always busy. Still, she knew me. She knew Chace.
She knew Misty. She knew Ty. And she knew our intermingling
history.

This wasn’t a surprise. Everyone did.

Then hesitantly she repeated, “Uh…
sure.”

“Thanks,” I whispered, sucked in air, turned
from the counter and walked on my high heels through the diner
toward Chace’s table.

His eyes were on me when I was ten feet
away.

I didn’t stop until my ass was planted
across from him.

He held my eyes a moment and then said low,
“Lexie.”

“Hi,” I replied softly.

“Somethin’ I can do for you?”

“Yeah, sit there and listen to me say thank
you for helping me and Ty.”

He said nothing, just held my eyes.

So I said, “Thank you.”

“My job,” he replied.

“No it wasn’t,” I whispered. “What you did
was beyond the call of duty and we both know it.”

He again said nothing but his gaze never
left mine.

“So, thank you.”

He jerked up his chin then muttered, “Don’t
mention it.”

I smiled and reminded him, “I just did, like
three times.”

Chace Keaton did not smile.

So I stopped smiling then started quietly to
say, “I think you now that I know –”

Chace interrupted me. “Do me a favor, Lexie,
and don’t talk about it.”

I shut my mouth.

“Move on,” he stated. “It’s a small town but
big enough that you and Walker can go your way, I’ll go mine.”

“I can’t do that.”

He dropped his pen, sat back and lost what I
suspected was one of his many cop faces, this one was carefully
composed to look polite, mildly interested but mostly detached and
communicating the minute you were done with him, he’d move on and
not think about you again. What came up was impatient and annoyed
which I suspected was not a cop face.

“Why?” he asked.

I leaned forward and explained, “Because I
have a husband whose power was stripped from him and I lived a life
that offered limited choices and the ones it offered weren’t very
good so I kinda know what you’re going through.”

“You have no clue.”

“I do.”

He leaned forward too. “All right, Lexie,
then how’s this? No offense, but I don’t give a fuck if you
do.”

To that, I informed him, “She was staring at
you.”

He did a slow blink at the change in
subject, the anger that had edged into his annoyed impatience
changed to mystification and he asked, “What?”

“Faye Goodknight,” I answered and then I got
surprise then more than an edge of anger.

“Don’t even –” he began but I cut him
off.

“
My guess? Romance novels. My guess? She
started reading them early. My guess? She started them at a time
where they made a huge impression on her and changed her
perceptions. She isn’t cocooned, she pays attention and she knows
there are no men out there like the men in those books she reads so
she prefers being with them than trying to find someone like them
which, she thinks, is a fruitless endeavor. That fantasy is far
better than any reality and, you know what? She’s right. Men are a
pain in the ass and a lot of them are dicks who cause heartbreak.
And her, a girl life Faye? Well, she knows she’s the kind of girl
men like that will chew up and spit out. So she’s smart and she’s
not going to go there. But you know something else? Lady Luck can
sometimes be generous to people who deserve it and right in her
hometown is a man who she doesn’t know but he gave up everything to
look after his father but what she
does
know is he was brave enough to put his ass out there to
save an entire… fucking…
town.
And, bonus, he’s hot, dresses nice and has a great body. So
don’t piss away your life, Detective Keaton, because I learned, no
matter how shitty it is, no matter how many times you got slapped
back, no matter how much that shit stings, you have to keep
reaching for what you want. Never give up. If you don’t, you’ll
find happiness. I know. I got slapped back so many times it isn’t
funny. Now I’m in love and pregnant and the sun shines on me all
the time. Even when I’m asleep. If you don’t give up and keep
reaching, you can feel that sunshine too. But better than that, you
ask her out and find out she’s the one, you can give
her
that sunshine and she’ll make
sure you’ll never regret you did it.”

He stared at me without a word.

Well, there you go. I didn’t get through but
at least I tried.

It was time to cut my losses.

I turned my head and shouted, “Poppy!” which
got her attention as anyone would, shouting across a diner so I
shouted again, “Take that back, it’s going to be takeaway.”

“No it isn’t, Poppy,” Chace called after me
and my head shot around to look at him. “Serve Lexie’s lunch
here.”

“You got it, Chace,” Poppy shouted back.

Chace looked at me. “Sit. Eat your lunch.
But please, fuck, no more life lectures. Can you do that for
me?”

I grinned and said, “Sure.”

He stared at me. Then he shook his head.

Then he went back to scribbling on his
paper.

I watched.

Then I asked, “So, are you gonna ask Faye
out?”

His neck bent so just his head tipped back
and he skewered me with his blue eyes.

“Okay, okay,” I muttered. “Yeesh.”

He looked back at his papers and kept
scribbling.

Poppy served my cheeseburger, curly fries
and diet at the table.

I squirted an enormous mound of ketchup on
my plate while commenting, “By the way, you’re hot but you’re super
hot when you get angry.”

His neck bent so his head tipped back again
and he scowled at me.

“Just sayin’,” I muttered, digging a fry
into my ketchup, popping it into my mouth and deciding against
telling him his scowl proved my point.

I continued to do this and after I picked up
my burger and took a big bite, Chace spoke and he did this to his
papers.

“Walker gonna lose his mind, find me and rip
my head off when he finds out you were sittin’ here with me?”

“Nope,” I said through half-munched
burger.

His neck bent and head tipped back again.
“Nope?”

I shook my head, swallowed and grinned.
“Well, he might not invite you to our child’s christening but, like
me, he’s grateful for what you did. If you’re not thinking that and
instead thinking he’s jealous, nope again. You’re not my type. I’m
not into blonds. But you know who is?” I asked.

“Lex –” he started.

I finished quickly, “Faye Goodknight.”

He sat back again but this time his eyes
rolled to the ceiling.

“You do know I’m on a mission,” I informed
him then took another bite of burger.

His eyes came back to me.

I chewed, swallowed and explained, “When
women get all loved up, they do this. They want to spread the
joy.”

He just stared at me.

“They get obsessed with it,” I went on.

Chace sighed.

“So you should probably just give in,” I
finished.

He shook his head then bent it back to his
papers again but I could swear he did it while his lips
twitched.

Good.

I finished my lunch in silence while Chace
Keaton scribbled and moved papers around and studied some photos
and scribbled some more. When I was done, I opened my purse, pulled
out money to cover my lunch and the tip and tucked it under my
plate.

Then I announced, “Well! Off to get a
library card. See you later, Chace.”

Before he could say anything, I slid out of
the booth.

But when I was out of the diner and walking
along the sidewalk in front of it, I looked into the window to the
back booth and saw a pair of attractive blue eyes on me.