Mr. Elliott Finds a Family

by Susan Floyd

  Christian shook himself. But that was just Max.

  “Christian?” Beth Ann poked her head in to the bedroom.

  “Yes?” He glanced up surprised at how familiar she looked to him. She didn’t have Caroline’s stunning beauty, but she was very pretty in her own right, even with a swollen eye. He smiled.

  “I’m going to paint and Bernie’s ready to hit the garden trail.”

  “Iris?”

  “Grans is watching television. I think she’ll be okay. I’ll listen for her while you’re outside.”

  “Maybe she’ll want to come.”

  “Maybe,” Beth Ann sounded hesitant.

  “Anything wrong?”

  Beth Ann leaned against the door frame. “I don’t know. But since her last bout, she hasn’t had a lot of energy.”

  “I imagine it takes a lot of energy to panic the way she did.”

  Beth Ann nodded. “I know, but usually the next day she’s back to normal. She’s still very tired.”

  Christian didn’t know what to tell her. “You could have her checked out.”

  Beth Ann nodded. “Maybe I’ll try to make an appointment for Monday.”

  “Beth Ann?” Iris called.

  “I’m here, Grans,” Beth Ann said over her shoulder. “I’m just talking to Christian.”

  “Unckiss!” Bernie, accompanied by Fluff, wriggled between Beth Ann’s legs and ran to him. “Garden?” She batted her long lashes at him.

  “Yes, garden.”

  Bernie twirled with excitement and Fluff flew out of her hand.

  “You’d think she didn’t spend every morning there.” Beth Ann looked at her daughter fondly and then looked up at him.

  Beth Ann felt a tingle shimmy down her spine as she met his light eyes. He was staring at her, a half smile on his handsome lips, looking so perfectly at ease. Beth Ann swallowed hard, his kiss still vivid in her mind. Bernie went to pick up Fluff and chattered to him about dirt and bugs. Beth Ann bit her lip when she saw Christian place a large hand on Bernie’s head to calm her down slightly. She went to Beth Ann’s open closet and carefully laid Fluff on the floor.

  “Fuff seeping! Garden!”

  “Well,” Christian said seriously. “If Fluff is sleeping then you should put him in a real bed.”

  “Bed?” Bernie asked, her forehead puckered.

  Christian nodded. “Yes. A bed.”

  Beth Ann backed out of the doorway unfamiliar with the raw desire that began to flood through her body as she listened to their conversation. She had been withered and dry for so long and after one or two, okay, three kisses, she felt as if she was sixteen.

  Christian stood up, lifted Bernie easily and tucked her under his arm like a football. Bernie screamed with laughter.

  “Let’s go to the garden while Mommy paints.”

  “Garden!”

  “You’ve got Iris?” Christian asked, with a raised eyebrow.

  “I’ve got Grans.” Beth Ann nodded as she pulled the baby monitor out of her back pocket.

  “Let me see first if she wants to go to the garden. Beep, beep!” He crowded his way past Beth Ann, using Bernie as the lead. Bernie chortled. “Iris. Do you want to go to the garden with us? Bernie says please.”

  “Peas!” Bernie echoed.

  Beth Ann felt sad when Iris just shook her head with a frail smile and weak wave of her hand. “No. I know I should, but I’m just so tired this morning. Maybe later. Be sure to pick the zucchinis and trim back the tomatoes. They’re growing so big.”

  “Will do.”

  “And can you be sure to give a deep water to the fruit trees? They’re looking a little parched.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Anything else?” Christian looked at Beth Ann.

  Beth Ann shook her head and then her heart lurched when Christian held Bernie down to kiss her great-grandmother. “Tell Nana, hope you feel better.”

  “Feo bedder,” Bernie said and then ordered, “Garden!”

  After the two had charged out of the house, Beth Ann sat next to Iris on the couch, putting her arm around her. “How are you doing, Grans?”

  “Just tired.”

  “Do you want to go to bed?”

  Iris shook her head. “No. Though if you got me a pillow and a blanket, I might not object to laying down on the couch, if you could find me a movie rather than these long commercials.”

  “Infomercials.”

  “They’re awfully long whatever they are. I never knew anything to work nearly as well in real life as it does on television.”

  Beth Ann laughed and went to get Iris a pillow and a light blanket. It was already eighty degrees, but Iris was chilled. Beth Ann hid her frown.

  “Thank you, Beth Ann.”

  Beth Ann watched her grandmother lean back, her heart tearing as Iris sighed with relief. Apparently just sitting took too much out of her. “Are you sure that you’ll have enough energy for Bernie’s party Saturday?”

  “Bernie’s having a party?”

  “Yes. It’s her birthday. Fred and Glenn are coming out for the day.”

  “Then I have to make her a cake,” Iris said.

  Beth Ann looked at her doubtfully. “We’ll see how you feel then.”

  “By Saturday, I’ll feel fine,” Iris said positively, her eyes already closing.

  “How do you know that?” Beth Ann asked with a smile as she tucked the end of the light blanket under Iris’s hand.

  “Henry told me.” Iris yawned and then drifted off to sleep.

  Henry? Beth Ann hadn’t heard that name forever. She smiled and kissed Iris on the forehead. If Bernie could carry on extensive conversations with Fluff, then Iris should be able to talk to the long-deceased Henry.

  Beth Ann turned on the monitor and balanced it on the end table, taking the other monitor with her as she went to the attic. It was a great feeling to be back painting. Christian’s appreciation of her work made her efforts that much more rewarding. Beth Ann smiled and picked up her detail brush. She unpeeled the plastic wrap from her palette and tested the paints. A little stiff. She swirled water in one well and tried it on the strip of paper that hung next to her easel. The first stroke of the day was always the hardest.

  “LUNCH!” came out of the baby monitor.

  Beth Ann jumped and her hand slipped across the paper, extending the branch of the old oak another three representational feet. Damn. She stretched and her stomach rumbled. She glanced at the clock, still surprised that it was working. She’d been compelled to replace the batteries now that she spent so much time here. Already twelve-thirty and she was sweltering. She covered her palette with a fresh length of plastic wrap and ran a generous amount of water through her brushes, popping them into an old tomato juice can filled with fresh water to let them soak through lunch. Too often, she had failed to rinse out her brushes completely only to find one color contaminated with another. It occasionally led to a happy accident, but that was very rare.

  As she entered the kitchen, she smiled at Bernie, already strapped into her high chair.

  “Cheese!” she said pointing wildly at Christian.

  “I see,” Beth Ann said as she gave Bernie a noisy kiss on her cheek. She smelled freshly scrubbed. “Uncle Christian is making grilled cheese sandwiches.” Beth Ann greeted an alert and refreshed Iris by dropping a kiss on her silver hair, and then, fought the urge to wrap her arms around Christian’s waist and give him a kiss, too. “Want some water, Grans?” she said hastily, as Christian slid her a look that seemed to tell her he knew everything she was thinking. Her cheeks flushed and she told herself it was from working in the hot attic.

  Iris nodded.

  “Shoot!” Christian said, glancing at the table from the stove. “I meant to have that done.”

  “No need. I can do it. How many ice cubes?”

  “One,” Iris said.

  “Two,” Christian said over his shoulder.

  “And two for me, too.” Beth Ann plopped the cubes into the glasses.

 
; “Ice coob!” Bernie called.

  Beth Ann looked at her daughter in surprise. “You want some water? In a glass with an ice cube?”

  Bernie shook her head. “Ice coob.”

  “Plain?”

  Christian grinned sheepishly at her. “Sorry. I gave her some yesterday. I figured it was fluid.”

  Beth Ann laughed. “It is fluid. One ice cube for Bernie, too.” She slipped one onto Bernie’s tray. Bernie laughed as she chased it around, finally caught it with two hands and then brought it up to her mouth.

  “Cooolddd,” she said with a shiver.

  “Yes,” Beth Ann agreed. “It’s cold.”

  “Cheese,” Bernie said as Christian put two triangles of grilled cheese in front of her. “Ott.”

  “I don’t know if it’s too hot, Berns,” Christian said. “Try it.”

  Bernie poked at it. “Ott.”

  “Okay, if it’s too hot then eat your apple now,” Beth Ann suggested.

  “No.” Bernie looked at Beth Ann defiantly.

  “No?” Beth Ann was so surprised by Bernie’s mutiny she almost laughed.

  “No.”

  “Okay. Then wait for your sandwich.”

  “No.”

  “So everything’s no today?” Beth Ann touched Bernie’s grilled cheese. “It’s not hot anymore.”

  “No.”

  Christian grinned as he slipped a sandwich on Iris’s plate and then Beth Ann’s. “She’s in a lovely mood today, isn’t she?”

  “You’ve dealt with this?”

  “All morning.” He rolled his eyes. “She didn’t want to pick peas, she wanted to pick tomatoes. Then she didn’t want to go in. Didn’t want to get her face and hands washed. Didn’t want grilled cheese.”

  “She seems to like it well enough now,” Iris commented with a twinkle in her eye as Bernie took a small bite out of the corner.

  “Not ott.”

  “Cucumber and tomato salad?” Christian offered.

  “I’d like a little,” Iris nodded.

  Beth Ann watched Christian dole out a small spoonful.

  “Is that enough?”

  “This is Henry’s favorite salad,” Iris murmured.

  “Does he want some, too?” Christian asked jokingly.

  Iris smiled. “Oh, no. He had a large breakfast.”

  Beth Ann felt a surge of love swirl around the kitchen. Halfway through her sandwich she said, “It’s Bernie’s birthday Saturday.”

  “I’m going to make the cake,” Iris reminded her.

  “I’m counting on that,” Beth Ann said.

  “Oh, and Max is coming, if it’s not too inconvenient,” Christian added.

  Beth Ann cocked her head at him. “Really?”

  Christian said quickly, “He decided to fly up for the weekend.”

  “Do you have to pick him up at the airport?”

  Christian nodded and went back for an extra portion of cucumbers and tomatoes. “Did you taste the mint? I decided to try it.”

  “Is that what it is?” Iris asked. “I thought I tasted something other than basil.”

  “Which one?” Beth Ann asked curiously. “If it’s San Jose maybe Fred and Glenn can pick him up on their way here.”

  Christian looked a little uncomfortable.

  “What?”

  “He’s flying into the local airport.”

  “How can he do that?” Beth Ann looked puzzled.

  “He has a plane.”

  As if she were hit by a blast of cold water, Beth Ann suddenly realized, again, that the man sitting across from her was not ordinary. Even though she drew him as an ordinary man, he wasn’t. His friends had private planes. No matter how ordinary he looked, no matter how simply he had learned to live, he was Christian Elliott, heir and CEO of a billion-dollar multinational corporation. “Oh.” She looked down battling her feelings of doubt, then forced a smile. “He’s more than welcome.”

  THAT EVENING long after Bernie and Iris were asleep, Beth Ann sat in the attic and stared at the slides she would be sending to the hotel jury. Under the glow of several lamps, Beth Ann squinted at them and tried to see the paintings as Christian saw them. She just saw risk and lots of bright colors. She put the slides away and moved restlessly around the attic. No matter what she felt for Christian, no matter how long he extended his stay, she couldn’t ignore the fact that they were from different worlds. Eventually, he would leave her, leave Bernie and return to a life that promised all the glitter and trappings that had pulled Carrie away. She swallowed hard. Loving him was a risk.

  A soft knock made her look up.

  “Come in,” she called. “Can’t sleep, Grans?”

  “It’s me.”

  “Christian!” She looked around and then rose hesitantly to open the door. He stood hovering in the doorway.

  “Is it okay if I come in?” He looked perfectly prepared to leave if she said so.

  She nodded. “Sure. Come in.”

  They stood apart from each other.

  “How’s the eye?”

  “Blurry.”

  “Beth Ann?”

  “Yes?”

  “Do we need to talk? If you don’t want Max to come, I’ll just tell him not to come.” Christian moved close to her, his hand resting gently on her elbow. “If you feel uncomfortable.”

  Beth Ann shook her head. “It’s not that. He’s more than welcome.”

  “Then what is it?”

  Beth Ann took a deep breath and said, “I just couldn’t stand it if you left us.” She pressed her lips together to keep back the tears.

  “Why would I leave?”

  “Because you live in a different world.” She turned and tried to walk away, but Christian held on to her, reeling her into his embrace.

  “I know that it might be hard for you to believe, but I’ve never been happier. I will do anything in my power to protect you and Bernie,” he whispered fiercely. “If I have to give up my name and my money, I will. I would never willingly leave Bernie. Or you.”

  Though she wanted to, Beth Ann couldn’t believe him, but she took comfort in his tight embrace anyway.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE DAY OF Bernie’s birthday dawned bright. Beth Ann woke with a mixed sense of dread and anticipation. Christian was staying, but his friend, Max, would be coming. What if Max made Christian change his mind? Made him realize what he was missing? Beth Ann gingerly tested her eye. It was less sore. She took a deep breath remembering the tender kiss Christian had placed on it. I will do anything in my power to protect you and Bernie. She believed him. She loved him.

  Beth Ann heard a little voice. “Mommy?”

  “Bernie?” she asked in the same voice.

  “Mommy!”

  “Bernie!”

  “Mommy.” Bernie held her arms out to Beth Ann.

  Beth Ann yawned and pulled herself out of the daybed and then hoisted Bernie over the side of her crib. Then she went back to bed, pulling Bernie close and giving another loud yawn. “Are you still sleepy, Bernie? Mommy is.”

  Bernie yawned, too, and snuggled her head into Beth Ann’s underarm, her small body wriggling, her heels poking into Beth Ann’s stomach. Beth Ann fended off the small feet and Bernie giggled.

  “So guess what?” Beth Ann asked, before throwing off the covers suddenly and making Bernie laugh.

  “Guess whose birthday it is today?”

  Bernie just kept trying to get under the covers.

  “It’s Bern-Bern-Bern’s. It’s your birthday. And you’re two today.”

  “Two!” Bernie shouted and started jumping on the bed.

  “Yes. You’re two. And Pop-pop and Fedman are coming. And a friend of Uncle Christian’s.”

  Beth Ann squelched the uncertainty that welled up inside her again. Carrie would have died of embarrassment if any of her friends had come to the house. Would Christian be embarrassed when his friend arrived and saw the old bungalow? Would they embarrass him?

  “Mommy?” Bernie patted h
er face, her little fingers touching Beth Ann’s eyes and mouth. Beth Ann winced when Bernie poked her black eye.

  “Bernie.”

  “Birf-day?”

  Beth Ann got up and pulled Bernie with her. She put her on the changing table.

  “Yes, sweetie. It’s your birthday. How old are you today?”

  Bernie looked at her blankly and then looked as if she was thinking hard. Then she shook her head.

  “You’re two.” Beth Ann took her hand and formed it into the peace sign. “You’re two. So when people ask, you hold up two fingers and say you’re two.”

  “Two.” Bernie nodded and stared at her fingers.

  “Just like we’ve been practicing.” Beth Ann kissed her on the forehead, and pretended to eat her neck.

  Bernie giggled and held up her fist, her fingers pointing in three different directions. “Two!”

  Beth Ann helped her put her fingers in the correct position again. “Two.”

  “So how old are you?”

  Bernie said loudly, “Two!”

  “Who’s two?” Christian poked his head in the door, fully dressed, his hair damp from his shower, his hands behind his back.

  Lord, he was beautiful. Beth Ann’s heart flipped over. She bit her lip and turned away, attacked by a fit of shyness. With a deep breath, suddenly conscious that she was hardly dressed, she casually looked up and was surprised by the intensity that burned in his gray eyes.

  “I two!” Bernie held up all five fingers.

  Beth Ann put her hand back into the two position.

  “I two!” Bernie repeated and held up two fingers.

  “Really?” Christian feigned surprise. “If you’re two that must mean it’s your birthday!”

  “Birf-day,” Bernie echoed. “Garden?”

  Beth Ann and Christian laughed at the same time, and then Christian cleared his throat. “How about a present first?”

  “You didn’t—”

  “I wanted to,” Christian said quickly and produced a medium-size box from behind his back.

  Beth Ann ducked her head, and finished changing Bernie’s diaper. Then she smiled and said, “Thank you. What did you get her?”

  “Why doesn’t she open it and see?”

  Beth Ann put Bernie back onto the bed and Christian put the box in front of her.