Maybe she was too cautious. Maybe she’d been burned too often. And maybe she needed, like Derrick had told her over and over, to trust him. He hadn’t hurt her, hadn’t lied to her. He’d gotten her this great job.
Frustration pulled like a too-tight jacket. She needed to be sure about Derrick, sooner rather than later. But so much of the time they spent together, Red was with them. How could their relationship progress if they didn’t spend more time alone with one another? How could she learn to trust him when he was absent so often?
Because she wasn’t sure about him, she wouldn’t sleep with him, and she wouldn’t make those promises. Not yet.
Which brought her back to the pastor’s message the day before.
“And the first part,” she said. “The part about how, if we forgive others, we don’t let them off the hook.”
“We let ourselves off the hook,” Red said. “That’s the part that stuck with me, too. We forgive for our sake, not anybody else’s.”
“Right.” Harper needed to forgive Emmitt and Barry for what they’d done, for the crime that had landed all three of them in prison. Maybe if she could forgive them, she could trust Derrick. Maybe that’s what was holding her back.
“The second part’s more important.” Red set down his fork and stared at her across the table. “The part about how God forgives all our sins. You get that part?”
She shrugged. “Seems too good to be true.”
“That’s God for you,” he said. “Good, glorious, beautiful, perfect, and full of love for us.”
“Why, though, when people are so messed up?”
One eyebrow lifted. “People, in general?” he asked. “Or someone in particular?”
“Fine. Why would He forgive me? You know my past. Why would God forgive what I’ve done?”
Red’s smile lit his face. “He created you, didn’t He? He knows all your frailties. His love is big enough for all your junk.”
“I don’t get it.”
Red patted her hand. “You will. I believe soon, you will.”
Chapter Five
Harper was scrolling through the website of the local college Friday afternoon when the front door opened.
“Who’s that?” Red asked, as if she could see through walls and around corners. Not that there were many options. Most folks knocked.
She stood from her seat on the sofa. “I’ll go check.” She was halfway across the living room when Derrick stepped into the room. He saw her, and his face split into a huge smile.
“Surprise.”
“What are you doing here?” She crossed the room, and he pulled her into a hug, then gave her a quick kiss.
“I took the afternoon off.”
Red put down the footrest on his recliner and pushed himself to standing. “Great to see you, son.”
The men hugged briefly. Then Red settled back in his seat, and Derrick sat on the sofa. “How you feeling, Gramps?”
“Couldn’t be better,” he said. “Got the best care a man could ask for.”
Both men looked at her, and warmth rushed to her cheeks. “Can I get you anything? Iced tea?”
“Half-sugar tea, you mean?” Derrick asked.
“If I’d known you were coming,” she said, “I’d have left the sugar out.”
“Don’t know why she needs so much,” Red said. “She’s sweet enough without it.”
She ignored the remark and focused on Derrick. “I have Coke.”
“Water’s fine,” he said.
“You hungry?”
“Depends. Did you cook?”
She forced a stern look. “Ha-ha.”
He chuckled. “Not hungry. And I really can take care of myself.”
She ignored him and went to the kitchen to get him a glass of water. When she returned, Red and Derrick were deep in conversation. She paused at the threshold, tuned out their words, and focused on the men.
They didn’t look a bit alike. Derrick’s features were more like Red’s late wife’s. Her photos were all over the house, and Harper could see the resemblance in the hazel eyes. She imagined when Red was a young man, he must have been built like Derrick was now. Not quite six feet, trim, healthy. Derrick had a full head of dark brown hair that he wore combed away from his face, which accentuated his widow’s peak—or maybe it was a receding hairline. He played golf and tennis and worked out regularly, and he looked so professional and impressive in his dark suit. On weekends, he looked just as good in khakis and golf shirts. His wire-rim glasses only added to his charm.
Right now, he was leaning toward Red, nodding as the old man told a story, laughing with him. She loved how Red lit up when Derrick visited.
Too bad Derrick didn’t come more often. So why was he here now?
He looked up and caught her eye. “Don’t just stand there. Join us.”
She stepped into the living room and handed him the ice water. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”
He focused on Red again. “I told you she was great, didn’t I?”
“Gotta hand it to you,” Red said. “You picked a winner.”
She shook her head at their teasing.
Derrick focused on Red. “You think you can live without her for a couple of days?”
Based on Red’s surprised expression, he didn’t know what Derrick was talking about any more than she did.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“One of my clients has a summer house on Rehoboth Beach, and they’re having a party tomorrow. They want us to come for the weekend.”
A weekend on the beach. That sounded marvelous. And a weekend away, with Derrick? Maybe this would be a good opportunity to find out what was going on with him. See if the two of them could reconnect. They’d had a closer relationship when she’d lived in Vegas than they did now.
But what about Red?
She looked at the old man, then focused on Derrick. “I’m not sure I should leave him.”
“Bah,” Red said. “I survived without you for more’n eighty years.” He picked up the photograph of his late wife and stared at it. “I got my memories of Bebe here to keep me company. I can manage two days.”
“Yeah, but your medication, and—”
“Girl, I’m not a child. I can fend for myself for two days. You kids go, have a good time.”
Derrick’s smile only widened. “How would it make him feel if you refused now?”
What did Derrick expect from her? Promises she couldn’t make? Commitments she wasn’t ready for? Or a physical relationship she’d sworn she wouldn’t give in to. She wiped sweaty hands on her jeans and held Derrick’s gaze. “And what would the”—she cleared her throat and cut her gaze to Red—“arrangements be?”
Derrick’s smile faded. “They have seven bedrooms. If they don’t have an extra place for me to sleep, I can stay at a hotel down the beach.”
It was clear that hadn’t been his intention. But he held her gaze, and that one eyebrow rose again. “Please?”
“Good Lord, girl,” Red said. “I told you, I can fend for myself.”
With Derrick’s pleading and Red’s cajoling, how could she refuse? A weekend at the beach sounded heavenly, and as long as Derrick was willing to keep his promise about giving her time, what was the downside?
She smiled at both the men now staring at her. “When do we leave?”
“As soon as you’re ready.”
Chapter Six
Harper pulled her smallest bag from the closet. She could do nothing about its shabbiness, the splitting seam or the rickety wheel. With a sigh, she turned to study her wardrobe.
She’d need a dress for the party. Knowing Derrick’s friends, she’d need something at least a little dressy. She didn’t have a lot of options, but she found a pretty skirt and a peasant top that seemed suitable for a party on the beach. Derrick had bought both for her shortly after she’d moved. She added a pair of strappy sandals to go with that outfit. After throwing her bathing suit and cover-up in the bag, she added a
couple pairs of shorts and a pair of patterned capris, a few of her nicer T-shirts, and her ugliest pajamas—just in case she was tempted to break her own rules.
She freshened her makeup, gathered her toiletries, and added them to the suitcase.
When the suitcase was zipped—no easy task considering the shape it was in—she opened her bedroom door to find Red sitting on the chair she’d put at the top of the stairs, a place for him to rest after climbing to the second floor.
She froze. “Are you all right?”
“Course.” He glanced toward the back staircase, at the bottom of which Derrick was probably pacing, waiting for her. He lowered his voice. “I’ve been thinking… Can I talk to you for a second?”
She backed into her bedroom, and Red stepped just far enough inside to close the door. He hadn’t been in her room since the day he’d showed her to it when she moved there, but this was his house, and he was practically family. “What’s up?”
He rubbed his bald head. “Got the feeling you weren’t excited about this trip.”
“It’ll be fun.”
He studied her a moment. “Something tells me it won’t.”
Hadn’t he just urged her to go? “What’s that mean?”
He stared past her, out the window to the sunshiny day beyond. Took a deep breath and blew it out. Then, he focused on her. “I love my grandson. But… I don’t know. I’m afraid…” He half-smiled. “Maybe I just don’t want you to go.”
She stepped toward him. “I can stay. If it makes you nervous—”
“Nothing like that.” He waved her words away. “Just… Don’t let Derrick talk you into anything. I know how you kids are these days, and I’m not judging. I’m just saying, that boy of mine, he doesn’t have the best…” He seemed to falter, then shrugged. “Morals, I guess. His father didn’t, either. Good man, my son, but he made a lot of mistakes. Derrick has, too. He’s a decent kid, and I know he cares about you. But don’t you let him talk you into anything you don’t want to do.”
That this man she’d only known for a couple of months would haul himself up the stairs to say this to her… Her eyes tingled, and she stepped closer. She set her hand over his where he leaned on her bureau. “If Derrick’s half the man you are, any woman would be lucky to have him.”
The man’s cheeks reddened. “Just saying, you don’t owe that boy nothing. He brought you out here for this job, but I hired you, I pay you, and I decide if you stay or go.” His bushy eyebrows pushed up on his forehead. “You understand what I’m saying?”
“Thank you.” She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand. “I love you, too.”
“Bah.” His cheeks turned an even darker shade. He huffed out the door. The sweet, grouchy, beautiful old man. He’d meant every word, and so had she.
Chapter Seven
Harper had never been to the beach on the East Coast. Red’s house wasn’t far from Chesapeake Bay, but this was different.
While Derrick maneuvered his Mercedes toward the beach house that afternoon, cursing the traffic, Harper stared across the sand to the ocean beyond. The sky was blue, and the steel-gray water seemed to go on forever. The waves were high—higher than usual, Derrick said, thanks to a storm a few hundred miles south. It was predicted to head out to sea long before it reached the Delaware coast. Funny how the waters churned and battered the shore because of a storm she couldn’t even see.
“Come on, buddy!” Derrick hammered the steering wheel when the car in front of them stopped for a yellow light. “At this rate, we’ll never get there.”
He was more keyed up than she’d ever seen him. He’d spent most of the bumper-to-bumper three-hour drive on the phone with clients. Because, apparently, stockbrokers didn’t get to take time off, not even lazy Friday afternoons in July. When Derrick wasn’t on the phone, he was yelling at other drivers.
She turned to him and smiled. “How can you be so grouchy? Look around. It’s beautiful!” Her voice hitched on that last word, excitement and joy bubbling up and over. When was the last time she’d had a vacation? Gone anywhere fun?
Derrick glared at her, but the expression only lasted a moment. Then his lips drew tightly across his teeth. “You’re right. Sorry. We’re just late.”
“Late for what?”
“Russell told me to be there by dinnertime, and it’s”—he glanced at the clock on the dash—“nearly six-thirty.”
“I’m sure he’ll understand.”
His plastic smile faded to a scowl. “I’m sure you don’t understand. Russell is my biggest client. Not only that, but he’s recommended me to a lot of his associates, and if this weekend goes well, he’ll recommend me to more. I think his friend will be there this weekend. Constantine. The guy’s loaded and swears his lineage goes back to Aphrodite.” He smiled at that. “Or so goes the story he likes to tell. I’ve been trying to get his business for a couple of years. If I can impress him…” The promise of riches lay at the end of that unfinished sentence. But Derrick didn’t smile at the thought of it. No, his lips tightened at the corners, and he focused on the road as they inched along.
There was that stress again. That worry. What was going on with him?
There was something he hadn’t told her, something that mattered. Maybe this weekend, she’d get to the bottom of it.
One thing was sure. She’d need to do her best to impress this Russell guy and his buddy, Constantine.
Who traced his lineage back to a goddess.
No pressure there.
The phrase delusions of grandeur passed through her mind, but she pushed it away. She had to be charming and pleasant, which would be a feat in itself, more so if she were silently judging everyone.
As if she had the right to judge another living soul.
Despite Derrick’s dire predictions, they arrived at the house ten minutes later. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. Derrick had told her the house had seven bedrooms, so she’d assumed it would be palatial, would have land and tended grounds and plenty of parking. All her assumptions had been wrong, though. She stared up at a three-story structure with a screened-in porch on the bottom floor and balconies on the upper two. The house was so close to its neighbors, there was barely room for a car between them, much less a garage. All the houses had been packed onto this beach like crackers in a sleeve. But the ones behind this didn’t have views of the ocean. This one did, and for that the owners must have paid more than she’d earn in a lifetime.
Derrick found a parking spot, popped the trunk, and climbed out of the car. She snatched her purse from the backseat and joined him, inhaling the salty, briny scent of the Atlantic.
Funny how different this was from the beaches on the West Coast. The people were different here, too. Not all perfectly sculpted as they’d seemed in California. Not all blond and beautiful. They were normal people, her kind of people, and they were everywhere. Walking along the sidewalks in bikinis and T-shirts and flip-flops. Sitting side-by-side or standing in groups on porches and balconies, sipping adult beverages and laughing, grilling burgers and hot dogs, enjoying a perfect Friday afternoon in the summertime. A small family clad in dripping suits and gritty sand wandered past. They looked sunburned, exhausted, each holding a snack. The scent of fried dough and cinnamon had her stomach growling.
She turned when the trunk slammed. Derrick smiled at her, eyebrows up, and lifted their suitcases. “You ready?”
Could she pull this off? Pretend to be a normal person, someone who belonged among Derrick’s high-society friends?
At least, if nothing else, she could always escape to the beach.
“Let’s go.”
Even with a suitcase in each hand, Derrick outpaced her so that she had to practically run to keep up.
At the door, Derrick set the suitcases down and knocked.
A moment later, a man answered. He was slender and tall and looked to be in his early fifties, despite his nearly bald head. He had a strong chin, and though he wasn’t physically imposing, h
e radiated power and confidence. He had piercing blue eyes that regarded Derrick with a look she couldn’t discern before they focused on her.
He held out his hand. “Russell Caldworth. Harper, isn’t it?”
She took it. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She glanced at Derrick. “Good stuff, I hope.”
“Every word.” Russell turned to Derrick and shook his hand. “Great to see you again. Glad you made it. Traffic bad?”
“The worst.”
Russell chuckled. “Friday at the beach. Apparently we weren’t the only ones with this idea.” He led the way through the living room. In the kitchen on the far side of the great room, a few women were chattering, slicing, stirring. Harper picked up the scent of garlic.
“My wife and some friends are fixing dinner. It’ll be ready soon.”
“Can I help?” Harper asked.
Derrick’s laugh seemed forced. “Please, no. Don’t let her cook.”
Russell focused on her, eyebrows lifted. “Did you earn that remark?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
He smiled and continued through the living room. Beyond a wall of windows and sliding glass doors, Harper saw two men in the screened-in porch seated on wicker furniture, beer bottles in hand.
Russell climbed a staircase, and she and Derrick followed. Though the staircase went up another level, Russell stopped on the second floor, led them down a short hallway, and pushed open a door. “This’ll be your room, Harper.”
She stepped inside, barely glanced at the queen-size bed and, beyond it, an attached bath, then walked to the door that led to a balcony. She took in the beach and the gray waters of the Atlantic. “Wow.”
Behind her, Russell said, “Derrick, are you staying here with her, or do you need another space?”
Harper tensed. She hoped Derrick would give the right answer.
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