“What does he do for a living?” Ryan inquired.
“He’s a clown.”
It just popped out of her mouth before she could stop it.
Both men looked at her as if she’d grown two heads.
Lace giggled at their shock.
An explanation was clearly needed.
“He was actually a Navy SEAL for twenty years,” she explained, feeling a soul-deep pride over how Vince had served his country. “But now he’s working part time at a few different things to see if he can find a new passion.”
Thatmightbe fatherhood, if Vince could eventually petition for Inez.
She crossed her fingers where they lay on the bench, and went on.
“Right now, he wears a bunch of hats. He works at his family’s lumber mill, he helps his brothers out at Diver Downeast in town, then when he has the time, he does a clown thing at the hospital. That’s where I met him,” she added sheepishly.
“Wow,” Zach marveled. “You fell for a dude when he was dressed like a clown?” He shook his head. “You have a lot more balls than me. Clowns creep me out.”
Lace laughed. “Oh, Vince is too goofy to be menacing. He’s really a caring, gentle soul, despite being a bad-ass SEAL. I…” She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. “I hope he sticks around.”
“You’re worried he won’t?” Zach asked astutely. “Because of the cancer?”
“Yeah. It’s a tough row to hoe, as you probably know, not just for the patient, but the people surrounding them. So, yeah. I’m a little nervous.”
“If he ditches you because of that,” Zach continued with a strength in his voice that said he knew what he was talking about, “he’s not worth your time.”
Lace shrugged her shoulders, putting an end to that conversation.
“I guess I’ll find out,” she replied, then pulled her phone from her pocket and saw that she had a few bars. “Right now, I’m going to text him and see if he’s free to meet up.”
“Good luck,” Ryan said distractedly, digging out his own phone to text with fingers that moved a lot more rapidly than hers.
“Yeah, Lace. Good luck,” Zach reiterated.
Hesounded like he really meant it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Vincent’s day had been great so far.
All except the crappy weather.
He’d met with Statler at Lace’s house at eight, dodging raindrops and using his new key for the first time, which had felt…right.
He didn’t want to look too far ahead, but with Statler’s plans for a new bathroom quickly being a “go”, Vince’s spirits were high. After much consideration and poking around, it would be a total tear-down, build-up.
In the end, there’d be a walk-in shower as well as a soaker tub, and Stat had even talked him into heated floors and warming towel racks.
Decadent.
They’d judiciously decided to let Lace pick the color schemes because…Yeah. Neither he nor Stat had an eye for decorating.
Certainly though, Vince would have finer amenities than he’d ever enjoyed before, and as much as he tried to temper his enthusiasm, he was pumped.
On a cautious note, if for some reason thingsdidn’twork out with Vince staying at Lace’s, at least the renovation would increase the value of her home.