A Hickey for Harriet & a Cradle for Caroline

by Nancy Warren

  “You may think you’re being discreet,” she said to Tess’s reflection, “but Did He Kiss You? is stamped all over your face. In neon.”

  “And the answer would be?”

  She dropped her brush back into her bag. “It was just a kiss. A stupid kiss that shouldn’t have happened. I got up too fast and became dizzy and…one thing led to another.”

  “Right.”

  Caro glared at her, feeling her cheeks blaze again.

  Tess threw up her hands. “Right.”

  “Well, now that I’ve made a spectacle of myself in front of the entire newsroom, I’d better get going.”

  She stalked to the door, turned and said, “I hate this,” then slipped out.

  Tess met Harriet’s gaze in the mirror. “I hate this, too. I’ve tried to stay out of it—we all have—but they love each other. There must be something we can do.”

  “I’ve never believed much in interfering in other people’s lives,” Harriet said slowly.

  Tess couldn’t help her own grin. “If Caro and I hadn’t interfered in your life you’d still be sitting on the sidelines watching the other cheerleaders,” she reminded her friend.

  Harriet giggled. “I’ll never forget how you and Caro helped me. While you’re listing people who interfered in my life, don’t forget your mother.”

  “I think it must be hereditary. It was worth doing the makeover, though, to see Steve’s reaction when he saw you at the cheerleading rehearsals.”

  “Steve doesn’t care how I look,” Harriet said with the serious tone she’d never entirely shaken.

  “I know. It’s the best thing about him. His eyes sure did pop out, though, when he first saw you in that skimpy cheerleader outfit.”

  “I’ll never forget that day,” Harriet sighed dreamily. “Caro helped make my dream come true, the least I can do is help her get hers back. But are we sure she wants Jonathon?”

  “You saw how she looked when we came in here. She was all rumpled and flustered, but her eyes were glowing.”

  “I thought she was angry.”

  “She was angry. Also turned on.”

  “Oh.”

  Tess paced the tile floor. “We’ve sat on our hands and watched those two make matters worse. If we don’t help them they’ll end up divorced and miserable.”

  “But if Jonathon cheated…” Harriet began, a concerned frown playing connect-the-dots with her freckles.

  An unladylike snort, which her mother had never been able to cure her of, came out of Tess. “Lori was a troublemaker. She has a bad habit of stealing other women’s husbands. I want to smack Jon for being so dense he didn’t figure out she was after him or if he did, for not doing something about it.”

  “Oh, dear. It’s all such a mess.”

  “But not hopeless,” Tess said, already scheming. “If they’re necking in the office—something they never did when they were still together—then it’s time for us to call an emergency summit meeting of concerned friends.”

  “But we agreed not to interfere.”

  “We were idiots. It’s obvious they needed a push.” Her gaze met Harriet’s in the mirror and she started to chuckle. “And I think I have a plan.”

  “I AM NOT HAPPY about this, Tess,” Mike muttered a few hours later when they met Harriet and Steve over a beer at their favorite sports bar. “It sounds like meddling to me.”

  “Think of it as matchmaking.”

  “What I’m seeing is match-breaking,” Mike argued. “Caro never came back to work after she interviewed Jon. She e-mailed her article and made it sound as if she didn’t even know the guy.”

  “She’s angry and hurting. Understandably so. But Caro and Jon love each other. You should have seen her face when she came out of his office. Of course, since I’m the city’s top investigative reporter—”

  “You mean fiancée of,” Mike interrupted. She winked at him and continued as though he hadn’t spoken. “I found a reason to go to Jon’s office after she left. I’m telling you, he’s got it as bad as she does.”

  “I wouldn’t have had the nerve,” Harriet said, her green eyes widening. “What was he doing? Gazing at her picture? Staring into space?”

  “Ordering meat from the butcher.”

  “Now that’s romantic,” Steve said. “I hope it was a prime cut.”

  “But Caro’s a vegetarian,” Harriet almost wailed.

  Tess rolled her gaze. “The meat’s not for Caro. It’s for some wounded peregrine falcon. The point is, he must have been thinking about Caro and that made him order food for the falcon. I know he loves her.”

  “You’re on Jon’s side now?” Mike had his chair tipped back, his pirate’s gaze challenging her as it always did.

  “No. I’m Caro’s friend. But she wouldn’t be kissing Jon if she didn’t care about him. And he wouldn’t be nursing vultures back to health—”

  “The peregrine falcon is a raptor, actually,” Harriet corrected.

  “Whatever,” Tess said. “If they’d both stop acting so stubborn and—”

  “Hey, it was Caro who dumped Jon when everybody knows that Lori is a—” Mike argued.

  “And it was Jon who had Lori in his bed. Believe me, Jon’s getting off lightly compared to what I’ll do to you if you ever—”

  “Think we might be getting off the topic here,” Mike said, holding up his hands as though to shield himself from Tess’s verbal attack.

  Harriet tossed her red hair over her shoulder and Steve fingered the bright strands in a habit he was probably unaware of. They were so cute, Tess had a feeling there’d be another wedding in the near future.

  “What if Lori and Jon did…you know…?” Harriet ended awkwardly.

  “If he was doing you know with another woman then it’s better for Caro to have some closure. They have to talk to each other.”

  “They’ll get around to it when they both cool down,” Steve said.

  “I found out something that’s not going to help them cool down.” Tess twisted her engagement band nervously. “Lori’s still in touch with a couple of the salespeople at the paper. I hear she’s coming to town for a visit—her sister’s having a baby. But knowing Lori, that’s not all she’s coming back for.”

  “This is not good,” Mike agreed.

  “No. If we’re really their friends, we should try and help them. Caro won’t spend any time with Jon, and he’s acting like a wounded bear.” She glared at Mike, simply for being a man.

  “So, we’re chipping in for a marriage counselor or what?”

  “No.” Tess sucked in a deep breath, knowing she needed everybody working together if she was going to pull off her scheme. “I have an idea. Fanny Kushner’s birthday party is going to be at the Roadhouse this weekend, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Well.” She glanced at Steve and Harriet. “Mike worked there one summer. He’s told me stories about how he used to take girls into the wine cellar when he wanted to be…private.”

  Mike chuckled. “Maybe Fanny will lend me the key and I’ll take you on a tour, Tess.”

  “I do want you to get the key, but not for me. For Jon and Caro.”

  Mike choked on his beer. “Jon and Caro in the make-out pit? Are you kidding me? Think of all the valuable wine she could destroy if she starts throwing bottles at him.”

  “Caro never loses her temper. That’s part of the problem. I’m suggesting we lure them both down there and lock them in for an hour or so. It will force them to deal with each other.”

  “What if they have to go to the bathroom or have some sort of emergency?” asked Harriet.

  “Have you ever seen Jon without his cell? He’ll call one of us and we’ll let him out.”

  “I don’t know,” Harriet said with a frown. “It’s very manipulative.”

  “I know.” Tess sighed. “But I really think it might be the only way to get them talking to each other, before it’s too late.”

  “Lori’s got a real reputation for making
trouble,” Steve said. “If it’s Jon she wants, she won’t rest until she’s got him. I agree we need to move to extreme intervention if we’re going to try to save Jon and Caro’s marriage. We’re their friends, after all. We only want them to talk.”

  Harriet still appeared uncertain, but Steve patted her on the back. “It’s an hour in the wine cellar. What can go wrong?”

  THE NIGHT of Fanny’s eightieth birthday party was a crisp, clear April evening. Spring had been in the air earlier in the day, but it had cooled off again.

  Caro, tired of her own misery and determined to appear happy and carefree, dressed in a chic black cocktail dress, sheer black stockings and heels. The diamond necklace and earrings Jon had given to her would be perfect with the outfit, but she wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

  Instead she dug out some costume jewelry with sparkles. It looked fine. Not as perfect as the diamonds, but fine.

  Reminding herself the night was about Fanny and not her or Jonathon, she picked up the wrapped present, grabbed her coat and evening bag and ran out the door to wait for Mike and Tess, who were to pick her up on their way. Knowing Mike, he would have opted to take his motorcycle, but Tess knew how to deal with him, Caro thought as she watched for her friend’s red BMW.

  She’d had to stifle the impulse to offer to arrive early at Fanny’s to help; there were paid professionals in charge of this party and showing up early when Jon would be there was too much like old times. Still, even though she’d organized the catering and helped to plan the decorations, it was hard for her to arrive as just another guest.

  Mike and Tess appeared and she forced a smile as she got in the car.

  “You’ll embarrass me,” Tess argued as soon as they were moving, and it sounded as though Caro’d dropped into the middle of an argument.

  “No, I won’t,” Mike said. “Let’s ask Caro. She’ll know.”

  “I don’t want to get in the middle of anything ugly, thanks.”

  “What did you get Fanny?” Mike asked her.

  “I had a jeweler I love make her some chunky gold earrings. Since her hair changes so often, he put stones of every color in them. They’ll go with anything.”

  “Good one,” Mike said.

  Knowing he was waiting for her to ask, she said. “How about you?”

  “I got her boxing gloves,” he said in a smug tone.

  Caro laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Boxing gloves?”

  “See what I mean?” Tess said. “He can’t give an eighty-year-old woman boxing gloves.”

  “I had her name stamped on them,” he said, glaring at both women. “In gold.”

  “Well, in that case…” Caro said, having a sneaking feeling Fanny would love them.

  “I hope you have your own card. I’m not having anything to do with boxing gloves. I got her a crystal vase.”

  “That’s a sissy present. She’ll hate it.”

  Since Tess and Mike were arguing perfectly happily without her help, Caro leaned back in her seat and repeated all her favorite phrases from all her self-help books. Especially the one about not looking back.

  This would be the first social occasion she and Jon would be at together since the Lori incident. She had to focus on the future, not long for the past.

  When they got to Fanny’s, the place was noisier than usual and far more crowded. The guest list included Fanny’s regulars as well as her enormous number of friends, old and young, and, thanks to Jonathon, the who’s who of Pasqualie.

  As Caro squeezed through the door she realized that Fanny had a lot of friends.

  She and Tess and Mike put their presents on a table that was already stacked to overflowing with brightly wrapped gifts and edged their way through the busy crowd to find Fanny.

  They found her looking as regal and courted as a queen bee in the middle of a busy hive. In honor of her birthday she’d dyed her hair silver. At first glance it appeared gray, but there were sparkles shimmering through it. If there was a way to broadcast that she was loving every minute of life as a senior, she’d found it.

  Caro kissed her cheek and wished her a happy birthday. The music was rock and roll, the bar decorated with all the funky colors Fanny loved, and the birthday girl bubbled with life.

  “It looks great.”

  “Happy Birthday, Fanny,” Mike and Tess said together. Since they were holding hands, Caro assumed the argument over boxing gloves was over.

  “Those two look cuter than a wagonful of fuzzy-headed pups,” Fanny said. “Kind of reminds me of…Sorry, I must be getting old. I almost got sentimental.”

  Caro grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She must not be getting enough sleep. For some irritating reason she found her emotions too close to the surface for her liking these days. Finding her way to safer emotional ground, she said, “Did you end up finding a bartender you trust?”

  “I handpicked all the bartenders myself,” the older woman said, waving her hand in the direction of the bar. “I wanted them to go topless, but it’s against the bylaw.” She winked. “They’re still pretty cute. Go check them out.”

  Shaking her head, Caro fought her way through the crowd. Knowing Fanny, she’d sidestep the bylaw by putting her bartenders in bow ties and nothing but.

  In fact, they were fully dressed. All spectacular specimens of manhood, it was the one in the middle that made her knees weak. She’d been unconsciously searching the room for Jon, never dreaming he’d be working behind the bar. But when she thought about it, she couldn’t imagine anything his mother would like more.

  Her two older sons were also pouring drinks.

  Jon stared right at her, and for a second she simply couldn’t move. She wanted to turn and run from his compelling gaze, but she hoped she was made of sterner stuff. She walked toward him slowly.

  “Hi,” she said, determined to appear calm, even though she hadn’t seen him since they’d kissed so unwisely in his office.

  He hadn’t tried to contact her, so he must realize it was hopeless trying to manipulate her. Although she was a tiny bit sorry he hadn’t called simply so she could have the satisfaction of telling him what a worm he was.

  Couldn’t do it here and now of course. She ought to say hello to his brothers who’d flown in from L.A. and Houston for Fanny’s birthday, but they were both busy pouring drinks and catching up with their Pasqualie friends and acquaintances. Only Jon was free; it was as if an invisible force field held every one away from his particular spot.

  “Hi yourself. What can I get you? Champagne?”

  Her stomach lurched at the thought. Must be the company. “I’ll start with sparkling water, thanks.”

  He got it for her with smooth efficiency, as though he tended bar here every day.

  “You look beautiful,” he said as he handed her the drink.

  “Thanks,” she said, feeling suddenly awkward and tongue-tied.

  “The diamonds would look great with that dress,” he said.

  “Diamond mining exploits the poorest African countries and funds wars,” she said in her prissiest voice. Getting peeved certainly pushed her past the tongue-tied stage in record time.

  “Yours were mined in Canada. I checked before I bought them.”

  “Oh,” she said, her self-righteous bubble bursting.

  The way his gaze was roving over her, intimate and warm, reminded her forcibly that she’d lost control in his arms the last time they’d been together. He was obviously thinking the same thing. “I’m free in an hour. Want to go out back and neck?”

  He was so outrageous, and she was already feeling off kilter, that he surprised a smile out of her. She recalled Mel’s words and he knew the woman was right. Caro had to live in the same town with the man. She might as well get used to being civil. “I bet you say that to all the customers.”

  “No, ma’am.” He shook his head earnestly. “Only the babes.”

  “I’d better move on. Your brothers are getting overworked.”

  “Don’t run away,
will you?”

  She shook her head.

  “And tell Grundel to get his butt over here. If I have to sling ale, so does he.” She nodded once more and turned. “Oh, and Caro?”

  She turned and caught his gaze running up and down her back in a way that made her shiver. “You look sexy enough to eat.” He winked and turned to serve his next customer.

  7

  “OKAY, what’s the plan?” Steve whispered in a conspiratorial voice. He and Harriet and Mike and Tess were having a quick conference while Caro was busy talking to the mayor and Jon was still tending bar.

  “No second thoughts?” Tess asked. She had to be absolutely sure of her team. Her plan required split second timing and nerves of steel.

  “No,” said Mike. “Jon’s my buddy and he’s miserable. He at least deserves a shot at winning her back.”

  Harriet nodded. “I’ve been watching them. You can see they still love each other.”

  “Steve?”

  “Hey, I haven’t locked a couple in a closet since junior high. I’m all over it.”

  “All right. Since you like that part best, you’ll be the one who ‘accidentally’ closes the door while they’re in there. You’ll have to hide so they don’t see you. As soon as you hear both of them inside the wine cellar, walk past and shut the door. Don’t forget to turn the dead bolt.”

  “Roger, wilco.” Steve sent her a mock salute and jogged away.

  “Harriet, you go tell Jonathon his mom said he needs to get more champagne out of the wine cellar so she can start chilling it.”

  “Shouldn’t I do that?” Mike argued.

  “Honey, if you go, Jon will tell you to get the champagne. But Harriet doesn’t even know where the wine cellar is. Besides, she has an honest face. No one would ever believe she could take part in anything underhanded.”

  “Thanks for that,” Harriet said, but obediently headed off to find Jon.

  “Are you suggesting I don’t have an honest face?” Mike said, his eyes narrowing to slits.

  Tess patted his cheek with affection. “You know I fell in love with your bad-boy side.”

  “Oh, well. For you, I can be bad.” He kissed her swiftly and she sighed against him, thinking she could never get enough of him.