Loves Second Chance

Chapter Seventeen

When Ryan came home from work, he seemed pre-occupied and didn't want to tell Lacey anything about the supposed emergency involving Priscilla. When she asked him why he had to go, since technically he was on vacation, he'd responded, "I work for the company; I'm never truly on vacation." Lacey took that to mean 'none of your business, so drop it'. Lacey determined that she needed a plan to find out a little bit more about Ryan and Priscilla's relationship, but she also knew she wasn't going to get any information from Ryan. Lacey decided that the best thing to do right now was to not jump to conclusions and give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he did invite her to come along with him and he'd introduced her as his girlfriend. While these thoughts were rolling around in her head, Lacey never heard Ryan and the girls come inside.

"Hey, Sweetheart," Ryan said when he walked up behind her, causing Lacey to jump and clutch at her chest.

"When are you ever going to stop sneaking up on me? I am way too young to die of a heart attack!" Lacey said shooting him the death glare.

"Sorry Sweetheart, I just couldn't resist. It's way too easy to sneak up on you. You aren't always aware of your surroundings." He smiled and kissed her cheek while she rolled her eyes. "We were all wondering if you wanted to go down to the boardwalk today. There's a carnival going on and we thought it would be fun, but it is entirely up to you."

"Sure, I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. Just let me grab my purse, and then let's go!"

The carnival was bigger than anything she had ever seen before. There must have been fifty different rides, at least a hundred different game booths, plus all sorts of other exciting things to do. Lacey thought the best part was the tons of different food booths. She wanted to try them all! They spent the whole day and well into the night playing games, laughing, talking and really getting into the 'carnival' atmosphere.

Ryan and Lacey rode several rides including the Farris wheel. He convinced Lacey to go on one thrill ride that left her green around the gills and wishing she hadn't had the funnel cake beforehand. Ryan teased her about her junk food habits. While she accused him of being an adrenaline junkie.

Ryan won all of them stuffed animals at several of the various game booths. Grace and Maddie even went off for an hour by themselves to ride their favorite rides. Ryan and Lacey took the opportunity to browse some of the other booths while walking hand and hand along the boardwalk.

"Sweetheart, is there anything you want? You haven't got yourself one thing all night. You insisted on buying everyone else in your family something. You even picked up a charm necklace for Maddie. Why don't you pick something out for yourself? If you don't, I will."

"Ryan, there is nothing that I need. I'm having an enjoyable evening; I don't need to buy anything to have a good time, half of the fun is in the browsing. I'm happy just spending time with you. Please, stop worrying so much." Lacey placed both of her palms on his chest and stretched up on her toes to softly kiss his lips.

"I just want you to be happy, Lacey, and I like buying you things. It gives me pleasure to see you with something I purchased." Ryan quietly told her.

"Nothing makes me any happier than just getting to spend time with you Maddie and Grace. What I really want is someone who'll support my choices and have my back when I need help, and not spend money on me. Your time and attention are worth more than anything to me. I've been extremely happy these last few weeks and during one of the hardest times of my life; because you've given of yourself, money wasn't the issue." Lacey kissed him again when the kiss ended, they stood locked in an embrace for several long moments. No more words were spoken, they weren't needed. After a while, they clasped hands and started walking down the boardwalk again. They met up with the girls at one of the game booths. Around midnight, they decided to call it a night and head back to the beach house.