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“I’m a free spirit,” he said.
Carol sighed dramatically. “I know Lacey would be perfect for you.”
“How can you say that? I’ve never even heard you mention her name before.”
“I know. I’ve only met her a few times. She only started working next door last week.”
“Last week?” Randy sputtered. “Then what makes you qualified to make such a statement?”
“A woman just knows these things.”
“You don’t know anything. Now quit fooling around. We’d better get back to work.”
This time, Carol did leave him alone, but all day long, her words kept coming back to haunt him. He couldn’t stop thinking about Lacey. She was kind of pretty, in a wholesome and unpretentious sort of way. She was also a few pounds heavier than what was considered fashionably thin, but that hinted at a lack of obsession with her weight. More important, it looked like she had strength of character, which was better than the superficial charm Carol displayed with skirts that were consistently too short to be respectable for someone doing retail sales.
Lacey, on the other hand, had been wearing a modest, yet flattering outfit, even though working at a ladies’ clothing store gave her the opportunity to select some pretty outrageous stuff.
In all things, including clothes, Carol vacillated between the ridiculous and the sublime. Yet, working with Carol was fun—their little play-fights often drove the rest of the staff nuts. It worked fine for him because a casual friendship was as far as he would go in a relationship.
Lacey seemed to be in a serious relationship. She was buying her significant other a computer, indicating that both her heart and her pocketbook were heavily involved.
As he was tidying up for the end of the day, he nearly dropped a pager on the floor when Lacey suddenly appeared in front of him, as if his thoughts had become reality.
“Hi. I was wondering if you had time to talk.”
He unclipped his name badge and dropped it into his pocket. “It’s actually the end of my shift, but I don’t mind. In fact, the timing might even be good. If we go to the food court I can answer all your questions and we won’t have to worry about other people interrupting.”
“I heard that it’s standing-room-only in the food court right now. But if you don’t mind spending the time, we can go somewhere else to eat. I’ll treat, since it’s after working hours.”
“I…” Randy let his voice trail off. It had been a long time since he’d been out to dinner with a woman, but he didn’t feel right about having a woman pay.
He cleared his throat. “I have a better idea. I can write this off as a business expense, so let me pay. The only thing is that if we eat away from the mall, it will have to be walking distance.”
“You want to walk? But…” She blinked a few times, then said, “That’s fine, I don’t mind.”
Without warning, Carol joined them, grinning from ear to ear. She elbowed Randy in the ribs. “Are you two going somewhere?”
Randy stepped out of Carol’s reach. “Yes. We’re going out for dinner.”
Carol glanced back and forth between Lacey and Randy, then turned directly to Lacey. “How are you get ting there? Randy got his car towed away yesterday.”
Randy gritted his teeth and turned to Lacey. “The parking lot control people towed it away. I’m sure you heard about the way they’ve decided to start enforcing the ban on staff parking in the public parking lot.
“The towing bill was really expensive. So I have to leave my car at home. How did you get here?”
Lacey’s eyes widened. “Now I feel bad. When I took the job I was simply told it came with a parking spot. I didn’t realize that parking was such a problem. It’s okay. We can take my car. If you want, I can even give you a ride home.”
He hesitated. “Wait a minute. If you got a parking spot, that means you’re the store manager. I thought you were new.”
“I was the assistant manager at the downtown store, but the manager here quit with no notice last week, so they offered me a transfer, as long as I started immediately. Things are a big mess, but this is a good promotion, so I couldn’t turn it down.”
Randy shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound bitter about the parking. I’m still trying to convince myself that it’s for the best, because it’s cheaper for my insurance. But it sure does make it inconvenient.”
“Now I know why the rest of my staff take the bus.”
“I don’t take the bus. Ever. I used my inline skates to get here today. It was kind of fun, actually, but I may change my mind the next time it rains.” Randy paused to check his watch. “We should get going. I just have to get my stuff from the back, and we can leave.”
“…and then she told me her husband was a used car salesman!”
Randy nibbled on his lower lip, then allowed himself to laugh at his own joke, but only after Lacey laughed first.
Randy didn’t know why he couldn’t shut up. He shouldn’t have been nervous. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken a woman out for dinner. This wasn’t a date. All he had to do was impress Lacey with his knowledge of computers, which was extensive. She didn’t have to know anything else about him. He didn’t even have to worry that she would want to—it was to his advantage that she already had someone.
He picked up his cup, wrapped his hands around it and rested his elbows on the table. “If I’d been thinking properly, I would have brought a catalog. In the store, all I do is point.”
“It’s okay. I know that you’ll help me pick the best one. I just want to make sure it’s a surprise.”
Randy sighed. Not only had no one ever given him a surprise birthday party, no one had ever given him an expensive gift. Of course, he didn’t expect such gifts from his friends. They routinely gave each other the standard guy-gifts—CD’s, tools, computer paraphernalia and, lately, music books. The biggest surprise was when it was wrapped.
His family had never given gifts. Not that they couldn’t afford them, they just never did. All his life he’d learned how to get by without asking or expecting anything. That way, he was never disappointed.
But lately, he’d seen the other side of the fence from his friends. Adrian had been thrilled at his latest birthday gift from Celeste, handmade mouse and keyboard covers that were cleverly made to look like a real mouse and a piece of cheese.
He focused back on Lacey. “Don’t worry. I can hold the computer of your choice in the store until the day before the party. That way you don’t have to worry about spoiling the surprise.” He smiled and tried to turn on his “salesman patter.” “You’ll get a surprise, too, with how good a deal I’m going to give you on this computer. I’ll even throw in a bunch of extras.”
Lacey smiled back weakly. “I honestly don’t know what’s standard. I’m just going to have to trust you.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t take advantage of you.”
“Just remember that if I do find out one day that you charged me too much, I’m right next door, all day, every day.”
Randy opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn’t know if she was teasing him, or if this really was some kind of warning. Either way, it intrigued him. The woman had guts, and he liked that.
He sipped his coffee, speaking over the rim of the cup. “You go right ahead and do all the comparison shopping you want. Then you’ll know how good a deal I’m going to give you.”
“That’s fine. And the next time you come in to buy more panty hose, I’ll do the same for you.”
Randy choked on his coffee, then lowered the cup to the saucer. “Now just a minute. Those weren’t for me, and I never…” His words trailed off when Lacey’s stifled giggles broke through.
“Gotcha,” she said from behind her coffee cup.
“Not funny,” he pretended to grumble, struggling not to laugh back. He suddenly became very serious. “I need to know one more thing, and that’s how much time you and…Bryce, was it? are going to spend together on it.”
Lacey looked puzzle. “Together? None. I frankly don’t see how some people spend hours and hours on the computer every day.”
Randy smiled. “I couldn’t be without my computer. Computers are my only source of income, so I have to keep up with all the latest and the greatest.” He grinned wryly. “Sometimes my online activities make me late for practice on Wednesday nights, but, of course, I’m never late for work.”
She stared blankly at him. Randy hadn’t meant to get so personal, but his computer and all that went with it had played a big part in his recovery.
“What is it you’re practicing? Are you in a league?” Lacey asked.
“Uh…” Randy felt his cheeks flush. “Actually, it’s not sports, it’s music, and it’s my friends who are really practicing, not me. When we first started I tried to learn to play keyboards from a book, but that went about as well as you might expect, so they found someone else to do it. But Celeste is phenomenal. Maybe even the best piano player I’ve ever met. So now I work the sound system and do all the computer stuff, which is right up my alley.”
She smiled. “That sounds like fun. Does your band have a CD out?”
Randy laughed. “No. It’s nothing like that. It’s just the worship team for church.”
“Just? Don’t say that. The worship team is important. I think it’s wonderful that you’re utilizing your talents. I wish I could do something like that, but I don’t seem to be good at anything besides sewing.”
“That’s a skill not everyone has. Maybe you can…” His voice trailed off. “Wait—you go to church?”
“Yes, I do.”
Randy smiled. “Great! Would you like to join me in a short prayer before we eat? It’s always awkward to ask that in work situations, or when you don’t know someone very well.”
“I was just thinking the same thing. I’d like that.”
Just at that moment, the waiter arrived with their meals. Randy led with a short prayer, and they began to eat.
“So, did you move to Appleton recently?”
“No. I live downtown, where I just rent an apartment. Now that I have the new job, I think I’m going to move closer to it. Do you live near the mall?”
“Yes. I grew up not far away from here. It seemed natural to get a job in the neighborhood, too.” More than that, his friend Bob knew Tom, the store owner. Because of Bob’s reference, Tom offered Randy a job when no one else would consider him. He’d been there ever since, which was coming up on six years. And now he was the assistant manager.
“I’ll never move. I live within two minutes of my friends, within five minutes of my church and ten minutes from my job.” He didn’t know why God blessed him like this, especially when he’d once blamed God for so much. But now his life was in order, and he didn’t intend to ever change a thing.
Randy dunked one of his fries in the blob of ketchup, coating it just right. “Where do you go to church, then, if you live downtown?”
Lacey smiled, and her eyes turned dreamy as she spoke. “Every Sunday morning I drive back to the west end where I grew up and go with my family, and we spend the day together.”
Randy nodded. He spent a lot of time at church, but it was with his friends. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his family. Usually it didn’t bother him, but today, watching Lacey smile at her private thoughts, it reminded him of the big hole in his life. For the past few years he’d been so busy with his friends that he hadn’t really noticed, but now that Adrian and Celeste were married and Bob was getting married, Randy had more time on his hands. Still, God always found things for him to do, and Randy couldn’t complain. “Lately I’ve been going to both the morning and evening services because I’m on the worship team, so that keeps me pretty busy on Sundays. It’s sometimes a lot of work, but at the same time, it’s also fun. And speaking of fun, I should tell you a little about the sidewalk sale that’s coming up at work next week. Or rather, I should warn you.”
Lacey’s fork froze halfway to her mouth. “Warn me?”
“You can see some really funny things with bargain hunters. There’s this one couple who always show up, and one of them always wears a disguise, as if we can’t recognize him. I hear everyone’s already making bets to see what he’s going to do this year. Last year, the guy pretended to be a rich Texan—big hat, the drawl, everything. He even pasted on a fake mustache. You could tell it was fake because it was a different color than his hair, and it was crooked. It was hilarious.” Randy grinned, remembering Carol’s reaction when the man called her “L’il lady.” He really thought Carol was going to kick him.
Randy sobered. “Seriously, though, you’ve got to watch out for them. He tries to distract the staff person at one end of the table while his partner, who is dressed normally, tries to steal something from the other end.” He leaned forward over the table, and Lacey leaned forward in response.
“She always puts smaller items in her bra so no one will challenge her to put them back. But last year when I caught her and started calling the cops on my cell phone, she dug everything out real fast and ran.”
Lacey gasped. “You’re kidding!”
“I wish I was.” Randy straightened. “But most of the time, the sidewalk sale is a lot of fun.”
Lacey glanced from side to side. “Have you noticed that we’re nearly the only ones here? I think we lost track of the time.”
Randy looked around, confirming that she was indeed correct.
“Yeah. I guess we should go.”
While he signaled the waiter for the bill, a strange sense of loss came over him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed himself so much. He was at an age where most of the women he knew were sizing him up for a husband, so those situations quickly became awkward. God had shown him that he wasn’t husband material, and he never would be.
But Lacey was marriage material. Randy couldn’t help but think that her boyfriend was indeed one lucky man. Tonight, Randy had thoroughly enjoyed himself, but for tonight he was on borrowed time, and the lender had called in the loan. It was time to go home.
When she dropped him off in front of his apartment building, a surge of melancholy for what could never happen coursed through him.
Once inside, instead of settling down, Randy walked to the patio door to his balcony and looked out the window. They’d stayed at the restaurant so long that it was dark, and all the city lights were on. His suite faced downtown, so he had a good view from the seventeenth floor.
Randy stepped out onto the balcony to take in the city below. He couldn’t make out specific details, but he could see the brightly colored lights of the mall in the distance.
He gazed over the expanse of the city, paying particular attention to the high-rise towers in the downtown core, wondering which building was Lacey’s.
Chapter Two
“I’ll be back in two hours, Kate,” Lacey called as she stepped into the mall.
As she began walking toward the mall center, Lacey glanced into the computer store on her way past, but she didn’t see Randy at work.
Randy.
Being out with him had almost felt like a date, except it wasn’t. He was only helping her select the right computer for Bryce. Yet, after going out with him only once, she couldn’t help but like him. In fact, he was almost too good to be real.
Lacey had learned the hard way that when something seemed too good to be true, it usually was.
She pushed thoughts of the charming salesman out of her head as she continued walking toward the mall’s feature display of the week. The police department had set up a display to raise public awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving and Lacey had volunteered to help give out information at the booth.
Drunk driving had ruined her family and she didn’t want to see it happen to anyone else.
Lacey didn’t remember her father being a heavy drinker, but at the time, her perspective had been that of a child. Most of his drinking would have been at night, after she had been put to bed. Most of her memories of her father were good, doing typical family things together. Usually their family was happy, but she did remember her parents arguing after her father had been out with his friends. She remembered him acting rather strangely when he came home, but she hadn’t known why. The only thing she knew then about her father’s drinking was that he “went out for a drink” with his friends after work on paydays. On paydays, he always came home acting more strangely than other days.
It was on one payday that her father never came home again.
Because he died in an accident that he’d caused, and because he’d been drunk, no insurance would pay on the policy—not the auto insurance, nor the life insurance, and there was no life insurance on the mortgage. Slowly and painfully, over the next year, their home was foreclosed on, their savings were eroded and their extended family was torn apart. As she grew up, Lacey’s most vivid memories were of her mother, crying, all alone, after she thought that Lacey and her brother and sister were sleeping.
Lacey didn’t want the same thing to happen to anyone else, yet she saw it happening to Susan, her sister. No matter what Lacey said or did, she couldn’t get Susan’s husband, Eric, to see the risk he was creating for his family, and that if he died, the same thing would happen. Eric also wasn’t taking into account the strangers who would be innocent victims if he continued on his path to self-destruction.
Eric insisted that he wasn’t a serious drinker because he didn’t drink every day. He often accused Lacey of trying to cause trouble between himself and Susan. Eric didn’t know about the countless times Susan had called her in the middle of the night, worried because Eric still hadn’t come home when she knew he was out drinking with his friends. On other days, Susan said she shouldn’t have let the moment get to her, that Eric’s drinking wasn’t that bad.
Since those whom she loved wouldn’t listen, the only thing Lacey could do was to try to help strangers.
As Lacey approached the display, a police officer was talking to the volunteer who would be working with her, as well as a woman who was packing up a few things, ready to leave.
Lacey’s breath caught when she saw who she was to be her partner for the next hour.
“Randy. Hello.”
The officer smiled at her. “I see you two already know each other. That’s great. I’ll leave Randy to show you what to do, and I’ll get back to my area.” He returned to the Breathalyzer and other equipment that was only for police use, leaving her alone with Randy.
