She's Got Dibs

by AJ Nuest

  From the first moment they met, her heart had embraced the fear something would eventually tear them apart. She had been prepared for it. But Dibs had given himself to her wholly, believed she was the one true thing in his life. He trusted her without a shadow of a doubt, only so she could rip his heart out. Deal him a harsher blow than Margaret ever had.

  And now, he questioned everything.

  He high-stepped to the side of the pool, hoisted Michael by the collar of his shirt and dumped him onto the lawn. The bushes near the cement walkway blocked his path, but he thrashed through the branches and disappeared in the direction of the apartment building.

  Marcus rushed up, eyebrows lifted, hands spread at his sides.

  Tessa jerked her chin toward the bushes. “Go.”

  He nodded and sprinted after Dibs.

  Up the lawn a large procession headed her way, Mr. Brenner, Caroline, and several security guards in the lead. The water swirled around Tessa’s knees when she faced the Park. Alone on the balcony stood Vanessa Brenner, a hand resting on the balustrade. She locked onto Tessa across the distance, turned and disappeared through the terrace doors.

  ****

  Tessa smoothed a palm over the tablecloth. Everything had been reset, the floor cleaned, and the place settings changed. Behind her, the door to the Crystal Ballroom swished open at slower and slower intervals, janitorial services finishing the last of their tasks. But she didn’t mind. It was late, and the minor details should be left to her. Only a few remained, centering the candelabras and adjusting the chairs so everything sat perfectly arranged.

  The security guard stood at ease across the room and she smiled at his steady comforting presence. “Why don’t you head home and get some sleep, Reggie. I can handle the rest from here.”

  He nodded and trailed the last of the cleaning crew through the door.

  She paused a quiet moment to appreciate the calm after the storm. Overhead, wide swathes of cream bunting hung from each of the four chandeliers, a graceful curve draped to the corners of each vaulted ceiling. Silver accents had been woven throughout the room—the chasers underneath each piece of bone china, the silver goblets, the trim on each cream bow adorning the chairs. A million white lights bordered the top and sides of the balcony doors, continuing out onto the balustrade. Once those lights were turned on and the candles lit, the room would be bathed in ethereal beauty. But the atmosphere wouldn’t matter. Beauty had long since disappeared from her life, in the form of two shimmering blue-gray eyes.

  She neared the grand piano and struck a key. The mellow tone saturated the space with reverberating sadness. Outside the balcony doors, three white tents lined each side of the pool. The interiors were shadowed, but in the morning they would be filled with happy families, brunching, enjoying the shaded summer breeze while children played in the lawn. Farther beyond, the east side apartment building blotted out the stars, every window dark except for one on the fifth floor. Perhaps Dibs was awake like her, unable to locate any peace. Or perhaps tonight he found solace in Margaret’s arms.

  The door swished open behind her.

  “Did you forget something, Reg—” She froze. Panic sliced through her stomach like a hot knife.

  Vanessa Brenner stood at the opposite end of the room, ash blonde hair tumbling past the shoulders of her light-blue dressing gown. A deep strain etched the corners of her eyes, her cheeks gaunt…hollow. She appeared fragile, like a wisp of ghost, her skin so pale it seemed nearly translucent.

  She adjusted the rigid set of her shoulders. “You’ve kept me awake, Ms. Adams. So I’ve come in search of you, like a silly schoolgirl in my bedclothes.”

  A million different retorts soured Tessa’s tongue, but the words refused to come. Of all the people she may have guessed would enter the ballroom at this hour, Vanessa Brenner wasn’t among them. She clasped her elbows tight at her waist to contain a shudder. What could the woman possibly want? Tessa had already surrendered everything she valued.

  She glided across the room, her silk gown whispering at her slippered feet. “My son made a fool of himself this evening, Ms. Adams.” She stopped at the nearest table and selected one of the champagne flutes, lifted it to eye level, and twisted the delicate silver stem in her fingertips. “In front of two hundred and fifty of my husband’s top executives, he acted the madman.”

  She replaced the flute, and then smoothed away the wrinkle it had made in the tablecloth. “Might you be surprised to learn, there was once a time when a man behaved in such a fashion for me?”

  Each move she made brought her nearer, and Tessa swallowed past the dry lump in her throat. “Not at all. In fact, I’m quite certain of it, Mrs. Brenner.”

  Her low laughter was filled with scorn. “Oh, come now. Let us speak candidly with each other. After David’s performance, I think he deserves our honesty, don’t you?”

  Anger flared in Tessa’s chest. She and Dibs once had everything, until this woman had conspired against them. “In my opinion, David deserves more than simple honesty. Much, much more.”

  “You speak of love,” she said flatly. She trailed a hand along the back of a chair, breezing toward the grand piano. “I’ve worked very hard to spare my children the consequences of that menace. But it would seem my efforts have been in vain.”

  Tessa narrowed her eyes. “If you’ve come seeking an apology because I fell in love with your son, I’m afraid you will leave this room disappointed. For the rest of my life, I will regret the day I let David go.”

  “Yet you did.” She swept her fingertips along the curve of the polished black piano, faced Tessa, and dusted her fingers in the air. “At every turn, you acted contrary to my expectations. Any other woman would have stood by his side, perhaps even made his family the enemy.”

  Is that what this was about? Dibs’s mother expected an explanation of her actions? Fine. Let the duplicity end. At this point, she had nothing left to lose. “Distancing David from the rest of his life would have only hurt him. By letting him go, I made his choice easier.”

  Vanessa inclined her head. “So you found the source of his hurt and took it away from him, even though this meant sacrificing your own happiness.”

  Wait…Had the woman just recited the same words she’d used at Bernhamwood? “I told you I would do as much.”

  Her silent footfalls continued to the far side of the room. “And when I made sure Michael was reintroduced into your life, instead of telling David, you kept his arrival secret.”

  The woman nipped dangerously close to her breaking point. Tessa fisted her hands at her sides. “Deceitful though my actions may have been, I found no reason to worry David over circumstances neither of us had a hand in initiating. Seeing Michael did nothing but strengthen my commitment to your son.”

  She drifted along the glass doors, closing the distance. “So knowing Michael’s appearance would make David upset, possibly even angry, you bore the weight of it yourself, and found the words to make him feel better.”

  Tears blurred Tessa’s vision. “I did.”

  Mrs. Brenner stopped directly in front of her. “And after learning of the reconciliation, after finding Margaret in his room, you bow away gracefully and leave him to her vices.”

  “David already assumes the worst of me. If finding comfort in another’s arms brings him a small bit of kindness, he goes to those arms with my blessing.”

  “So when he is depressed, you wish him joy,” she whispered. Her brow creased, but the intense longing in her eyes gave Tessa pause…and confirmed every one of her suspicions.

  “What was his name?” she asked.

  Alarm flitted across Vanessa’s face. “What do you mean?”

  “The man who did this to you. What was his name?”

  She softly inhaled. Had they not been standing so close, the delicate gasp would have passed Tessa by unwitting. But that one small breath was enough. “How did you…”

  “Because I was once like you,” she said. “Trust no one. Protect y
ourself. Deny your emotions, anything so you don’t get hurt. Keep your distance, seal your heart away, and for God’s sake, don’t fall in love. Anything is better than that misery. The desperate loneliness is nothing compared to the torture of falling in love and then being abandoned.”

  A single tear spilled over Vanessa’s lashes and trickled down her pale cheek. She closed her eyes, and a quiet moment lingered in the space between them.

  Her eyes fluttered opened and she straightened her shoulders. “You’ve done well, Ms. Adams”—she turned and retraced her path through the room—“far exceeding my expectations. So in return I shall grant you one favor. I’ve become bored with Margaret. I’m sending her home. The rest I shall leave in your capable hands.”

  Tessa’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Had Vanessa Brenner just paid her a compliment? Offered to help? Her pulse leapt in a dizzying combination of excitement and rage. Only now, after it was too late, did the woman finally realize what she’d done! “You despised me from the beginning, cast every obstacle in my path, and now you’ve suddenly decided I merit your assistance? I appreciate the effort, but I fear your decision has come too late. David no longer loves me.”

  She stopped before the doorway, a perfect shrewd eyebrow wrinkling her forehead. “Don’t play the defeatist with me. David is desperately in love with you. It’s written plain as day all over the both of you. So I suggest you use this time wisely. If by Sunday evening he decides to pursue this folly, his father and I will no longer intervene. But you used Michael to your own advantage. That’s your mess to clean up.”

  A hand pressed to the door, she hesitated. “Need I remind you, should you ever make me regret my decision, this truce I’m considering will immediately cease?”

  “Mrs. Brenner, if I should ever be so lucky to win back David’s heart, you can rest assured, no harm will come to him.”

  “I thought not.” She turned to leave and hesitated a second time. “You may call me Vanessa.” She pushed through the door and disappeared.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Tessa glanced nervously around the bustling activity in the Park’s main lobby, boxed in by Celeste and Roxanne, fighting to concentrate while Tiffany ran down a schedule of the day’s activities. But she might as well have been speaking Greek. The laundry list of worries running through Tessa’s mind blocked out everything else, her previous night’s conversation with Mrs. Brenner the front runner among them.

  Although their so-called truce was a huge relief, in actuality Vanessa’s vote of confidence had become nothing more than a double-edged sword. If Tessa failed at explaining her actions to Dibs, now everyone would be disappointed. The burden placed a crushing weight on her shoulders, while here she stood, clipboard and pen in hand, fielding questions like Julie the cruise director on some deranged episode of Love Boat.

  Every time someone entered the room, her head wrenched in that direction, and then invariably her shoulders would drop, first terrified then disappointed when the guest who appeared wasn’t Dibs.

  Dizzy spells occurred with increasing frequency. Would Dibs even acknowledge her presence or ignore her altogether? She kept internally rehearsing what she might say. Nothing seemed right. By the way, I lied about more than you think…Or maybe, Good news, your mother finally called off the dogs…Only to fear no matter what she blurted, he would be so furious her words wouldn’t even matter.

  She tried to keep her head in the game by greeting guests, escorting them to the Rotunda for the continental breakfast. Celeste and Roxanne had been assigned seminar duty, and often disappeared to accompany attendees through the facility to their classes. Family members were directed to the lawn where a variety of activities awaited—a clown making balloon animals, a magician, and even a small carousel. Soon the balloon jumps bounced and swayed while children romped inside, and an uncoordinated rhythm of clacks punctuated the air, either from the croquet area, the batting cage, or driving range.

  When the sun finally rose to late morning, Tessa excused herself for the Alabaster Ballroom to double-check the preparations for the Fifties-themed lunch. American cuisine was on the menu, everything from triple cheeseburgers and chili dogs, to cherry cokes and banana splits. The main bar had been converted into a malt shop, complete with soda jerk, a counter with stools, and a spinning red and white striped pole.

  As she leaned behind the bar to turn on the neon signs, someone touched her arm. “Well, hi, Marcus.” She returned his smile. “How are you today?”

  “Good, good.” He nodded. “But I thought you’d better take a peek at something in the ballroom.”

  She slumped, envisioning all those crystal shards from the night before. “Oh no. Now what?”

  “You’re having a technical malfunction of some kind. I’m not sure what’s going on.”

  She hurried at his side down the long hallway, and once inside the ballroom, he pointed to a corner near the ceiling. A section of cream drapery hung slack from its backing, a gaping hole where the material was once smoothly draped. A tall A-frame ladder waited near the wall, easily within arm’s reach of the material.

  The whole scene stank of subterfuge, as if someone had climbed the ladder and purposely loosened the material.

  She aimed a sharp eyebrow at Dibs’s brother. This was his idea of helping? “Wow, Marcus, good eye. How did you ever see that?”

  “I usually cut through here on my way to the apartments.” His focus never wavered from the corner. “I saw it and thought I’d better say something before the awards ceremony tonight.”

  “And you even thought to bring me a ladder. How nice.”

  “Just helping out.” He rocked forward on his toes, smiling pleasantly. “I would have climbed up and fixed it, but I know you have a real affinity for these things.”

  “You do, huh?” She narrowed her eyes. “Okay. You hold the ladder and I’ll climb up and see about fixing it.” She wagged a finger at him. “And quit cutting through here during my watch. You’ll get the floor dirty.”

  “Fine, fine.” He waved a hand in front of his face.

  She adjusted the ladder, assessing the height of the ceiling before gingerly climbing to the top. The ladder shimmied beneath her, and she instinctively held a breath, exhaling only after Marcus applied pressure to the bottom rung and the ladder stabilized. She stretched as far as her reach allowed, and gently pressed the drape in place.

  The ladder teetered to the left and she seized the top with both hands. “Hold it steady, Marcus!”

  It broke over its threshold of balance and tipped precariously to the right. She gasped, a hand braced against the wall. “For God’s sake, hold the damn ladder!”

  The ladder suddenly straightened and went rigid.

  “Thank you,” she muttered. She tugged and straightened the material until it hung wrinkle free, and once it met with her approval, she carefully descended to the floor.

  From the ground, the drape looked perfect. No one would ever be able to tell. She faced Marcus with a smile, and her heart soared into her throat. She grabbed the ladder and hung tight.

  “What were you doing up there?” Dibs scolded. The sleeve of his fitted white shirt strained around his biceps when he raked a hand through his hair. “Can’t somebody else do that? My God, you could fall and break your neck.”

  “Sorry. I mean, Marcus was…and the drape…so I thought…” She grimaced.

  “I don’t care what happened. You shouldn’t be up there by yourself.”

  The last thing she wanted was to fight with him. That wasn’t what either of them needed. Besides, he only had her best interests at heart. “You’re right, of course. Stupid move.” She peeked at him through her lashes. “Won’t happen again.”

  His scowl remained intact, but he nodded, and a bit of tension eased from his shoulders.

  “Thank you for the help,” she said. “You came along at the perfect—” Whoa. Wait a second. Rewind. “Can I ask what you’re doing here?”

  “I usually cut throug
h the ballroom on my way to the apartments.”

  “Ah.” Her chin rose as all the little pieces fell into place. She’d been lassoed straight into Marcus’s trap. “Well, thanks. I appreciate the help.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  A stress-filled silence descended. Elephant in the room, hell. The tension between them weighed in at the size of a blue whale. She just wanted to talk to him, like she’d always done. If only they could discuss everything that happened without the conversation being forced or strained.

  Dibs finally cleared his throat, shifting his stance. “Listen, I owe you an apology. For last night. I’m sorry I got so angry. I made a mess of things, and I know how you hate that.”

  Her entire insides turned to mush. “Oh. Don’t worry about that. I’m the one who should—”

  “Just—” he held up a hand. “Let me get this out.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Whatever happens between you and Michael is none of my business. Though it pains me to say this, you chose him…and I’m…otherwise detained.”

  A wall of despair crumbled inside her chest, a thick plume of regret settling in its ashes. She had been right. Even though Mrs. Brenner consented to their relationship, her efforts came too late. Dibs had moved on. Made his own choice…with Margaret.

  Unless…Had his mother not told him of her decision? Did it even matter? Perhaps she had and Dibs didn’t care. Maybe he’d asked Margaret to stay regardless. Maybe they’d already come to some sort of agreement. And how could she blame him? Doing as much was the one place he still retained an element of control. And if that was the case, did she really want to rip the rug out from underneath him? Throw another monkey wrench into the works?

  The questions were too numerous to count. She needed time to think through her next move. “I see.”

  “At least we can say we gave it a good try, right?”

  She nodded, incapable of speech past the bitter sorrow constricting her throat.

  “Maybe one day we can be friends.” Gravel rasped in his voice. “Whenever you’re ready, that is.”