by Dana Mentink
Rhett stood paralyzed, his eyes shifting, his mouth moving as if trying to say something, until Sweetness bounded over and bonked him on the thigh, begging to be let out of the unstable trailer and the company of an even more unstable woman.
The contact with Sweetness broke the spell, and Rhett put down the sodas he was carrying to clip the leash on Sweetness. “Uh, Karen is tired and has a bad headache. We are going to need to camp here for a while until she feels better. Is that…okay?”
Stephanie nodded. “Oh, yes. Fine. Absolutely. I was thinking about getting some more fresh air anyway. No problem.”
He stood against the tugging of the eager dog. “So, uh, you don’t have to defend me, you know. As a matter of fact, I don’t want you tainted by my reputation.”
She nodded, unable to speak. Her cheeks burning, she could only imagine what he must think of her.
He let Sweetness scoot by and scamper down the step. He went outside, and she gathered from the sounds that he had tied the dog’s leash to something metallic.
She sighed, her hands pressed to her flaming cheeks as she wished the old trailer floor would open and swallow her in one gulp. She was startled when he came back in.
“But…that was nice, what you said.” His mouth quirked in a smile.
One curl tumbled over his forehead as he stood there contemplating her. She wanted to reach out and tuck it back into place, to feel the springy coil against her fingers. What an imperfect, arrogant, earnest, darling man. Darling man. Oh, there it was again, the pesky thought.
She shrugged. “You’re right. You don’t need me to defend you.”
He took her hand and pulled her to him. His arms circled her waist, and he embraced her, his head pressed close, his body warm and strong next to hers.
He pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth, sending tingles up and down her spine, and brushed her neck with his lips. “But it’s nice to have someone see the good things.”
He lingered there a moment, and she realized she was not breathing. Then he let her go and hastened back outside to Sweetness.
She stood in shock. He’d probably meant it to be a friendly kiss, but he had no idea how it had awakened such a powerful feeling of longing that she was immobilized by it. Never with Spencer or any other man had she felt such a connection.
She shook herself, in much the same way she’d seen Sweetness do a number of times. “Listen up, Pink,” she scolded. “You’ve got a job to do, so do it. This guy’s going to go off and be an apple wrangler or some such thing, and you two are just friends. Remember the wedding cake.”
She intoned it with the same graveness as “remember the Alamo.” Love meant loss and self-loathing and frosting smashed into tire treads. “Remember your goals.”
Soon-to-be agent Stephanie Pink marched to the sofa, scooped up Panny, and plunged outside without further delay.
Rhett made sure Karen ate half of one of Stephanie’s bologna and cheese sandwiches (this time she’d added pickles to up the gourmet factor) and helped her upstairs to the little bedroom.
“Why don’t you sleep on the sofa?” he’d asked her. “That’s a lot of stairs to navigate.”
“Rhett,” she said, fixing him with an icy glare that reminded him of how she’d reacted upon hearing he’d been expelled from high school. “Stop babying me. If I’m going to run an apple orchard, I’m going to have to get my strength back. So go count some money or something and let me be.”
He grinned as he returned downstairs, relishing his sister’s admonishment. Stephanie hunched over her phone, staring at the screen, a finger tapping impatiently on the kitchen table. The front door was open to let in the afternoon sun, and a scent of pine wafted through the air.
“Karen just needs an hour or two, tops.” He checked his watch. “Then we’ll be back on the road again. We can be at the orchard around midnight, barring any unforeseen complications.”
“Sounds great.”
He wasn’t sure how to proceed. The kiss he’d given her after hearing her stalwart defense of him still tingled on his mouth. And he thought he’d felt a response in her, that she welcomed the kiss, but he had to be wrong about that. He was a convenient means to an end for her, a way to speed her and the ungainly Sweetness along to their destination. Business. Keep it all business.
Panny eyed him from her place on the sofa. She appeared to be holding her head up better now, but her food intake was still minimal, and she had yet to show signs of trying to walk.
He’d purchased a thirty-foot leash with which to secure Sweetness so the dog could have a chance to explore around the trailer without wandering off again. Currently, Sweetness was snuffling through the bushes outside, peeing and sniffing in happy canine fashion. That dog has personality plus, Rhett thought. He was going to miss the big guy when Stephanie finally returned him to his rightful owner.
He pulled out some supplies from the fridge and felt Stephanie watching him.
She raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t get enough bologna and cheese?”
“I figured I’d put together some dinner for later.” He fetched onions and butter.
“What’s it going to be?”
“Soupe à l’oignon.”
“Sounds fancy.”
“Just French onion soup. I’m going to use canned broth, so it won’t be as good as if I used homemade.”
He caught the eye roll. “You know there’s nothing wrong with taking the time to cook up something properly with fresh ingredients and all.”
“Are you implying there’s something substandard about raviolis from a can and bologna on white bread?” Her eyes were teasing, dancing with fun. He resisted the urge to scoop her into his arms and pick up where he’d left off.
“Not at all. So far, we are still alive.”
She laughed just before her attention was drawn to her phone.
“Oh, no!” Stephanie gasped, peering at the screen.
“What?”
She turned the phone around to show him the selfie of a plump woman wearing some sort of odd cloche hat, standing at an airport Starbuck’s.
“It’s Laura.” Stephanie’s face was grave.
“She’s a problem?”
“An agent for our rivals. She’s getting on a plane to fly to California.”
He got it. “Uh-oh. Is this the competition rolling into town?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip. “She’s trying to get to Agnes before I do.”
He wondered for a split second how Stephanie’s life might change if Laura beat her to the prize, but her stricken look put him into problem-solving mode.
“Take a selfie. Caption it ‘Preparing for the biggest meeting of my life.’ Laura will see that you’ve snagged the deal and she won’t bother.”
“Do you think so?”
Rhett tossed an onion into the air and caught it. “Trust me. I’m a baron in the boardroom. Isn’t that what Google says about me?”
“It also says you’re a corporate thug.”
He laughed. “You can’t believe everything you read on Google.”
She took the selfie. “Okay. Now one with you.”
He tried to wave her away with the spoon. “Camera shy.”
“Uh-uh. I promise it won’t go up on social media. It’s just for me to remember.”
His heart squeezed as he held his face close to hers.
To remember.
When I’m gone.
He breathed in the sweet scent of her, pressed his rough cheek next to her satin one, and forced himself to smile.
Seventeen
Stephanie whiled away an hour taking Sweetness for a walk while Rhett unhitched the truck and drove off in search of a store to buy a new cushion for Panny, whom Rhett had decided needed accommodations finer than the bath towel they’d been using.
Rhett’s mother hen tendencies made her smile. Agnes Wharton had seen the same tender streak in her love, Jedd, when he’d happened on a baby rabbit just after the mother had been snatched aw
ay by a hawk. Stephanie had read the passage so many times she could recite it from memory.
The tiny thing in Jedd’s calloused hands wriggled, blind and weak. His hard face, softened and gentled by the helplessness of it, stirred something inside me, something both angry and mournful. How could there be tenderness in him for this ragged creature when all of the gentle places in my soul had been lacquered over by the loss of our baby? How could he still show love to an animal when we could hardly look at each other past the aching void? Yet he did, and in that moment I knew I could still love him too.
Moisture pricked Stephanie’s eyes, and she braced herself against it. What madness was sending these wild emotions firing through her when the clock was ticking? Laura was on the hunt, and if Stephanie’s selfie ruse didn’t work, her chance at the manuscript was in jeopardy.
They were back to the trailer now, and Sweetness cocked a floppy ear in the direction of the open upstairs window. He let out a low whine. Stephanie had to listen harder until she heard a slight sniffling sound from Karen’s room.
Crying. She was uncertain what to do. She did not know Karen well, and though she was much better than Rhett at recognizing what compassion should sound like, she was not at all sure she was in the Mrs. Granato category of sympathetic listeners. The sniffling continued, along with a whimper. Do something, Steph. But what should she say? She had no idea. Saints and sinners, she thought suddenly. Rhett said God used both, and since there were no saintly Mrs. Granatos around at the moment, the seriously flawed Stephanie Pink would have to do.
After a deep breath, she opened the trailer door, and Sweetness pranced impatiently until she unhooked his leash. Then he was up the stairs before she could say a word.
The scrambling of his paws on the wood was followed by a loud exclamation. Stephanie raced up, fearing the dog had knocked Karen to the floor. She found her on her back on the bed with Sweetness standing over her, swabbing her face with his tongue as she batted weakly at him.
“Oh, you bad dog,” Stephanie said, hauling him to the floor. He barked and hopped, pleased with himself and ready to accept what he surely thought must be praise. “Sit!” she commanded. Instead, he dove under the bed and reappeared with his spatula. Sprawling on the floor, he sat down to fuss over it.
Karen sat up and wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Weird dog.”
“I concur.” Stephanie shifted. “He, uh, heard some crying. Are you okay?”
Karen pushed a clump of hair from her face. “Oh, I was just leafing through these fashion magazines. They brought back some memories.” She gestured to her worn jeans and faded T-shirt. “You’d never guess it, but I use to have some nice things. Paulo planned to take me to Lima someday and show me off.” She sighed and rubbed her hands along her thin legs. “Not much to show off anymore.”
Stephanie sank down onto the bed next to her. “So you…do remember? About Paulo?”
She nodded. “It’s been coming back to me more and more. I didn’t tell Rhett. It’s better for him to think I just don’t remember much about the two of us.” She sniffled. “I really loved Paulo. I guess I still do. He stopped loving me, of course. Eight years will do that.” Her face crumpled. “We were going to be married.”
“I’m sorry,” was all Stephanie could think of to say. Images of the little tissue paper bells she’d purchased for her own wedding flashed before her eyes. “I had a false start wedding too.”
“Yeah? Did you break it off or did he?”
“He did, but I…er…reacted badly. It’s funny, but the whole time I was running over the wedding cake, I just kept thinking about my mother. She’d been so happy to think of me getting married. It was the only time I’d seen her happy since my brother died. She bought us a cake knife. I still have it somewhere because it has our names engraved on it—Spencer and Stephanie. My mother beamed when she gave it to us at the bridal shower. It crushed her when the plans changed. I have massive guilt about that.” Stephanie blushed. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”
Karen touched Stephanie’s arm. “It’s all this talk of weddings. Paulo and I were going to buy a little farm and work it together as soon as he got his paperwork in order. That’s why he was employed when he shouldn’t have been. He was trying to save money so we could fly home and meet his family.”
Stephanie thought of Rhett with all his millions and the proud Paulo scraping together every dime. Both men who had loved and wanted the best for Karen.
“Rhett thought Paulo was after me as a way to stay in the States, that he was really after the Hastings fortune.” She shook her head. “I never wanted any part of Rhett’s money and neither did Paulo. He didn’t used to be that way, you know? Rhett, I mean. He was fourteen when my mom left. It changed him, hardened something here.” She patted her chest.
“She didn’t stay in contact with you both?”
“She tried, on and off, but Rhett and my dad were so hostile, she eventually stopped coming until it was too late.”
“She died?”
“No, she runs a bead shop in San Francisco. She’s not a bad person, just weak. She had the biological components to be a mother, but not the courage. I visit her sometimes, but I never tell Rhett because it would make him furious. You know the saddest thing?” She rubbed her nose. “He knows all about the bead shop because he looked up her Facebook page. I saw it on his computer once. So sad. He would never admit it, but he wants his mom back. Maybe God will make that happen someday.”
Stephanie picked up one of the magazines that had fallen to the floor. Karen had dog-eared a page. “Silk?” she said, pointing to the elegant scarf worn by an impossibly thin model.
“Yes. Lovely, isn’t it? Paulo always said the people in Lima would stop dead in their tracks when they saw me strolling along. I guess I don’t really need a scarf like that anymore, do I? A middle-aged woman with brain damage and a ruined body?” Tears sparkled again and Stephanie took her hand. “At least I know what love felt like. Memories count for something, don’t they?”
What could she say that would ease the pain? She squeezed Karen’s fingers. Stephanie’s loss had been different, and somehow the same.
“It’s funny, in a way,” Karen said. “We had a plan, Paulo and me, but Rhett couldn’t accept it. He had his own plan, which didn’t work out either.” She sighed. “But Paulo is happy, and I’ve got my brother back, and Rhett…well, he’s finally found the Lord, so I guess God’s plan trumped all of ours, didn’t it?”
Except for the pain part. Stephanie shifted. “I don’t trust God’s plans,” she mumbled. “Not since Ian died.”
“Rhett told me you had a brother,” she said gently. “I’m sorry you lost him.”
“Me too. He was one of those people who never said a bad thing about anyone. He was like sunshine in a bottle, my mother used to say.”
“And you’re carrying the bottle for him now?”
She stared. “What do you mean?”
“Rhett said you’re going to work out a plan to be a literary agent, like Ian wanted.”
She detached herself from Karen’s grasp, embarrassed that Rhett had seen fit to share with his sister all about Stephanie’s misguided plans. “We both wanted it. Rhett doesn’t understand that.”
“And you want it still?”
“What?”
“The life you imagined before.”
Anger flashed through her. What right did these messed-up siblings have to cast doubt on her motivations? “What I really want is my brother back,” she said, horrified when the words spilled out and tears started in her eyes. “Like you want what you had with Paulo. But I’m not going to get it and neither are you.” Immediately she closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Karen sighed, low and soft. “When our mom left, Rhett was filled with rage. He felt unimportant and insignificant, and he made it the mission of his life to prove he wasn’t. The constant fighting at school, the lies, his business dealings—they were
all to plug the hole left by my mom. My dad was a hard man, and he couldn’t show love. He just wasn’t wired that way. He was tough on Rhett, way too tough. I prayed and prayed that God’s love would fill up that empty space inside my brother. And it did, finally, but it was a long journey for both of us.”
Stephanie stood, desperately wanting to leave. “I’ve had a long journey too, and I’m getting close to the finish line. As a matter of fact, I’d better send a few e-mails before—” she stopped abruptly, hearing the crunch of wheels outside. “Great. Rhett’s back. Time to take off again.”
Karen still watched her in that way that made her squirm. Sweetness continued to mangle his spatula. The room seemed very small. How had she allowed her plans to get so far off track? Her gut tightened, breathing shallowed. Her plans, her goals, her life. Butt out, Karen. And you too, Rhett.
Karen spoke softly as Stephanie headed for the stairs. “The hard part isn’t losing someone. It’s learning who you are without them.”
I know who I am, Stephanie thought. Stepping onto stairs that felt wobbly, in a trailer that she had despised only days before, she tried to picture herself as she had been, wearing her smart suit, ready to seal a deal, confident of her plan. She’d been in charge, Stephanie Pink, sure of herself.
And then there was Sweetness.
And Rhett.
Distractions, delays.
The descriptors rang hollow. They were something more.
She pushed the discomfort aside.
Time to take off.
Rhett took a calming breath and explained for the third time. “There’s a wreck about three miles up the road. A truck with a load of bricks turned over at the freeway junction, and it’s going to take them a few hours to clear the on-ramp. We might as well have dinner and then head out.” He took the spoon from her hand and sprinkled the flour over the onions he’d caramelized earlier. “Don’t dump in the flour. Stir it in gently.”
She huffed. “Maybe they’ve cleared it. You should go check.”
