Changing Her Heart

“I’m a free spirit,” he said.

Carol sighed dramatically. “I know Lacey would be perfect for you.”

“How can you say that? I’ve never even heard you mention her name before.”

“I know. I’ve only met her a few times. She only started working next door last week.”

“Last week?” Randy sputtered. “Then what makes you qualified to make such a statement?”

“A woman just knows these things.”

“You don’t know anything. Now quit fooling around. We’d better get back to work.”

This time, Carol did leave him alone, but all day long, her words kept coming back to haunt him. He couldn’t stop thinking about Lacey. She was kind of pretty, in a wholesome and unpretentious sort of way. She was also a few pounds heavier than what was considered fashionably thin, but that hinted at a lack of obsession with her weight. More important, it looked like she had strength of character, which was better than the superficial charm Carol displayed with skirts that were consistently too short to be respectable for someone doing retail sales.

Lacey, on the other hand, had been wearing a modest, yet flattering outfit, even though working at a ladies’ clothing store gave her the opportunity to select some pretty outrageous stuff.

In all things, including clothes, Carol vacillated between the ridiculous and the sublime. Yet, working with Carol was fun—their little play-fights often drove the rest of the staff nuts. It worked fine for him because a casual friendship was as far as he would go in a relationship.

Lacey seemed to be in a serious relationship. She was buying her significant other a computer, indicating that both her heart and her pocketbook were heavily involved.

As he was tidying up for the end of the day, he nearly dropped a pager on the floor when Lacey suddenly appeared in front of him, as if his thoughts had become reality.

“Hi. I was wondering if you had time to talk.”

He unclipped his name badge and dropped it into his pocket. “It’s actually the end of my shift, but I don’t mind. In fact, the timing might even be good. If we go to the food court I can answer all your questions and we won’t have to worry about other people interrupting.”

“I heard that it’s standing-room-only in the food court right now. But if you don’t mind spending the time, we can go somewhere else to eat. I’ll treat, since it’s after working hours.”

“I…” Randy let his voice trail off. It had been a long time since he’d been out to dinner with a woman, but he didn’t feel right about having a woman pay.

He cleared his throat. “I have a better idea. I can write this off as a business expense, so let me pay. The only thing is that if we eat away from the mall, it will have to be walking distance.”

“You want to walk? But…” She blinked a few times, then said, “That’s fine, I don’t mind.”

Without warning, Carol joined them, grinning from ear to ear. She elbowed Randy in the ribs. “Are you two going somewhere?”

Randy stepped out of Carol’s reach. “Yes. We’re going out for dinner.”

Carol glanced back and forth between Lacey and Randy, then turned directly to Lacey. “How are you get ting there? Randy got his car towed away yesterday.”

Randy gritted his teeth and turned to Lacey. “The parking lot control people towed it away. I’m sure you heard about the way they’ve decided to start enforcing the ban on staff parking in the public parking lot.

“The towing bill was really expensive. So I have to leave my car at home. How did you get here?”

Lacey’s eyes widened. “Now I feel bad. When I took the job I was simply told it came with a parking spot. I didn’t realize that parking was such a problem. It’s okay. We can take my car. If you want, I can even give you a ride home.”

He hesitated. “Wait a minute. If you got a parking spot, that means you’re the store manager. I thought you were new.”

“I was the assistant manager at the downtown store, but the manager here quit with no notice last week, so they offered me a transfer, as long as I started immediately. Things are a big mess, but this is a good promotion, so I couldn’t turn it down.”

Randy shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound bitter about the parking. I’m still trying to convince myself that it’s for the best, because it’s cheaper for my insurance. But it sure does make it inconvenient.”

“Now I know why the rest of my staff take the bus.”

“I don’t take the bus. Ever. I used my inline skates to get here today. It was kind of fun, actually, but I may change my mind the next time it rains.” Randy paused to check his watch. “We should get going. I just have to get my stuff from the back, and we can leave.”

“…and then she told me her husband was a used car salesman!”

Randy nibbled on his lower lip, then allowed himself to laugh at his own joke, but only after Lacey laughed first.

Randy didn’t know why he couldn’t shut up. He shouldn’t have been nervous. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken a woman out for dinner. This wasn’t a date. All he had to do was impress Lacey with his knowledge of computers, which was extensive. She didn’t have to know anything else about him. He didn’t even have to worry that she would want to—it was to his advantage that she already had someone.

He picked up his cup, wrapped his hands around it and rested his elbows on the table. “If I’d been thinking properly, I would have brought a catalog. In the store, all I do is point.”

“It’s okay. I know that you’ll help me pick the best one. I just want to make sure it’s a surprise.”

Randy sighed. Not only had no one ever given him a surprise birthday party, no one had ever given him an expensive gift. Of course, he didn’t expect such gifts from his friends. They routinely gave each other the standard guy-gifts—CD’s, tools, computer paraphernalia and, lately, music books. The biggest surprise was when it was wrapped.

His family had never given gifts. Not that they couldn’t afford them, they just never did. All his life he’d learned how to get by without asking or expecting anything. That way, he was never disappointed.

But lately, he’d seen the other side of the fence from his friends. Adrian had been thrilled at his latest birthday gift from Celeste, handmade mouse and keyboard covers that were cleverly made to look like a real mouse and a piece of cheese.

He focused back on Lacey. “Don’t worry. I can hold the computer of your choice in the store until the day before the party. That way you don’t have to worry about spoiling the surprise.” He smiled and tried to turn on his “salesman patter.” “You’ll get a surprise, too, with how good a deal I’m going to give you on this computer. I’ll even throw in a bunch of extras.”

Lacey smiled back weakly. “I honestly don’t know what’s standard. I’m just going to have to trust you.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t take advantage of you.”

“Just remember that if I do find out one day that you charged me too much, I’m right next door, all day, every day.”

Randy opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn’t know if she was teasing him, or if this really was some kind of warning. Either way, it intrigued him. The woman had guts, and he liked that.

He sipped his coffee, speaking over the rim of the cup. “You go right ahead and do all the comparison shopping you want. Then you’ll know how good a deal I’m going to give you.”

“That’s fine. And the next time you come in to buy more panty hose, I’ll do the same for you.”

Randy choked on his coffee, then lowered the cup to the saucer. “Now just a minute. Those weren’t for me, and I never…” His words trailed off when Lacey’s stifled giggles broke through.

“Gotcha,” she said from behind her coffee cup.

“Not funny,” he pretended to grumble, struggling not to laugh back. He suddenly became very serious. “I need to know one more thing, and that’s how much time you and…Bryce, was it? are going to spend together on it.”

Lacey looked puzzle. “Together? None. I frankly don’t see how some people spend hours and hours on the computer every day.”

Randy smiled. “I couldn’t be without my computer. Computers are my only source of income, so I have to keep up with all the latest and the greatest.” He grinned wryly. “Sometimes my online activities make me late for practice on Wednesday nights, but, of course, I’m never late for work.”

She stared blankly at him. Randy hadn’t meant to get so personal, but his computer and all that went with it had played a big part in his recovery.