“Miss Lindley,” Samantha called who worked the front counter during the day, and Calida looked over at her.
“Yes, Samantha, is something wrong?” She asked dusting her hands off on her apron and Samantha smiled as she shook her head.
“No, but you have a visitor,” she told her.
Calida shook her head and told her, “Let them know that I’m busy please Samantha.”
Samantha sighed but nodded her head as Calida went back to work not thinking about her visitor so she was unprepared when suddenly male hands covered her own floor coated ones.
“What,” Calida said her body stiffening and she was about to elbow the man behind her when Edric said in her ear, “I came to see you.”
“Huh,” she said her head going back so that their faces were close together and her eyes widened at the close contact.
Edric stared down in her hazel eyes and before he could say anything she shielded them pulling out of his arms. “You seem to have a habit of coming to bother me, Edric,” she told him using her apron to wipe her hands. “Besides, how did you get back here? This area is closed off to customers.”
Edric hid his smile as he watched her continue to work after giving him a look and he understood it to mean move aside which he did. Ever since that night with the Trestons’, Calida had been working nonstop and he made a point of visiting her every other day knowing that his presence was starting to have an effect because the disinterest looks she had been giving him were fading away.
“I’m on good terms with the owner,” he told her with a wink before glancing down at his watch. “I have a meeting in an hour, but would you have dinner with me?”
“I’m sure Sophia will have enough time for you,” Calida told him as she continued working and he watched as the dough she was working with began to shape and take form underneath her skilled hands.
He opened his mouth to answer when another voice interrupted as Simon snarled, “If you have time to chat with your boyfriend, then you should have time to do your damn job Lindley.”
Edric’s eyes narrowed at what the man called Calida before he said, “I’m going, but Calida, I will be sending you a text later where we will be meeting.”
“But I haven’t…” she began her head lifting up only to stall her words when she realized that Edric was gone. “You are way too sure of yourself, Edric Walwyn,” she muttered as she went back to work.
The day ended finally and as Calida was getting ready to go home, Simon told her, “You have the duty of cleaning up tonight. I better not see any mistakes.”
“Simon…”one of the kitchen workers said, but Simon glared at her and she backed down.
“Go,” Calida said giving them a smile as they looked at her worriedly, and she followed them to the door watching them leave before she locked the door.
Her phone rung just as she started cleaning up and she answered it wearily, “Hello.”
“You never responded to my text so I hope that you will be able to arrive on time,” Edric told her.
“Edric, I appreciate the offer but I have to work late cleaning up so I think you should get yourself another dinner companion,” she told him as she started running water to clean the bake ware for tomorrow’s business.
Edric frowned on the other end as he pulled over to the side of the road and asked, “What happened to the other employees?”
“Gone home already,” she told him, and he could hear her moving things around. “Simon seems to regard my being here as a…” she stopped unable to come up with a word for his attitude toward her.
“He thinks you are trying to take his job,” Edric told her bluntly scowling briefly knowing that the man had nothing to fear about that, and the scowl turned fiercer at his own confidence in that thought.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Calida told him after a moment’s pause. “Edric, I’m sorry about this evening but I really have a lot to do so please enjoy your evening. Goodnight.”
“Wait Cal…” he began only to be cut off by the dial tone and he hit the end button on his cell as he shook his head the scowl on his face changing into a frown. He had thought it would be easy to get close to Calida but she was proving to be very stubborn although he knew she found him attractive.
He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he sat there and then he smiled as a thought came to him, and with ease, he put the car in gear and eased back into traffic.
Calida wiped her forearm across her head as she glanced around the kitchen as the appliances gleamed under the light and she looked down at her watch which made her flinch.
“Four hours,” she moaned sinking on a stool. “It didn’t take me that long to clean my entire bakery, and I only cleaned the kitchen here.”
She sighed in weariness as she looked around checking everything before she slid off the stool and walked in the customer area of the store to make sure everything was clean and ready for the following day. She rubbed her back as she walked around before she nodded her head in satisfaction as she went back in the kitchen to gather her things after double checking the doors and walking out the backdoor putting the security system on.
She headed for the parking lot where she stilled observing someone leaning on her car and when he tilted his head she shook her head and continued forward.
“You are lucky I recognized you, Edric,” she said as she came close enough without yelling at him.
He laughed as she walked closer and he saw the tiredness reflected in her eyes, but she glanced at him with a questioningly look before she asked, “So what do I owe this late night visit, Mr. Walwyn?”
“Now, I take offense to that,” he said shaking his head at her.
She wrinkled her nose at him as she leaned against her car resting one hand against the hood while the other one wrapped around her waist to settle above her hip that rested on the car.
“I thought maybe you would be hungry,” Edric said his eyes observing her closely.
“And you would be correct, although something tells me that you are rarely wrong,” she told him closing her eyes.
He watched her, and he lifted one hand to lightly cover her cheek, and at the warmth of his hand, her eyes snapped open to stare at him.
“So with that said,” he stated removing his hand, “let’s get you fed.”
She laughed at his words and nodded her head as she told him, “I’m too tired to argue with you tonight, Edric, and so for tonight I will let you have your way.”
Edric grinned saying, “So that’s how one can make you easier to handle.”
“Don’t push your luck, Mr. Walwyn,” she told him sternly, and he laughed as he opened her car door.
“Follow me , Miss Lindley,” he said watching as Calida stilled giving him a bewildered look at how he stressed her last name before she shook her head too tired to think about it tonight as she slid in the car as he closed the door behind her.
Edric hid his smile until he turned away from the car going to his own and his eyes narrowed although the green flickered with satisfaction, and something more.
An hour later, Edric let himself in his house a satisfied smile on his face as Tomas met him in the hallway.
“How was dinner?” He asked noticing the satisfied smile on Ric’s face.
“Good,” Edric told him nodding his head before he headed in the office.
Tomas followed and stood in the doorway as Edric checked his messages, and glanced over a file that was on his desk before he asked, “You’ve changed your plan for her, haven’t you? The plan originally was to get her to trust you and then start harassing her a little at a time, but now…”
“I’m going to make her fall in love with me,” Edric told him looking up from the file. “Calida is very wary and even now, she doesn’t trust me fully. If I started harassing her as we originally planned, I think she will fight back but if I get her to fall in love with me then she won’t be able to fight back.”
Tomas stared at him as he asked slowl
y, “What are you going to do?”
“Calida is going to fall in love with me, and when the time is right, I will ask her to marry me,” Edric told him leaning on his hands flat against the desk. “I don’t plan on going through with it so don’t worry, but during the time of courting her, I think we will go after Reseda Electronics which we both know she owns shares. Before the wedding, I will have the company and she will be ruined while her brother scrambles around trying to find someone to cover his losses in the business world.”
“He owes a great deal of money,” Tomas revealed nodding his head to the file.
“We can use that to our advantage,” Edric told him with a heated look in his eyes.
“Ric, I think…” Tomas began, but he stopped when Edric glanced up at him and Tomas sighed shaking his head. He believed his friend was going too far in trying to take down the Reseda family, but since the death of his sister, he had nothing else to live for although his company, and every other company he maintained, never suffered from neglect and flourished under his guidance and management.
“Just be careful, Ric,” Tomas said silently to himself as he stepped forward and they went over some work before they called it a night.
Two days later, Calida left the house early her cell phone turned off and in her purse as she made her first stop for the day. It was her 29th birthday even though she didn’t care to celebrate it she wanted to pay respect to her parents on this day.
First she visited her father’s grave kneeling down in front of it as tears swelled in her eyes wishing that she could’ve brought flowers and such but it would only let her brother know she was back, and she didn’t want him to know just yet.
“I’m sorry, daddy,” she said softly, “but I don’t want Jeffrey to know I’ve returned yet. You know how he gets about me and I wish it was because he loves me as a brother, but even I know that…”
She stopped and shook her head as she began to clean around his grave and she frowned slightly at the mess wondering who came to clean it, and how often.
She stayed for a few hours before she left seeing the old man who took care of the graves as she headed out.
“Young miss, you haven’t been around for a while?” He said walking over to her unsteadily.
“I’ve been out of town, sir, trying to gain my confidence,” she told him honestly and he looked at her shrewdly before he sighed.
“It’s a shame that one must go against family, but I understand, child,” he stated looking over the graves. “You must do what you feel is right.”
Calida smiled and nodded her head as she glanced behind her and asked, “Who takes care of dad’s grave?”
“No one,” he answered after a few moments of hesitation. “I do it when I can but as you can see I’m getting along in years.”
Calida looked at him in shock as she started, “Jeffrey…”
“Hasn’t set foot in this place since the day your dad died,” he told her bluntly a frown on his face. “He has what he wants now and the only thing he can’t have is…”
He stopped looking at Calida who nodded her head and said quietly, “I know. It is one of the reasons I don’t want him to know that I’m back just yet.”
The old man laughed though as he said, “But I also know that you can handle yourself against him if he does try anything, and this time, you won’t hold back.”
Calida smiled although her hazel eyes brimmed with sadness before she said, “I’m going to go visit my mom now so please take care of dad’s grave.”
The old man nodded as he watched her walk away and he shook his head walking slowly over to the Reseda grave where he stood looking down.
“I think your daughter will accomplish what you couldn’t, sir,” he said in a whisper and the wind blew as if agreeing with him. He chuckled at his own imagination as he glanced around him and then he turned heading back to his own little place.
Calida frowned lightly as she headed further away from her father’s grave to her mother’s as Jeffrey didn’t want to bury them together since he never saw Charmaine Lindley as his father’s wife.
Calida’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t stop and continued on her way to her ultimate destination. As she pulled up aside the graveyard, she swallowed tears filling her eyes when she turned off the car and reached to the backseat grabbing the flowers she had bought on the way.
Walking through the long weeds and the unfinished tombstones, she finally reached her mother’s grave and she sobbed slightly as she saw the state it was in. When her father was alive, he made sure that it was cleaned daily and it also would have fresh flowers that he, himself, would bring. After she left, Calida realized that no one had maintained it during her absence.
“Sorry, momma,” she said tears running down her cheeks as she put the flowers down and took off her jacket before she went to work clearing the grave.
It took over an hour to clear her mother’s grave and when she finally knelt in front of it, her hands were dirty and her clothes sticking to her from the sweat as she worked but there was a look of satisfaction in her gaze.
“I will come often, momma, to make sure it doesn’t look like that again,” she promised her as she settled down in front of the grave. “I will also make sure to take care of dad’s too.”
She placed the flowers on the grave and sat there talking to her mom as the day went on, and the sun was going down when she said slowly, “Mom, I met a man my first day back. He is gorgeous with amazing green eyes, and you know how I’ve always loved the color green.”
She laughed quietly looking around noticing the sun going down before she turned back to her mom’s grave. “He scares me,” she whispered as the night animals started to come out. “I don’t know why, but he scares me more than Jeffrey ever did and I don’t think it’s because of the look that comes in his eyes sometimes when he looks at me. I feel unsure around him like I don’t know where I stand with him.”
She was quiet for a moment her mind wondering as she reached out a finger to the flowers knowing that within a day or two they would wilt before she said, “I guess I can only live day by day, and see what happens.”
She stopped before she continued on her voice going hard, “I’m going to stop him, mom. Back then, I was too afraid and I wanted to pretend that I didn’t see, but I did and I saw it all. I left for ten years and within those ten years, I found the evidence that he can’t escape from but there is still one thing left for me to investigate.”
She smiled down at her mother’s grave placing a kiss on her fingertips before placing them against the cold stone. “In the end, we will all receive the justice and punishment we deserve.”
She nodded her head one last time before she slowly got to her feet and walked away the flowers fluttering slightly as the wind went by, but the night was calm and cool the stars shining brightly.
Edric tossed his cell on the desk with a snarl as Tomas came in the office. “Is there a problem?” Tomas asked his eyes taking in the ferocious look on his friend’s face.
“She hasn’t answered her cell all day long,” Edric told him in a cold voice his eyes narrowed.
“Did you call Wilma?” Tomas suggested getting a glare from Edric although he reached for his phone.
He dialed Wilma’s number and hit the speaker phone button laying it on the desk as it rung.
“Hello,” they heard Wilma’s voice on the other end. In the background both Edric and Tomas heard, “Is it Calida? Is she on her way home yet?”
“No one answered yet Jake,” Wilma said in exasperation before she said in the phone, “Calida, sweetie, are you okay?”
“It’s not Calida, ma’am,” Edric said lifting his eyebrows at Tomas who frowned and leaned against the desk.
“Oh,” Wilma said disappointment clear in her voice. “Mr. Walwyn, what may I do for you?”
“I’ve been trying to get a hold of Calida,” he started and he stopped when she sighed.
“If you’ve been trying her cell
, then it would be no use,” she told him. “She left early this morning, and as she usually does on this day, she turned off her phone.”
“Usually?’ Edric said a question evident in his voice.
There was silence before Wilma informed him, “Today is Calida’s birthday, and as she dislikes celebrating her birthday, she turns off her phone so no one can call her. Being that she has been gone for ten years, she decided to visit her parents’ graves.”
“You say that as if they were buried separately,” Tomas asked his voice soft.
“Because they were,” Jake called out while Wilma tried to hush him. “Jeffrey didn’t want his father to be placed next to Calida’s mom so he had him buried in the same graveyard as his mom although not on the same plot.”
“I take it that Jeffrey didn’t like his stepmom,” Edric said clasping his hands together.
“Oh, he didn’t know what he felt for his stepmom,” Jake began until suddenly there was a loud noise and Jake stopped speaking.
“Get him out of here,” they heard Wilma say and then suddenly another voice could be heard.
“Wilma, what’s going on here?”
Edric straightened in his chair as Wilma said, “Nothing, dear, but Mr. Walwyn is on the phone for you.”
There was silence before Calida sighed and said clearly, “Tell him I will call him tomorrow. Right now, I’m going to take a long bath and hopefully get some sleep.”
“Oh, Wilma,” Calida voice was louder letting Edric and Tomas know that she was closer to Wilma then before, “don’t be knocking Jake out whenever he decides to start talking just a little more than necessary. You never know what might happen.”
Wilma chuckled as she said, “Goodnight, and I hope that you sleep well.”
“That would actually be nice,” Calida told her with a soft laugh which drifted away as she headed to her room.
“Wilma,” Edric began then he stopped briefly thinking before he continued. “Tell Calida I will wait for her call.”
Past Sins Revisited Page 5
