by Brenda Novak
“Here she is,” the senator said, getting up to kiss her cheek. “I told you she was special, didn’t I?” he said to Carter.
Carter’s eyes lifted momentarily to Liz’s, and she thought she recognized a hint of amusement in their depths. “Yes, you did.”
“Can I get you a drink?” Celeste asked.
Liz raised a hand. “No, thank you. I won’t be staying long. I’m just here to pick up the kids.”
“What happened to your dress?” Reenie asked. She and Isaac sat across the patio at a circular table.
Liz did her best to wipe dust and taping mixture from her dress. “Oh, I stopped by the shop.”
Her brother stretched out his legs and toyed with the stem of his empty wineglass. “How’s it coming over there?”
“Good,” she said. “Keith’s almost finished repairing the wall that was damaged when LeRoy ripped out the television.”
“I think LeRoy will regret moving,” Senator Holbrook volunteered, nursing what appeared to be a brandy.
“Why do you say that, Dad?” Reenie asked.
“Folks have been going to his barbershop for years. They won’t like the change.”
“You’re the one who doesn’t like it,” Celeste corrected with a soft chuckle. “Because it means you’ll have to drive somewhere in order to get your hair cut.”
“With all the new shops going in on either side of him, I think he made the right decision,” Isaac said. “His rent was going up, and there wasn’t any good reason for him to pay the extra. At this point in his career, he has all the business he wants from regulars. Tourists aren’t really his target market.”
The senator winked at Liz. “At least it created a nice spot for a candy store. That makes me happy.”
Liz smiled at Reenie’s father. With his dark hair and strong chin, he looked exactly like Reenie and her brother Gabe. The only feature Reenie and Gabe seemed to have inherited from their mother was the shocking blue color of their eyes. “Now you’ll have to walk over to get some fudge instead of a haircut,” she told him.
“You bet I will.” He pulled out an extra chair. “Here, have a seat.”
“I can’t stay. The kids have school tomorrow.”
“It’s only nine o’clock,” he said. “Why not give them fifteen more minutes? They’re downstairs playing pool. They won’t be happy if you drag them away so soon.”
“You generally don’t put them to bed until nine-thirty, anyway,” Reenie added.
Liz glanced from father to daughter. She wanted to refuse. But she couldn’t tell them she didn’t enjoy Carter’s company. Neither could she say she was in a hurry to get home so she could call a friend in L.A. Reenie and Isaac would both know exactly who she was talking about.
“I guess I’ve got a few minutes.” Slipping into the chair Senator Holbrook held out for her, she helped herself to a cookie from a plate on the table. If she had to join the fun, she might as well indulge. It wasn’t as if she’d eaten much dinner.
“Are you excited about opening the shop?” Celeste asked.
Liz dusted a few crumbs from her lap. “I am,” she said, without adding that she was worried about the competition from Mary Thornton, now that Mary had had a two-month jump on attracting chocolate-loving patrons. “But I was hoping to be ready in time for Memorial Day.”
“You’re not going to make it?”
“No.”
“Why not? Keith promised he’d help you,” Reenie said.
“You know him.” When she said this, Liz could feel a spike in Carter’s interest level, and she figured he was sizing up the relationship, wondering how she and Reenie could be so friendly. Liz knew it was remarkable that they had overcome the past. But Reenie was a remarkable woman, and what had happened wasn’t her fault. “He doesn’t know enough about carpentry,” she explained. “And I’m having trouble finding someone else I can afford.”
“What about me?” Isaac said.
Liz shook her head. Isaac wasn’t any better at construction than Keith, and besides he was always so busy. “You already have your hands full.”
“There’s Gabe,” Celeste said. “You’ve seen his furniture. He can build anything.”
“He and Hannah should be back from Boston in a few days,” the senator added.
Liz exchanged a quick glance with Reenie. They both knew her brother and his wife, Hannah, wouldn’t be home for some time. They’d met a doctor in Massachusetts who thought he could restore some of the mobility in Gabe’s legs, maybe even get him out of his wheelchair. He was scheduled to have surgery a week from now but because of the risks, he’d made Reenie promise to keep it a secret from his parents and Hannah’s sons. Her two boys were staying at home—when they weren’t at the Holbrooks’—since Kenny at nineteen was old enough to care for his ten-year-old brother.
“Maybe I’ll talk to him when he gets back,” she said noncommittally.
“Meanwhile, Carter could get you started,” the senator said. “He grew up building homes with his dad. Didn’t you, Carter?”
Carter put his drink on the table and sat back. Liz could feel his eyes on her, but she refused to look directly at him. She sensed he knew she and Reenie were harboring some kind of secret, even if the Holbrooks didn’t. He seemed to have an uncanny ability to cut through pretenses. “What is it you need?” he asked.
She was reluctant to tell him. Even if he had the ability to help her finish the store, she didn’t want his assistance. She’d find someone else eventually—or muddle through on her own.
“Liz?” Reenie prompted.
“Just a few improvements,” she said at last. “Flooring, paint, some shelves and display cabinets. But please don’t trouble yourself. I’m sure you’re far too busy to be bothered.”
“The job should probably wait for Gabe,” he agreed.
Carter didn’t like her any more than she liked him, Liz realized. That was apparent. But he’d said Gabe’s name with enough emphasis that she shot Reenie another glance. Did he know?
Reenie managed a tiny shrug to indicate she had no idea.
“Or someone else,” Liz muttered.
“Why wait?” the senator asked. “Besides taking a few calls, there’s not much Carter can do for me until the computers arrive. And we’re a week away from that at least.”
Carter’s forehead creased. “I was thinking about driving to Boise to work out of the capitol office until we were up and running here.”
The senator bit into a chocolate-chip cookie. “Don’t bother driving to Boise,” he said. “There’re too many people at the capitol already.”
“But the painting might be difficult,” Liz interjected. “I was hoping to create a marbled effect.”
The senator brushed some crumbs from his mouth. “You can create a marbled effect, can’t you, Carter?”
“I’ve never done it before.”
“Don’t you have a book or magazine on it?” Senator Holbrook asked Liz.
Reenie and Isaac knew she did. She’d shown it to them. “Yes.”
The senator finished his cookie. “Carter?”
“I suppose I could take a look at it,” he said.
“Good. Help Liz for the next week or so, then we’ll see where we’re at with the office.”
Liz waited for Carter to refuse. She guessed he wanted to. But he managed a pleasant voice when he answered. “Okay.” He shifted his gaze to her. “What time would you like me to meet you there tomorrow?”
There was no polite escape. She’d thrown out a problem and the senator had solved it. “How about six?” she said, still hoping he’d balk.
One eyebrow slid up. “Six?”
“I thought we’d get an early start. But if you’d rather sleep in…”
“No. Six is fine.”
Liz knew there was a lot going on behind the unaffected mask he wore, but he gave away nothing.
“Carter would work around the clock if I let him,” the senator said. “He’s amazing.”
&nb
sp; “Yes, he is.” Liz held her breath when her voice came out a little flat, but Isaac immediately jumped in to cover for her.
“Sounds like you’ve done a variety of things in your life, Carter. How’d you get into politics?”
Carter finished his drink. “I considered it as a profession years ago. I’m just coming back around to it.”
“Do you think you’ll ever run for office?” Liz asked, remembering Keith’s question to her.
“No.”
Reenie’s chair scraped cement as she scooted forward to reach the cookies. “Why not?”
“I don’t have the right makeup.”
“What kind of makeup does it require?” Liz asked.
He smiled as if he understood that she was tempting him into making a blunder. “Diplomacy. The ability to call your enemies friends. My enemies are simply my enemies. But a politician doesn’t have the luxury of living in black and white.”
“You can say that again,” Holbrook said with a laugh. “Problem is, in politics your friends and enemies are never clearly defined in the first place. That’s why I need someone like Carter to help me keep them straight.”
No longer enjoying her cookie, Liz set the last of it down on a paper plate. “So you’d call yourself a particularly good judge of character, Carter?”
“I’m…cautious,” he said. “It’s necessary in my line of work.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being cautious.” Isaac took Reenie’s hand, in a casual gesture but when Carter wasn’t looking he shot Liz a glower that told her to back off a bit.
For the sake of politeness, she wanted to—but she couldn’t. Not when she had him cornered. “How so?” she asked.
He pinned her to her seat with an unswerving gaze. “I’m a strategist of sorts. I keep an eye on the playing field, attempt to figure out who will do what under a certain set of circumstances and go from there.”
Liz folded her arms. “So you draw assumptions about people based on limited information.”
Reenie’s mouth fell open and Isaac cleared his throat—another attempt to warn her she was being rude. The senator and Celeste shifted uneasily in their seats. But Liz was too intent on making her point to change course. She didn’t even blink as she waited for his answer.
“Don’t we all?” he countered.
Liz thought she could guess at the assumptions he’d made about her. Past events didn’t paint her as particularly astute or perceptive. “Innocence can make people blind.”
“I wouldn’t argue with you there,” he responded.
“Maybe that’s not a bad thing,” she said. “Maybe there are too many cynics in the world already.”
He scratched his head. “From what I’ve seen, the innocent rarely survive.”
“Some people might be tougher than you think.”
“That’s definitely a more pleasant surprise than finding out the opposite is true.” He rose to his feet. “I’d better go. It’s been nice chatting with you, but—” he offered Liz a brief smile “—I’ve got an early day tomorrow.”
After coaxing Carter to take home a plate of cookies, Celeste showed him out.
In the silent aftermath, Liz squirmed against the pointed stares of everyone who remained.
“What?” she said.
The front door closed and Celeste’s footsteps echoed across the entry.
“What’d he do?” Reenie asked, sounding a little shocked.
“Nothing,” Liz said.
“But you never act like that. You’re soft-spoken, well mannered, reserved. I’m the temperamental one.”
“You went after him like a piranha,” Isaac added. “Why don’t you like him?”
Liz offered Reenie’s father a feeble smile. “I do like him. Really.”
“He comes highly recommended,” the senator responded. “He used to work for a state senator who is now a congressman, and even though Carter’s very discreet about the past ten years or so, according to Congressman Ripley, he’s honest, straightforward, fiscally responsible and hardworking. I’ve seen a lot of that in him myself. I wouldn’t have set you up with him otherwise.”
“I know.” Liz patted his arm affectionately. Since her own father had remarried eight months after her mother’s death and basically dropped out of her life, she regarded the senator as a sort of replacement, even though she’d only met him eighteen months ago. She hadn’t meant to be rude to his aide. The frustration she’d felt at dinner, and the disappointment she was experiencing with her love life, had simply boiled over. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” he assured her. “Carter has a few rough edges, I can see that. Go ahead and challenge him, make him think.” He sat back and smiled. “If anyone can handle it, he can.”
LIZ WASN’T HOME fifteen minutes before Reenie called. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Of course. Why?” Carrying the cordless phone with her as she moved through the house, Liz began to straighten up. This part of the day was typically the most difficult. Once the kids were in bed and the place had fallen silent, she rambled, feeling more alone than at any other time and looking for ways to fill the void Keith had left behind. In recent weeks, creating lists and projecting financial statements for The Chocolaterie had given her fresh purpose, but she was too agitated to concentrate on her lists tonight.
“You seem stressed.”
She was stressed. She feared her investment in her new candy-making enterprise might be a mistake and she wasn’t sure what she’d do if it failed. She didn’t want to go back to working at Finley’s Grocery. There, she couldn’t earn enough to squeeze by. And in such a small town there weren’t many better jobs available for a former flight attendant. “I’m just overwhelmed, trying to launch my own business and all that.”
“You need to slow down and relax. Isaac and I are worried about you.”
Liz’s brother had always been there for her. When they were young and their stepmother had been making life so miserable for Liz, it had been Isaac who had defended her, supported her, given her a shoulder to cry on. He’d helped her through the rough time right after she’d found out about Keith, too.
“Tell him I’m fine. You two have enough to worry about with Gabe. Have you heard from him?”
“Yesterday. They’ve postponed the surgery.”
“Why?”
“They’re still running tests.”
Liz picked up her son’s sweatshirt and hung it on a hook in the coat closet. “I wish he’d play it safe and come home.”
“So do I,” Reenie said. “If the operation goes badly…” She drew an audible breath. “It’d kill my parents.”
It would affect Reenie and Isaac and a lot of other people, too. Since the car accident that had ruined Gabe’s NFL career three years earlier, he had been coaching football at the high school. Most of his players worshipped him like a big brother. “He’ll be okay,” she said.
There was a brief silence before Reenie continued. “Mica seemed happy tonight. She talked a lot about the store. She’s so proud of you.”
A candy shop had been Liz’s mother’s dream. And now it was hers and Mica’s, too. At Mica’s insistence, Liz had driven by the store on the way home so she and Christopher could see the progress and say good-night to their father. “The kids are doing well.”
Liz felt certain she’d done the right thing in following Keith to Dundee. He was a good father, despite what he’d done, and her children were thriving. She had to keep her mind on that, on what really mattered, or the loneliness would drive her crazy. Reenie and Isaac tried to support her, but they were caught up with their own family. And now, with surgery for Reenie’s brother looming in the near future, they were more preoccupied than usual.
“So…was it Keith?” Reenie asked.
“Was what Keith?” Liz replied absentmindedly.
“Did he say something that upset you tonight?”
“I wasn’t upset.”
Silence met this response, w
hich compelled Liz to elaborate. “I was frustrated.”
“Over what?”
Where did she start? Eighteen months earlier, she’d been devastated to find out that her husband had another wife and three children living in Idaho. When he’d left her to try and save his first marriage, Liz had followed him from L.A. in order to keep her children near their father. Mica, now ten, and Christopher, seven, desperately loved Keith, but the change had been a shock to Liz. Especially when she’d had to deal with Keith’s first wife so much.
Fortunately, that was behind her now. She loved Reenie and, for the most part, she’d made her peace with Keith. But life still wasn’t easy. She was going from blind date to blind date, denying herself contact with Dave, who was the only man she really wanted to be with, and investing every dime she possessed in a business that could break her if it didn’t succeed. She’d known hard times before but she’d never felt so insignificant or overlooked, or so immature and guilty for feeling insignificant and overlooked.
“I want to call Dave,” she said simply.
“Liz, I know you’re homesick for California and probably a tad lonely—”
“A tad?” she interrupted.
“That’s what makes it so hard to say go ahead,” Reenie told her. “At this point, you’re too vulnerable.”
“Oh, so I could call him if I didn’t need him?”
“He’s only twenty-five. If you fell in love with him, would he marry you? Be a good stepfather for your children?”
Wearily, Liz ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t want to hear that tonight.”
Reenie’s voice rose. “At least one of us has to be realistic.”
“It’d still be nice if once in a while you asked if he makes me feel attractive. Or if I’m happy when I’m talking to him. Or even if I think he’s good in bed!”
“You’ve slept with him?”
Liz silently cursed her own big mouth. She hadn’t told anyone about meeting up with Dave three months ago. She’d simply explained to Keith that she was going back to L.A. to visit her friends and flew to Vegas on a weekend when he had the children. But as much as she and Dave had enjoyed their time together, she regretted that trip. It had started them thinking more seriously about their relationship, and Dave had been after her to meet him again ever since. “It was just one weekend.”
