Edric’s green eyes were focused on Calida and he walked over to her kneeling down putting a hand slightly on her cheek as she sighed gently nestling her face in his hand.
Edric felt something in his heart tighten as her body relaxed and he removed his hand to slide his arms underneath her lifting her easily in his arms.
“Ms. Welsh,” Edric began, and Ms. Welsh nodded her head.
“This way, Edric, I have a guest room all prepared for her,” she revealed with a smile but Edric ignored it trying to ignore the feeling that was coming alive inside him for the woman in his arms.
As he followed Ms. Welsh up the stairs, he told her, “I’ve already made my apology as I won’t be attending the charity event tonight. I’m sorry if that gave you extra work to do this evening.”
Ms. Welsh shook her head, but a smile tilted the corners of her lips after showing him the guest bedroom she prepared for Calida, she watched as Edric placed Calida gently on the bed his hand brushing lightly across the young woman’s cheek before he turned to Ms. Welsh and nodded his head.
Ms. Welsh stood to the side as he walked out of the room mumbling under her breathe, “Well, well” as she glanced back at the woman lying on the bed one last time before she closed the door quietly behind her walking away from the room with a thoughtful look on her face.
Chapter 7
The following day around ten, Calida woke up slowly her eyes squinting at the clock next to the bed before she realized she wasn’t in her own room, and she sat up looking around the unfamiliar room. She frowned slightly as she eased off the bed glad to see herself still fully dressed and shoes on the floor next to the bed, and as she eased her shoes back on, she glanced at the door.
Once the shoes were on, she headed out the door looking around and Ms. Welsh coming up the stairs saw her.
“Calida,” she called out hurrying over to her with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, I did,” Calida said in a soft voice her hazel eyes wary as they started down the stairs. “What time is it, Ms. Welsh?”
“Going for ten,” Ms. Welsh told her. “You were so tired that Edric told us to let you sleep.”
They headed for the kitchen where Edric was drinking another cup of coffee going through a newspaper as they walked in and he glanced up with unreadable eyes.
“Good morning, Calida,” he said giving her an unsmiling nod. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, thank you,” Calida told him clasping her hands loosely in front of her. “Umm…Edric, I apologize for falling asleep last night on your couch. You could’ve called Jake to come and pick me up.”
Edric nodded his head as he laid down the newspaper standing up and putting the empty coffee cup in the sink before he headed for the door. “I could’ve, but you know what,” he said stopping in front of her and Calida tilted her head to meet his eyes in confusion. “I didn’t want to, Calida.”
He kissed her swiftly on the lips before he walked out and called over his shoulder, “Tomas will take you home, Calida, while I tend an appointment that I’m almost late for.”
Calida was too stunned to respond as he walked out of the house and she turned astonished hazel eyes to Ms. Welsh who only smiled offering, “Have a cup of coffee, dear, to wake you up.”
“Honestly, I think that kiss did the job for me,” she mumbled but did as Ms. Welsh suggested and sat down to drink a cup of coffee.
She had been sitting there for ten minutes when Tomas walked in the kitchen with a woman attached to his arm and when Calida glanced up her eyes went hard as she put her cup down, and stood up.
“Are you ready to go?” Tomas asked with a smile.
The woman next to him started to laugh before she taunted, “Well, well, if it isn’t little Lida all grown up.”
Calida’s hazel eyes flared with anger before she said back in a mocking voice, “Still doing my brother’s dirty work, huh, Lida?”
She glanced at Tomas seeing the look in his eyes before he shielded them, and then she laughed turning her attention back to her brother’s one-time mistress although he kept her on the hook for whenever he needed her for something and she felt sympathy roll through her for the woman even though her face didn’t reveal it.
“So I guess that means my dear brother is scared of Walwyn, huh,” Calida said thoughtfully crossing her arms over her chest and leaning her hip against the table.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Lida said tossing her hair over her shoulder shooting Calida a glare.
Calida merely smiled as she said, “At one time, those glares scared me but not anymore. I’m sure by this afternoon my brother will learn that I spent the night here with your own little spin on it for your benefit.”
Lida clutched Tomas’s arm, but he merely watched the exchange his eyes filling with laughter as Calida stared at them.
“Your brother has done a lot for you,” Lida began only to be cutoff by Calida’s mock laughter as she shook her head.
“Sorry,” she said waving her hand at them, “I had to laugh at that one.” She wiped the tears from her laughter off her face before she looked squarely at Lida. “Word of warning, Lida, Jeffrey will never marry you if that’s what you are hoping for as he could care less about you one way or another. You are merely a tool for him just like I am.”
She shrugged her shoulders before she turned to Tomas and said, “If you are busy, Tomas, I can call a taxi.”
Tomas shook his head as he said, “Ric told me to take you home so that’s what I will do.”
Calida nodded her head turning to Ms. Welsh with a smile and a ‘thank you’ before she turned back and started out of the kitchen.
“As always, Lida, the pleasure was all yours,” Calida said sarcastically as she continued out of the kitchen.
Tomas nodded his head to Ms. Welsh as he followed behind her and Lida watched them leave with narrowed eyes before she hurried out.
Ms. Welsh stared thoughtfully at the doorway they exited before she walked over to the phone and picked it up making a short phone call to Edric explaining to him what just happened.
Calida sat in the passenger seat of Tomas’s car telling absently, “You know what she is doing and yet you, and Edric, allow her to stay there.”
Tomas chuckled as he said, “Because she gives us useful information although she doesn’t know it. Where do you live by the way?”
Calida glanced over at him before she started laughing herself and shook her head at his subtle change of topic. “I will take that as my warning to stay out of your, and Edric’s business” before she gave him directions to her house.
Tomas gave her a hooded look seeing how her eyes flashed briefly before she turned away and he had a moment of unease go through him which he pushed away.
Following her directions, he pulled in the drive ten minutes later and Calida said ‘thank you’ after giving him a stern look before she got out. He pulled away before she even reached the front door and she nodded her head just as the door was opened by Wilma.
“Calida, are you okay? We got a call late last night from Mr. Walwyn saying that you were spending the evening at his house,” she said closing the door behind Calida as she walked in the house.
Calida sighed running a hand through her hair and grimaced. “Wilma, let me take a shower and change my clothes, and I will tell you everything okay,” Calida said giving her a smile.
Wilma nodded her head as Calida went to her room and she stripped the minute her bedroom door closed mind wondering about her evening at Edric’s house. She was amazed that she hadn’t woken in the middle of the night because normally sleeping in strange places caused her nightmares to be more active so she wondered why she didn’t have any last night.
She shook her head and went to take a shower washing her hair and standing under the spray allowing the hot water to wash away any lingering thoughts she had for the moment.
Forty-five minutes later, she walked in the living room her wet hair hanging
down her back as the others looked up at her.
“What do you want to know?” Calida asked sitting down in the only chair pulling her jean clad legs underneath her.
“What happened between you and Mr. Walwyn?” Aunt Marti said bluntly.
“Nothing,” Calida confirmed without hesitation. “He took me up on my offer of being his personal baker and not long after we arrived, he left to take his girlfriend home. After baking I was tired so Ms. Welsh, his housekeeper, told me to go and relax on the couch. I ended up falling asleep and this morning I found myself in a guest bedroom fully clothed.”
Wilma and Aunt Marti nodded their head as Jake frowned asking in a rough voice, “Are you sure that nothing happened?”
“Believe me, Jake, I’m positive nothing happened,” Calida told him with an odd look and he shifted uncomfortably as he caught on to what she was saying. “Besides, I don’t think Edric thinks of me in that particular way as he was gone with Sophia for over two hours.”
They all nodded their heads at that and Calida clapped her hands together as she looked at the clock noting the time and said, “So what about we get inventive tonight for dinner? But first, I’m hungry so let’s have lunch.”
“I think I will eat out for dinner tonight, but I will take you up on lunch. Not even you can ruin sandwiches,” Jake mumbled laughter in his eyes as Calida chuckled.
“Hey I take offense to that, Jake,” Calida said pushing herself to her feet. “I tell you what if dinner isn’t edible then I will order out, my treat.”
“Remember that you said it,” they said in unison causing Calida to laugh as she headed for the kitchen to make something for lunch.
Calida was a damn good baker, but when it came to cooking she wasn’t so great unless it was very simple meals. Unfortunately, Calida got in the mood every once in a while to try her hand at being creative with cooking and it always came out inedible so they were already discussing what they were going to order following her to the kitchen.
They were just finishing lunch Calida sitting in her chair thinking when her cell rung and Wilma answered it. “Hello,” she said her eyebrows shooting up at the voice on the other end. “One moment and I will get her.”
She walked over to Calida who was staring at the wall getting her attention, “Calida, phone.”
Calida glanced over at her and frowned as she took the phone. “Calida,” she answered absently her mind still thinking about what to make for dinner.
“I need a dinner companion tonight,” Edric said without hesitation. “Do you think you can help me?”
Calida froze in her chair as she said slowly, “Doesn’t Sophia…”
“I’m asking you to be my companion,” he told her as he signed a sheet that Mariah put down on his desk after he scanned it. “A close friend from college is having a party tonight and as I haven’t been to any of their parties in a while, his wife has ordered me to attend.”
“I think…” Calida began only to be cutoff again although privately she wondered if anyone could order him to do anything.
“I will pick you up at seven thirty,” Edric told her not giving her a chance to say ‘no’. “It’s an informal party so you don’t have to dress up.”
He hung up before Calida get a word in and Mariah said with a slight smile, “You didn’t give her a chance to say she would go.”
“Because I have a feeling that she was going to turn me down,” Edric told her honestly as he opened the file she had placed on his desk. “This way, although she will be mad, she won’t let me down and will be ready when I go to pick her up.”
“What if you are reading her wrong?” Mariah asked giving him a strange look.
“Then I will have to find a way to get her to come with me tonight,” he told Mariah with a nod of his head as he focused on business.
Calida scowled at the phone as she flipped it closed and told Wilma, “Edric has invited me to a party this evening he was invited for one of his friends. He will be here around seven-thirty to pick me up.”
“Yes,” they heard Jake call from the living room and then Aunt Marti called out dryly, “We miss ordering out, Jake.”
Calida and Wilma both laughed as they heard Jake moan before Calida said, “Edric thinks he’s slick as he didn’t give me time to tell him yes.”
“But you won’t leave him without a date,” Wilma stated giving her a look and Calida closed her eyes on a heavy sigh.
“He’s lucky,” Calida muttered, and Wilma put an arm around her shoulders.
“You like him, Calida, and that’s not a bad thing,” Wilma told her with a nod when Calida looked at her in astonishment.
They headed to Calida’s room as Wilma asked, “Is the party going to be formal or informal?”
“Informal,” Calida told her as they walked in her room and Wilma nodded her head again as she walked over to Calida’s closet.
“You have all those dresses that you bought but never wore,” Wilma told her going through the dresses before she found one that she knew would look great on Calida. It was a simple snap down front dress with a tie sash and fluttering butterfly sleeves as they were called, and Wilma smiled shaking her head as she showed it to Calida.
“I bought it for a lake party but never attended,” Calida confided as she took the dress and Wilma started looking for shoes to match it.
“You really need to buy you some heels, Calida,” Wilma mentioned as she produced a pair of black flats that would look nice with the dress.
“I don’t like heels,” Calida answered putting the dress on the bed before sitting down next to it. “He won’t be here until seven-thirty so I have almost four hours to waste.”
Wilma was going through her jewelry and she frowned asking, “Did you find your monkey charm necklace?”
Calida shook her head a sad look flickering in her eyes as she said, “No, I think I lost it the night those thugs attacked me. The clasp had been giving me trouble all day so it probably gave away that night.”
Wilma glanced over at her and said, “Sorry, Calida, I know how much you cared for that necklace.”
“I will look for it when I go to work tomorrow,” she told her standing up. “Hopefully someone picked it up and took it inside, or more preferably no one noticed it and the necklace is still lying on the ground.”
Even Wilma knew that the suggestion was farfetched but she didn’t comment as she saw the look of awareness sin Calida’s eyes telling her she knew, but she was still hoping.
“Well, since I have been coerced into going, I might as well take something with me,” Calida said as she headed for the door and Wilma followed her after picking up a necklace and putting it on the bed next to the dress. “What do you think, Wilma, a strawberry cake or a simple chocolate cake?”
“Why don’t you do both just in case,” Wilma told her as she shut the door behind them.
Four hours later, Calida was pinning up her hair in a loose bun letting some strands of hair hang loosely down the slides. The dress fitted her nicely and the necklace that Wilma picked out settled low on her neck a little above the rounded neckline of the dress. She had done her face in a light coat of makeup which bought out her hazel eyes and a light pink lipstick that tinted her lips, and a pair of black crochet shoes that Calida found comfortable.
There was a knock on her door and Wilma poked her head around the door with a huge smile. “He is here,” she told her.
Calida nodded her head and stood back looking at herself in the mirror before she just shook her and turned to the door.
“You look nice, Calida,” Wilma assured her, and Calida shrugged her shoulders but a light blush tinted her cheeks as they headed to the living room.
Edric was talking with Jake and Marti when Calida and Wilma entered the living room, and Calida said, “I made something for the party so I hope your friends won’t mind.”
“I’m sure that they will appreciate…” Edric’s words cutoff as he turned to her and his green eyes narrowed that
Calida frowned looking down at herself.
“You said informal,” she defended looking back at him as Wilma went to the kitchen for the cakes that Calida had already boxed up.
“Yes, I did,” Edric told her softly a tone of satisfaction in his voice that everyone read, and Calida couldn’t help the blush that covered her cheeks.
“Here are the cakes,” Wilma said noting the blush and she smiled even wider as she handed them to Edric who nodded his head taking them from her.
“How do you have so many boxes?” He teased as he handled the boxes gently and everyone laughed while Calida merely shrugged her shoulders.
“I like having them on hand just in case I get picky customers like you,” she told him with a smirk. “Besides, I did run my own bakery for almost eight years.”
Edric gave her a slow, male smile causing Calida’s breathe to stall in her chest so she shifted her eyes away from him to Wilma who gave her a knowing look and Calida glared at her.
“I think we should get going, don’t you?” She said sharply turning back to face Edric her hazel eyes blank which Edric didn’t like at all.
He nodded his head and said, “Goodnight. We probably will be late coming back.”
“No problem,” they all said walking them out as Calida and Edric walked to his car. “Have a good time.”
Calida shook her head a soft smile gracing her lips as she settled in the passenger seat before indicating to Edric for the boxes.
After he had handed them to her and walked around to get in, he said, “You know, you didn’t have to make anything for the party.”
He started the car and pulled away from the house when Calida answered him, “I feel bad about showing up at a party that I wasn’t invited to. Bringing something is only my way of apologizing.”
Edric drove confidently and reached over to take Calida’s hand. “My friends don’t mind who I bring with me,” he told her resting their hands on the middle console.
Past Sins Revisited Page 9
