“That’s right, I was,” Kacey said, turning so that she faced him completely. Body and all, giving her sister her right shoulder. “Our birthday’s coming up in another month and I’ve already decided what I want to give Lacey.”
“Kacey...” Lacey sounded pained now.
“What’s that?” he asked. Somehow the woman of his fantasies was getting hot about something. He had to pursue this.
“An enclosed sunroom and garden,” Kacey said. “She’s got this piece of land off the side of her house that’s virtually unusable. Wasted space. She’s always loved fountains and flowers and loves to read. And now that I’m going to be visiting on a regular basis, I’ll use it, too.”
“There’s no way in—” Lacey glanced at Levi “—no way you’re going to pay for an addition on my house.”
Kacey shrugged. “I can always just transfer the money into your account...”
“And it will sit there unspent.”
Chins were jutting. Jem sat back, fascinated. Even Levi, who’d been eating French fries and playing with the golf tee board, stopped to watch.
“I’ll call Dad and tell him—” Kacey started.
“Stop right there.” Lacey spoke sharply enough that once again their table got a few looks from patrons at other tables. “Seriously, I’m not going to let you do this, Kace.”
“You were just saying a couple of days ago that a sunroom would be the perfect use for that space.”
“I know, but I wasn’t being serious.”
“You don’t want a sunroom?” Jem did his part to keep the conversation going.
“No!” Lacey looked back at Kacey after a brief glance in his direction. “At least, well, yes, I’d love one, but you are not paying for it.” That last bit was directed at Kacey.
“Then I’m giving the car back to you,” Kacey said, and there was no doubting that she meant business.
“What car?” Jem asked, enjoying himself far too much.
“We did a shoot three years ago,” Lacey said, looking at Jem again briefly. “It was for a major car manufacturer. The commercials aired for a full quarter and they wanted us to be seen driving in the car.”
“A red convertible sports ca
r,” Kacey told him. “Lacey said she couldn’t possibly drive to work in a car like that and my car had just been totaled, no fault of mine, so I ended up with the car. We were both in the commercial and people can’t tell us apart, anyway, so it didn’t really matter which one of us was driving it.”
“You did a car commercial when you were little, too,” Jem mused, fascinated by the turn the day had taken.
“That was for motor oil,” Lacey said. “And you are not giving me the car.”
“Then I’m giving you a sunroom with a garden. Or calling Dad.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I think you know I would.”
Another stare-out ensued. Levi was playing with the tees, but Jem could tell his son was getting restless. Instead of putting the little wooden pegs in and out of the holes, he was lining one up and using another to kick the first one off the board. If they didn’t end this, tees could be flying soon...
“Let me get this right,” he jumped in, because a guy knew that when he had a possible opportunity at his door that he didn’t want to miss, he should reach out and grab it if he could. And a dad knew when he had to move quickly. “You want to pay me to build a room on Lacey’s house?”
“And a garden,” Kacey said, looking only at him now.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jem saw Lacey reach over and put all the pegs back in their holes, putting the board in front of Levi so that he could jump pegs again. Expecting his son to push the board away, he was surprised to see Levi turn back to his task.
“I think she means hire your company,” Lacey said. “And it’s not going to happen.”
Kacey reached for the small pouch she’d unclipped from her waistband and put on the table, pulling out a cell phone.