by Francis Ray
“No, thanks. I really have to go. Bye.”
“Brooke—” He was left talking to the dial tone. She wasn’t going to give him another chance. Maybe that was for the best. He just wished he could believe that.
* * *
After dinner Claire decided to take a walk on the beach. Maybe it would help her sort things out. Sticking her feet into the rubber thongs she kept on the wooden back porch, she set off along the beach. The night was beautiful, the sky filled with a thousand stars. Seeing the couples on the beach had her thinking of Gray and missing him. She listened to the sounds of the gentle waves lapping the wide sandy beach, watched the seagulls search for food then, as the sun dipped behind the ocean, she started back.
She’d almost reached the steps leading up to her house when she noticed a figure sitting on them. It wasn’t unusual for someone to stop to rest or simply enjoy the view. As she neared, the figure moved and she saw the broad shoulders of a man. Her heart thumped in her chest. Her hands came out of her pockets and she began to run.
She didn’t think, she just leaped. Gray’s rich laughter surrounded her.
“I guess you missed me,” he said.
“Terribly.”
Their mouths met, each greedy for the other.
She was trembling when he pulled back. He’d kissed her as if he was starved for her.
“I’m here now.”
“Have you eaten?” she asked.
His hand brushed the hair from her face. “On the plane. How have things been going?”
“Wonderful.” As they started back into the house she told him about Brooke’s new ideas. “I have a list of clubs and hotels. We’re going to select two each and see how it goes.”
He watched her brush the clinging sand off her long legs and imagined them wrapped around him. She looked up and her entire body went still. He turned away and went into the family room. He hadn’t planned to pounce on her as soon as he returned. Folding tables were set up, as they had been the first time he visited. He picked up a candle. “Once Bliss opens, you’re going to be too busy making products and helping run the shop to do this by yourselves.”
She nodded. “I figure we can get part-time help at the shop if we need it. I’d rather just Brooke and Lorraine know the formulas for the products. I’m teaching them.”
He pulled her to him. “So if Bliss is doing well, why did you look so sad walking on the beach? I watched you for a long time.”
She tried to distract him by kissing his cheek. “I was missing you.”
“I’m here, and you’re still sad. Bliss is doing well. The article in the newspaper was glowing. So, that leaves Derek.” Gray’s eyes narrowed when she tucked her head. “He isn’t asking for more money, is he? He’s worse than a parasite.”
Incensed Claire pushed out of his arms. “He’s not! How can you say something so cruel?”
“Claire—”
She shoved his reaching hands away. “He loves me!”
“Derek loves himself. The only time he showed up after he took off to Los Angeles was to borrow money from your parents or you after you got out of school. He probably hasn’t changed much since he’s in Orlando.”
“He’s hit some rough times,” she said defending him.
“He’s always hitting rough times, and now that your parents are gone you’re the one who always bails him out,” Gray flared. “It’s past time for him to shoulder his responsibilities like a man instead of living off you. You giving him money every time he asks is not helping him. The only way to do that is to cut off the funds and the shoulder on which to dump.”
It was too close to her own thoughts. “That’s easy for you to say. You’ve never had to worry about money or a job or to scuffle the way Derek has. You’ve always had plenty. Your name guarantees that.”
Gray’s head snapped back at the accusation. “I worked hard and earned the right to be where I am. Every summer from my tenth birthday on, while other kids were enjoying their break from school, I was inside being taught the business by Granddad. My position wasn’t given to me; I earned it.”
Irritated with herself, she ran a distracted hand through her hair. He was right. She’d seen him skip enjoying the pool or sailing with his cousins countless times to sit with his grandfather in the study. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m not in a very sociable mood. Perhaps you should go.”
“If that is what you want.”
It wasn’t. “Yes.”
He nodded curtly. “Goodnight.”
Claire shut her eyes as the door closed. Gray was home and she was as miserable as ever.
Her arms wrapped around her, she sat on the couch, remembering them being there together. She rose quickly and headed for the door leading to the beach. She had to get out of there. By the time she was on the sand tears were sliding down her cheeks.
“Gray, I’m sorry,” she whispered to herself.
“So am I.”
She spun and he was there, holding her so tightly in his arms she could barely breathe. She didn’t care.
“I couldn’t leave. I came around the back because I was afraid you wouldn’t let me in,” he said against her hair. “I had no right to say what I said. Forgive me.”
She shook her head. “Let’s not talk about it.”
“Claire—”
She put her fingers against his lips. “Please. I missed you too much to have a fight your first night home.”
He kissed her fingertips. “Then we’ll do something I’ve thought of every hour I’ve been gone.” His mouth claimed hers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
John wasn’t the type of man to beg or grovel, so why was he here? Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, he stared at the revolving stream of women going in and out of the glass door of Bliss Saturday night. The grand opening appeared to be even more successful than the pre-opening.
He checked his watch. It was almost eight. The sign on the door said the store closed at seven, but he guessed sales were so good they’d opted to stay open. Just his luck.
He thought he’d catch Brooke on her way out and try to talk to her. He wasn’t doing it for himself. Mark had been asking about Brooke since they returned from their camping trip. His son had wanted to know when his father and Brooke were going out again. Never, would be John’s guess. But he’d give it another try. He didn’t want Mark thinking it was his fault. Not a night passed that Mark didn’t ask him about the date so he could put it on the calendar. He’d even stapled the newspaper picture of her to it. John didn’t need the reminder. However, he didn’t have the heart to ask Mark to take it down.
In the distance, thunder rolled. John glanced up and watched dark clouds chase each other across the sky. The weatherman had predicted rain. With his luck, he’d get drenched for his trouble.
“Hello, John.”
John didn’t jump, but it was a close thing. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and whipped around to see Gray, immaculately groomed as usual. He scowled. The type of guy Brooke probably went for.
Gray held up his hands palm out. “Perhaps you should tell me what I did before you try to rearrange my face.”
John shook his head as if to clear it. “Sorry.”
Gray lowered his hands. “You going in?”
“Haven’t decided yet.” Getting the heck out of there seemed more appealing with each passing second.
“I was just about to. You could go with me and we could give each other moral support in a shop full of women,” Gray said with wry amusement. “They should be closing soon. You could follow Brooke home.”
John tugged his cap down on his head. “She’s ticked at me because I had to cancel out last week.”
“Ah,” Gray said as if that clarified everything. “Try flowers and groveling. And if that doesn’t help, kiss her until she forgets about being angry.”
John wrinkled his mouth. “She knows karate.”
Laughter rumbled from Gray’s chest. He slapped John on the back. “Then
you had better make that kiss count.”
John laughed. “Maybe I will. I think I’ll join you after all.”
* * *
Brooke knew the instant John entered the shop. It had nothing do with him being recognized and the excited buzz of conversation, which still irritated her, it was the sudden leap of her heart, as if her body recognized his in some primitive way.
“Hi, Brooke.”
She tried for disinterest, but it was difficult with him looking hot in jeans that cupped his long muscled legs and tight butt, and a white shirt that emphasized his wide chest. “Can I help you with something?”
“My mother likes the things you picked out.”
“I’m glad. Now if you’ll excuse me.” She started past him and he grasped her arm. Spears of sensation shot through her. She snatched away, but the warmth of his hand lingered. “Do that again and you’ll find yourself on your back again.”
“We need to talk about Saturday night.”
Her nose went up. “Saturday night is forgotten, just like you.”
“This is about Mark.”
His comment stopped her in her tracks. “What about Mark?”
“He wants us to go out,” John said, just as his cell phone rang.
“What!” Brooke’s outburst had several heads turning.
John recognized the number as his mother’s. “That’s probably him now.” He activated the phone. “Hello. Hi, Mama, I thought—” Then his world went crazy. “What! Oh, no! No!”
“What’s the matter?” Brooke asked, forgetting that she had promised herself that she would remain indifferent to him, that he hadn’t made her heart lurch when he’d walked through the door, that she didn’t care about him. “John, what is it?”
“I’ve got to get out of here,” he said, turning around as if he had forgotten which way the door was. “I’ve got to get to Amy.”
Taking John by the arm, Brooke pulled him with her toward the back of the store to get her purse. “You’re in no shape to drive.”
He pushed ineffectively at her hand. “She’s hurt. I need to get to the hospital.”
Brooke’s hand clenched and her knees shook, but she pushed the fear from her mind. John needed to get to his daughter. “That’s where we’re going.”
A sea of concerned faces met them as they reentered the store. Claire and Lorraine were in front. “Amy’s hurt, and I’m taking John to the hospital. Stay here and I’ll call as soon as I know something.”
Brooke’s father pushed his way through the crowd, took one look at his daughter and John, and took her purse from her shaking fingers. “I’ll drive. Rafael, follow in Brooke’s car.”
“Let’s go then.” She didn’t have time to argue.
John didn’t say anything when they urged him into the backseat of her father’s big Lincoln. He had a death grip on Brooke’s hand. She didn’t even try to break it. Her parents in the front seat were silent as well.
Luckily the hospital was only a short drive away. As soon as her father pulled into a parking space John was out of the car pulling Brooke right along with him. She didn’t know if he had forgotten he still held her hand.
They hit the door running. Down the busy corridor a tall, slim elderly man in a khaki shirt and pants rushed toward them.
“She’s all right, John. It’s just a sprain. Just a sprain.”
John seemed to sway as he took in the news. “Daddy, are the doctors sure?”
“They’re sure.” John’s father placed a comforting hand on John’s trembling arm. “She had a pretty big bump on her head from falling out of the bed. They want to keep her a couple of hours to make sure she doesn’t have a concussion, but the doctors feel confident she can go home tonight.”
“Thank God.” He closed his eyes for a brief moment. “Where is she? Where’s Mark?”
“Taking care of his sister, holding Amy’s hand until you got here, where else? I’ll show you.”
John lifted his hand to rub over his face and seemed surprised to find it curled tightly around Brooke’s. He shifted his questioning gaze to hers as if just realizing she was with him.
“We, uh, my father, actually brought you. My uncle followed in my car,” she said by way of explanation. “I’m glad Amy’s all right.”
John glanced around at the two men and woman who stood just behind them. He recognized one of the men as the man Brooke had been talking to when he arrived at the pre-opening. “Thank you,” he told them.
“I’m glad we could help.” Her hand flexed in his, but she didn’t try to free herself.
No one had to tell him that he couldn’t have driven himself. He wasn’t worth warm spit when one of his children was hurt. After all he has said to Brooke, done to her, she hadn’t hesitated to help him when he needed it the most. There was only one way he could think of to make it up to her and show his thanks. “Why don’t we both go see her?”
Brooke’s smile came slow and beautiful. Somehow it helped to steady John just a little bit more.
“I’d like that.” With one hand, she took her purse and gave her mother a brief hug. “Please let everyone know that Amy is all right.”
“I certainly will,” her mother said, then she left with her husband and brother-in-law.
Brooke stepped closer to John. “Let’s go see Amy.”
* * *
The news that Amy’s injury was not serious put the opening back into full swing. The crowd didn’t begin to thin until almost nine. The grand opening was an unqualified success.
Brooke’s handsome uncles certainly did their part. When one of the women customers expressed concern that she had to park so far away, Simon Dunlap had politely offered to escort her. Claire was sure that it had helped that the woman was beautiful, leggy, and wearing black spandex. The next thing she knew, almost every woman was afraid she’d be attacked. When Rafael came back with Brooke’s parents, his aid was enlisted as well.
“Looks like we have four more candidates for the Man of Bliss and quadruple that number of women wanting to be the woman,” Claire commented to Brooke’s mother.
“Happens all the time.” She smiled indulgently. “They love women and women seem to love them. They’re wonderful men. Every one of them helped spoil Brooke.”
“She’s wonderful, and a marketing genius,” Lorraine put in, finally able to take a break from the cash register. “We couldn’t have done this without her.”
“I was worried about her after she lost her job and Randolph,” Mrs. Dunlap said. “Although I wasn’t that sad to learn they’d broken up. I’m glad she had friends like you two when she needed them.”
“We complement each other,” Claire said. “We’re just as glad to have her as our friend.”
“I can tell. We’re spending the night at Brooke’s and then driving back to Columbia in the morning.” She glanced around, caught her husband’s eye, and he started over.
“Ready to go, honey?” Mr. Dunlap said as he stopped by his wife.
“Yes. Claire, Lorraine, I think you and our baby have a hit on your hands. Good night,” Mrs. Dunlap told them and left with her husband.
Claire smiled after them. “I like Brooke’s parents.”
“They seem very happy,” Lorraine said, thinking wistfully of Hamilton.
“Hamilton loves you, Lorraine,” Claire told her. “Some people just aren’t comfortable with change.”
Lorraine patted the hand that rested gently on her arm. “What hurts so much is that he won’t even try. Even before our marriage I supported him. The children are happy for me; why can’t he be?”
“Perhaps because they have lives of their own and Hamilton’s is tied so closely to yours. Maybe your independence scares him after all those years of marriage when you had to depend on him,” Claire said.
“You could be right. But I’ve given up enough. I refuse to give any more.”
* * *
Hamilton was waiting in bed when Lorraine returned home. He’d driven by Bliss earlier t
hat evening and seen how busy the shop was. Gray was right. There was a strong possibility that it would succeed. “How was the official opening?”
“Fine.”
The weariness in her voice had him laying aside the reports he had been going over. “I saw Roger Myers today. He’s disappointed that you had to cut back on your volunteer time at the museum. They need you. I got the impression you’re missed since you’ve cut back on so many of your obligations.”
She pulled off the pearl necklace and earrings he’d given her at the birth of their youngest daughter. “If I’m not happy I’m no good to anyone.”
Hamilton didn’t know what to say as she went into the bathroom and closed the door softly behind her. She wasn’t happy. He’d failed her, just as her parents had predicted he would. He was no longer enough. Then there was Thomas Holmes. Hamilton didn’t like that the man seemed to be spending so much time with Lorraine, but he had a feeling if he mentioned it, it would only cause more problems. He just had to remember that Thomas’s wife and Lorraine had been best friends.
Most importantly, he had to remember that Lorraine wasn’t like his immoral mother. He’d grown up hearing the nasty whispers about her sleeping around. When he went to junior high, boys began openly teasing him. The parents of the nice, respectable girls didn’t want their daughters anywhere near him. He’d grown up alone and lonely. He sometimes thought he might be that way forever until he’d walked into the student union at Baylor and seen Lorraine. He’d known instantly she was the one woman for him and that he’d never have to be lonely again.
But that may have changed.
Lorraine came out of the bathroom in a heavy silk nightgown, got in bed, then turned her back to him. “Goodnight.”
Hamilton cut off the light. “Good night.”
Lorraine lay awake thinking that she’d be the happiest woman in the world if Hamilton could be pleased at her success. Tonight should have been one of celebration. Thomas had stopped by and purchased several products for his daughters, who had loved the things Lorraine had sent them. He was becoming such a wonderful friend. Her husband was becoming a stranger. And her heart was breaking in two.
