by Francis Ray
“She and Simon are crazy about each other,” Alec admitted, trying not to stare at Celeste’s tempting mouth.
“Just as it should be when a man and woman fall in love.”
He felt a strange sensation in his chest. He stared at her; she stared back. “The calla lily.”
“There.” She pointed to an area covered with cedar bark and surrounded by smooth river stones. Nearby was a flat patch of green grass. “Do you plan to build a bench, or a fire pit if you use brick and have a cement floor?”
He hadn’t thought that far. His hesitation must have shown.
“If your brother likes to grill I’d say a fireplace to double as a romantic refuge where they could enjoy each other’s company while he cooks,” she said.
“Simon and Sam each try to outdo the other on the grill,” he remarked, trying to stay focused. Celeste had folded her arms under her generous breasts, pushing them distractingly upward in the thin yellow T-shirt.
“Sam?”
“The oldest. There are five of us.” Thank goodness, he told himself when she let her arms fall to her sides. He tried to make himself believe he really felt that way.
“Maureen said you’re a policeman, too.”
A policeman who didn’t have the nerve to fire his gun.
Her words effectively reminded him of why he was here and why she was off-limits. “Thank you for showing me, but I don’t want to keep you from your work.”
Was that disappointment on her face? “You’re welcome.”
She started back toward the house, then stopped. “I brought lunch since Maureen said the maid and housekeeper would be on vacation while she’s gone. I have more than enough to share.”
“Thank you, but once I start, I plan to work straight through,” he said.
“I see,” she murmured. This time he clearly saw the disappointment. “If you change your mind the offer stands.” Continuing on, she stopped at the camellia bush again and smelled the flower before continuing on to the house.
Alec turned away. He didn’t need the additional headache, and that’s exactly where having any thought about Celeste would lead. He had enough problems in his life already.
He just hoped he could remember that when he saw her again.
FOUR
Half past eight Monday morning Gina scrolled through the hundred or so new e-mails since last night, hoping, praying, there was an e-mail from someone wanting to buy rather than sell to her. There wasn’t.
Trying to remain optimistic, thinking perhaps she had been too anxious the first time, she patiently went through the e-mails a second time, no matter that they didn’t have the subject header that indicated the person was inquiring about information to book a trip.
A fourth of the way through she tried to keep the creeping desperation at bay. But she was unable to stop herself from throwing a glance at the stack of bills on her desk in her home office. Bills that were due soon. Bills that unless Robert stopped making empty promises and paid the child support on time she wouldn’t be able to pay.
By the time she finished the last e-mails, her hands were shaking, her stomach in knots. Absently she pressed the flat of her hand to her stomach, felt the slight roll of fat, and jerked her hand away.
Out of nowhere Robert’s words, You don’t excite me anymore, came like a slap in the face. Tears didn’t come this time as they had so many times in the past. They were useless and another sign of her failure to her children. Because of a lack in her, their father had walked out.
Too restless to sit, she stood, shoving her hands into the pockets of her sweats, and thought of the toned woman she’d seen Robert with the day she went to his office at the gym. They were as different as night and day. Gina was older, weighed fifty pounds more, and even with makeup and her most flattering outfit, she wasn’t as vibrant or as pretty as the other woman Robert had kept his arm around.
Aware that looking back on the past wasn’t going to pay the bills, Gina went back to the computer. Opening a drawer, she reached way in the back and pulled out a miniature Baby Ruth candy bar. Perhaps the many flyers she and the children had passed out at a street event in downtown Charleston would eventually pay off.
Ashton thought it was fun. Gabrielle, of course, thought it was another form of begging. Gina had bribed her by promising her the new pair of tennis shoes she wanted. The shoes were in Gabrielle’s closet. The water bill was due in two days. Gina peeled away the wrapper and ate the candy in two bites.
And, as was becoming his habit, Robert was late with the child support payment. She needed that money. She no longer watered the yard and subsequently had the worst-looking yard on the block. Paint was chipping on the eaves and shutters that should have been painted last year, but Robert had purchased a Cadillac convertible. She’d ridden in it exactly once. He played, and she and the children paid the price. That had to stop.
Gina snatched up the phone and dialed his cell phone number, which had taken threats for him to give to her. He was crazy if he thought he could take the children off with no way for her to reach them.
“Hello.”
Her grip on the phone tightened at the happy greeting. He wasn’t fighting bills; his back wasn’t against the wall. “Hello, Robert. Where is this month’s child support check?”
“Wait a minute,” he said brusquely.
Gina paced. He had probably been in one of the exercise areas. The gym was open 24/7.
“What are you worrying me for? I told you I had to replace some equipment,” he snapped a few moments later.
Gina flinched at the whiplash in his voice. No greeting, just accusations. “The water bill is due in two days and I can’t pay it. The yard—”
“Nobody told you to plant those stupid flowers or those red-tips around the house. What kind of woman are you that you can’t take care of things for a month?” he asked, then rushed on before she could answer. “I took care of all the bills while I was there. You did squat. We would have had more if you’d managed the household money better instead of those stupid home businesses you kept sinking my money in, just like you’re doing now. Get a real job, be a woman, and stop bothering me while I work.” The line went dead.
Gina held the phone in her hand, her entire body trembling. Slowly she returned it to the base. Had she ever known Robert? Was the hateful, accusatory man there all along? Probably. He’d become more and more distant as his fitness center prospered. Why hadn’t she seen it? Robert didn’t respect her, thought she was worthless. Gina reached for another candy bar.
The phone ringing on her desk snapped her upright. With greedy desperation, Gina picked it up. “Rawlings Travel Agency, carefree travel for a carefree vacation,” she answered.
“Good morning, Gina.”
Gina didn’t feel disappointment as much as she felt disappointed at the sound of her mother’s voice. Her parents had wanted her to accomplish so much and she had failed time and time again. “Good morning, Mother; how are you?”
“Wonderful,” she said. “How are Gabrielle and Ashton? I guess they’ve already gone to school.”
“Ashton is fine, but a surly teenager is still invading Gabrielle’s body,” Gina told her mother, trying to forget the hurtful phone call with Robert.
Light laughter filtered through the line. Nothing ever got the best of Lois Malone, the youngest daughter of Horace and Matilda Hempstead of Columbia, South Carolina. Too bad that trait hadn’t filtered down to Lois’s youngest child. “She’s there, Gina. Young people these days just like to test their parents. I’m just thankful I’m a grandmother and can send them back home.”
“You dote on all your grandchildren, and they know it,” Gina said. All of them were doing well in school and were happy, except Gabrielle. But none of them were going through what Gabrielle was. Their parents remained in love, a united team. They hadn’t had to get married.
Gina winced, recalling her wedding anniversary two years ago when Gabrielle had added up the dates and learned she’d be
en born weighing a hefty eight pounds only five months after her parents were married.
“I’m not as bad as your father,” Gina’s mother said. “September is barely here and he’s already talking about everyone coming for Thanksgiving.”
Ashton and Gabrielle’s first without their father. What would Christmas be like? Her fault and another failure to add to her long list.
“Honey?” her mother queried.
“Just thinking.”
“I won’t profess to know what you’re going through, but I do know you made a wonderful home for Robert and the children. It’s not your fault that he was too stupid to realize it.”
Her mother didn’t pull punches. “Stupid” was one of the nicest words she’d called Robert. Gina’s father hadn’t been shy, either.
“We love you, Gina,” her mother said softly.
Gina had never doubted her parents’ love. It had helped Gina get through the darkest days of her life, but that love had been a burden as well. Her two older brothers and younger sister sailed through life without a blip. Honor students in high school, graduated in the top of their college classes, had gone on to have wonderful careers, married, and had happy, polite, successful children. She, on the other hand, was an average student in high school, dropped out of college her senior year because she was pregnant, had divorced, and her older child was a pain in the rear.
“Gina?”
“I know, Mama.” But this time she wouldn’t let her parents bail her out again. They hadn’t crucified her as she was afraid they would when she’d confessed she was pregnant. When she’d told them, her father wanted to know why Robert hadn’t been there with her to help shoulder the responsibility.
She’d explained that Robert had thought it would be best if she told them alone. She didn’t dare admit to them that she’d begged Robert to come with her, but he had football practice. It was then her father had asked for Robert’s phone number. She’d given it to him and he’d left the room. She never knew what the conversation was, but she had her suspicions, because the next day Robert asked her to marry him. Before then, marriage hadn’t been mentioned.
She’d married at home instead of the church as her brothers and sister had. Her mother was cordial, but her father was cool toward Robert, and so were her brothers. It was obvious they thought Robert less than a man for not going with her to tell her parents.
But whatever her father thought of her new husband, that hadn’t stopped him from helping them get an apartment, pay her medical bills, or come up with the down payment of their first and only home two years later. Gina hadn’t wanted to ask for any more money, but Robert had been tired of living in an apartment. His parents were barely making ends meet in St. Louis, where they lived.
Gina, desperately wanting to please him, had asked her parents for help once again. She’d always been afraid that Robert had married her because her father had somehow pressured him into it and not because he loved her.
Apparently she’d been right.
“You know you can always count on us, or your brothers and sister for that matter,” her mother went on to say.
“I know.” Another subtle reminder that if Gina’s finances weren’t good, they’d help her out. Not this time. “I suppose Dad is on the golf course this morning.”
“And every morning,” her mother said, love and happiness in her voice. “He should be home in a couple of hours. This afternoon I’m dragging him to a tea.”
Gina smiled. “He’ll grumble, but he’ll enjoy himself because he’s with you.”
“We do have fun together,” her mother said. “I’m glad he took early retirement so we can do some of the things we always planned. Speaking of, we wanted you to look into booking us and two other couples to Las Vegas within the next six weeks. It should be cooler by then.”
Gina’s hand flexed on the phone. This would be the third trip her parents and friends had taken in three months. “You and Dad are sure traveling a lot.”
“None of us have been there and we decided why not when I had friends over Saturday night for a bid whist party,” she said. “All of us are retired, so there’s nothing to stop us.”
It sounded legitimate, but Gina wasn’t fooled. Once again her parents were bailing out their daughter who couldn’t get her life on track. “I’ll look into some packages and e-mail them to you. Any hotel preference?”
“You know what we like,” came her mother’s answer.
“Luxurious with a spa for the women, excellent restaurants, and easy access to a golf course for the men,” Gina said. Her mother had always stayed at home, but Gina’s father had retired from a Fortune 500 company. Both enjoyed being pampered a bit and both deserved it.
Gina’s mother laughed. “I’d say that covers it. It’s nice having a travel agent in the family.”
“It’s better having great parents,” Gina said. No matter what, they supported her, loved her.
“Thank you. Now I’d better get off the phone and let you get back to work.”
Because of her parents, she now could do just that. “Goodbye, Mother. Give Daddy a hug for me and have fun at the tea.”
“You know he sends his love as well. Bye, Gina.”
Gina replaced the phone. She had a job. Once again her parents had stepped in and averted financial disaster. Although she was grateful, she wished there hadn’t been a need. When would she come into her own and make her life a success for her and her children?
She honestly didn’t know, and that scared her most of all.
“Celeste, will you come away from that window?”
“In a minute,” Celeste said, watching Alec slowly peel his perspiration-soaked shirt from his magnificent body and toss it over his shoulder. Squatting, he picked up a piece of lumber and placed it over the shoulder where the shirt was, then stood and started back to his work site. Celeste’s watchful gaze followed his every step.
“Never known you to be so distracted by a man,” Willie said, joining her at the window, “but I have to admit he’s easy on the eyes.”
“That he is.” Celeste straightened when a tall tree obscured Alec from her sight. Willie might be sixty-two and happily married, but she also had an observant eye, as many of Celeste’s clients could attest to. “He also works hard. He didn’t even want to stop for the lunch I offered him.”
Willie’s thin brows arched over sharp brown eyes. “I still can’t believe it. Men drool when they see you.”
Celeste rolled her eyes, then tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and arched her chin in the air. “As well they should,” she said, then broke into laughter. “Come on; let’s finish taking the curtains down.”
Walking over to the twelve-foot ladder in front of the curtains, Willie wrapped her hands around the aluminum frame as Celeste climbed back up. “That’s what I like about you, Celeste: You never take yourself too seriously.”
“That and I sign your paycheck,” Celeste said, unhooking the voluminous material from the rod. “It’s a good thing Maureen agreed to swag curtains on rods instead of a cornice board. That will make things easier.”
“But it still will take almost the entire three weeks to redo this suite,” Willie said. “I really like this material and hate that I couldn’t find any more to remake the bedcoverings.”
Celeste stopped and smiled down at Willie, who was considered a bit of a miracle worker by those who knew her. She had a knack for finding just the right fabric and accessories. “But you have to admit the new fabric is scrumptious and will look beautiful in here. And redoing Ryan’s free clinic for unwed mothers with the fabric we’re taking down will make it the swankiest clinic in Charleston.”
“He and Traci are so much in love. Love has certainly been working overtime.”
Celeste paused. “Just what I told Alec.”
“Oh, mercy, why did I have to mention anything that would remind you of him?” Willie asked with a shake of her graying head. “Why does this man interest you so much?”
<
br /> Celeste didn’t have to think long. “Isn’t that magnificent body enough?”
“It would be if you were that shallow. You’re not, so stop stalling,” Willie told her.
“He has sad eyes,” Celeste said, reaching for another hook.
“You were always a sucker for anyone in need,” Willie said, but there was no condemnation in her voice. “You can’t pass a beggar without opening your handbag.”
Celeste shrugged. “I’ve always been blessed, so why shouldn’t I help others less fortunate?”
“Because most of them are just preying on an easy mark, like in that undercover story the reporter did last month. It’s all an act.”
Celeste didn’t say anything else, just continued to work. She knew what it was for your life to spin out of control. She had a strong feeling she knew why dark shadows lurked in Alec’s eyes. She’d seen them in her own mirror.
Alec didn’t come inside until he heard Celeste’s van pull out of the driveway. Hot, sweaty, he opened the refrigerator for a cold beer and shook his head. Directly in front of him was a plate covered with plastic wrap with a note attached.
In case you get hungry later.
Celeste
She didn’t give up easily, but she was wasting her time. He wasn’t interested. But there was no reason to let the food go to waste. Maureen had apologized over and over because she’d cleaned out the refrigerator in preparation for being gone a month. Alec had assured her he was used to fending for himself.
He had a list of take-out places by the kitchen phone in his home in Myrtle Beach for emergencies, but he could cook if pressed to do so. However, he hadn’t had a chance to go to the store. Traci and Ryan had called and invited Alec to dinner, but he had no intention on imposing on the newlyweds.
