“I’m impressed.” Soft laughter etched Barker’s words. “I’m not even on camera,” he said.
Bettina Franks was next to move in, casually nudging Ajani aside as she did. “She means we watch AfterNews on WPXI.”
Across the room, Ray watched the scene play out. Her head inclined thoughtfully as she smiled. AfterNews was a behind-the-scenes show on WPXI’s cable affiliate. The show offered an inside look at how the network’s most probing stories were produced. Barker and his team were regular fixtures, as the station’s most suspenseful stories seemed to come from their camp. For someone who went out of his way to keep his striking face off-screen, Ray thought, the screen found a way. If the young women currently gazing dreamily at Barker Grant were any example, the WPXI viewing audience couldn’t be any happier.
Ray let the girls adore Barker for another minute, before she cleared her throat to weigh in over all the chatter and breathless giggles. “Guys, we didn’t come to stay long,” she called out. “It’s late, and you all need to be getting back to bed.”
The girls disagreed, of course, and flashed quick looks of annoyance in Ray’s direction.
“Barker?” Ray’s tone was pleading.
He nodded. “Ray’s right, girls. I’m sorry,” he said in a soothing tone, as a melee of whines hit the air. “When the lady’s in a rush, what’s a guy to do?” He teased at Ray’s expense and was successful at coaxing laughter from his young audience.
“Thanks,” Ray remarked flatly, though a smile held her lips, as well.
Barker’s manner took a serious turn. “Listen, girls, we really do need your help.”
Frowns began to take shape subtly across the pretty faces of the young women. Concern merged when they looked to their mentor.
“Are you all right, Ray?” Leona Best asked.
“Oh, I’m fine, sweetie.” Ray gave the girls a reassuring wave from where she stood. Then she looked to Suzette. “Suze, honey, I need you to tell me about the club.”
Panic swam in Suzette Jessup’s eyes, and was followed swiftly by a look of betrayal. “You promised,” she whispered, moving from the huddle she and her friends had made around Barker.
“Honey, please understand, I—”
“No, Ray. You promised.”
Ray braced herself to try again, but knew the attempt was useless. She all too easily remembered herself at that age. The reasons were irrelevant—all that mattered was the broken promise.
“Suzette?”
Ray blinked, hearing Barker’s soft baritone filling the room.
“I don’t know you very well,” he was saying, “but I know Ray, and she never meant to betray you. She didn’t want to come to you with this, but she’s concerned.”
Suzette hung her head and sighed. “I told her I was okay.”
“You may be for now. Thing is, we think your job is a place the cops could be coming down hard on in a few weeks.”
“Why?”
Barker shook his head. “Could be an off-the-books gambling dive for one—”
“Barker—” Ray called to him in a cautionary tone.
“She should know this, Ray,” Barker countered with another shake of his head. “Last thing she needs is to be booked along with the rest if it comes to that.”
“Booked?” Ajani squealed, balling her fists. “I knew that place was shady.”
“Tell them what they want to know, Suze!” Leona cried.
“There’s nothing to tell!” Suzette threw back. “All I do is serve drinks—I swear.” She made the plea to Barker. “They don’t make a big deal about age there so...” Awareness took shape in her eyes then. “Is that what this is about?”
“With everything that’s gone on here in town lately, the tolerance level is nonexistent for anything that smells funny,” Barker warned. “The cops aren’t playing any games, and gambling could be just the beginning if all my team is uncovering is true. Sooner or later your employer will cross too many lines, Suzette. It’ll be the end of them and anyone unlucky enough to be associated with them.” He sent a soft look toward Rayelle.
“Ray cares about you. She’s told me enough about all of you, and now you’ve got me caring, too. As for Ray, I don’t like to see her upset—and this is going to do that until it doesn’t, so...”
Suzette nodded slowly, as if to accept that the ball was in her court. “What do you want to know?”
“The address,” Ray said.
“And if it’s the one you’re looking for?”
“That’s up to you,” Barker answered, even though Suzette had posed the question to Ray. “Rayelle believes in you—all of you. She thinks you guys will go a lot further than where you are now.”
“What about the other girls working there?” Suzette asked, concern abounding in her tone and expression. “They aren’t crooks, and some of them need the job more than I do. What happens to their kids without the job?”
“What happens to the kids if their parents are in jail?” Bettina threw back.
Suzette worried her thumbnail between her teeth. “That could happen anyway if the place is still in business.”
“This isn’t about ruining people’s fun or, more importantly, their lives,” Barker said. “If it’s just gambling, they could run it as a private party in the city, but to go this far...it’s a safe enough bet that there could be more involved.”
“Jeez, Suze, would you just tell them already?” Leona blurted.
Suzette looked to Ray again. That time, her eyes brimmed with apology, which she cried out while running to tightly embrace her mentor.
“Shh...it’s all right,” Ray soothed, brushing a kiss to Suzette’s temple.
Suzette pulled back. “Giving you the address won’t work,” she said.
Ray nodded. “It’s okay, sweetie.” She tugged at the edge of the scarf around the girl’s wrapped hair. She made herself accept that they hadn’t convinced Suzette of how serious the situation was. If the matter were over anything other than what it was, Ray could’ve admired her spunk.
Suzette was smiling. “Don’t worry, Ray. I’ll give you the address.” She squeezed Ray’s hand and then looked to Barker. “But I want to do more than that,” she added.
* * *
“You okay with this?” Barker asked.
Ray smiled with a playful weariness. “Be careful what you wish for, right? We only wanted her to confirm an address. Not crack open a possible scandal.”
“We’ll have eyes on her the entire time.” Barker squeezed Ray close as they strolled the walkway outside the Endeavor House entrance. “You should be proud. They’re a fine group of girls.”
“Yeah.” Ray’s smile was genuinely content. “They’ll do things the right way.”
“Unlike who? You?”
“I could’ve done things a lot better—a lot differently. I had too many stars in my eyes, thinking the world had something better to offer than what I already knew—that there was a prince to carry me away from all this. I should’ve been smarter.”
“Okay. Although, if you had, you may never have wound up here, making sure four girls ended up someplace better.”
Ray gave him a quirky look when she angled her head back up at him. “Are those your reporter’s senses kicking in again?”
“Doesn’t take anything but to observe.”
“I started volunteering here right after Miss J put me in management at Jazzy B’s.” Ray turned her face up toward a frigid breeze that swept in. “It was like some kind of therapy at first—therapy for me, I mean.” She shoved her hands deeper into her coat pockets and walked on ahead of Barker.
“I needed to prove to myself that I wasn’t the only teen who’d ever found herself at a crossroads. It can be easy to believe that when you’re preoccupied by your own drama.” She perched on the back of a wooden bench near the end of
the walkway.
“They helped me as much as I helped them—saw something in me I didn’t see in myself and...” She shrugged. “I think that’s when my real therapy began. Somewhere along the way I got sidetracked—preoccupied, more like, with showing the girls what their futures could be instead of focusing on what their realities were. Maybe if I’d focused on the reality, I would’ve known Suze wanted to work and gotten her a better job that—”
“Whoa.” Barker was there at Ray’s side, taking her arm. “That’s not your weight to carry.”
“I don’t know about that—what if showing them the finer things of life made Suze rush to have it, and in a way she shouldn’t have? It doesn’t work to dwell on fantasy.”
“Sometimes fantasy leads to hope,” Barker mused.
“And what about reality? Hope doesn’t make it disappear.”
“But it can make the reality better, can’t it?”
Before she could answer, Ray felt something cold land against her cheek. Snowfall. Another gust of the frigid breeze blew several more flakes into her face, and she laughed.
“I guess that’s a yes to your question!”
“And what about this question?”
Ray was still laughing when she looked down and saw the streetlight bouncing off a box. She squinted, realizing it wasn’t the box that was illuminated, but the crescent-shaped stone inside it.
“Barker...”
“I’d really like to hear you say you’ll marry me.”
“Barker, I—just because I...you don’t have to do this.”
“I actually do. I’ve been carrying this around in my pocket since Switzerland.”
Ray only gaped.
Barker tilted his head, looking more directly into her face. “Since before I left here for Switzerland.”
She understood. He wanted her to know his plans had been made before the news hit that they were to be parents.
“Do you love me, Rayelle?”
Hand covering her mouth as emotion surged to an overwhelming crest, she nodded. “I do.” She shuddered. “I have since before I took that test in Switzerland.”
Barker chuckled, understanding the clarification. “I don’t mind giving you time to think on it.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he studied the ground.
“Since you’re going to say yes anyway—” he joined in when he saw her smile. “I’m happy to take my answer now.”
“Well—” she pretended to be slightly confused “—considering what you just said about hope—I’d think you’d want a little more time to enjoy that part.”
Barker drew her close. “Hoping has its fun parts, but sometimes you just need to go straight to the reality.” He kissed her in a quick, heated manner before pulling back.
“Would it help if you wore the ring?”
She gave him a sad smile. “I’m afraid it won’t.”
Barker nodded. Small furrows tugged the sleek lines of his brows, and he appeared to be trying to reign in impatience. Ray moved closer, propped a finger beneath his chin and waited for his dark eyes to settle on her lighter ones.
“Wearing your gorgeous ring won’t help me make up my mind, because I’ve already made it.” She nodded then, laughter forming as she watched his expression brighten.
“Yes, Barker Daniel Grant. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He tugged her close, eyes looking weighty with apparent relief as he put his forehead to hers. “How is it you know my middle name?” he asked.
“Your mom might’ve mentioned it when we had a few minutes together at the party while you weren’t hovering.”
Laughter drifted between the engaged couple. Soon, however, Barker was interrupting for more kissing. The wind and snow had picked up around them, and Ray gasped in the midst of it all when she felt the cold platinum ring band slide onto her finger.
She gasped a third time when she took notice of a wide window along the second floor of Endeavor House. She broke Barker’s kiss and pressed her forehead to his again.
“We’ve got an audience,” she whispered, referring to her young mentees. The girls were crowded in the living room window and beaming down at the couple embracing in the moonlight.
Barker didn’t turn to observe the audience. Instead, he leaned down to swing Ray up into his arms. “The least we can do is give our guests a good show.”
“Not too good,” Ray cautioned. “This is a PG-13 crowd,” she added.
Barker winced and then favored his fiancée with a wink. “It’s Christmas. Let ’em live a little.” He gave her mouth a loud smack beneath his, and then proceeded to gnaw at her neck.
Ray giggled hysterically while Barker whisked them into his car and out of the snowy, special night.
Chapter 15
Four days later...
Monika Adair Grant was among a select few people in the world who had never felt the least bit slighted by having her birthday fall near the biggest holiday of the year. She’d actually considered it something of an honor, and one worthy of being abundantly celebrated, even if those closest to her did tend to use it as an excuse to be a touch stingy with her birthday gifts.
Luckily, Monika always believed it was the celebration that counted. Her family and friends had always done a phenomenal job with that.
The Grant family’s annual Christmas party was a prime example. Soon after Monika had married the love of her life, Davius Grant, his mother, Gwyneth Grant, had suggested—decided, really—there wasn’t a more appropriate place to hold the large end-of-the-year bash than at the home of her eldest son and his wife. As much as Monika had adored her mother-in-law, she’d always figured the woman had locked on to a clever way to avoid having her own home turned upside down for the festivities. Monika didn’t mind; after all, a party was a party. And when it encompassed her birthday, it was an event beyond spectacular.
Such could be said of the night’s gaiety. Monika Grant’s home was vibrant, with the sounds and sights of the season. The guests, numbering well over seventy-five, socialized throughout the vast lower level, hugging, laughing and chattering away. The fragrance of apple cider, spices and chestnuts mingled in the comfortable warmth. A five-member jazz ensemble filled the space with Christmas classics that had many gravitating toward the makeshift dance floor that had taken over the den.
Something of a challenge had been issued from the older guests to those who were at least ten years their junior. With the upbeat and infectious holiday rhythms of the ensemble leading the way, the challenge was accepted as a battle between the ages ensued. Good cheer abounded, mixed with abundant laughter.
Among those who had taken to the dance floor were newlyweds Rook and Viva Lourdess. The couple had arrived just that morning from their home in Cortina, Italy. The unexpected visit from the talented actress and her husband had thrilled their families, as well as Viva’s local fans. Also burning up the dance floor were her sister and brother-in-law.
Newlyweds Santigo and Sophia Rodriguez were a lively duo as they tackled the floor with eye-catching precision. Their moves garnered more than a few approving whistles. Not to be outdone, newly engaged Elias Joss and Clarissa David pulled in their fair share of cheers and applause. They treated the onlookers to an energetic routine full of twists and flips that kept Clarissa off her feet.
Eli had decided against waiting for an outrageously fabulous proposal trip. Ray discovered he had popped the question to her best friend the day after she’d left for Switzerland.
The other two newly engaged couples on the festive premises that evening decided to forgo the dance challenge—for a while anyway. Barker carried on a boisterous chat with his old friend Linus Brooks. Meanwhile, Linus’s fiancée, Paula Starker, enjoyed watching the entertaining couples on the dance floor with her new friend Rayelle.
“What’s that for?” Ray laughed when Paula shook her
head.
“If anyone—and I don’t care how reputable they are—if anyone had told me two years ago—hell, one year ago—that we’d all be here this way...happy and with all drama and misunderstandings over and done with...” She shook her head again.
“I would’ve used all my power as the DA to have them committed.”
Ray laughed a while longer. “I don’t think I’d have believed it if someone told me all this six months ago.”
Again, Paula nodded and then sighed. “Ray, girl, are we all crazy?”
“I’d say that’s a no as far as you and Linus are concerned.”
“Why just me and L?”
Ray shrugged. “You’ve got history. If it weren’t for the misunderstandings, you’d have been married years ago.” She shook her head then. “I don’t know what me and Barker are doing. It’s all like—like a blur.”
“A happy blur?” Paula punctuated the query with a coy smile.
Ray couldn’t help throwing back her head for more laughter. “A stupid, happy blur!”
“You’re on the right track, Ray—trust that.” Paula tapped Ray’s arm when she noticed Barker heading toward the stage. “Looks like your fiancé’s got something to say.”
Ray whirled around. “He wouldn’t.” She groaned after a moment.
Linus, seated nearby, had apparently overheard Ray. “He would,” Linus confirmed and pulled Paula to her feet in order to take his place in the chair she’d occupied. He settled Paula onto his lap.
Ray could only shake her head, watching as Barker tapped the mic to check that it was engaged. A second later, his rich, well-known voice was resonating across the soft golden-lit room.
“Sorry for the interruption, folks,” he said. “We’ll get back to the music soon, but there’s just something I need to say. Rayelle? Would you come up here please?”
Linus and Paula turned broad grins in Ray’s direction. Ray, meanwhile, took a beat to close her eyes and prepare.
“Shut up,” she grumbled to Linus and Paula while moving to her fiancé.
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