by Stark, Cindy
He finished dressing, watching her, and she knew he wanted a reply. But what else could she say?
"Okay, then, Elena." He blew out a breath. "I'll give you your space. You let me in an inch and then close the door in my face. I have no choice but to let you have it your way." He paused. "But you're making a mistake." He waited, giving her time to respond.
When she didn't, he strode out of the room. The sound of the front door slamming echoed through the house.
She sat for a moment and then went into the bathroom and tried to dry her eyes. She wasn't going to fall apart like a wet tissue. She'd survived worse than this. Right? A shock of pain ripped through her heart, making her feel ill.
She forced her emotions back into their leaky capsule and downed a glass of cold water. She'd be all right. She took a deep breath.
Everything would be okay.
Oh, god. Nothing would ever be okay again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"What were you thinking, Sheri?" Elena grabbed a pink snapdragon from the hand of her part-time afternoon help.
"I—I don't know. You said to pick something pink." The quiet, red-headed teenager looked at her with uncertainty in her eyes.
"You don't put snapdragons in a new-age type of arrangement. Snapdragons say old-fashioned and homespun." She walked to the refrigerator and brought back a pail full of bird-of-paradise. "These will work. See how they're sharp, angular and vibrant? This is what we want."
"But, they're not pink."
Elena sent her an irritated look, and Sheri took a step back. "Sometimes you have to work with what you have."
The bell on the front door chimed. Elena groaned and then promptly ignored the customer. These arrangements had to be finished by four. The mayor's office had given her shop its largest contract this year, and she was determined to make it a success, even if it killed her.
"See." She shoved a stem into the arrangement. "See how this works?"
"Okay." The girl nodded. "I'm really sorry." She was on the verge of tears. "I was just trying to help."
Elena blew out a frustrated breath. "Never mind. I'm the one who should apologize. This whole affair has me on edge." It wasn't Sheri's fault that her supplier had shorted her on flowers, again. Today of all days. Plus, Sheri was the daughter of one of her best customers, and it wouldn't do to gain a reputation as a hard head. "Go see if Carmen needs help with the customers out front."
Sheri couldn't get out of there fast enough. Elena didn't blame her.
"A bit harsh, weren't you?"
Elena turned, ready to battle, but softened when she saw Mercedes holding two Starbucks cups.
Mercedes held one out. "Caramel macchiato?"
"I think I love you." She snatched the cup and sipped, letting the caramel taste soothe her spirit. She sighed. "Thank you. You're a lifesaver."
Mercedes smiled, looking gorgeous in a revealing periwinkle sweater and white capris. "So what's going on here? All of this for the mayor's ball, or whatever you call it?" She fingered a red ginger flower.
"Yes," Elena said, setting aside her cup. "I have to have forty arrangements done by four. Be ready for Cole to pick me up by six, and I'm nowhere near finished." She ran a hand through her disheveled hair, knowing she made it look worse.
"That's right. The mayor's single, rich, not to mention extremely handsome brother did ask to escort you." Mercedes slid a stool closer to Elena's work area and sat. "I noticed the big hole in the street in front of your shop is gone. Did Cole finally manage to pull some strings for you?"
"He says no. Just out of the blue, the construction company started working twenty-four hour shifts so they could finish the project early. Maybe someone else on the street has more clout than me. I don't know what happened. I'm just grateful they're gone."
"Me, too." She sipped from her cup. "What about Joe? How does he feel about your date with Cole?"
"I don't want to talk about it." The situation with Joe was a festering thorn in her heart that she had to ignore for the moment, or she'd fall apart.
"Elena." She tsked and shook her head. "Don't tell me you broke it off."
Elena grabbed another bird of paradise and stuck it in the arrangement, refusing to discuss her choices. "Did I mention that I didn't receive my delivery until eleven, and they didn't send the full shipment?" Her hand shook as she picked up a stem of fresh greenery. "I'm really starting to wonder if someone is trying to sabotage me, and to top it all off, Sheri was trying to put snapdragons where they don't belong."
"Take a breath, chica." Mercedes leaned over and wrapped a reassuring arm around her. "It'll all work out." She glanced about the backroom. "Where's that nephew of mine?"
"Tico already took the first delivery because Emilio is still out making regular runs. I don't have enough room to store and transport all of the flowers at once, so he'll have to make several trips. Of course, that'll cost me time to keep stopping and loading the van." She picked up her cup and took another sip. "Is this what a mental breakdown feels like? I think I'm more stressed than when I filed for divorce."
Mercedes motioned with her hand. "Slow down, slow down." She laughed, and Elena's tension slipped a notch. "Honey, you're not having a breakdown. This is your first big success, and you're just a little nervous."
Elena opened her mouth, but Mercedes silenced her with another upheld hand. "Second, filing for divorce didn't seem so bad, because at that time you hadn't held the world on your shoulders, and you were ready to move on with your life. You'd stopped loving Richard many years before, so it wasn't difficult to walk away."
Elena squeezed her eyes shut. "I really tried to love him, you know?"
"I know, baby. He didn't deserve you, and you've paid a huge price for giving him that chance."
Elena grabbed a tissue from a nearby box and dabbed her eyes. "But I'm better now, right?" She sniffed. "I'm mostly healed, and I'm a strong woman."
Mercedes nodded. "You are. Every day that I fight my own battles, you are my inspiration."
Her declaration just about sent Elena over an emotional precipice. "Stop."
"Okay." She smiled. "I came here to help, not make things worse, but I worry that you're never going to trust anyone again."
"You mean Joe." Her friend could see through her walls like they were glass.
"He's a good man, Elena. Anyone can see that."
She sniffed again. "I'm not ready for a serious relationship, Mercedes."
Her friend picked up another stem of greenery and handed it to her. "Maybe, maybe not. I'm just saying men like Joe don't come along every day. Take it from someone who knows." She winked.
"I know." Talking with Mercedes lifted a weight from her heart. "Since you're here, you should grab some of those yellow lilies out of the refrigerator and make yourself useful."
"Si, senora." Mercedes retrieved the flowers and resumed her seat, pushing aside discarded bits of stems and leaves. "I'm yours for as long as you need me."
"Enough of my crazy life. How's your therapy coming?"
Her friend smiled, a genuine smile that came from deep within, and it lifted Elena's mood even more. Swearing off sex for the time being hadn't dampened her friend's spirit at all.
"It's great. I feel freer than I've felt in a long time. There's a lot of baggage attached to sex. You have to shave your legs every day. You have to worry if he likes your body, if you please him. What if he doesn't please you? And you have to be careful not to hurt him or yourself." She snipped off the bottom of a lily and handed it to Elena. "Living without sex is much simpler."
"So true." Everything in life was simpler when you kept sex out of the equation. Simpler, but not nearly as sweet. Her thoughts jumped to Joe. It had only been two days, and she missed him terribly. Why did she ever think she'd be strong enough to keep her emotions locked away with someone like him?
"My therapist is impressed with my recovery. I'm still working through some painful stuff, but she thinks I should try dating again. But someone
my own age, and no sex with anyone that I haven't dated for at least two months."
"Wow. You are doing well, and that's some good advice." Some she wished she'd heeded herself.
Mercedes bit her glossed bottom lip. "I think I'm ready to give dating, real dating another try."
"I'm really proud of you. I hope you know that." Elena put in one last stalk of greenery and adjusted the flowers to her liking.
"I met someone." The corners of Mercedes's mouth lifted in delight. "He's tall, dark and handsome. We found each other at the library of all places. Can you believe that?"
"You? At a library? What were you doing there?" Elena scrunched her eyebrows together in mock disbelief.
"Excuse me, but I read. Just because I have a fun side, doesn't mean I don't like serious things, too."
Elena smiled, feeling more of her stress slip away. It was good to have the support of a friend to take her mind off things. "I beg your pardon. I didn't mean to insult you," she teased.
"We were both looking for books on automotive repair, and he reached for the same book at the same time as I did. Our hands bumped and the rest is history."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Elena clamped down the chuckle welling inside her. "Automotive repair? Since when do you repair cars?"
Mercedes shrugged. "It's a new hobby of mine. It's good to learn about new things, don't you think?" She picked up the finished arrangement and placed it on a side table with several others.
Elena waited a few moments while they began a new array of yellow sunflowers, purple coneflowers and vibrant red ginger. Automotive repair? She didn't think so. She wanted so badly to laugh, but she refused to point out her friend's white lie. If Mercedes wanted to continue the farce, so be it.
"Okay, fine." Mercedes thrust a coneflower at her. "So, I wasn't there looking at books on cars. And we actually already knew each other, but it sounds so romantic to tell it that way. The truth is I was passing as I saw Emilio go into the library, so I followed him inside. He's always been so nice to me, and I missed talking to men. He seemed like a safe person to be around."
"Emilio?" Elena's laugh found freedom. Once a seductress, always a seductress. "Well, tell me more." She was glad to have Mercedes chatter away about her life, distracting her from thoughts of Joe and of the upcoming evening.
"I was thinking about asking him to dinner. What do you think?"
Elena thought of how bad her regular delivery man had it for Mercedes and tossed a broken red blossom at her friend. "I'm pretty sure he'd say yes."
"I think so, too. Of course, Carmen will hate my guts. Oh wait, she already does."
"Shh…she'll hear you."
They shared a secret laugh, and Elena was beyond happy that her old, confident friend was well on her way back.
* * *
Joe sat on the back deck of his boat, nursing a bottle of beer. A slight breeze blew off the ocean, across the line of boats tied up at the marina. It stirred the air, but did little to cool the late afternoon heat.
He watched a small procession of clouds drift across the sky, blowing along with no particular place to be. Just like he had done in Cabo. Back when life was simple, free and easy. If he could turn time back to the night that he'd met Elena, he'd do it. And when she faltered after hitting on that young punk, he'd drink a toast to himself for being a smart man while he watched her walk away. He definitely didn't need that kind of drama in his life.
He took another swallow of beer. Tilting his ball cap forward to shade his eyes, he leaned back in his chair.
The sound of a woman calling his name brought him upright. He cranked around and found his sister boarding his boat. Great. He pulled his hat down lower and closed his eyes.
"I know you're not asleep, Joe." Renee tugged on the brim of his cap. "I saw you looking at me."
He opened one eye. "What do you want?"
"I want you to sit up and talk to me." She pulled a vacant chair near his and sat. "Mom comes back in a few days, and I'm wondering if you've given any thought to turning the company over to me permanently. If we can present it to her as a united front, I think she'll give us less misery."
He shifted higher in his chair, annoyed that she'd interrupted his afternoon. "You don't waste time taking over, do you?"
"What is your problem? It's not like you haven't been thinking along these same lines. Why are you being such a pain?" She kicked at an empty beer bottle near his feet, sending it rolling across the deck. "From the looks of it, you're well on your way to a hangover tomorrow."
"It's my weekend, and I'll do what I want with it. Why don't you save business for a workday?" He took another long drink just to piss her off.
The set of her lips tightened, but she didn't say anything. She studied him with dark eyes, and just like with their mother, one look chastised better than words.
Oh, hell. He straightened in his chair. "She dumped me. Again."
Renee gave him a disdainful glance. "Elena? Can't say I blame her. Look at you."
He snorted, insulted. "I didn't look like this until after she kicked me to the curb." He ran a hand over his scruffy chin.
"Oh, so we're wallowing in self-pity. Is that it?" She shook her head. "You're so much better than this."
Now, he was getting pissed. "Back off, sis." He thumbed himself in the chest. "She broke my heart, and if I want to wallow, then I'll wallow."
A hint of a smile broke the line of her lips. "It looks like you still have a little fight in you. You might survive, yet."
He stared at her, surprised. She'd been playing him, and he hadn't caught on. It appeared his little sister had a hell of a poker face. He slumped down. "That wasn't nice."
She leaned forward and put her hand on his arm. "You don't need someone to be nice to you. What you need is a good kick in the butt to get you back on your feet."
"I know, but I want to wallow a bit more first." He'd never been one to stay down for long, but damn, this really hurt.
"What you need is something to distract you." She grinned. "Like a new business venture. If you'd get that diving business launched, then I could claim my rightful inheritance, and we'd all be happy."
He sighed and set the half-empty bottle on the deck near his chair. Talking with his sister always made him feel better. "I did actually make some contacts with potential customers yesterday. I also signed a rental agreement for a building a few blocks over. I figured that way I could be close if you needed me." He squinted up at her. "Which you won't."
She laughed. "That's wonderful. I knew you had it in you. I can't wait to hear what Mom has to say."
Joe raised a disbelieving brow.
Renee snorted. "Okay. You're right. She's going to balk at both our suggestions, but she's an old lady. What can she do?"
Joe's disposition warmed at the thought. He and his mother had had plenty of sparring matches over the years, but they'd never let it interfere with their love and respect for each other, and he knew Renee loved her just as much. "That's right. We can take her."
Renee nodded in agreement. "Now, you just have to figure out Elena." She raised her eyebrows in sympathy.
"I don't know what to tell you. It's the same old stuff as before." Same damn, frustrating issues. "I know she cares about me. It's magic when we're together, but as soon as I push her a little, she shoves me away."
"Why do you have to push her?"
"I want to show her that everything will be fine if we're together. I want her to feel safe. Safe to try another relationship."
She raised her brows. "And forcing her hand makes her feel safe?"
He blinked. The answer to that would be a resounding no. "I guess not." How could he have been so stupid? "I…I just wanted to… Hell, I don't know…"
"You're just used to getting your own way and not being told 'no'." His sister smiled. "I think you've met your match."
Renee could very well be right. "I should have realized that pushing her wasn't a good thing." And that meant that there was a dec
ent chance that Elena did love him, she just didn't like being pressured. His heart soared. She just needed time to realize she'd be safe, happy and loved with him. "So how do I tell her that and get her to trust me again?"
"What's wrong with being honest? Call her right now and tell her about your epiphany. Apologize for being a big, stubborn brute, and ask for another chance. If she loves you, she'll agree."
He wasn't a big, stubborn brute. "She's not home. She's got some mayoral campaign function going on." And the thought that she'd be there with another man, even if it was only for business, did not sit well with him. At all.
"Oh, that's right. Carmel's big fund-raising ball at the old Sinclair House. Greg was invited, but he's in Chicago this week, and I don't care to go alone."
A brilliant idea took hold. "Would you care to go with me?" It might be a long shot, but his burning desire to see Elena and tell her how he felt wasn't going to go away. He needed to make things right with her. Even if she refused to see him again, he needed to apologize for badgering her.
Renee glanced at her watch. "I don't know. It's late, and I don't have anything to wear."
"Please?" He gave her his best big brother smile.
She rolled her eyes and heaved a weighted sigh. "The things I do for you," she muttered. "Fine. I'd like to meet this woman who's stolen your heart anyway."
Joe jumped out of his chair, promising to pick Renee up in an hour and a half. She wasn't too pleased about the time constraint, but he wasn't about to miss this opportunity.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Elena allowed Cole to help her out of his Maserati, feeling more composed than she had all day. She'd finished her floral arrangements, barely leaving her enough time to switch roles from business proprietor to socialite. But she'd done it.
Thank heavens she'd had time to get ready, because her date was dressed to the nines. The mayor's brother was an attractive man with curly brown hair and an athletic build, complete with a California tan. She'd been pleased when he'd asked her to accompany him to the mayor's ball, knowing that his connections could really help her business, and of course, that was before Joe had slipped back into her life.
