“I will, Gloria.” She bent down to kiss her forehead.
“Swear to me,” she whispered. “Swear it.”
Bea stood by the bedside and studied Gloria—frail and ashen, yet, for that instant, her eyes burned with a fierceness that belonged to someone at the peak of health.
“You want me to hook people up? You want me to help people find their beloved? As my job?”
Gloria nodded, her eyes welling with tears.
“Well, okay. Why not?” Bea said, not wanting to agitate her more than she already had. She tucked in the blankets around her bony frame and kissed her forehead once more. “Now you rest.”
* * *
Roxanne had never pretended to be a gourmand. In fact, she’d never pretended to be a decent cook. But in honor of Sondra and Carole’s visit that evening, she’d whipped together one of her staples—fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken, a nice salad, and garlic bread. Eli had been put in charge of dessert and made brownies from scratch, which he planned to top with vanilla ice cream.
Roxanne had to admit that cooking in the middle of Utah didn’t pose any additional challenge. Eli had a huge walk-in freezer downstairs stocked with enough meat, fish, and staples to last through Armageddon. And a quick trip to the Panguitch Grocery Coop scored some salad makings and a loaf of fresh Italian bread, and they were set.
Sondra and Carole arrived early, because Carole wanted to give the couple a chance to pack up and get plenty of rest before their drive the next morning. That was thoughtful of her, but Roxie suspected it was all part of Carole’s plan to ensure she wouldn’t have to spend much time in Roxie’s company.
Dinner was pleasant. Roxie accepted compliments all around for the meal. Sondra’s starstruck enthusiasm over Roxie’s Web site had dimmed a bit, but she still managed to ask Roxie a dozen questions about its day-to-day operation.
“Not that I’d ever want to compete with you or anything, but I was thinking how cool it would be to set up my own site—maybe one just for the former partners of serial cheaters.”
“Sondra,” was all Carole had to say about that.
After a quick cleanup of the kitchen, Eli asked Sondra to help him with evening rounds down at the kennels. Awkwardly enough, that left Carole and Roxie alone in the living room, with nothing to do but sip wine and alternate their gazes from the sunset to the fire in the fireplace. After a few moments of tense silence, Roxie realized it would be up to her.
“Carole.”
“Roxanne.”
They spoke almost at the same time, which provided a good laugh.
“You go first,” Roxanne said.
“No, you,” Carole said.
Roxie put down her wine glass and tucked her legs beneath her in the big leather armchair. She hadn’t anticipated having a one-on-one conversation with Eli’s mother, but figured she’d take advantage of it. “I just want to reassure you that I don’t intend to hurt Eli. I don’t have my claws out.”
Carole blinked, sipping her wine.
“He’s been incredibly good to me. We haven’t known each other long, but there’s been this potent attraction from the start. We both feel it, we enjoy it, and we want to see where it goes.”
Carole nodded slowly.
“I know you don’t approve of what I do for a living, but I assure you it won’t influence my relationship with Eli.”
“Hmm, interesting,” Carole said. “Of course, I have nothing against you personally, Roxanne. You are a lovely and intelligent woman.” Her words were carefully meted out and Roxanne wondered whether she’d rehearsed them in advance. “But no mother wants to see her son walk into something with ‘heartbreak’ written all over it.”
“Ah.” Roxie crossed her arms over her chest. “You think I’m going to break his heart?”
“Oh, I know so.”
Roxie nearly choked. She might not have her claws out, but this mama bear sure did—even though her cub was thirty-two years old and could clearly take care of himself and nearly everyone else in his orbit. “What makes you so certain?”
Carole sighed deeply. She placed her wineglass on a side table and leaned in toward Roxanne. “You’re a bitter girl. Someone hurt you very badly and one day Eli will do something really stupid—because all men do. Who knows? The issue may even be something completely beyond his control, something he has nothing to do with!” Carole nodded with certainty. “But you will turn that bitterness on full blast and you’ll rip him to shreds. It may not happen right away, but it’ll happen.”
Roxanne was dumbstruck. And it occurred to her that if they’d had this conversation a week ago, Carole would have been dead right about it all. But not now. Not after what Roxie had learned about herself, Eli, life. Not after what Eli had so lovingly shown her.
“Look, Carole,” she said, lowering her voice and speaking as calmly as possible. “I am not perfect, but I’m working on being the best person I can be. How about you? Have you never made a mistake? Have you never gone off course and had to steer yourself back? Have you never had to ask someone to give you a second chance?”
Carole pulled her mouth into a tight line.
Roxanne went on. “So, yeah, I had some bad experiences and I let them get to me, but I’m learning to let it go, a little bit every day, because I don’t want to live like that anymore. Eli’s been helping me find a different approach. Now, if that’s not good enough for you—if my desire to do better and my sincere affection for your son aren’t enough—then I guess you’re shit out of luck, and you’re the one who’s going to be bitter.”
They sat in silence. Roxie’s heart was pounding. She could hear her breath sawing in and out of her nostrils. Carole’s face had gone as red as the sunset. Just then, Sondra and Eli clomped up the porch steps.
“Point taken,” Carole said, reaching for her wineglass and raising it, a wry smile on her face. “To second chances.”
Roxanne clinked her glass to Carole’s. “I love him, you know. I love him so much my heart hurts,” she said. The words spilled from Roxie’s mouth and then they were out there. She couldn’t take them back.
“I love him, too,” Carole said.
Just then, the front door flew open. Sondra came rushing in with a gust of evening air, her eyes alive with excitement. Eli followed behind, looking slightly sheepish.
“Guess what, Mom?” she announced. “You and I are going to fly to San Francisco to lend our moral support at the vicious dog hearing! Doesn’t that sound like the best idea ever?”
* * *
After twelve-plus hours in the truck, they longed to stretch their legs. Besides, Roxie needed to practice her newfound pack leader skills in an environment in which Lilith had only experienced fear and instability.
Eli walked at Roxie’s right side, and Lilith was on the leash to the left. As Eli had shown her, Roxie’s eyes were to the front or slowly scanning the horizon. She did not talk to Lilith or look at her. She walked with the short leash loosely draped over her fingers, her arm limp at her side, not a twinge of tension anywhere. They’d been walking like this for about twenty minutes, and it had been the best twenty minutes Roxie had spent in the company of her dog within the San Francisco city limits.
“How does it feel?” Eli asked nonchalantly.
Roxie smiled at him. “Surreal. Fabulous. Wonderful.”
“Don’t get too worked up,” he reminded her.
Roxie chuckled. “Whatever you say.” She stretched up and kissed him on the cheek.
They rounded the corner of Sanchez Street and, of course, they encountered Mrs. Delano. Roxie whispered to Eli, “This is the Sweeping Lady I was telling you about.”
Eli nodded. No one else would have known, but Roxanne could see Eli plugging into the woman, her movements, her energy. “Yikes,” he said under his breath.
“Good evening, Mrs. Delano,” Roxie said. She and Eli stopped as she continued sweeping her driveway. Lilith sat down calmly at Roxie’s side without being asked.
Sudd
enly, Mrs. Delano stopped her swshhing in mid-stroke. She glared at Lilith and then at Roxie and Eli, her brow furrowed.
“This is Eli Gallagher,” Roxie said. “Eli, this is Mrs. Delano.”
Though Eli offered his hand, she gripped the broom with a vengeance.
“We don’t get many cowboys in this neighborhood,” she said, checking him out from boots to the brim of his hat. “Are you one of those Chippendale fellows?”
“No, ma’am,” he replied, biting the inside of his cheek.
It took concentrated effort and a couple of deep breaths for Roxie not to bust out in a guffaw.
Mrs. Delano nodded toward Lilith next, and her frown intensified. “Good thing you finally put her on drugs,” she said. “Safer for everyone.”
Roxanne smiled at her. “Well, have a nice evening.” Their little pack began to move off down the sidewalk.
“Your old flame was here the other day, asking a bunch of questions.” Mrs. Delano paused, then chuckled. “He looked like somebody threw him under a bus.”
Roxie felt her entire body seize in anxiety. Her back and arm went rigid. Immediately, Lilith began to pull at the leash and whine. Roxie didn’t even look at Eli. She knew what she had to do. She took three seconds to breathe, remember her place as pack leader, and feel the stability move back into her flesh and bone. Lilith quieted.
Roxie turned slowly. “Thanks for letting me know,” she said to Mrs. Delano.
“He was asking about some young blond woman he thinks you’re carrying on with. He kept asking about her. He wouldn’t let it drop. It was like he had some kind of obsession problem. Ha! I told him I’d never seen her.”
“Well, thank you. Have a nice evening.” With that, Roxie turned again and they headed toward the house. “What the hell was that about?” she wondered aloud.
“Who knows? The only thing that matters is that you did real good, Ms. Bloom.” Eli slipped his hand around her waist. “Damn good.”
“I did, didn’t I? And it felt great!” She smiled up at Eli. “Now all I have to do is keep it together when he’s standing right in front of me, breathing fire, evil seeping from every pore of his body.”
Eli shrugged. “No problem.”
“It’ll be a snap,” she said, opening her front door. She and Eli stepped across the threshold first, then she motioned for Lilith to join them. She toddled in, tail wagging, head held high.
“Roxie.” Eli reached for her, pulling her up against the front of his body. She felt the heat coming off his skin, the ease coming into her from him, the way it always did.
“You’re going to do great.”
“I am,” she said, nodding gently.
“I will be right there the whole time.”
“I know.”
“Raymond Sandberg is just a sad, angry, lost guy, running around chasing phantoms and making threats. He can’t touch you. And he can’t touch Lilith.”
“I know,” she said, locking eyes with Eli. She breathed in his absolute confidence, transferred his calm control into her own being. And then he kissed her and his hands were all over her like a man possessed.
Chapter 18
The greeting committee was assembled on the front porch of Rick and Josie’s ranch, but Teeny came jogging down the stairs at the first glimpse of Eli’s truck. He was followed by a waddling Ginger supported by Lucio, followed by Bea and another woman Roxie didn’t recognize, plus four raucous dogs. Josie waved frantically from a wicker lounge chair on the porch, Rick at her side.
Roxie giggled at the sight. She’d missed her friends. She couldn’t wait for them to see what she’d been up to.
Eli pulled the truck to a stop and nodded for Roxie to hop out. Roxie kissed him quickly, gestured for Lilith to stay, then jumped from the truck directly into Teeny’s outstretched arms. He swung her around a couple times.
“My God! You look fabulous!” Ginger shouted. “What have you done to yourself?”
“We have missed you!” Lucio kissed her cheek. “It has been far too quiet here!”
Inexplicably, Bea was crying. She pressed Roxie so tight against her breast that she couldn’t breathe, then pulled away gently. “Rox, this is Rachel Needleman, Gloria’s oldest.”
“Oh!” Roxie shook Rachel’s hand, not quite understanding why she was here. “Nice to meet you! How’s your mother? Is she feeling better? I have a few things I’d like to talk to her about.”
“She’s not doing so great right now,” Rachel said, slipping an arm through Bea’s and pressing up against her in a very nonplatonic fashion. Roxie tried her best not to let her jaw unhinge but didn’t succeed. Her eyes flashed to Bea.
“Yeah,” Bea said. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
It was then that Eli made his way around the front end of the truck to join the crowd. Lucio and Teeny slapped his back gregariously and Ginger and Bea kissed his cheek. Bea introduced the latest addition to the group.
“Eli, this is my partner, Rachel Needleman. Rachel, this is the dog whisperer I was telling you about.” With that, Rachel and Eli shook hands and Bea wiggled her eyebrows at Roxanne.
“You can close your mouth now, Bloom,” Bea said. “Come on up to the house. Josie’s dying to see you.”
“Of course!” Roxie grabbed Teeny’s hand and had taken two steps when she stopped. “No! Wait! Hold up!” With that she spun around and returned to the open passenger side door of the truck, where she motioned for Lilith to come out.
The dog hit the dirt and sat quietly. Chen, Tara, Genghis, and HeatherLynn ran up to greet her but slowed as they approached, confused. Lilith’s tail was wagging. Her tongue fell out of the side of her mouth in relaxed happiness, and she looked to Roxanne for permission to do her brand-new, favorite thing—run free with her friends. Roxie made a gentle swish of her index finger and Lilith was off, her ears flying back in the wind, the other dogs playing catch-up.
Everyone stood frozen in the dirt lane. Only Ginger moved, and she rubbed her huge belly in concentric circles as she tried to control her breathing.
“What the fuck?” Bea asked, her face slack with disbelief.
With that, Roxie held out her hand to Eli and he moved to her side. They laced their fingers together.
“You can close your mouth now, Latimer,” she said. “We’ve got some catching up to do.”
* * *
“I’m going tomorrow and that’s final,” Josie said, once she was settled into bed for the evening. “I don’t care what anyone says. I could never let you go through that without my support, Roxanne.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I want to be there to witness the moment you show everyone how good Lilith is and what an asshole Raymond is. I wouldn’t miss it for anything!”
“It might be kind of stressful,” Bea offered.
“Teeny’s going to freak if you go,” Ginger said.
“He’s already freaking,” Roxie pointed out to the women sprawled on love seats and chairs in Josie’s bedroom. “I thought he was going to hack up his salmon croquette when you told him your plans.”
“I’ve done everything the doctor’s wanted,” Josie said, attempting to cross her arms over her belly but giving up when she couldn’t quite reach. “I’ve been a perfect patient. I’m almost to term at this point—only days away from my due date. I feel great!”
Bea shrugged. “Well, the good part is you’ll already be in town if something happens. The Med Center is ten minutes away.”
“Exactly,” Josie said with a nod.
That’s when the focus in the room changed. Everyone turned to Roxanne.
“What happened up there in Utah, Roxie?” Ginger asked, adjusting her position for the fifth time in as many minutes. She looked horribly uncomfortable.
Roxie let her head fall back into the mound of pillows on Josie’s bed. She turned slightly to see her best friend’s freckle-faced smile up close.
Josie grabbed her hand. “First off, you’re in love,” she said. “We ca
n all see it.”
Roxie grinned. “Yeah. I am.”
“Yes!” Bea whispered, yanking her fist back in victory.
Rachel laughed. “She’s been pulling for you.”
“Does Eli know?” Ginger asked. “Have you said it? Has he said it back?”
Roxanne cocked her head, considering that. “Not technically. We’ve hinted at it. We’ve even talked about living together. I did tell his mother that I loved him, does that count?”
“No. That’s just plain strange,” Bea said, causing the laughter to escalate.
“Wait! I had a reason,” Roxanne said, interrupting the merriment. “She came right up to me and told me I would eventually turn bitter on Eli and break his heart. I told her she was wrong, that I loved him.”
Josie’s eyes went wide. “That’s it? You didn’t tell the woman to go screw herself?”
“Yeah, I know. Will the miracles never cease?” Roxie sighed, collecting her thoughts. “All this must strike you as amusing. I mean, I leave here a man-hating demon succubus and I come back a week later floating on a fluffy cloud of love.”
“It’s not funny,” Josie said, squeezing her hand harder. “It’s wonderful.”
“Love looks really good on you,” Ginger said, kicking off her slippers. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d gone and got yourself some Botox and a peel.”
“She doesn’t need a peel,” Bea said, exasperated. “She’s still in her twenties, for God’s sake!”
“All I’m saying is you look stunning,” Ginger said.
“And relaxed,” Josie added. “Honestly, you look happier than I’ve ever seen you, and I’m including the pre-Sandberg era.” Josie smiled at her. “So? Tell us everything!”
Roxanne laughed. “Everything” might be overkill, but she didn’t mind giving them something to chew on. “Josie, do you remember that day at Starbucks when you got steaming mad at me and refused to speak to me for a week?”
Josie frowned. “I did that?”
“You sure did,” Ginger offered helpfully. “It was the same day I told everyone about what was going on with Lucio and me.”
“And how could we forget that?” Bea asked, rolling her eyes. She leaned toward Rachel to explain. “It was scandalous. I had to hose myself off when I got home.”
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