Housekeeping

by Summer Cooper

  “When I finish,” she told him softly, “you can walk away and never see me again. Just let me tell you the truth.”

  His own words. He closed his eyes and let his head fall, then forced a smile. “Okay.”

  He led her to the back of the lobby and she chose a couch and sat. When he only stood and stared at her, she began.

  “I was in my sophomore year of college, and Craig was… I didn’t know what he saw in someone like me. He had the clothes and the money, and everyone wanted to be his friend. But he chose me, and it made me feel like I was really something. I hadn’t even wanted that, you know. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. I didn’t want him until he chose me, and then it felt so good.

  “When…” Her throat closed, and she forced herself to keep talking. “When my family died, he was there for me. It was a car crash. My parents, and my sister. She was fourteen. I don’t even know what happened. I stopped caring. I stopped going to class. I couldn’t seem to get out of bed anymore. It took too much effort to eat, or… do anything. Craig told me to take the semester off. He said it would help. He said he’d take care of me.

  “And then I got pregnant. He wanted me to get rid of the baby, and I guess it made sense. I was still so depressed. But it was life, don’t you see? It showed me that there was more to the world than just darkness. I stopped drinking. I stopped smoking. I could see colors again; I had the energy to do things.

  “But he was so angry with me. He started accusing me of keeping the baby to get money out of him. His parents came and threatened me. I told them I’d sign anything they wanted, but they didn’t care. They just wanted to tell me how stupid I was for letting it happen. When Darren was born, they didn’t come to see him. Craig didn’t come to see him.”

  She could remember it like it was yesterday: her, alone in the hospital, holding the baby and wondering what she had done.

  “I never meant to ask him for help, I swear to you. But there was the hospital, and then the clothes, and… I was trying to work two jobs, but I couldn’t pay anyone to watch him. I tried everything, but it never seemed to be enough. And I kept thinking that if I just did the right thing, it would all get better.

  “It took seven years to fall apart. First the diner, then my apartment. I called him when the diner closed. I said I’d do anything; I just needed the money for Darren. Not even for me, he could take him shopping, get him clothes; that way he’d know it wasn’t going to me. He didn’t call me back. I didn’t hear from him until—”

  “Today,” Perry finished softly.

  “Yeah. There have been so many since him. Guys who told me I was special; I was really something. And they all wanted one thing, and when they didn’t get it, they walked away. After a while, it was a lot easier to see what was happening before I got caught up in it. When you came along, I thought you were lying.”

  “Cara, I grew up dirt poor.” He sat at last, and his eyes met hers. “Some nights we had cheese and crackers for dinner. Hell, some nights we had crackers. I went to bed with my stomach rumbling every night for years, and what I learned was that people laughed at you when you asked for help. People weren’t going to give you anything, not even if you were starving to death slowly.

  “When the Marines gave me a way out, I turned them down flat. I told them I didn’t need anything, but the recruiter followed me home, and when he saw me get into a fight I couldn’t win outside my house; he beat the crap out of them and picked me up off the ground, and he said to me, when are you going to learn that everyone needs brothers to help them? He’d grown up just like me, destined for nothing because he had nothing but pride, and he couldn’t ask, and it was his recruiter who had gotten him out. He said he was paying it forward.

  “And I didn’t want any help, Cara, but he was right. I took that offer, and I saw some things I wish I could forget. But that money got my family out of a tight spot, and it got me to college, and that got me here, because I learned to say ‘yes’ when someone offered me something. The only thing it couldn’t get me was a woman who understood, who fought for herself and her family like I’d fought for me and mine. You can call me crazy, but when I saw you in that diner, I knew. I knew you were that woman.

  “You don’t have to be with me, Cara. Just knowing you’re out there? It’s enough. I won’t bother you if you don’t want it, but…” He held out the folder he’d been carrying. “This is an application. To MIT. Humor me, fill it out. Send it in. Let me pay your application fee. And even if I never see you again, when you come across someone someday who doesn’t want any help, you stick with them until they take it.”

  “I…” She took the folder, opened it, and stared at the logo. “Why?”

  “Because I want you to bet on yourself,” Perry told her. “I kept telling myself I would never be anything because I would rather starve and steal than ask for help. When I took my spot in the Marines, it was the scariest thing I had ever done. But it gets easier.”

  “Hey,” said a voice from behind them.

  “What?” Cara turned to meet Craig’s eyes.

  “Are we gonna go?” he asked her, looking over Perry with contempt. “You left me hanging.”

  “Oh.” Cara looked down at the folder. She looked at Craig. The moment stretched, branching two ways ahead, and she swallowed, pressing her lips together. “You know, I don’t think so,” she said finally. “I think we’re done, Craig.”

  “I’ve heard that before.”

  “I mean it this time.”

  “I’ve heard that, too.”

  “I’m going back to school,” Cara said suddenly. “I am, Craig. This is it. Thanks for… well, for Darren.”

  “You’re going back to school.” He started to laugh. “Cara, you’re never finishing that degree. And whatever this bastard is telling you—”

  He never saw the punch coming. Perry, it happened, could move faster than Cara could even see. There was a blur, and then Craig was crumpled on the ground, and a few men in suits by the elevators laughed and clapped. Perry gave them a sheepish nod before sitting back down.

  “Sorry about that,” he said, and she saw a gleam of humor in his eyes. “But I’m a little bored with that speech.”

  Cara laughed, she couldn’t help herself. The giggle welled up and she laughed until she was crying, hunched over the folder and wiping at her eyes, holding it so tight that the edges crinkled. When he tried to take it, she hung on.

  “Nuh-h. This is mine.”

  “So you’re going to do it?” He asked her, and there was a smile on his face.

  “Yeah.” She felt like she was at the top of a rollercoaster and she smiled, feeling reckless. “I’m going to do it. I’m going back to school.”

  “I’m glad.” He stood up to leave, and looked down at her. “I wish you all the luck in the world, Cara.”

  “Wait.” Her voice stopped him, but he didn’t turn. “Would you, uh…would you have dinner with me?”

  She couldn’t see his smile, but she could feel it.

  “How about my place?” His voice was very deep. It warmed her down to her bones. “Come over after work. We’ll have dinner ready for you.”

  “We?”

  “Your son,” he said with dignity, “has to learn how to cook. It’s very popular with the ladies.” He smiled. “I’ll see you at eight.”

  Chapter Six

  “Mom, it’s 8:30.”

  “I’ll go in a minute.”

  “You’re going to be late.”

  “Crap.” Cara flipped the textbook shut and hopped over to the closet. Darren had been hounding her all night about this date, hovering in the doorway every few minutes to say she should start getting ready. “Why are you still up?”

  “Why aren’t you at the restaurant yet?” Darren asked her with a grin. He laughed when she threw him a dirty look. “I’ll go to bed when you leave.”

  “Promise?” Cara called.

  “I promise. Get ready!”

  She kicked off her flannel pants
and threw them into the hamper. Her tank top followed suit, and she pulled a new dress out of the closet. It had taken three extra shifts at the lab to buy it, and she wasn’t even a little bit sorry; the dress hugged all the places it should hug, with a neckline that was the perfect mix of classy and sexy, and the purple set off her eyes and her hair to perfection.

  She applied her makeup hastily, sighing as she had to rub the eyeliner out and start again, but at last she nodded in satisfaction. Her hair…well, her hair was never going to be well-behaved, but it shone nicely enough. And if she was a little pale after a few weeks in the lab, well, she knew her smile more than made up for it. She slipped on her heels and poked her head into Darren’s bedroom.

  “Sleep, mister.”

  “Five more minutes.”

  “If you don’t sleep, you shouldn’t go out on the river tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll sleep!” He grabbed his toothbrush and ran past her.

  “I love you,” Cara called.

  A muffled, toothpaste-filled call was her response, and she smiled as she grabbed her purse and headed out, calling a hasty goodbye to their landlady. A brief sprint to the curb—tricky in her heels—and she was in a cab, checking her watch every few seconds. She hopped out of the cab and into the restaurant, and she skidded to a halt at the bar.

  “I’m sorry I’m—”

  “Five minutes early?” Perry asked her, grinning. He held out a glass of champagne.

  “There’s no need to mock me,” Cara said as she took her seat.

  “On the contrary, I find your habitual earliness endearing.” His grin spread. “And, finally. I finally arrived somewhere before you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.”

  “Mr. Hammond?” A waiter held out his hand. ”Your table is ready.”

  “Thank you, Jake,” Perry told him easily. As they walked, he slipped his arm around Cara’s waist. “You look lovely, by the way.”

  “And you look very handsome.” Cara smiled up at him, and leaned in for a kiss. She raised an eyebrow when she saw him watching her. “What?”

  “Life in the lab suits you,” he said decisively. “You’re practically glowing.”

  “That’s the radium.” Cara held his gaze until she saw a flicker of uncertainty. “Just kidding.”

  “Mmm.” He studied the menu. “Or, I’m going to die of radiation poisoning one of these days.”

  “Very unlikely, I’ll have you know. So how’s business?” She took a sip of water, and smiled at him.

  “Same old, same old. Have a lot of money. How’s science? Other than the radium.”

  “Same old. Made some robots. Actually,” she said, warming to the theme, “I made some cybernetic implants as well. You know, there’s an interesting theory about using implants within the spinal column to… now what?”

  “You should have some champagne.” Perry was smiling at her. He reached out to take her hand.

  “Okay.” Cara lifted her glass and held it out to him. “To… oh, my God. Oh, my God. Perry. Oh, my God.”

  The ring glittered, little bubbles rising in amongst the three tiny sapphires. Cara held the glass, shaking, tears coming to her eyes.

  “Cara Ford.” Perry’s voice seemed to be coming from very far away. “Will you marry me?”

  “Oh, my God,” Cara whispered again. She seemed to have forgotten how to say anything else. She nodded, hand pressed over her mouth, and wiped away a tear as he dumped the champagne unceremoniously into his water glass, holding the ring out for her. “It fits…it fits perfectly. How did you know?”

  “Darren helped.”

  “Darren knew?”

  “Of course.” Perry smiled at her.

  “I have three years before I finish my PhD,” Cara whispered at him. It had to be a mistake. Perry Hammond had enough money to tempt a princess.

  “We’ll make it work. After all, I’m told I have enough money to fly back and forth between New York and Boston.” He sobered when she looked over at him. “I wanted to wait, I just…I couldn’t. I’ll move to Boston if you want. I’ll wait for you in New York if you want. But Cara, I have loved you since the moment you almost poured coffee on me in that diner. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “Or I with you,” Cara whispered.

  The End

  Part II

  Sweet Love

  Romantic Comedy

  About the Book

  Annie May Rogers comes to England to spend the summer with her grandmother and to discover the land of her birth. Thanks to her grandmother, what she finds is a boy from her past, now a grown man, who broke her heart as a little girl. Annie May doesn’t know, at first, that Daniel is the frog prince of her past, the boy who made her cry, but she soon finds out and it becomes their own private joke. Falling in love has never been so easy for Annie May or Daniel but betrayal soon mars her trip, and her entire world.

  Who is the mysterious Piper Sandbrook? What role does she have in Daniel’s life? Fearing that she has only been a joke to Daniel, Annie May breaks off all contact with him, fearing that her prince has turned back into a frog. Or maybe he was never a prince at all?

  Circumstances change, and questions must be answered. Can Annie May forgive disloyalty and did Daniel really betray Annie May at all? Will Piper admit her role in it all and can Daniel and Annie save each other when push comes to shove? Most important of all, was Annie May’s grandmother wrong to choose Daniel for her granddaughter or was it the smartest decision she’s ever made? Is Daniel the frog or the prince that Annie May has always dreamed of?

  Chapter Seven

  Pushing her luggage through the door of the inn, Annie May Rogers called out to her Nanna, letting her know she had arrived. Clomping up the stairs she wondered what her summer in Derbyshire was going to produce. After a long flight over the Atlantic from America, a stop in Germany, and one more flight that finally landed her in Manchester; Annie May was exhausted. The train trip and cab ride to the inn didn’t help ease any of her exhaustion either, though it was wonderful to see her homeland again.

  Annie grew up in America, but her parents were English. They’d moved her and her brothers to America when she was a baby and though there had been week-long trips, she’d never really stayed longer than a week at a time. She had come over for the summer to take a break after completing her university degree in information technology and wanted a break from computers and homework before looking for a job and settling down back in America. She wanted pubs, friends, laughter, and some time with her Nanna. She knew her grandmother would be busy serving behind the bar, so she took herself up the stairs and found a room that was empty.

  Looking out of her bedroom window, she knew she was at least going to enjoy the scenery, as usual. The rolling hills outside were beautiful enough that even the clumsiest of photographers couldn’t help but get a breath-taking picture of them. Yes, this was going to be one special summer, she thought.

  Changing out of her travel clothes she put on a flowing sapphire skirt and peach coloured blouse. The colours complimented her curly light red hair and blue eyes, and she was satisfied with how she looked as she walked away from the mirror. As satisfied as she could be anyway. At one inch below six feet she was tall, and not in the slim Barbie kind of way. But she had a nice bosom, a well-shaped bottom, and though her feet were large, the skirt she wore hid that part. She wasn’t going to win any beauty contests, she thought, but she wasn’t going to scare the children away, at least.

  Walking back down the stairs, she heard a male voice telling her grandmother about the problems he was having at his business. His computer network didn’t work, and the only person in the village qualified to fix the problem couldn’t come to his office for another two weeks. She slowed as she walked in, dreading what she knew was about to happen.

  “Don’t do it, Nanna, don’t do it,” she whispered quietly to herself as she walked in. Before she could get a word out, Nanna did it!

  “Oh
, Annie May, you’ve come down, good, come here and give me a hug. I’m ever so pleased you’ve come! It’s going to be great having you all summer! Oh, here, I want you to meet this young man. I think he can do with some of your knowledge, duck.” Ruby Rogers pulled Annie May to her own large frame, enveloping the girl in sweet maternal love. Annie May cuddled her grandmother, loving the security she felt when she was in her Nanna’s arms. Ruby was a large lady with white hair down to her waist. A no-nonsense but loving woman, she was one of Annie May’s most favourite people in the world. Nanna pushed Annie away, looking her granddaughter up and down.

  “You are filling out nicely Annie May. Here now, this is Daniel Chamberlain. He operates a local non-profit that helps troubled teens. He’s having some problems with his interwebs or something. I was just about to suggest you could help him out with that. What do you think?” Ruby had a totally innocent look on her face, but Annie May could see from the gleam in her eye that she knew what she was doing. She squinted at her grandmother but laughed as she turned to the fellow.

  Annie May was hoping she could get out of it, when she quickly changed her mind. The man had to be a poet; he had the dark curly hair, the kind of amazingly dreamy hazel eyes that made women swoon, and a mouth meant for whispering the poems he’d written into his lady-love’s ear. Be still my heart, she thought as she placed her left hand over her heart.

  “Hi, I’m Annie May Rogers,” she said as she held out her hand, her voice suddenly becoming a soft, smoky sound.

  “Enchanted,” he replied, taking her hand to brush a kiss across her knuckles.