When her phone rang, she looked up from her notepad to see that it was Rachel. Her brows pulled together because today was Rachel’s off day, which meant she didn’t call Lacey.

Reaching for the phone, she hit accept and said, “Hello?”

“I miss you,” she blurted, and Lacey could tell she was either crying or holding back the tears.

Pausing, Lacey wasn’t sure what to say, but then said the only logical thing. “I miss you too.”

Rachel let out a sob before saying, “I’m sorry. I really am. I thought that you were leaving to hurt me, but you weren’t, and it’s taken me so long to realize that.”

“Well, this is sudden,” Lacey said, sucking in a deep breath.

“Yeah, I know,” she said and Lacey could hear the tears in her voice. “Me and Grady got into it last night, and he’s right. You have to do what makes you happy.”

Lacey nodded. “I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted to be happy, and Karson makes me beyond that. I had to follow my heart.”

“You’re right, and it was wrong of me,” she said, hiccupping. “You accepted me when I started dating Grady, and I know that was weird. I was wrong and I’m sorry.”

Lacey’s heart exploded in her chest as she cuddled deeper in Karson’s clothes. He was going to be ecstatic to hear that Rachel apologized. Lacey sure was. “Water under the bridge,” she said, her grin unstoppable. “So you’ll come for Thanksgiving dinner?”

“Of course. When your dad said that you had invited us, I was surprised. But then Grady and I were talking, and he told me what your dad did. I felt so stupid and I’m so sorry for doubting you. I realized that you deserve to be happy, and if Karson is the guy to do it, then I support you two.”

“Thank you,” Lacey said as a tear rolled down her face. “That means the world to me. I’ve been so lonely without you.”

“I have too,” she agreed and Lacey grinned. She finally had her best friend back. “So, man, I feel so much better. Anyway, what are you doing?”

“Sketching. Karson is away. He’s playing in LA tonight.”

“Oh wow, I didn’t know he was gone.”

Probably because you never asked, Lacey thought but instead said, “Yeah, he won’t be back till next Monday.”

“Oh, really? Why don’t you come home then? We can hang out and the boys would love to see you. Grady comes back Wednesday and we can all go to dinner. It would be great. I know you were coming in on Friday, but come in early. It would be awesome!”

Lacey bit her lip. “Oh, I don’t know. I have things to do around here, and I was supposed to go to dinner with the other wives tonight.”

“You can do that another time. Come home; let me take you out to make up for being such a bitch. We can go to Michigan Ave., and I’ll get you something nice.”

Lacey wouldn’t mind going home. She did miss the boys and would love to see Rachel. It had been a long month without them, and she could always go to dinner with Elli and the girls another night. She had been dreading going home since things were shitty between her and Rachel, but that wasn’t the case now. She could go home and visit, and it would be like old times. Time would fly by. It was a no-brainer.

“Yeah, let me see if I can change my flight and I’ll call you back.”

“Cool! I’m so excited!”

“Me too,” Lacey said with a grin. “I’ll call you back.”

“Okay.”

Lacey hung up the phone and gathered her things to head inside. After locking the door since she still was a tad bit scared of being by herself, she laid her things on the island and looked up the number for the airline. Within minutes, her flight was changed and she was leaving later that night. Excitement coursed through her body as she texted Rachel her flight info and then rushed upstairs to shower and pack. But when she got halfway up the stairs, she paused.

Maybe she should have called Karson first?

She doubted he would care one way or another, but still, it would have been considerate of her. Unlocking her phone, she went to his contact, but before she could hit call, her phone started ringing with a FaceTime call from the same person she was just thinking of.

With a bright grin on her face, she hit accept and almost came out of her skin when Karson’s gorgeous face appeared on the screen.

“Hey baby,” she gushed, her heart pounding in her chest. Seeing him did something to her; she missed him so damn much, and when she told him that, he smiled. He hadn’t shaved since he left and looked all rugged and sexy with his hair in disarray. When she noticed that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, everything inside her went scorching. Jesus, he looked good.

“Hey sweetheart, I love seeing that smile on your beautiful face.”

Her cheeks warmed as she made her way up the stairs. “Seeing you put it there,” she cooed as she entered their room. Falling onto the bed, she held the phone out but changed the angle a few times so that her face didn’t look so fat as she said, “What are you doing?”

“Lying around, just got off the phone with my mom.”

“Oh, how is she?”

“Good, she says hi,” he said with a loving smile.

“I can’t wait to see her,” she said, wishing that he were lying next to her. She wasn’t too sure how she was going to handle not seeing him for the next nine days, but thankfully Rachel and the boys would keep her busy. “I was about to call you, actually.”