by Lisa Freed
“Wacky waving arm coat!” she laughed.
It took about fifteen minutes to get her jacket and sleeves dry but Amber was suitably warm and I was a lot less flustered when we left the restrooms.
That peace promptly went out the window when Amber yelled out, “Mr. Lance!” and took off running down the long plant covered hall toward a tall blond-haired man who had an equally tall blonde-haired woman with him.
Oh no! I groaned in misery.
Oh yes, it was indeed Lance and he looked every bit as uncomfortable as I felt when I reached them. His high cheekbones were flushed and a sickly-looking grin pulled at his face.
Up close his companion was nothing less than stunning. A large smile showcased her blindingly white teeth against full ruby-red lipstick smeared lips. Her honey-colored hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with a few artful curls near her ears and large blue eyes blinked out from behind impossibly long jet-black lashes. This chick seriously looked like a Barbie doll come to life.
Amber apparently also thought so as she rubbed the other woman’s hot pink satin sleeve and stared up at her. “You’re so pretty,” she remarked.
“Aww…thank you, honey, you’re so sweet. What’s your name?” Barbie cooed to Amber.
“I’m Amber! Are you Mr. Lance’s friend? He’s gonna marry my Aunt Teresa,” the little girl proudly told her new friend.
A look passed between Lance and his lady friend and somehow it was decided that she would be the bearer of reality to my niece.
“Oh, honey, no…Mr. Lance is married to me. See?” The still unnamed woman held out her slim left hand to Amber and I think the huge honking diamond on her finger could have been seen from space.
I must have made a noise because Lance’s downcast blue eyes flashed over to me and he sent a tight, unhappy smile my way.
“Well, congratulations,” I enthused, my voice far louder than it should be and causing a few people walking by to look our way. “Yes, good old Lance believes in the sanctity of marriage. Third times the charm, right?” I was going overboard, I knew it yet seemed unable to stop my mouth from pouring forth with everything my enraged heart tossed up. My vision was clouding and a faint buzzing filled my ears. “Can’t let any grass grow under your feet, can you?”
“Teresa, I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” Lance said sounding truly remorseful.
I ignored that and switched my attention to his wife who stood standing there looking like a fish out of water with her mouth opening and closing and her hand still extended to Amber.
Amber! It was the sight of my confused niece that shook me out of the downward spiral of ugly jealousy I was rapidly plunging into. With relief, my vision cleared and the buzzing ceased. “Come on, Amber. We have a lot to see yet.” I held my hand out to her and she slipped her small hand into it and we set off, neither of us looking back.
She did whisper, “Don’t be sad, Aunt Teresa,” as we were walking away.
“I’m mad,” slipped out before I remembered who I was talking to.
“Oh, well, that’s okay,” Amber said with a smile, her hand swinging mine back and forth. “Can we look at the rest of the flowers?”
“Absolutely.”
We spent the next two hours walking around the conservatory before getting bundled back up and having lunch in the restaurant on the grounds. Then we made our way to the outdoor fountains just in time for one of the timed shows. While I enjoyed it, I kept glancing at Amber and took more pleasure in the look of wonder on her face than the water display. Oh, to be a child again and have everything be new and magical.
The rest of the visit went well other than a yucky feeling I got from an older man who seemed to be watching Amber more closely than was normal. I caught his eye and he quickly looked away. Part of me wanted to get ahold of his coat sleeve to see if I got anything from it, something I could use to make a nice call to the police about but I didn’t see any way to manage it. We were out in the open with no crowd to cover me bumping into him.
Still, I felt the need to do something. Trying to be discreet, I pulled out my phone and took a few pictures of him. Then I hurried Amber to another area, turning my head to catch a last glimpse of him.
Later on, as we made our way back to my SUV, I was feeling thankful that we hadn’t run into Lance or his wife again. I shuddered at the word wife. Could she be Pam from his office? His little fling right after we broke up? The one he briefly had believed was responsible for his unexpected trip to Greece?
So many unanswered questions! I was a freaking psychic, why couldn’t I be the kind that knew all and saw all because I sure didn’t see that coming! And that infuriated me almost as much as the fact that Lance had moved on that quickly.
I nibbled on my lip thinking of my date with Mateo the other day. But it was a date, not until death do us part! Which was perfectly fine after a breakup! Besides, who goes and gets married that fast?! In frustration, I banged my palm on the steering wheel and set off the horn.
The loud honk caused a man the next row over to jump. His movement brought my eyes darting over to narrow in on him. It was the older man from earlier! A fast scan revealed no vehicles approaching, my boot hit the gas a tad too hard and we jerked out of the parking spot. I slowed down to a stop once we neared him, putting on my blinker as if I were waiting for his spot. I took several pictures of his car and license plate as he backed out. When I got home, I would do a free lookup online and go from there. I might have let that feeling go but seeing him just now was obviously a sign that I couldn’t ignore.
Amber had been such a lively ball of energy all day and extremely talkative for the first five minutes of our drive back to her house that when she suddenly stopped, my head whipped around to find her slumped to left in her car seat, fast asleep. So precious!
Despite her having gone to sleep with the music playing, I still lowered it for fear of it waking her. Just as my fingers were leaving the volume button, my phone started going off and Whisker Kisses lit up on the display.
A quick peek back at Amber to confirm it hadn’t woken her up and I pressed answer.
“Teresa, here,” I said softly.
“T! Awesome news!” Sandy boomed.
Involuntarily my eyes flew to my niece again. “Hey, cool it, girl. I got a sleepy little girl here with me and I’m in my truck.”
“Oh, sorry, girl!” Sandy’s voice lowered into a stage whisper. “Guess what?” she asked, then without giving me a chance to reply she gushed on, “Manny had an adoption request!”
“What?!” My voice rose but I couldn’t help it. Poor Manny had never had a single application put in for him. His heft and sheer size deterred a lot of people, as did the fact that he was getting closer to ten years old. We didn’t know his exact age but going by his teeth, that had been our vet Ashley’s educated guess.
“I know! A little old lady saw his profile on our website and requested to adopt him.”
“Did you run her info?” I asked needlessly, knowing that Sandy had done that the moment it came in.
“You know it. She checked out great.”
I’m a bit of a stickler when it comes to who gets our cats. I want vet references, past cat experiences, and yes, sometimes even a home visit to make certain we weren’t sending our cats out to a bad home.
“Set up a meeting,” I sang out. All nasty lingering thoughts from the encounter with Lance, his new wife, and that weird guy flew out of my head and I felt amazingly light and happy.
“You want to be there?”
I snorted. “Sandy, really?”
Sandy’s laughter filled the vehicle, “I know, poor lady is going to be overwhelmed, we’ll all want to be there.”
“Probably,” I agreed. “Send me a text when it’s arranged.”
“You got it, boss lady,” Sandy snickered and disconnected.
My eyes narrowed as I slowed the vehicle down and merged lanes. Sandy always got me with that boss lady bit, no idea why it ruffled me the w
rong way but it did. I brightened as a devilishly good idea popped into my head. Oh yeah, Esty here I come.
Amber was still sleeping when the truck coasted to a stop in Megan’s driveway. My brother-in-law Dan came out to collect her. Megan was running late he said.
Unlike my sister, Dan seemed as cheerful as ever as he gently picked up his sleeping daughter and cradled her against his broad chest. A smile pulled at my lips, nothing better than seeing a man with a child. It was just one of those sappy Hallmark moments that hit me in the feels.
Dan’s blue eyes flashed over to me and he gave me a wink. “Ready for one of your own yet?”
Okay, moment over!
“Nope! I’m content to borrow my niece.”
His dry, dusty laugh rumbled out of that big body and exploded into the air.
It’s funny, the first time I had met Dan I never would have guessed my sister was dating him, let alone would marry him. I love my sister dearly but she’s uptight with not much of a sense of humor. Where Dan found humor in everything and after five minutes in his presence, he would make some off the wall remark and have you laughing your butt off too.
Physically, he was a large man. He stood well over six feet tall but he had weight to him, which made him seem bigger than he was. His shaggy sandy blond hair was thinning on top and he complained of needing thick lenses in his glasses. A gentle, nerdy giant. Not at all like the handsome men that I had seen fawn over my sister’s delicate beauty. And Dan didn’t fawn, he went toe to toe with Megan. Which was probably why she married him, I thought again, a slight smile on my face.
“Going to come in for a few?” Dan tossed over a massive shoulder as he carried Amber toward the house.
“Let me get the car seat for you but I should get going before I conk out like Amber.”
In the end, I couldn’t figure out how to get the dang thing unlatched so I had to go into the house in search of Dan anyway. I found him in the large kitchen stirring something in a tall copper pot.
As my nose lifted to inhale, he turned, a wooden spoon at his smacking lips, a thick, bushy eyebrow raised. “Stay for dinner? Brunswick stew,” he offered.
I wavered as salvia flooded my mouth.
Dan, no doubt thinking to help my decision along, pulled open the oven to reveal fist-sized golden-brown rolls rising within.
“You’re killing me, Dan!” I moaned. I would have given in if my sister hadn’t come in at that moment lugging the stubborn car seat in her arms.
“You left your door wide open,” she snapped, the car seat bumping against the wall as she let it drop from her hands.
Dan closed the oven door, his broad back bowed with slumped shoulders.
My eyes went between him and my sister’s pinched narrowed face. This wasn’t over my door, obviously, and I really didn’t feel like getting in the middle of things.
“Thanks for getting the car seat, sis,” I said, slowly edging backward, my eyes fixed my sister. “Had a great day with Amber, we’ll have to plan to do it again. Enjoy dinner, it smells great, Dan.” I gave him a vague wave and did an about-face, walking quickly out the door.
My shoulders sagged in relief when I closed the door behind me. So much tension there. I didn’t envy Dan having to deal with whatever had ticked my sister off so badly today.
Walking to my truck I noticed the rear passenger door was still open and I couldn’t stop the snort that burst out of my nose. If it bugged her so much, why hadn’t she closed it? It shut with a metallic bang when I gave it a fast shove. Then I walked around hopping up into the driver’s seat, ready to be on my way home and chill with my cats.
Traffic moved smoothly. I registered lights and when to move into the E-ZPass lanes but mostly I was on autopilot. The text from Mateo promptly woke me out of my zoned out state.
“Teresa, you’ve been on my mind all day.” The message simple but oh so sweet. A warmth spread through me, my fingertips tingling on the steering wheel and I felt a goofy grin spreading across my lips.
Lance who?
CHAPTER NINE
My giddy good mood carried me the rest of the way home. Turning into my street, a bright yellow Jaguar caught my eye. Parked in front of my house it would have been hard to miss even if it hadn’t been the same shade as a ripe banana peel. Cars parked on the road was a strict no-no in the gated community I lived in.
Eyes narrowed, I pondered which neighbor was entertaining the driver and hadn’t had them pull into their driveway. Oh well, no skin off my nose. Wasn’t my vehicle. I hit my garage door button and turned into my driveway.
The Jag’s door swung open and my foot eased off the gas as I watched to see who would emerge. As a long form dressed entirely in black unfolded sleekly from inside the low-slung interior my boot skidded off the gas and slammed on the brake.
I threw my SUV in park and lurched outside. Powerwalking to where Adrian stood, my breath came out in ragged gasps. How had he had gotten in?
Stopping short in front of him, the answer hit me. Duh, Victor knew my security code. I really needed to change that.
“What do you want?” I snapped, all traces of earlier giddiness gone.
Full lips spread in a slow smile. “To see you,” he replied, his dark eyes moving over me to linger on my chest.
Crossing my arms over my breasts, I looked past his hard muscled body dressed to the nines in black dress slacks and a long-sleeved black dress shirt and saw a baby blue Mercedes coast by, the driver and passenger both staring. But it was the driver’s cherry red smirk that had me gnashing my teeth. Lance’s wife!
“Why are you giving that car such a glare?” Adrian questioned, his own dark eyes narrowed. “Is that Lance in the passenger seat?” he raised his arm in a cheery wave.
The car took off, the blast of exhaust blowing at our hair and tugging at our clothes.
“Well, that was rude,” Adrian remarked his eyes following the car as it angled into Lance’s driveway with a whine of brakes. “And after we had such a good time together in Greece.”
I switched my glare from them to Adrian. “You highjacked his body, let him get drunk as a skunk, and almost cost him his job!”
“Adventure,” he replied with a wink. “And look, it turned out well. Wasn’t that the lovely Pamela with him?”
“Pam!” I’m ashamed to admit my voice rose enough to carry down the street and the luscious blonde turned in our direction. “How do you know about her?” I hissed, stepping close enough to him that the smell of his woodsy cologne invaded my nose causing it to twitch.
“Lance told me all about her,” he said, the gleam in his dark hooded eyes wicked.
I began walking back to my SUV, swung back inside, and pulled it into the garage. In no hurry, he followed me at a sedate pace into the garage, ducking slightly as the door began to slide down. The sensor caught his motion and raised again like a good door is programmed to. Part of me wished it would have squished him flat.
Not even pretending anymore, I stomped into the house tossing my purse down on the counter before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. I would have continued ignoring him if Maverick hadn’t bumped into my leg as he backed away from Adrian. The cat continued hissing, the fur along his spine raised in stiff peaks of black fur.
“Maverick! Is that any way to greet me?” his voice lowered as he looked at the angry cat. Looking up, his dark head swept around the kitchen, “Where’s Agnes? At least I know I’ll get a better greeting from her.”
“You’re a stranger to them,” I commented, twisting the cap off my bottle.
His brow lowered as a deep bronze hand pounded at his chest. Then Adrian’s face brightened. “Oh yeah, guess I am. So that’s why Maverick was nasty.” Then he glared down at the still growling cat. “Wait a minute. Cats are extra-perceptive. He knows it’s really me. Maverick, you’re a jerk,” he tossed to the cat as he passed him to help himself to a bottle of water as well.
“No hug from you either?” he asked, his lips tugged up
in a leer as he looked at me over his broad shoulder.
“Victor,” I said, the warning clear in my voice as the plastic water bottle in my hand crunched loudly.
“It’s Adrian now, remember?”
I pushed past him and grabbed a can of coke from the fridge. I needed to slow down on the sodas but dang it, I also needed the sugar to deal with how quickly my day had gone down the toilet.
Leaning against the cool marble countertop, I popped the top but didn’t take a sip yet. “Why? Explain this all to me again,” I demanded.
Pausing mid-gulp, when he lowered the bottle Adrian’s handsome face had contorted into a mask of sinister glee. “It’s simple. Revenge against my brother and Brianna and I get my life back,” he tipped his bottle in my direction, “with you.”
The groan that escaped me was part frustration and part misery. “We’ve been through this before, it’s not going to happen.” I took an overlarge gulp of my soda.
Adrian advanced until he was within arm’s length of me. “You still want me to give the body back and I tell you again I cannot.”
“Have you tried recently?”
He passed the water bottle back and forth between his hands, his eyes unable to meet mine. “Well, no…”
“And what have you been doing the past few weeks?” My arms flung out, drops of caramel colored soda splashed out.
He raised his eyes, “Enjoying life.”
“Oh!” I said turning and setting my soda down on the counter next to my crushed water bottle before heading to the living room.
Victor, I refused to think of him as Adrian when I knew full well who really controlled that body, was just a few steps behind me. When I sat down on the couch, he remained standing to plead his case.
“So, I was in New York, big deal. It’s been almost forty years since I’ve partied, I’m entitled.”