Still Waters...

by Crysal V. Rhodes

  CHAPTER 12

  The early morning sun awakened Bev from her slumber. Sleeping in the chair wasn’t the most comfortable place she could think of, but if her mother could do it, so could she. Stretching the kinks out of her body she glanced over at Dana and was greeted with only the beeps of the hospital equipment. There was no movement in the bed. She would never verbalize it, and she felt guilty even thinking it, but Bev was glad. Last night she was so angry at her sister that she’d wanted to harm her. That feeling had vanished as the evening passed. At this moment she felt only sadness and disappointment.

  She and Dana had been raised by their parents to have pride in themselves and in their family. Yet it seemed that Dana’s love for a man superseded everything else in her life, even reality. Bev had loved a man like that. The members of the Stillwaters family did love hard, and she knew that love could make you do foolish things, but in Dana’s case what she was claiming was pure insanity.

  Getting to her feet, she started across the room to check the hallway for a nurse, but the ring of a telephone surprised her. She glanced at the silent phone by Dana’s bed. A second ring helped her trace the source of the sound. It was coming from her jacket pocket.

  She withdrew the cell phone, remembering that it belonged to her sister. She had used it last night to call Ray.

  “Hello?” she spoke softly.

  “Dana?” The voice was small and uncertain.

  “No, this is her sister, Bev. Who’s calling?”

  “Uh, this is Renee Ingram, I’m a friend of hers…”

  “Let me call you back, Miss Ingram. I can’t talk now.” Bev disconnected without explanation and pocketed the cell phone just as the nurse came into the room.

  After getting an update on Dana’s condition, she asked her cousin Gerry to take her place and went outside to return Renee’s call.

  “Hello, Miss Ingram…”

  “Mrs. Ingram.” The woman was firm about the correction.

  “Sorry, Mrs. Ingram, this is Beverly Cameron, Dana’s sister. I just spoke to you.”

  “Yes, I’ve called and left messages for Dana at her house, her office, and on her cell, but I haven’t heard from her. Is something wrong?”

  “There’s been an accident.” Bev sat down on the same bench she had occupied last night. “My sister is in the hospital.”

  “Oh, no! Is she all right?”

  “I’m afraid that her condition is serious. She’s in a coma.”

  “Is she expected to recover?”

  Bev felt the weight of that question on her heart. “We pray that she will.”

  She looked up and saw her mother walking toward her. Ray followed.

  “Which hospital is she in?” asked Mrs. Ingram. “I’d like to send some flowers.”

  Bev told her and said a hurried goodbye just as Ginny and Ray reached her.

  “How is she this morning?” Ginny asked, greeting her daughter with a hug.

  Bev looked at her mother. Her face was drawn and the sparkle that she was used to seeing in her eyes was not there. “She’s about the same, but look at you. Why didn’t you get more rest? We’ve got it covered here. Gerry is with her now. Uncle Gerald said that the two of them would sit with her today.”

  “I tried to tell her that,” Ray interjected. His concern was evident.

  “Thank you, Ray, but as I told you, that’s my child in that hospital bed, and if God hears my prayers I plan on being beside her when she wakes up.” Ginny addressed Bev. “What would you do if it was Darnell?”

  Bev didn’t answer. She didn’t have to.

  Ginny kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll talk to you later.” She waved goodbye to them both and headed into the hospital.

  Ray joined her on the bench. “I’m beginning to think of this as our meeting place.”

  Bev gave him the smallest hint of a smile. He could see the signs of fatigue around her eyes. “Let’s get you back to the house so that you can rest. You can’t convince Ginny to do something that you won’t do.” Standing, he held out his hand to her.

  Taking Ray’s hand, Bev walked with him to his car. She fell into the passenger seat listlessly. She was tired and she was depressed. The brief ride to Ray’s house was a quiet one.

  Bev was glad. She didn’t feel like talking. Relaxing on the headrest, she closed her eyes, appreciating Ray’s understanding her need for solitude. He was quite a man. That was her last thought as she drifted off to sleep.

  * * *

  Bev awakened to the shadows of the early evening creeping between the closed vertical blinds of the bedroom suite that she occupied in Ray’s house. Turning, she peered at the clock. It was late. The illuminated numbers read 5:00 p.m.

  She rolled on her back, trying to remember how she’d gotten into bed. But it wasn’t a difficult question to answer. Ray. He had taken her shoes and most of her jewelry off. The chains that she wore had been carefully placed on the table next to the bed, except for one—the one holding the ring. It was still around her neck.

  Bev gave a contented sigh. She had known Ray for all of these years and truly regretted having wasted them not really getting to know him. Her perception had been based solely on her speculation of the kind of person that she thought him to be. When she first met him, he had been pushy and bold about his attraction to her, and his boldness had been her excuse to reject him, that and his age. Now she was running out of excuses. They no longer had the potency they once had, especially the age factor. Ray was no youngster, and time after time he kept proving how much of a man he was.

  Of course she really didn’t have time for a man in her life right now. There were family obligations to consider. The last gathering had all but assured her of becoming the leader of the Stillwaters clan one day. She was Ginny’s eldest daughter. That made the line of succession in her favor. Until that time, Bev would be assisting her mother whenever she needed her. She had even considered giving up Freedom Financial Services, her investment consulting business in Chicago, and moving to Stillwaters as a permanent resident. There was nothing to stop her.

  She was a self-employed businesswoman who had invested her money wisely, profited from those investments, and was now wealthy enough to wield power that few women in America enjoyed. If she wanted, she could retire early and live as she pleased for the rest of her life, which if her family was any indication, would be a long, long time. That was what she was considering when she’d had a house built in Stillwaters. Ray was a product of large cities. He wouldn’t want to live in a small town.

  Bev sat straight up, jolted by that thought. Where had that come from? What was she thinking? She’d gone from rejecting the man to thinking about living with him? They had shared two kisses, the meaning of which neither of them had discussed. That certainly didn’t lay the foundation for a relationship. She and Ray were simply developing a friendship, nothing more.

  Flipping the covers back, Bev bounced out of the bed, grabbed some clothing from her suitcase, and headed for the shower. It was time to get back to real life.

  * * *

  In his downstairs office Ray went through the papers in Mitch’s briefcase. There was nothing unusual that he could find. Settling back in his swivel chair, he pushed the case aside on his desk. He had been hoping that something in it would give him a clue as to what Dana was referring to when he last spoke to her.

  Just how much had Dana loved that man? Was it enough for her to be delusional about his death and its cause? Had it affected her mentally? Hell! Did love drive you crazy? The thought wasn’t all that outrageous. He remembered when he was in college and had fallen in love with the woman who was now his ex-wife. He had been twenty and she nineteen, and they’d thought that they couldn’t live without each other. They married too soon and fell out of love quickly. It had been a mistake from the beginning, but they were crazy in love and hadn’t known that love could be destructive until it was too late. Yet over the years Ray had observed relationships that looked as though they would la
st a lifetime. The marriage between Thad and Darnell was one of those.

  When his best friend fell in love with the talented songbird and got married, all of the wild nights and wilder women that Thad and he had enjoyed together had fallen by the wayside. The relationship between the two men had undergone a change. His friend had found the love of his life in Darnell Cameron. She had become his life. Every thought he had was about her, every plan he made revolved around her. His boy was completely gone. There wasn’t much that Darnell asked of Thad that he would deny her, and she was as much in love with him as he was with her. Yeah, theirs was a crazy love, but it wasn’t insane. He was beginning to think that the latter might have been the case when it came to Dana and Mitch.

  The two of them hadn’t even known each other that long before they were planning to get married, and if he was counting correctly, they would have had six spouses between them if they had tied the knot. Even though their engagement had lasted for years, Ray’s guess was that the marriage wouldn’t have lasted six months. He really wished that Dana hadn’t dragged him into this. If it wasn’t for Bev he would forget the whole thing.

  Bev. Putting his hands behind his head, he leaned back and visualized her lovely face—the chiseled cheekbones that gave her such an exotic appearance, and those flashing, dark eyes that were so expressive. If there was a woman who could entice the crazy love out of him, she would be the one. He hadn’t felt like this about a woman since—he thought hard and couldn’t think of anyone who had ever made him feel this way. The signs that she was warming up to him were plentiful. All he needed was to be patient.

  As if he had willed it, Bev appeared at his office door. Dressed in an ankle-length sundress, she looked casually chic. Everything about her was perfect, from the dangling gold earrings to her painted toenails. Her vibrant smile brightened his day.

  “I didn’t know that you wore those.” Leaning against the door frame she nodded at the stylish eye glasses perched on his face.

  Ray removed them. “They’re for reading.”

  “So are mine.” Bev pushed away from the door frame and entered. “You didn’t have to take them off. You look sort of distinguished.”

  “Do you mean older?” It was time to lay all of his cards on the table.

  “I take it that you bringing that up means that we’ve got something to talk about.”

  Bev took a seat on a leather sofa opposite his desk.

  Moving across the room, Ray sat down next to her. “Yes, I think that there is a little something that we might discuss.”

  Bev shifted her body to face him. “Like when you kissed me?”

  Ray hadn’t meant to discuss that yet. “No, like when you kissed me.”

  “Did you like it?” Bev wiggled her eyebrows.

  Her reply surprised him. “So the sophisticated Mrs. Cameron has jokes. Now tell me something else about yourself that I don’t know.”

  Bev’s tone turned serious. “I’ve loved one man as long as I can remember and I don’t think that I’ll ever love another one as much as I did him.”

  Ray didn’t like the sound of that. “Does that mean that there’s no place for another man in your life at all?”

  Bev shook her head. “No, I’ve dated over the years, but nothing serious.”

  “And?”

  “And I want you to know where I stand. I like you a lot, Ray…”

  “A lot, in spite of my age?” He looked into the depths of her eyes.

  Bev didn’t waver. “An awful lot, and I haven’t said those words to any man in a long time.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “But we both have to remember that after Dana gets better and all of this is over…”

  “This what?”

  Bev smirked. “I see that you’re a man who hears what he wants to hear.”

  Ray nodded. “Not always, but right now it’s suiting my purpose.”

  “Then the this that I’m referring to is the attraction that’s developed between us, this flirting thing…”

  Ray laughed. “That’s one way of putting it.”

  “However you want to put it, it’s going to have to come to an end eventually. After all, I live in Chicago and you live in L.A., and that can prove to be difficult.”

  Ray took her hand in his and entwined their fingers. “Oh, I don’t know about that. People have long-distance relationships all of the time. Planes fly, plus we have a personal connection.”

  “Darnell and Thad.”

  “Actually, I was thinking of Nia, your granddaughter and my godchild. That’s a lifetime connection as far as I’m concerned.”

  Bev liked what he was saying, but she had to remain focused. “I know that we’ll see each other occasionally, just as we have over the years, but…”

  “I plan on seeing you more than occasionally.” He brought her hand to his lips. “I want a relationship with you, not a few quickies in passing. You mean more to me than that.” He ran a gentle finger down her cheek. “I’m a forty-three-year-old man, divorced…”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Yep, married at twenty, divorced at twenty-two, and I have no children.”

  “Do you want kids?” That wasn’t an option for her. Her child-bearing days were over.

  “Not particularly,” Ray said honestly. “The kids that I mentor are good enough for me. But I do want you.” He traced the contours of her mouth. “The first time that I saw you I knew that, and my feelings have only grown deeper and stronger the better that I get to know you.”

  Bev could hardly breathe. His words were overwhelming. Sitting back, she gave herself a moment to think before replying. Ray Wilson could make quite a difference in her life. Would she be foolish not to explore the possibility? Yet…

  Ray watched as she fingered the ring on one of the gold chains around her neck. He wondered what she was thinking. Couldn’t she see that they could be good together?

  “There are a lot of excuses I can give you why this might not work.”

  “I think you’ve exhausted them all.” He gave her a crooked grin. “Don’t let the past hold you prisoner, Bev.” He drew her to him. “Give the present a chance.”

  His mouth took possession of hers, and Bev opened to let him in. This kiss was different than the first one that they had shared. It wasn’t tentative. It wasn’t searching for the answers to her desires. It was confident and meant to inflame. Ray’s heart was in this kiss, but just as Bev started to respond he drew away.

  “Your body isn’t the only thing that I want,” he breathed hotly against her ear. “It’s your heart I want, and I won’t settle for anything less.”

  CHAPTER 13

  “We’re not sex-starved teenagers. We need to take our time with this.” Ray tried to concentrate on the highway leading to Dana’s house as he and Bev discussed the evolving relationship between them.

  Bev was pleased with what he was saying. “I’m glad that you think like that. In this day and age when you meet one minute then you’re in bed with each other the next, I wasn’t sure what you expected.”

  “Translated, I’m younger so you thought that I’d think differently about sex.”

  “You’re perceptive. I like your style.”

  Ray merged easily onto a connecting highway. “We’ve got to be honest with each other, Bev, or we won’t work, and with that in mind I want to ask you something.”

  Bev shifted in her seat to give him her full attention. “What is it?”

  “It’s about Darnell. What do you think she’ll say about us getting together?”

  “Well, she is still ticked off about you coming to Stillwaters with Dana.”

  “I know that.”

  “But she’s a realist, and she knows better than to meddle in my business. I’m the mama.”

  They both laughed at the latter statement.

  “I don’t have to tell you how Thad will feel about us.” Ray eased onto the exit leading to their destination.

  “H
e’ll probably throw a party.” Bev chuckled. Her son-in-law had been one of Ray’s staunchest advocates in his friend’s efforts to attract Bev’s attention.

  “That’s true, but what about the rest of your family? After all, they think that Dana and I are together.”

  “Not any longer,” Bev informed him. “Your creative friend—who happens to be my dishonest sister—took care of that before she left town. Don’t tell me that you didn’t know that the two of you broke up? That’s what she told everybody.”

  “Everybody but me,” Ray sneered sarcastically.

  “But you look like a saint to my family being there for Dana and being of such help to all of us in spite of the break up.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Does that mean that you and I can start a relationship without me getting lynched by the town folk?”

  “I guesssssss.” Bev giggled like a schoolgirl. God! She felt good. She really liked this man.

  Ray turned into Dana’s complex. “You do know that your Grandy scoped us out as getting together a while ago, don’t you?” Ray’s eyes twinkled as he recalled the farewell that the older woman gave him when he left Stillwaters. “She’s a wise woman.”

  “And a remarkable one, too.” Nothing surprised her when it came to Grandy. Bev looked away from Ray for a second to glance out the front windshield. She shifted forward in her seat with concern as she noticed the rotating lights from a police cruiser ahead of them. “What’s all of this?”

  “I don’t know.” Ray slowed the car, preparing to stop. “But it looks like they’re at Dana’s house.”

  After getting out of the car and approaching the police officers, Bev and Ray were told there had been an attempted burglary at her sister’s house. The cleaning service had discovered that a window pane had been broken in the French doors leading to the ground floor patio and the door had been left ajar. Her Uncle Gerald and cousin Gerry, who were staying in Dana’s condo, had been in the house only long enough to put their bags down. A call to them at the hospital revealed that whatever of value each of them might have brought they had with them. Their luggage appeared to be untouched.