The woman wasn't blushing or fawning, which told Chantal that all this attention didn't impress her much. She might look odd, but it was obvious to an interested observer that this was a strong, capable woman, whose head wasn't turned by being suddenly catapulted into the limelight.
And then they were there, and she was finally facing the man who had so impacted her life. While the woman looked as cool as a cucumber, the man was quite the opposite. His eyes rolled as he darted looks everywhere. He was decidedly uncomfortable. She felt real relief that he wasn't a strutting braggart, because she had hoped he wouldn't be one of those.
His face was craggy and there were a number of places where there were bits of lighter flesh, that suggested newly healed injuries. She saw the streak on his left temple and knew, instinctively that this was where he'd been shot. Shot while stopping those men from ruining her life ... from taking her life.
She stepped forward and hugged him. The woman with him didn't let go of his arm.
She leaned back and brought one finger up to trace along the scar on his temple. The band suddenly roared to life and people yelled. Microphones were thrust near her face, on long booms, as people crowded around. She hadn't planned for any of this, and the urge she felt next wasn't planned for either.
She leaned forward and pressed her lips to that bullet wound.
"You wanna back up offa my man, lady?" growled the young woman who was still holding his arm.
Chantal looked over at the woman, using the cool, superior look she'd practiced in the mirror for hours-raising only one eyebrow slightly and looking down her nose ... just a little ... at the woman.
"You can keep him," she said softly. "I just want to thank him."
"I can get behind that," said Lulu, smiling brightly. "Could we hurry just a little? You interrupted a really nice orgasm and I'd kind of like to get back to it."
Chantal's eyes went round for just a second and then she laughed.
She held up her hands then, in the universal sign asking for silence, and the crowd slowly obeyed her. The microphones hovered above her head, weaving in the air as the people holding them were jostled by the crowd. The band finally honked to an abrupt end.
She made her little speech and the crowd went wild. The band started up again, and this time, when Chantal hugged him, she included the woman in the hug too.
"One more thing," she said, half yelling as the hug ended. She reached into her purse and brought out a piece of paper. It was a check. "We offered a reward. This is for you."
"No," blurted Kris. "I couldn't!"
"Don't listen to him ... he's a man," said Lulu. She plucked the check from Chantal's fingers. "I'll just take care of this for him."
Chantal looked at Lulu. "You're a lucky woman."
"I know," said Lulu, stuffing the check into her jeans pocket. "Thank you."
"You must come to the mansion for dinner some time," said Chantal, looking at Lulu.
"Can I bring him?" Lulu grinned.
Chantal laughed. "At least once," she said. "And your little boy, too, of course."
"Of course," said Lulu, beaming.
Chapter Thirty-four
No one was in a hurry to let the famous woman leave, which translated into people standing too close to the helicopter to allow the pilot to spin up the rotors. Chief Whittaker finally began to exert influence, and his men, all of whom were present, began pushing the crowd back. Once the pilot started the engine, people were much quicker in retreating, but still braved the rotor wash to stand and watch as the big bird lifted off the ground.
Mitch looked around for Kris and Lulu, and saw Jessica standing alone, watching the helicopter get smaller and smaller. He walked over to her.
"You look envious," he said. "Do you wish you were on it?"
She looked at him and blinked.
"I don't want to leave you," she said, her voice holding complaint.
"I'm glad to hear you say that," he said. "Where's Lulu?"
"They left," she said.
"They did?" he asked, incredulous.
"You know Lulu," said Jessica, shrugging. She suddenly smiled. "You have any plans?"
"Nope. The excitement is all over."
"It doesn't have to be," she said. "Your place or mine?"
* * *
Ambrose's questions had been answered and he was watching a video on TV. Kris had calmed down and was breathing almost normally. Lulu remembered the check and got the crumpled paper from her pocket. She stared at it as she smoothed the wrinkles out of it.
"Kris," she said weakly. "This is for two hundred thousand dollars!"
He just stared at her.
"Wow," she said softly. "Know what?"
"What?"
"Looking at this check makes me horny."
"Then I'm glad she gave it to me."
* * *
They had chosen her place, because it was closer.
Jessica pulled her lips away from Mitch's and sighed.
"I never thought I'd love kissing you so much."
"I never thought I'd ever get to kiss you at all," he said, smiling.
"But you wanted to ... right?" she asked.
"It's kind of strange," he said uncomfortably.
"Strange how?"
"I'm afraid you'll get mad at me if I tell you," he said.
"Oh," she said. "Well then, never mind. I already know anyway."
"You do?" Mitch looked confused.
"I've been black all my life, Mitch," she said softly.
"That's not it," he said immediately. Even he knew it sounded false and hollow.
"If we're going to build something here," she said, "and since I gave you my virginity we'd better be building something here ... we have to be honest with each other."
"I know," he said softly. "It's just that I feel so stupid."
"Well you're not. You're normal. I never thought I'd take up with a white boy either, you know."
"You didn't?" He sounded surprised.
"Why would you assume I'd go for a white boy, when you weren't willing to entertain the idea of you having a relationship with a black woman, Mitch?" Her voice sounded unhappy, but she was still pressed against him.
"I don't know," he moaned. "I just didn't picture me with that kind of woman I guess."
"And you figured that I'd settle for second best because there were no black men in Pembroke for me to fall in love with?"
"I guess I did," he said.
"So you think that as soon as some studly brother comes along, I'll jump ship and chase after dark meat?"
"No!" he said quickly. "I might have before, but I've gotten to know you better ... or deeper ... or something. I think about you differently now than I used to."
"Well that's good, Mitch Connel, because you're stuck with me, buster. I still don't understand what happened between us, but I'm not going to question it. I know how I feel, and as untrained and ignorant as you are, I can't stand the thought of being away from you for more than a few hours. I know that's crazy, but that's the way it is."
"I feel the same way!" he insisted.
"And, if you think you're going to get away with treating me like you treated Carla, you're in for a very rude awakening," she said.
"That's the whole thing," he moaned. "When I think about how I feel about you, it's nothing like how I felt about Carla. Carla was like puppy love, compared to this. That's what scares me!"
"You're scared of me?" Her voice was high.
"I guess I am. Or maybe I'm scared of what I'd be willing to do for you."
"Would you rob a bank for me?"
"No." He glared at her.
"That's okay," she said. "A bank doesn't have what I want from you anyway."
"What do you want from me?" he asked.
"If you didn't have all those clothes on, you'd know," she said, rubbing her loins against his.
Ten minutes later he let himself down, almost gently, on top of her, just lying on her and kissing her.
"Did you go on the pill yet?" he asked.
"No."
"Jessica," he moaned.
"Did you bring a condom?"
"No."
"Mitch," she moaned, her voice theatrical, like his had been. She giggled.
"What are we going to do?" he grumped.
"We're going to make sweet love," she said, spreading her legs.
"Without protection," he said.
"Uh huh," she sighed, reaching between them to find his stiff prod.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because that's how much I love you," she said.
* * *
It was Lulu's day off and she'd arrived at Kris' rental early, with Ambrose in tow. She leaned on the doorbell and heard a muffled shout from within. Kris opened the door with a frown, that turned almost instantly to a grin.
"To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" he asked.
"You've been lollygagging about finding a house," said Lulu. "Ambrose and I are here to help you choose one."
"I can live anywhere," he said, his face straight. "I lived in the bush for a whole week with no tent one time."
"Oh?" Lulu looked doubtful.
"I'm remembering more and more. I think I was just too tense before. Now that things have calmed down, I get little bits and snatches pretty often. Sometimes they don't mean much, but I spent a week in the bush with a couple of aborigines one time and I remembered a lot of that."
"Well we're not going to come visit you if you're living under a tree," said Lulu. "We have standards."
"What's standards?" piped Ambrose.
"It means we're picky, darling," said his mother.
"But you always tell me to stop being so picky," complained Ambrose.
"That's different. That's about how you eat. If Kris lived in a cave, you wouldn't want to go visit him would you?"
"A cave? Cool!" squealed Ambrose.
"There you go," said Kris. "I have his seal of approval."
"Well you don't have mine. Let's go."
"I'm writing," he complained.
"You can write later. We're going house hunting!"
* * *
They decided to use a realtor, simply because it was easier to find and look at houses. They were on their sixth one when Lulu snorted.
"Now look who's being picky," she groused. "You always manage to find something you can't live with."
"They're all nice," said Kris. "But I just haven't seen one I get excited about."
"What's wrong with this one?"
"I didn't say anything was wrong with it."
"You don't have to. I see the same thing here that I saw in all the others. You're just not interested." She frowned at him.
"It's too big," he said.
"It's only three bedrooms," she said tersely. "You can use one to sleep in and one for your office, or study, or whatever writers call the room they write in. The other one can be for storage or guests."
"Who's gonna come see me?" he said. "I don't know anybody."
"You know me, you dope."
"Yeah, but I sure wouldn't put you in the guest bedroom." He leered.
The agent, who was just as frustrated as Lulu was, helpfully pointed out the square footage - again - and tossed in a couple of other things that made this home "to die for."
"It would be expensive to heat," said Kris.
"No more than my place!" objected Lulu. "Mine is only a little smaller and this is newer. It's probably better insulated and all that stuff." She went to the window. "It's a good neighborhood, and it's close to both the school and the grocery store."
"You're thinking like a parent," said Kris. "I don't have kids."
"That doesn't mean you'll never have kids!" moaned Lulu.
"I can't have kids," he said.
"What?" She looked confused.
"The only woman I'd think about having a child with already has a little boy and doesn't want to have any more."
She put her hands on her hips. "Be serious," she said.
He looked puzzled for an instant, then his face went calm. "Look," he said. "I don't really care. Like I said, I can live anyplace. Why don't you just pick the one you like the best, and I'll buy that one."
"It's your house, Kris," she objected.
"How often do you get to pick a house like this?" he asked.
"Never," she said.
"Okay, so now you get to."
* * *
He had to talk her into it, but she finally broke down and told him which one she had thought was the best they'd seen. The real estate agent looked stunned when he said, "I'll take that one." She was even more stunned when she suggested they go back to her office to arrange for the financing and he said, "It's okay. I'll just pay cash. You just get the papers ready and I'll sign them when I give you the check."
Three days later, he had a new house. It took longer to move into it and redecorate than it had to buy it in the first place. He enlisted Lulu's help, asking her opinion on paint colors, and whether to change the carpeting or not. Then he had to go meet with the movers in New York City, while they packed him up and moved his stuff to Pembroke.
It was, all in all, two months since he had returned to Pembroke, when he went over to Lulu's house one afternoon. He had maintained the same routine with her they'd had earlier, and even still wrote at her house sometimes. He carried his flash drive with him everywhere, which meant he carried his unfinished books with him everywhere, too.
"I had a thought," he said, sipping the fruit juice she'd offered him. She was working on a web site and he'd been playing with Ambrose until it was time for his nap.
"Hmm?" Her attention was on the screen in front of her.
"Well, you know how you have to take Ambrose to Roslynn's every night?"
"Uh huh," she said, her fingers flickering over the keyboard.
"That's kind of inconvenient."
"Not really," said Lulu. "It's almost on the way."
"Well, okay, but childcare costs a lot."
"True," she said. "Aha! I just found the error in the code!"
"I'm not working a regular job," he said. "I was just thinking that if I adopted him, he could live in the spare bedroom and I could watch him while you're at work."
She looked over at him then.
"That's silly," she said. "You can't adopt him. He can't live at your house. He lives with me. What are you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing," he said. "Never mind. It was just an idea."
"Just a minute," she said. She turned back to the computer, hit several keys and switched the monitor off, before rotating to face him fully.
"What are you talking about, Kris?" she asked.
"It's just that I see how you're struggling to make ends meet," he said. "I could take some of the burden off of you if I took care of him. I wouldn't charge you anything."
"You must be having a relapse," she sighed. "If you think I'd just let him go off and live somewhere else, just to save some money, you need your head examined some more. He's my son, Kris."
"I know, but if I adopted him, he'd be my son too. Don't you think it would help if he had a father figure in his life more often than once or twice a day?"
"Of course I do," she said. "But if he comes to live with you, he wouldn't have a mother figure in his life anymore, you idiot!"
"Oh," said Kris, looking dejected. "I guess you're right." He seemed to think hard, and she looked at him with some concern, because he didn't seem to be thinking rationally. Then he brightened. "Well, I suppose I could let you both come live with me." He said it like he'd just thought of that. "I mean that would solve the problem too."
"You want me to move in with you?" Her voice squeaked.
"Well ... two can live more cheaply together than they can apart," he said. "Three, in this case, but you know what I mean."
"That's a pretty big step ... don't you think?" She looked uncertain.
For Want of a Memory Page 40
