But that wasn’t where she was. Nope, she was sitting in a booth at J. Alexander’s with Karson’s boss, talking about everything under the sun. Well, Elli was talking, Lacey was more just listening. And stewing. Yes, she was still stewing.

“Shelli is my wild child. Posey, not so much, she’s cautious. And then the boys are just all nuts. Take after their daddy.”

Lacey smiled like she was supposed to. “They are beautiful children.”

“Thank you,” she said proudly with a grin. “They are our everything.”

“I would imagine.”

Elli smiled as she met Lacey’s gaze. “How are you adjusting? Are you happy here?”

Lacey shrugged. “Sure. I mean, it’s been a big change, but I do love it here.”

“Karson mentioned something about opening a Lacey’s Lace here, which, by the way, I’ve bought out your online store. Honestly. I love it all.”

She grinned as she nodded. “Thank you, but yeah, maybe. We are still doing the numbers and trying to find a good location. It will be my first time expanding.”

“Well, I think you should. I got my moms’ group to check you out, and then all the Assassins’ wives are wearing your stuff,” she said with a little flush to her face. It was understandable since they were talking about lingerie. “You know what?” she gushed quickly and Lacey grinned. Elli was very animated.

“What?”

“You should open one here and then sponsor the Assassins. The exposure would be insane, and then we could do a spread of Assassins’ wives wearing your stuff. Kinda like you did for the women of different sizes.”

“Wow, you followed that?” Lacey asked, surprised but flattered.

“Yes! I told you I’m a fan, and I love your body, not in a weird, creepy way,” she said, causing Lacey to grin. “I didn’t know you were a breast cancer survivor.”

Lacey nodded. “I am. They are fake,” she said, pointing to her breasts.

“So? You deserve them after everything you went through. At least, I think so, and I also love the tattoos. You are stunning. All of us think so.”

She grinned shyly as she shrugged. “Thank you, but yeah, your idea is a great one. Maybe I’ll do it if we do expand here.”

“I think you should. It would be good for you.”

“Yeah, but it’s not only about me. I mainly just want to help people.”

Elli grinned as she nodded quickly. “Oh, I think you do, and I especially love how you donate so much of your sales to your foundation.”

Lacey was a little overwhelmed; she’d never expected Elli Adler to know so much about her business. “Yeah, my main focus when I started was helping women who had to fight like I did. Or really, anyone. I just want people to feel sexy; I’m really not worried about making money.”

“Oh, you do,” Elli giggled, her cheeks darkening more. “And Shea thanks you.”

They had a good laugh at that. When their laughter subsided, Lacey took a long swig of her sweet tea before meeting Elli’s gaze again. “You light up when you talk about your business. You’re really quiet any other time.”

Lacey shrugged. “Yeah, I love my business and I know what to say when it comes to that, but I’m really closed up unless I know you.”

“Well, I hope that we continue to get to know each other. I like you and I really think you’ll click well with the other wives. I know you’ve been a little distant, and it’s hard to get to know new people, especially when your life has completely changed,” she said with bright eyes and a grin on her face.

“I’ve been traveling too,” Lacey added with a nod. “But yeah, I would love to get to know the wives some more. I got a little intimidated that night we all hung out.”

“Yeah, we are a little in-your-face, but everyone means well.”

Lacey nodded. “I know.”

And she did, but it was hard. She went from having family, friends, and a business in Chicago to coming to Nashville and only having Karson. While that was more than enough, she felt like she was starting over and it was nerve-racking. With her friends back in Chicago, it was easy. She could sit there and not say anything and feel completely happy, but here, she always felt like she didn’t belong. She knew that it was because she didn’t even give anyone a chance, but it was scary getting to know people. She had to put herself out there, and she wasn’t good at that unless it was with the business. With Lacey’s Lace, she would do anything to have someone listen. Or even with Karson, she loved talking about him. But anything else, she thought she was boring and that no one wanted to listen to her.

She didn’t have kids. She didn’t have a family like Karson’s. And no one wanted to talk about her cancer. That was depressing! She didn’t have hobbies because she’d been so immersed in getting Lacey’s Lace up and running. She didn’t go to anything because she didn’t like showing up alone. All she cared about was Karson, her business, and hockey. She really wasn’t all that interesting, but that wasn’t the only problem.

Between missing Karson like crazy and wanting to go home to be around something she knew, she wasn’t adjusting. She was cutting corners and only accepting Nashville as her home when she had to. Karson thought she was going to leave him, and she didn’t want him to think that. She had to change. She had to adjust or this was never going to work.