A Love for All Seasons

by Bettye Griffin

  “Mom, I haven’t even thought about it,” he said truthfully, managing to keep a straight face. The thought of Alicia at his—or anyone else’s, for that matter—family reunion was enough to make him burst out laughing. He could hardly tell his mother that Alicia simply wasn’t the type to attend such a function. Melba Devlin would be indignant that Alicia wouldn’t jump at the chance to accompany him. Worse, she’d probably comment that she didn’t sound very family oriented.

  Which, of course, she wasn’t.

  Right now he looked forward to seeing her on Saturday. He didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to her before he left, but when he saw her again he’d certainly give her an ardent hello.

  Chapter 15

  Drive My Car

  The moment Jack heard the bell that signified the turning off of the Fasten Seat Belt sign he shot out of his aisle seat and removed his duffel from the overhead rack. He sat in the first row of Coach, springing for business class only on flights longer than three hours. Usually he sat reading while his fellow passengers lined up to disembark, even those folks way in the back who clearly weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. This time it was different. In about five minutes he’d see Alicia.

  Soon off the plane, he moved with long strides toward the escalators leading to the baggage claim area and the exits. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He probably had time to tell Alicia not to bother to park, that he had no luggage to retrieve at the carousel and was all ready to go.

  He held the phone to his ear and said the command, “Call Alicia,” which prompted the voice-activated gadget to dial Alicia’s cell number. She’d mentioned to him previously that she had a cell mount in her car so she could take incoming calls without violating New York law.

  “Hello,” she said in the low-pitched voice that made his pulse race.

  “Alicia, it’s Jack. Just wanted to let you know I’m on my way down to the exit, so you don’t have to worry about parking when you get here.”

  “Already? Your plane must have had good tailwind to get in so early.”

  “Actually, we landed on time, but I was near the front and I didn’t check my bag.”

  “Okay. I’m on the Grand Central Parkway now, probably one exit away. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  Her voice sounded soothing to his ears as an incoming surf. He pictured her zooming down the highway in her red Solara. “I’ll be waiting.”

  Less than five minutes later he flagged her down as she slowed by the terminal doors of his airline. But she was not alone. A large Irish setter sat perched on the arm rest.

  “Hey!” he greeted as he opened the passenger door and tossed his duffel carelessly in the back. He wished her eyes weren’t covered by sunglasses, but her broad smile and warm greeting suggested she was happy to see him. “I didn’t know you had a dog.” He reached out to gently rub behind the setter’s ears. “Hiya, boy. You are a boy, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” Alicia said. “Jack, this is Lucky. Lucky, this is Jack.”

  Lucky barked, a quick bark that suggested a “Hi!”

  “You must have practiced that,” he said in disbelief.

  “No. We’re in tune, Lucky and I. Always have been.” She leaned toward the animal and sang the first few bars of “Luck Be a Lady Tonight,” and the dog made a whimpering sound, as if to say, “I like it!”

  “Lucky is actually my parents’ dog,” Alicia explained. “He stays in Green’s Farms, but he usually comes with me when I go out in the car. He likes to ride. And he doesn’t get car sick.”

  “Glad to hear it.” He knew she wondered why he still knelt on the passenger seat instead of sitting down. “Um…I don’t mind taking the wheel for the ride back, since you drove all the way down here.” He still felt a little guilty about her coming down from Westport. At least if he drove back it wouldn’t seem so much like she was serving as his chauffeur.

  “Sure, why not?” She clicked her seat belt open. “Sit tight, Lucky. I’m just going to change places with Jack.” She opened the door and stepped out, and Lucky didn’t as much as blink. It was as if he understood what she said.

  He met her halfway as they walked around the front of the Solara. She smiled up at him, and he took a lingering glance over her figure, dressed in jeans, flats and a pea jacket, before impulsively bending to kiss her mouth briefly. “Thanks for driving down to pick me up.” Then he jauntily stepped aside to let her pass. “We’re leaving right now,” he said pleasantly to the security officer who approached, before he could tell them to move on.

  Inside the Solara, he slid the seat back a few inches to give him more leg room. Lucky practically jumped in his lap to start sniffing him. “Uh…Lucky, why don’t you move back a little, let me drive, and we can get acquainted later,” he suggested.

  Alicia patted the center console. “Come on, Lucky. Get back.”

  The setter obediently obeyed.

  Jack looked on in amazement. “You’ve really got that animal trained, don’t you?”

  He guided the car through the airport export and onto the parkway, into typically heavy but moving traffic. Jack felt that people exaggerated the skill needed to drive in New York City. Unfortunately, motorists cut in front of other vehicles on highways all over the country, even in greater Birmingham. Driving on I-65 might even be more dangerous than any roadway in New York. He’d read that a startlingly high percentage of drivers on the interstate in Alabama packed pistols in their glove compartments, and more than one incident of cutting off a fellow motorist had ended in road rage tragedy.

  As he drove Jack heard music, what sounded like an untalented male singer warbling a ballad. “I don’t know who that is, but he sure sounds awful. Whoever told him he could sing?”

  “Oh, that’s my cell ringing,” Alicia said easily. She removed it from its holder. “Hello.”

  Jack’s fingers clenched the steering wheel as he recalled what Pete told him about Alicia’s easygoing nature. He didn’t want to share her with anyone, especially another man.

  His being behind the wheel allowed her to hold the phone to her ear, rather than using the speaker. He might not be able to hear the caller, but he couldn’t help overhearing her end of the conversation due to their close proximity. “Hi!” she greeted sincerely.

  She certainly sounded happy to hear from whomever was on the other side of the line, he thought suspiciously. He listened as the conversation continued.

  “That sounds great, but I’m afraid I won’t make it. I just picked up Jack—you remember Jack Devlin, he was at my apartment last month—from LaGuardia, and we’re headed back up to Connecticut.”

  That dude Derek Taylor would remember him, Jack thought with annoyance. Could she be talking to him? His grip on the steering wheel tightened.

  “I don’t expect to get back to the city before tomorrow night,” Alicia continued. “But you guys have a good time. Maybe we’ll be able to join you next time. Okay. ’Bye, Jenny.”

  Jack felt like he’d just been sprayed with fairy dust. Alicia hadn’t been speaking with a man, she’d talked with her friend Jenny, whom he remembered from her party. And, better yet, she’d said that “we” might be able to join them another time. He wondered if she realized that she’d referred to them as a couple.

  Alicia disconnected the call and replaced her phone in the holder. “That was Jenny Walters. You met her at that little get-together at my place, even if you don’t remember her. She said a group is getting together to check out some new place on Columbus Avenue tonight and asked if I wanted to come along. I told her maybe next time.”

  Secretly he liked her response, but he felt he ought to say something modest. “I hope I’m not putting you out.”

  “No, not at all. I planned to stay at my mother’s until tomorrow anyway.”

  “Hey, that’s some ring tone you’ve got. I’m thinking I’ve heard it before, but I can’t place it.”

  She laughed. “I downloaded it from the Internet. It came from that old Ed
die Murphy movie, Coming to America.”

  He snapped his fingers. “That’s it! Now I remember.” He now had a clear memory of the heavyset employee of Eddie Murphy’s royal family presenting Eddie with the bride chosen for him by his father, the king. How could he have forgotten the way the man’s voice cracked as he strained to hit the high notes? It had been a laugh riot.

  “I can always tell when it’s my phone ringing because no one else has that ring tone,” Alicia said.

  As if on cue, the cell phone began ringing again. “Oh, who is this now,” she said, sounding slightly annoyed.

  “It better not be any of your male admirers,” Jack said. The moment the words came out he regretted it. He sounded like a jealous, possessive old poop, and this after he’d vowed to give her space. He’d just put distance between them.

  To his surprise, Alicia didn’t seem to mind. “Well, if it is I’m giving them the boot,” she said. “This afternoon belongs to us.”

  He fixed his eyes on the road ahead of him. Could that mean she’d missed him? He’d had some weak moments on Monday and Tuesday, when he desperately wanted to pick up the phone and call her. He managed to stick to his guns, knowing that he would fare better if he kept her at the same distance she wished to keep him. If he called her daily she never would have said that the afternoon would belong to them. Instead she would have dropped him off at his condo with a kiss and driven away.

  Part of him, especially when looking at her lips, which this time were a luscious red, wanted to ask, What about the evening? The only thing stopping him was the suspicion that she might accept. He’d rather keep their relationship chaste before becoming just another man she fell into bed with when the mood struck. He wanted intimacy between them to mean as much to her as it would to him.

  Once again he listened to her end of the conversation. It really couldn’t be called eavesdropping; in the close confines of the vehicle she could have no secrets from him.

  “Yes, I’m on my way to Stamford,” she was saying.

  Jack became alarmed when he saw her expression change to one of distress. “Oh, no!”

  “Alicia, what is it?” he hissed.

  “Just a minute, Martha.” She spoke away from the receiver. “It’s Mom. Daphne was sitting with her when she suddenly went limp. Martha—she’s the live-in housekeeper—got her revived, and Daphne’s husband called the paramedics. They should be there any minute.”

  Jack immediately sped up. This was no longer a pleasant Saturday afternoon drive, but a mission. “I’ll drive as fast as I can without getting pulled over for speeding.” That might be difficult in a red convertible, for even with the top up; the sleek lines of the car practically screamed out, “Arrest me!”

  Alicia put the cell phone back to her ear. “Sorry. I needed to fill Jack in on what’s going on.” She paused, and Jack could hear Martha’s voice, although he couldn’t make out what she said.

  “Well, I don’t know,” Alicia said. “We just left the airport maybe ten minutes ago. We haven’t even gotten to the bridge yet. By the time I bring Jack home and then drive up there—”

  By the time she brought him home! “Give me the phone, Alicia,” he commanded.

  Surprisingly, she didn’t object, ask his intentions, or remind him that talking on a cell phone while driving was illegal in New York. She merely handed him the phone without another word to Martha.

  “Hello, Martha,” he said. “This is Jack Devlin. I’m a friend of Alicia’s. You and I haven’t met, but I want you to know that we won’t be making any stops or taking any detours from the straightest route to Westport. I’ll get Alicia there as soon as I can.” It shocked him that, under the circumstances, Alicia would even consider bringing him home before going to her mother’s home.

  “Thank you, Jack. I’d hoped you’d be driving. I was afraid of upsetting Alicia while she was behind the wheel, but she had to be told. I couldn’t take the chance of her stopping off someplace for an early dinner.”

  “I understand.” Jack glanced over at Alicia, who met his gaze with gratitude in her eyes. “Now I’d better give this phone back to Alicia before I get arrested for violating the law.” He calmly handed the phone back to her.

  Six hours later he returned her to her mother’s front door. Martha called back to inform Alicia that Caroline had been brought to the hospital in Norwalk, and they went directly there. They spent the next two hours waiting, finally learning that Caroline’s condition had stabilized. It took another two hours to get her into a room.

  Jack met the entire group: Daphne’s husband, Todd Scott; the longtime housekeeper Martha Lewis and her husband Marvin, and even Caroline’s personal physician, Dr. Ivan Jordan, who had driven up from Stamford. Daphne and Todd’s toddler son, Fletch, had been left in the care of Martha and Marvin’s teenage children at home.

  He’d been surprised to see that Martha appeared to be only in her early forties. She’d sounded relatively young on the telephone, but his own mother also sounded much younger than her actual age. He felt that her retaining a youthful, higher-pitched speaking voice had something to do with her having never been a smoker.

  Martha’s old-fashioned name had given him the impression she was a woman in her sixties. He liked her immediately, and Marvin, too. They seemed more like family than employees, genuinely worried about Caroline.

  He did what he could to comfort Alicia, and she seemed to respond to him, at one point resting her head on his chest. Waiting together gave him the opportunity to observe the family dynamics. At first they seemed like a typical family, united in concern for their hospitalized member, but then he noticed the limited interaction between Daphne and Alicia and a total lack of contact between Daphne and Martha and wondered what it was all about.

  Jack waited in the reception area while Alicia and Daphne, having received clearance, went into the emergency bay to visit with their mother, followed by Martha and Todd. Dr. Jordan had been allowed back even before the family, and Marvin Lewis opted to stay with and chat with Jack, saying he would see Caroline later.

  “Miss Caroline’s a good lady,” he said, his stocky brown face anxious. “She and Mr. Fletcher have been real good to us.”

  “Do you work for Mrs. Timberlake, too?”

  “No. I’m an Operations Supervisor for McDonald’s. But fifteen years ago the apartment house where we lived in Bridgeport burned down, and Martha and I lost everything. Our son was two and our daughter just a baby. The Timberlakes heard about us through the church network—theirs was an upper echelon church in Stamford—and offered Martha a job as their housekeeper. She’d never done that type of work before, but their old housekeeper retired and they needed the help, and taking the job meant she could keep our kids with her.

  “Best of all, in those early days they didn’t charge us any rent to live over their garage. They didn’t pay her a whole lot, but that free rent and no day care really helped us get back on our feet. At the time I’d just gotten into the Management Trainee program at McDonald’s and wasn’t making much money. To this day they still don’t charge us anywhere near the full market rate for the apartment.”

  “That’s awfully nice of them,” Jack said.

  “Good people, the Timberlakes.” Marvin looked at Jack curiously. “You know, I’ve never known Alicia to bring anyone home. She’s pretty much kept her social life confined to New York.”

  “I met her in the city. But I live in Stamford. She’d just picked me up from the airport when Martha called. We rushed right over.”

  “Yeah, I hope they get Miss Caroline to her room soon. I’m startin’ to get hungry.”

  “You and me both, man.”

  After Caroline had been transported to a private room, Jack prepared to wait in a different reception area. He was exhausted and hungry as well, but wanted to stick it out for Alicia’s sake.

  It caught him by surprise when Alicia asked him to come along with her to Caroline’s room. “Shouldn’t it be family only?” he asked he
sitantly.

  “No, anyone can visit, and it won’t matter if we’re all in there at once, since she has a private room. I just want to sit with her for a few minutes. Then I guess we’ll all leave so she can get some rest.” She took his arm, an affectionate move that surprised him. “Then you and I can go get something to eat.”

  They went to a small Italian restaurant in the village. The end of the meal found Alicia yawning uncontrollably. He realized how stressful the afternoon had been for her. “I honestly don’t think you’re up to driving me to Stamford.”

  “I think you’re right. I hate to ask you this, but would you mind terribly staying at the house tonight?”

  He shrugged. He’d expected her to tell him to take her car and return it in the morning, but staying at the house would work, too. At least he’d still be close to her. “I’ve slept on sofas before.”

  “You can stay in my nephew Fletch’s room…or, I should say, the room where Fletch usually stays.”

  “He’ll probably freak out at having a stranger sleep in the same room.”

  “Oh, he won’t be there. Daphne and Todd are going home tonight.”

  Her words hit him like a sock in the stomach. “So it’ll just be you and me?”

  “Yes. And Lucky, of course. But there’s no need for Daphne and Todd to stay at the house if Mom’s in the hospital, and the nurses aren’t needed, either.” She smiled at him, amusement in her dark eyes. “You’re not afraid to be alone with me, are you?”

  “Of course not,” he said, too quickly.

  He did the driving when they set out for the Timberlake home, Alicia directing him. Inside, he followed her up the curved staircase, duffel bag hanging from his shoulder.

  The room he would sleep in was at the end of the hall, near the back stairs. He wondered where she would sleep, but didn’t ask. Maybe it was best he didn’t know….