by Donna Fasano
“Actually, it’s my sweet personality they don’t want to let go of. I’m trying to be meek here, but what can I say?”
Angelina playing along said, “Right, meek—like a lightning bolt.”
“Ha, ha! Sourpuss. That’s just nasty.”
“Look, my friend, you need to stay put until the doctors are satisfied you’re one hundred percent fit.”
“Yeah, yeah! Whatever! Are you going to check out the office today? I wanted to be with you when you go to see it for the first time. I know how much you love the old place. It’ll break your heart when you’re faced with the destruction.”
“I’m not a baby, I’ll be fine. You pamper me too much. I can handle this situation. What I couldn’t have coped with was if anything worse had happened to you. So please, get better soon, Miss Doomsday.”
Coralee grinned, making her poor face look even more grotesque.
Angelina felt a reaction throughout her body, nerves leaping in sympathy with the pain her best friend was trying to play down. She had to control her features so as not to upset Coralee further. “I’ll miss you, but I’ll survive.” She caressed Coralee’s left hand and held on when her friend’s fingers tightened. “I promise to visit the hospital with updates and get my daily Coralee fix.”
“Even still, I wish Johnnie or Grandma Evie was in town to support you through this.” Coralee flipped her hair back from her face and held it behind her ears, a gesture she made when uptight.
“Stop it, worrywart! Joe’s asked to go with me today, so I won’t be alone. I’m sure he’ll check out the safety issues before I get anywhere near the bad spots, so relax!” Angelina had to appease her.
The thought popped into her head that it might make more sense for her to be guarding Joe, but she quickly discarded it as being too cheeky.
“Oh—Joe is it? What about the formal Dr. Davidson?” Coralee’s eyebrow lifted, which made her wince and smirk simultaneously from the cut above it.
Not comfortable with Coralee’s inquisition, Angelina strove to appear indifferent. “He came by the house this morning because he knew I was alone, and thought I was without transportation. I pointed out that I could drive Grandma’s car, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He all but kidnapped me, drove me here and dropped me off; informing me he would be by later to pick me up. He’s playing chauffeur and friend today, nothing more.” She left out the part about the bus accident on purpose. That would really freak out Coralee.
“Too bad! If my memories from last night serve me right, he’s a prime specimen. Of course, I only saw him for a few minutes, because as soon as he knew the others had freed me he went after you.”
Wanting to get rid of the gleam in Coralee’s matchmaking eyes, Angelina added, “I haven’t paid much attention to his looks, just his domineering personality.”
“Hell, your nose is going to grow at least an inch with that whopper, Pinocchio,” Coralee gleefully teased.
Angelina left the side of the bed and pulled over the chair, her back turned to give her face time to lose its flush. Once settled, she opened a new topic and ignored the knowing gleam in Cora’s blood-shot eyes. “I’m meeting with the insurance adjuster today as well.”
The grin slid off Coralee’s face and her expression became serious. “I was never sure about you signing up for that extra earthquake clause. It was expensive, and even though I know you experienced a lot of shakes in Chile, I thought those crazy things never happen to us here.” Coralee snorted and nodded. “I should have known.”
“This year, I almost didn’t bother. Now I’m glad I stuck with it. Just hope it covers most of the expenses.”
“I have to tell you, Angelina, I’m surprised your family aren’t arriving today even without you asking. They must know about the earthquake.”
“Grandma had already started making return flight arrangements last night when I called, but I nagged her into staying in the States, and coming back with the parents as previously organized. There’s no need for her to hurry back, as there isn’t anything she could do, or for that matter, anything I’d want her to do.”
“Is that fair to her, or your parents, Ange? When they realized you’ve duped them, won’t they be upset?”
“Between you and me, I truly want to take care of this crisis alone. I need to prove to myself, and to them, that I can."
Coralee looked comical with her thick, reddish bed-head hair sticking out all over, and her blackened eye half-closed. Thankfully, her taunting grin revived her looks astonishingly. “Boy, you’re stubborn,” she groaned. “Why are you so independent? It pleases people to help you, especially those of us who care about you.”
“Yes, I know, but you have to understand. It pleases me to be able to stand on my own two feet. For years my father and two brothers tried to restrain me. They belittled my choice to follow in their footsteps and be an accountant. They scorned my dreams of working in the family business. They even tried to choose a husband for me. Every battle escalated into a war. To save my sanity, they forced me to be the independent person I am today. I knew they loved me, but it was suffocating. And don’t forget, I’m claustrophobic.”
Coralee groaned at the pun. Then she shook her head, obviously confused. “You’re lucky to have all these people who care. I don’t have a father or brothers, just an embarrassingly long string of miscellaneous dorky boyfriends.”
“You think I’m lucky?” Angelina drifted off remembering how she’d had to battle daily for her independence. All that testosterone was unbearable. Especially to a girl whose greatest pleasure was in pleasing others. In South America, in traditional families, the men were endlessly spoiled from birth. Those men-babies, coddled and cosseted by their women-folk, ultimately grew up adoring the opposite sex and became dream lovers.
On the other hand, the girls weren’t nearly as fortunate. They were habitually petted, true, but over-protected from the complexities of life by their hawk-eyed men-folk. And for someone like Angelina, it was like trapping a butterfly in her own velvet cocoon.
Coralee broke into her reminiscences. “It’s hard to imagine you being ruled or manipulated by anyone. I’ve only known you as a liberated woman. And… a woman extremely possessed by the calendar.” Coralee stuck to the subject like a fridge ornament. “I’ve tried to ask you before about your obsession with your timetable. Angelina, please tell me. I want to help.”
Angelina saw the love in the eyes of her best friend, and something gave within her. “You know I made that wager with my father—that I could own a business outright in two years. Well, that bet started from the time I opened my own office, which was exactly twenty-two months ago. Therefore I have only two months left before I win.”
“Right! I get that. But what you didn’t tell me… what’s at stake?”
Angelina could see by the lightness of Coralee’s features that she wasn’t taking any of this seriously.
But she would.
“If I win, he agreed to let me work in the family business, right alongside him and my brothers.”
A more serious expression flooded Coralee’s face as she asked. “And if you lose?”
“I have to return to Chile, let him help me choose a husband, settle down and marry. Give him grandchildren, be a society wife—stop breathing.”
Angelina had Coralee’s full attention now. “No way! My God, Angelina! You’re not serious. That’s a bunch of hooey; it’s like the Middle Ages. You certainly aren’t going along with any this nonsense. Are you?”
“I have no choice.” Angelina clasped her hands to still their habitual gesturing. “My entire life, our men-folk tried to slot me into the pattern they believed women belonged in. When I wanted to study at college, my father was angry, but mother blackmailed him into letting me go. I excelled and received honors at the best university in Santiago. I was sure he’d see how serious I was in wanting to work with him and my brothers, but he is domineering and stubborn. All he could see was his Angel. He spoiled me with affection
and gifts, and talked about how I should be like my society mother. Drove me crazy! I decided I either had to do something drastic, or bow under and say goodbye to my vision of the rest of my life. He and my brothers saw a little woman, wife and mother. I saw a successful, fearless businesswoman.”
“Does that mean you don’t ever want to get married or have children?” Coralee looked away, her expression soft, her face sad. “Babies are all I think about.”
Angelina smiled. “One day, sure.” The image popped into her head of Joe holding a pot of pink flowers. Then like a zoomed-in TV shot, the azaleas became a curly, black-haired baby with devilish green eyes. No way!
Huskiness attacked when she tried to speak. Clearing her throat, she admitted shyly, “Only problem is, I’ll have to learn how to talk when I’m around interested men. I have a habit of stuttering that’s very embarrassing.” Now why did I share that secret?
Wickedly, Coralee suggested, “The best way to control the stuttering is to keep your mouth occupied with something a whole lot more fun!”
Angelina followed her advice. Tongue sticking out and waggling, she crossed her eyes. “You mean like this?”
Coralee clutched her forehead, her face a picture of faked sadness. “Sure, right--fearless businesswoman! And you very well know that’s not what I meant for you to do with your mouth.”
Angelina recognized the moment when the wager’s full impact hit Coralee. Her friend’s grin faded and her face whitened noticeably, even under the bruising.
“Hold it, girlfriend. Either way, you’ll have to go back to Chile. What about your business here? What about your employees? Angelina, what about me?”
“Right from the beginning, I intended for you to someday take over this office, Coralee. You’re good. You’ll do fine, and I can come back and forth periodically.”
“Oh, Angelina. I can’t take this right now. I never thought you’d leave us, or give up what you’ve worked so hard for.”
“I’ve struggled so long to make this dream come true, Coralee—for so many years. To belong! Be a part of our family business and take my rightful place. It’s what I’ve always wanted. To make them proud. You have to understand how much it means to me.”
“I’ll try, but it breaks my heart. The thing is, can we still win? Do we have a chance now after the earthquake?” Angelina noticed that her friend had automatically kicked in on her side; it was why she adored her.
“I hope so. The profit we’d have made from the new Florist’s account which arrived yesterday would have paid off the last of the money I owe. I was absolutely floating after they left, but now, I just don’t know.”
“If we can’t pull it off, what’ll happen?”
“I made the bet, and if we lose, I’ll honor it.”
Chapter 15
Unknown to the two girls, Joe had arrived at the curtain in time to hear the last part of Angelina’s impassioned speech about the Florist’s account and how she needed it to pay back some of the money she’d gambled.
Her being a gambler shook him to the core. Right from the beginning, when he’d looked into her beautiful eyes, there’d been a kind of sweet connection, a yearning that had started tormenting him. She was different than anyone he’d ever met, and he’d felt a respect for the way she’d handled adversity. But he didn’t have any respect for people who gambled. He’d seen too many lives broken up because of the addiction. In fact, one of his brother’s wives was in a recovery program, and their relationship had suffered tremendously until she’d gotten help.
Nope, he couldn’t deal with it. Better to back off now, he decided. Wait! You promised to take her to her office. He argued with himself. She didn’t really want to come with me. She said she’d rather go by cab. Tough–you promised.
Back and forth he struggled, his thoughts conflicted. Finally, he pulled back the cubicle curtain and stepped inside.
Both women pivoted abruptly.
“Angelina, something has come up and I’ll have to meet you at your office building later—after lunch. Sorry about the ride.” He couldn’t look her in the face. But he did wink at Coralee as he said, “Hi there. Hope you’re feeling better.”
“Hey, Dr. Joe. I feel a lot better than I look.”
“You’re gorgeous, and don’t let the wozos in here say otherwise.” He waved and was gone.
“Wozos? A new word for me,” Coralee chuckled.
“Do you believe that?” Angelina’s voice was many octaves higher than usual. “First he forces himself on me after I tell him not to bother.” Her hands were waving ferociously. “Then, when I’m glad he’ll be there, he leaves skid marks on the floor to get away. Gringo loco!” she seethed, disgust evident in her voice.
At first, Coralee laughed. Then she added. “Don’t be mad at him, Angelina. He looked weird, like he’d had a shock, or lost his best friend. Don’t you think he looked kinda pale?”
“Pale?” Angelina’s head swiveled in the direction of where Joe had disappeared to moments before. “Well, he did have a concussion last night. And then he had a slight accident with a bus this morning. Maybe he’s had a relapse. Now I feel terrible for getting so huffy. It’s just that when I tried to talk him out of bringing me to the hospital, he wouldn’t take no for an answer, all but dragging me into his truck. Now he dumps me.” Her hands kept time with her voice, up in the air, then down, then waving around to start their journey yet again.
“The man came to tell you that something came up; he didn’t just dump you.”
“I guess. But he was overly friendly this morning, and I got the feeling just now that he couldn’t wait to get away.”
“What happened last night for him to get concussed?”
Discomfort kicked in while Angelina searched for the right words. “We were crawling, zigzagging out of the cleared passageway he’d made for us, when some of the debris fell on him and knocked him out. Because I could see the tottering wall he was backing in to, I tried to warn him to stop, but the stubborn mule wouldn’t listen. At the last second, he dove to cover me and took the full brunt of the crash.”
Angelina didn’t want to remember how panicky she’d been when she’d thought that Joe could be dying right there in her arms. She pushed the horror away and continued, “They brought him to the hospital in an ambulance, soon after they took you away.”
“And today he’s on the loose. For heaven’s sake, he should probably still be in bed. And what was that about an accident?”
“It was nothing—a slight bump to the front of his truck.”
“Nothing? Holy mackerel, were you in the truck with him?”
“Uh huh! Seems to be a pattern starting up here. Sharing accidents!”
“It doesn’t look good, Angelina. No wonder the guy seemed disturbed.”
“This morning, he told me the hospital cleared him. I have to admit, he did look healthy enough earlier. I guess his back took the worst hit, or so the nurse said last night.” Angelina was beginning to feel ridiculously guilty. She was being bitchy. After all, the poor guy just got out of his sick bed, and came straight to help her.
“Who took you home from the hospital last night?” Coralee interrupted her musings.
“Lee Nivens, the fellow who came with me to see you.”
“I thought I remembered someone here with you. What’s he look like? Is he nice?”
“He’s wonderful. One of the nicest guys I’ve met in a long time, and a real gentleman. You’ll like him, Coralee.”
“He must be gay.”
“Now why would you say that?”
“If he didn’t come on to you, he’s either gay or blind. And if he had come on to you, then you wouldn’t be singing his praises.”
“He’s not gay, you goofball. He’s a nice single man who’s a sweetie, so there.” Angelina crossed her fingers hoping that her comment about him being single was true. After all, if he had a crush on Coralee, he’d better not be hooked up with anyone else, or he’d answer to her.
“Know what?” Coralee was back on the earlier train of thought. “I’m still intrigued—curious about your life in Chile. Joe interrupted us, but since you’re in the mood to talk, tell me more. You realize that for me this is a no-win situation. If you succeed, you go back to Chile, and if you lose, you still go back. Did you specifically move to Canada to accomplish this goal?”
“Yes. You know I was born in Canada?”
“You were? How did that happen?”
“Mama was about five months pregnant with me, and came to spend time with her mother, Grandma Evie. Some serious health problems pestered her while she was here, and the doctors put her to bed for the rest of her pregnancy. They wouldn’t allow her to fly home, so Papá went back and forth, and had to leave my brothers with the nanny in Chile. I was born here in Victoria, and after a month or so, we went back. Being a Canadian citizen helped when I decided to move here and open my own business. There was a lot less paperwork and fewer permits to deal with.”
“Did you spend a lot of time here on holidays while you were growing up?”
“Oh yes. I loved it here. Grandma was a spoiler, and as kids we knew whenever we came here, she would take us all over the island. My brothers especially loved to go to Long Beach and surf, but my favorite was the Butchart Gardens. Those spectacular, showy flowerbeds were a joy for Grandma Evie, and so they were for me also. Victoria was like my second home.”
“I’ve always liked it here too. It’s a pretty city full of nice people. What’s your home in Chile like? You live in the capital city, don’t you? We’ve talked about it before.”
“Yes. It’s called Santiago. Chilean people are warm and friendly, and we have a huge network of friends and family on my father’s side. My brothers are bachelors who are very much sought after. Sebastian only recently became engaged, and will marry in the spring. Rodrigo is still on the prowl.”
“I met them a few times but I must admit I was pretty intimidated. They’re way too handsome for my comfort.”
“You know what’s funny? They both thought you were pretty, but shy. I laughed when they told me, and now I see why they thought so.”
