by Gail Sattler
She scanned the entranceway, noting the marble tile, ran her hand over the carved wood on the door. She then tilted her head to look up the spiral staircase leading to the loft. “Nice place.”
“Thanks.” The house was clean and tidy, but that was only because the housekeeper had been there today. Since he no longer had a job, it looked like he would have to clean up his own mess for awhile.
“We might as well get right to it. Where do you keep everything?”
He led her downstairs to the rec room. First her eyes widened at the sight of his home-theater television, then she turned her attention to the recessed bar, taking in the colored lights reflecting in the mirrors behind, and then the tooled wood of the bar unit itself, which was the focal point of the room. He’d built the bar with his friends and had spared no expense, including the mahogany top and custom-built leather stools.
Without saying a word, Patty gathered all the bottles on display and started pouring everything down the sink. She didn’t miss a beat, pouring all the contents of every bottle without first reading the labels, nor did she check how much was actually in the bottles before she started pouring. One bottle’s seal hadn’t even been broken. Without hesitation, she cracked the seal and dumped it too.
Mike tried not cringe when she picked up his bottle of the most expensive whiskey money could buy and poured the golden liquid down the sink with the rest. Next she opened the bottom shelves and dumped out everything else she could find.
The strong smell of sweet liquor permeated the air. Strangely, it turned his stomach.
He stared at his bottles lined up on the bar top. He counted an even dozen empty bottles. His mind went blank. It was all gone, every last drop. A woman he barely knew had just poured hundreds of his dollars down the drain.
She ran the water to complete the process. “Where’s the rest?”
He spoke before he realized what he was saying. “In the linen closet.”
“And the linen closet is…?”
Mike shook his head. He couldn’t believe he’d told her, but he recognized that it was for his own good. He walked upstairs in a daze, straight to the linen closet where he reached behind the pile of towels and pulled out his secret last bottle.
Fortunately, she didn’t question why he kept a bottle hidden when he lived alone. He wasn’t sure he knew the answer.
Without a word, she marched into the kitchen and dumped it down the sink. “I’ll take the empty bottles home and put them in my recycling bin for pickup, so you won’t have to handle them again. What can I put them in?”
Woodenly, he found a few empty grocery bags and followed her as she returned downstairs to the rec room. He watched as she put the bottles, one by one, into the bags.
The sound of clinking glass cruelly nagged at him as she picked everything up, reminding him what had just happened.
It was gone. Everything was gone.
He couldn’t keep the sarcastic edge out of his voice, and he didn’t care. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
She sighed. “No, I really didn’t. It was such a waste. But Claude was right. It’s for the best.”
Mike bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I know you’re only trying to do what’s best. I appreciate it, even if you can’t tell.”
The glass in the bags she was holding clinked again as Patty moved. “I think it’s time for me to go.”
Something in his chest tightened, gripping his heart like a vise. It was too early for him to be home alone. Nothing was on television. He didn’t have anything to do. Just the thought of her leaving sent a stab of dread through him.
He rammed his hands into his pockets, but he couldn’t keep still. He shuffled his feet, then stared at the empty shelves behind the bar.
This was it. He really had no choice. He was completely cut off. He had nothing unless he walked or called a cab to go to the closest bar for a case of beer, since by now all the liquor stores were closed. He could call one of his friends to bring him something if any of them were home and not already at the club. But he didn’t want to drink. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to see his friends, because by now they would all have consumed their share of alcohol. He would be the only one not drinking.
“Please. Stay.”
“Stay? But …”
He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He didn’t have any right to further inconvenience her. For the past three evenings, he’d kept her from her normal routine and her own friends, friends who were no doubt upright and respectable, friends who would never walk on the wrong side of the law, friends who probably didn’t drink anything stronger than tea and liked it that way.
He wondered what her friends were like. He knew that she’d been raised going to church, then after graduating from high school, she’d attended Bible college, and right after that, she’d gone to work for her church. He suspected that everyone she knew, both friends and family, were Christians like her.
Mike had only ever known one person who was a Christian. Robbie was different from anyone he’d ever met—so different that for awhile he thought he’d been in love. He’d even asked her to marry him. Because she went to church, and he did believe in God, he’d attended church with her. But organized religion wasn’t for him, and he quit going after a few months. He’d convinced Robbie to stop going, and hoped to keep it that way, but every once in awhile, she asked him to go back, which he didn’t want to do.
In the end, his interest strayed to someone he thought more his type, someone who had no interest in anything to do with God or church. That hadn’t worked out either. Since then he’d dated a lot, but as soon as a woman looked like she was getting too serious, he ended it.
Of course, frequently women only went after him for his money, but he expected that. It went with the territory, and he treated them accordingly. Whenever he broke up with a woman, there were never hard feelings, and life went on. It was all for fun, usually on both sides. For the last few years, all his relationships had been shallow, and he hadn’t been drawn to any woman in particular.
Until Patty. She was special. He liked her. She was tough and confident, but at the same time, sweet and innocent. She lived what she believed—standing up for what was right according to her God, no matter what. She had convictions. Strength. But at the same time, she was every inch a woman, tender and delicate. For the first time in a long time, he felt drawn to her by something he couldn’t name, but it wasn’t right. The woman was pure and wholesome, raised in a sheltered environment, and she chose to keep living that way.
He was none of the above. He’d been a wild and spoiled teenager, and he hadn’t settled down much as an adult. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, the way he wanted. He lived to excess. But now, everything he’d done had caught up with him in one way or another. He’d broken the law and finally been caught. Because of his carelessness and disregard for the law or safety, someone had been hurt. Up until recently, he hadn’t cared about anybody but himself.
Worst of all, there was no way to hide the severity of what he’d become from Patty, because she was his probation officer’s sister. What she didn’t already know, he had a feeling she would soon find out.
Then she’d hate him, and he’d deserve it.
Patty checked her watch. “All right,” she said. “I’ll stay, but not too long. I have a ladies’ breakfast in the morning.”
Chapter 4
Patricia wasn’t sure if she was doing the smartest thing by staying, but she didn’t know what else to do. She couldn’t tell what was going on in his head, but something was happening in there, and she didn’t think it was a good idea to leave him alone.
Mike smiled weakly. “Can I get you something to drink? I might have some tea or something here somewhere. I’ve got lots of mix, er, soft drinks in the fridge.”
“Thanks for asking, but I’ll pass.”
She followed him upstairs into t
he living room where he flipped on the television, a newer, large-screen model, and sat in the center of a giant, well-stuffed couch. The room was well decorated in tones of blues. Everything was color coordinated, including a framed painting of a horse in a ranch scene hanging above a black gas fireplace, accented with polished brass. It was definitely masculine, yet comfortable.
Patricia sat in the armchair across from him. “You have a lovely home.” She couldn’t understand, though, why anyone living alone would need two televisions.
“Thank you.” He laughed quietly. “I have to tell you, I seldom use the living room. When my friends come over, we usually head straight downstairs into the rec room, after everyone raids the kitchen.”
She didn’t know whether she should feel honored for the special treatment or bad for him, since it was also possible the only reason they were in the living room was that he felt too awkward about going down to the rec room after watching her dispose of his liquor. Over the years, she’d known a few people who had quit smoking, and a part of the addiction was the breaking of bad habits and lifestyle patterns. She imagined that quitting drinking had many similarities.
“So after you have your breakfast with the ladies tomorrow morning, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going out shopping with a friend. What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I have no idea, but I guess I’ll think of something. Maybe I’ll head to the shop and see how they’re coming on my car.”
As the hour passed, they watched a sitcom on television in comfortable silence. At the end of the show, Mike politely thanked her for staying. She gathered up the bags of empty bottles and went home.
Patricia settled into the passenger seat of Colleen’s car, pushed her back into the chair, stretched her aching legs, wiggled her toes, and groaned. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve done so much walking. My feet are killing me!”
“But it was worth it! Look at all the great stuff we bought.”
“You mean the great stuff you bought. I only bought a new soap dispenser for the church.”
“But it’s a great soap dispenser.” Colleen started the car. “I think your purse is ringing.”
A muffled ring sounded. “It’s probably Mom wanting to know if I’ll be around for lunch after church tomorrow.”
As quickly as she could, she dug under Colleen’s parcels for her purse and pulled out her cellular phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, Patty. It’s me. Mike. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
Patricia gasped and put her hand over the phone. “It’s not my mom,” she whispered to Colleen. “Excuse me. This might be private.”
Colleen turned off the ignition, and Patricia stepped out of the car and closed the door. “Hi, Mike. Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong. I was just wondering if you could do me a favor. I hate to ask, but none of my friends are available. My car is ready, and they don’t want to leave it here outside over the weekend. I, uh, was wondering if you could come here and drive it home for me. I’ll pay for a cab for you to get here. It’s at Arnie’s Auto Repair, just off Main Street.”
Patricia checked her watch then glanced over at Colleen. “Actually, my friend was just about to drive me home. She can drop me off there instead.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. See you whenever you get here. I owe you.”
Patricia turned off the phone and got back into Colleen’s car. “Change of plans. I need you to drive me somewhere. I have to do a favor for a friend.”
“A male or female friend?”
“None of your business.”
“Ah. That kind of friend.”
Patricia stared out the window. Colleen could think what she wanted. Maybe it would be safer for Mike if people thought she was dating him. She would suffer with the well-meaning but erroneous impressions of her love life, which was always a curiosity item around the church circles, but it would lessen the questions. Most of all, she wouldn’t betray the confidence of Mike’s personal life and the real reason they were together.
Come to think of it, she’d only meant to take him to one meeting. Since the day she met him, she’d seen him every day.
“Going to give me more details? What’s he like? Where did you meet him? Does he go to our church? Do I know him?”
Patricia put on her best smile. “Shut up and turn left at the next intersection.”
Colleen smiled right back. “I can take a hint.”
The entire way to Arnie’s, Patricia gritted her teeth, listening to Colleen humming “Here Comes the Bride.”
Mike tossed his keys into the air and once again stuffed them into his pocket while he waited alone, outside, beside his car.
His car was fixed, and it was killing him not to drive it. It was the stupidest thing. If he needed a ride, he could simply have called a cab, or, if he really wanted to start thinking of saving money while he was unemployed, he could take the bus.
It wasn’t so simple when he needed someone else to drive his car. For a brief few seconds, he’d considered driving it home himself without a license. After all, he’d been cold sober for four days, and he was certainly a good driver. Unless he got a ticket or, heaven forbid, got in an accident, no one would ever know.
Except Patty. As soon as she knew his car was home, she would ask about it, and he knew he couldn’t lie to her. He didn’t want to disappoint her, and suddenly it mattered more than ever that he obeyed the restrictions of the charges against him. He got himself into this mess, and it was nothing he didn’t deserve. He was going to get out of it the right way, with dignity.
Once again, he needed Patty. The only friend he’d been able to get in touch with was Wayne. However, he could tell that Wayne had been drinking. Therefore, he didn’t want Wayne to drive his car.
How quickly things changed.
A red compact pulled into the lot. Patty exited and waved, but instead of the car immediately leaving, the woman who was driving hesitated and gave him an obvious going over. Any other time, he would have smiled, waved, and winked, openly flirting with any woman who paid him attention.
This time, he didn’t feel like it. He smiled only at Patty as she started walking toward him, and the little red car drove away.
“Hi,” he said as she approached. He couldn’t keep his feet still. He left the side of his car, walked to her, then took the bag she was carrying from her hand. He smiled brightly and walked side by side with her back toward his car. “I really appreciate this. To show you how much, I want to take you out for dinner.”
She shook her head. “Don’t be silly. This is nothing.”
They stopped beside his car. Before he realized what he was doing, he lifted his free hand and gently ran his fingertips along her soft cheek, slowly brushing away a stray lock of her beautiful brown hair. He didn’t drop his hand, touching her chin as he spoke. “It isn’t nothing to me, and I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I can afford to take you out to dinner. I’m not quite derelict yet. I can easily get another job. I may have charges pending against me, but that doesn’t make me unemployable. You deserve a special thank you.”
She didn’t fight his touch but stared up at him. It was the first time she’d stood so close to him, allowing him to assess her in a different way.
Their height difference was just about perfect. He didn’t look down to see what kind of shoes she wore, but at the moment he was about five or six inches taller than Patty. To his way of thinking, that was just right for kissing. He knew she was about thirty, but with her sheltered lifestyle in mind, he wondered if she’d ever been kissed properly. He hoped not, because he wanted to be the one to do it.
She shivered slightly in the cool spring breeze then backed up one step, forcing him to drop his hand. “This is your car?”
He quirked up one side of his mouth in a lopsided smile. “Yeah.” Patty had such beautiful eyes. He’d noticed the blue of her eyes when they had dinner together, but he hadn’t been close enough to fully apprecia
te them. He’d never seen eyes such a pure blue without the aid of colored contacts, but she wasn’t wearing any. That beautiful sky blue was natural, and especially striking with her brown hair. He’d only ever seen the lighter blue eyes with blonds.
“You never told you had a fancy car. It looks really expensive. I’ll bet it’s brand-new too.”
“Yeah, it’s a limited edition, and it is fairly new.” Unlike the other times they’d been together, today she wore a touch of eye shadow but no lipstick, although he suspected it had simply worn off. He found it strange that she’d worn makeup to go out with other women for breakfast but she didn’t wear it for him. He’d always thought it was the other way around, at least it had been for most of the women he’d known.
He watched as she stared at his car in wide-eyed fascination then ran her hand cautiously over the hood of the low-slung sports coupe. “You trust me to drive this?”
He trusted her with more than just his car—he trusted her with his life. “Of course I trust you, or I wouldn’t have asked. I also trust that you won’t argue with me, and you’ll drive it to where I say I want to go.”
“I’ve been shopping all day. I really don’t feel like going anyplace fancy. Besides, I’m not dressed for it.”
“Then where we’re going will be perfect.” He opened the driver’s door and bowed with a flourish. Her mouth opened then snapped shut, and she begrudgingly got in.
After he gave her directions and they were on their way, he selected a CD, turned it to a low volume, and settled back in the seat. He’d thought he would feel awkward being a passenger in his own car. Normally, he didn’t like being a passenger in anyone’s car. The first time Patty picked him up, he felt strange, but the second time, he’d been relaxed. Now, in his own car, he didn’t mind her driving at all.
“How did you get my cell number?”
“I phoned your place, but when I got the answering machine, I called the church, in case you were there. I ended up speaking to the pastor. He wasn’t going to give me your number, but when I gave him my name, he must have remembered what a good job I did sorting those paper clips, because he gave it to me without hesitation after that.”
