LITMIR.BIZ

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like this. Buck and Daisy were giving her entire country a bad name.

      “Great,” Lacey muttered as Buck began loudly talking at his wife. “These two ruined my tea date with Tom. Now they’re ruining my lunch break with you.”

      Gina looked unimpressed with the pair. “I’ve got an idea,” she said.

      She bent down and whispered something to Boudicca that made her ears twitch. Then she released the dog from her leash. She went pelting across the tearooms, leapt at the table, and grabbed the steak clean off Buck’s plate.

      “HEY!” he bellowed.

      Brooke couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing.

      Lacey gasped, amused by Gina’s antics.

      “Get me another,” Buck demanded. “And get that dog OUT.”

      “I’m sorry, but that was my last steak,” Brooke said, flashing a subtle wink at Lacey.

      The couple huffed and stormed out.

      The three women burst out laughing.

      “That wasn’t your last at all, was it?” Lacey asked.

      “Nah,” Brooke said, chuckling. “I’ve got a whole freezer stuffed full of them!”

*

      It was drawing up toward the end of the workday and Lacey had finished valuing all of the naval items for tomorrow’s auction. She was so excited.

      That was, until the bell rang and in waltzed Buck and Daisy.

      Lacey groaned. She wasn’t as calm as Tom, and she wasn’t as jovial at Brooke. She really didn’t think this meeting would go well.

      “Look at all this junk,” Buck said to his wife. “What a load of nothin’. Why did you even want to come in here, Daisy? And it smells.” His eyes went over to Chester. “It’s that disgusting dog again!”

      Lacey clenched her teeth so hard she half expected them to crack. She tried to channel Tom’s calm as she approached the pair.

      “I’m afraid Wilfordshire is a very small town,” she said. “You’ll run into the same people—and dogs—all the time.”

      “It’s you,” Daisy asked, evidently recognizing Lacey from their two earlier run-ins. “This is your store?” She had a ditzy voice, like your average Valley Girl airhead.

      “It is,” Lacey confirmed, feeling increasingly wary. Daisy’s question had felt loaded, like an accusation.

      “When I heard your accent in the patisserie, I figured you were a customer,” Daisy continued. “But you actually live here?” She pulled a face. “What made you want to leave America for this?”

      Lacey felt every single muscle in her body tense. Her blood started to boil.

      “Probably for the same reasons you chose to vacation here,” Lacey replied in the calmest voice she could muster. “The beach. The ocean. The countryside. The charming architecture.”

      “Daisy,” Buck barked. “Can you hurry up and find that thing you dragged me in here to buy?”

      Daisy glanced over at the counter. “It’s gone.” She looked at Lacey. “Where’s the brass thing that was over there before?”

      Brass thing? Lacey thought back to the items she’d been working on before Gina’s arrival.

      Daisy continued. “It’s like a sort of compass, with a telescope attached. For boats. I saw it through the window when the store was closed over lunch. Did you sell it already?”

      “Do you mean the sextant?” she asked, frowning with confusion over what a ditzy blond like Daisy would want with an antique sextant.

      “That’s it!” Daisy exclaimed. “A sextant.”

      Buck guffawed. Obviously the name amused him.

      “Don’t you get enough sextant at home?” he quipped.

      Daisy giggled, but it sounded forced to Lacey, less like she was actually amused and more like she was just being accommodating.

      Lacey herself was not amused. She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.

      “I’m afraid the sextant is not for sale,” she explained, keeping her focus on Daisy rather than Buck, who was making it very hard for her to stay personable. “All my naval items are going to be auctioned tomorrow, so it’s not for general sale.”

      Daisy stuck out her bottom lip. “But I want it. Buck will pay double what it’s worth. Won’t you, Bucky?” She tugged on his arm.

      Before Buck had a chance to respond, Lacey interjected. “No, I'm sorry, that’s not possible. I don’t know how much I’ll fetch for it. That’s the whole point of the auction. It’s a rare piece, and there are specialists coming from all over the country just to bid on it. The price could be anything. If I sold it to you now, I may lose out, and since the proceeds are going to charity, I want to secure the best deal.”

      A deep furrow appeared across Buck’s forehead. In that moment, Lacey felt even more aware of just how big and wide the man really was. He was well over six feet, and thicker than two of her put together, like a large oak tree. He was intimidating, in both size and mannerism.

      “Did you not just hear what my wife said?” he barked. “She wants to buy your thingamajig so name your price.”

      “I heard her,” Lacey replied, standing her ground. “It’s me who’s not being listened to. The sextant is not for sale.”

      She sounded far more confident than she felt. A small alarm bell in the back of her mind started ringing, telling her she was plowing headfirst into a dangerous situation.

      Buck took a step forward, his looming shadow stretching over her. Chester leapt up and growled in response, but Buck clearly wasn’t fazed and just ignored him.

      “You’re refusing me sale?” he said. “Isn’t that illegal? Isn’t our money good enough for you?” He pulled a pile of cash from his pocket and waved it under Lacey’s nose in a decidedly threatening manner. “It’s got the Queen’s face on it and everything. Isn’t that enough for you?”

      Chester began to bark furiously. Lacey gave him a hand signal to stop, and he did, obediently, but he still held his position as if he were ready to attack the second she gave him the go ahead.

      Lacey folded her arms and squared off to Buck, aware of every inch he loomed over her but determined to hold her ground. She wasn’t going to be bullied into selling the sextant. She wasn’t going to let this mean, hulking man intimidate her and ruin the auction she’d worked so hard for and was so looking forward to.

      “If you want to buy the sextant, then you’ll have to come to the auction and bid on it,” she said.

      “Oh, I will,” Buck said through narrowed eyes. He pointed right in Lacey’s face. “You bet I will. Mark my words. Buckland Stringer will win.”

      With that, the couple left, swirling out the store so fast they practically left turbulence in their wake. Chester ran to the window, put his front paws up against the glass, and growled at their retreating backs. Lacey watched them go, too, until they were out of sight. It was only then she noticed how much her heart was racing, and how much her legs were trembling. She gripped the countertop to steady herself.

      Tom had been right. She’d jinxed herself by saying the pair had no reason to come to her store. But she could be forgiven for assuming there was nothing of interest for them in here. No one would have been able to guess by looking at her that Daisy had any desire to own an antique navy sextant!

      “Oh, Chester,” Lacey said, sinking her head into her fist. “Why did I tell them about the auction?”

      The dog whined, picking up on the note of mournful regret in her tone.

      “Now I have to put up with them tomorrow as well!” she exclaimed. “And what’s the likelihood they know anything of auction etiquette? It’s going to

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