by Kay Harris
“Carlos took her hand in his and kissed her palm. “It’s all right, baby. In fact I’m glad you brought this up.” Her eyes, saucers before, became impossibly larger. “Because, while it may be a little early for this conversation…”
She nodded.
“It does bring to mind the conversation about you moving in with me that we never finished.”
Amy let out her breath, and instantly seemed to relax. She put her arms back around Carlos’ neck and rolled her eyes. “Here we go again.”
He chuckled. “Is that another no?”
“Actually, I talked to Marcel a few days ago. Robbie is going to take over my part of the rent next month. So we just have to go get my stuff and it will be official.”
“Really?” Carlos tugged her into him for a hug. Then he pulled back so he could examine her face. “Baby, this is great.”
“Excuse me.” Amy and Carlos both turned to see Clint standing beside them. “Um…Carlos, could I have a word?” Clint gestured to the entrance of the ballroom with his head.
“Sure, Clint.” Carlos kissed Amy’s cheek and followed Clint out of the room and into the main hallway. Clint took a right and led him to a narrower, dimmer hall, stopping halfway down.
“We need to talk.” Clint’s voice dripped with intensity.
“Okay,” Carlos responded stiffly.
“You’re a numbers man, like me.”
Carlos nodded.
“So I think you’ll understand this analogy. Let’s say someone steals a diamond necklace from you. You have other necklaces, but they take this particular one. Then it gets returned to you. And that necklace, even though it is the same value as the other necklaces, it somehow becomes more…essential to you. You put it in a safe. Lock it up, so no one can ever steal it from you again. If someone tries to go for that safe, you instantly become protective of that necklace…Do you know what I mean?”
He may not have lived through Amy’s kidnapping as Clint did, but he could understand how she had become that precious object. “I do.”
Clint scratched his chin and examined Carlos with sharp eyes. “I was so worried about protecting Amy I didn’t see the man in front me. A man who just might be worthy of her. And I didn’t take her feelings into consideration, either. She loves you.”
Carlos nodded.
Clint smiled and put his hand on Carlos’ shoulder. “You better love her back.”
“I do.”
“Good. Because if you didn’t, I’d have to kick your ass.” Clint chuckled and slapped Carlos on the bicep. Then he held out his hand. Carlos shook it. “Truce?” Clint asked.
“Truce.”
JUNE
Chapter 19
Carlos’ phone practically jumped across the desk. Set to vibration mode, whatever was happening in its little electronic innards was causing a riot. Carlos grabbed it before it leapt off the edge and glanced at his new message, marked urgent. Grab your lunch and meet me on the roof, Everett’s text commanded.
Carlos knew Everett needed to leave for the airport in about an hour so he didn’t hesitate to make his way to the third floor kitchen and grab his lunch bag from the refrigerator. The clang of the metal stairs resounded in his ears as he climbed the spiral up to the roof.
It was a warm day and Everett sat in a shaded spot against the chiller unit, his back to it and his gaze fixed on the vast view of the bay and the land beyond.
“What’s up?” Carlos sat on the wooden bench of the rough picnic table opposite his friend.
Everett smiled at him. “What do you have today?”
“A turkey sandwich on gluten-free bread.” He pulled the sandwich from his bag. “And pudding.” Carlos produced the round container of vanilla pudding out of the bag and set it between them on the table in offering.
Everett held his hands up. “All you, man. I’m flying first class all the way to Chicago. They’ll feed me on the plane.”
“Suit yourself.” Ignoring the sandwich, Carlos plunged into the pudding and waited for Everett to tell him what was on his mind.
“How are things?”
Carlos nodded, a globby chunk of pudding in his mouth. Then he pulled the container of homemade pudding up to his eyes and examined it.
“Something wrong?” Everett asked.
“It just tastes a little weird. Amy must have mixed it differently,” Carlos said, shrugging.
A deep silence overtook them for a moment as Carlos ate and Everett chewed on whatever was on his mind. Eventually, Everett broke through the quiet. “Speaking of Amy, how are things going with her?”
Carlos took the last bite of the small helping of pudding before setting it aside. “Good. She moved in with me last week.”
“Hmmm,” was Everett’s only response.
“Why?” Carlos examined his best friend’s face.
Everett’s expression was neutral. “I just wonder about her, you know.”
“No. I don’t know. What do you mean?”
“I heard you’re her first serious boyfriend. Is that true?”
“Yeah. So?”
“It’s a little weird isn’t it? She’s what? In her late twenties?”
Carlos leaned forward, his arms pressing into the uneven wood of the picnic table. He wasn’t about to reveal Amy’s secrets and he didn’t see why it would be relevant anyway. He didn’t like this line of questioning. “What are you getting at?”
“Look. I’m just looking out for you, Carlos. You’re my best friend. And I know your track record with women is total shit. So…I’m asking. What do we really know about this girl?”
Carlos thumped his chest with two fingers. “I know a whole hell of a lot about her.” Before his anger could get away with him, he leaned back and took a deep breath. “I guess I haven’t given you a real chance to get to know her. I’ve been keeping her to myself. Believe me, Everett, she’s amazing. There’s nothing to be worried about.”
Everett’s eyes narrowed and he stared into Carlos’ face for a long moment. Then, abruptly, he looked away and sat back, his gaze shifting to the blue water peeking out behind Carlos. “Okay, man. If you’re happy. I’m happy.” Everett stood and moved around the table. “I gotta get going. I’ll see you in a few days.” He patted Carlos on the shoulder and took off.
****
Amy stared at the computer screen, butterflies completely overwhelming her stomach. The email she’d typed was monumental, even if its tone was casual. She ran over the number she’d pulled up from her bank account moments ago, then hit send.
It was a simple inquiry about the business for sale on the edge of town. It was an inquiry that took into account the money in her bank combined with the pre-approved loan she’d discussed with her banker. It was an inquiry that could lead her one step closer to owning a business.
Alone, it was overwhelming. With Carlos, it would be completely doable. The trouble was she hadn’t mentioned her desire to buy the ten year old training and adventure team building camp to him at all. In fact, she lived in utter terror at the prospect of telling him.
Having just moved in together, having just gone public to their work family, and having not had a single major conversation about their future, bringing up a joint business venture was absolutely nuts. And yet, she felt like she needed to do this, like they needed to do this. It was an elemental feeling that rose from the very center of her with absolutely no sense or reason.
The little clock on her desktop read four-thirty as she watched the electronic envelope zoom away. That’s when her desk phone rang. “Amy Trinkus,” she answered cheerily.
“Amy.” Carlos’ voice was rough and uneven. “I need your help.”
There wasn’t much conversation after she heard Carlos’ desperation. She hung up and headed up to his office right away.
She found him doubled over on his desk, his cheek resting against the wood. “Oh my God! What happened?” She ran around the desk to his side.
His face was pale, his brow sweaty. And he
was literally folded over, his hands pressed against his stomach. “Kim,” he groaned.
“What?”
“She called just after this started. She…” He stopped to squeeze his eyes together. “Called to ask how I liked the pudding.”
Amy sucked in a deep breath.
“I thought it tasted funny,” he muttered.
“She poisoned it?”
“Hmmm. With wheat flour.”
“Jesus Christ! What a horrible fucking—”
“Amy,” he pleaded. “I need your help right now.”
“Okay. What do I do?” She flapped her hands uselessly at her sides.
“Fuck. I wish Everett were here.”
“What?” She was about to be offended when he let out a low groan. The painful sound made her pause.
“Kenny is pulling my car around to the side door in the alley. It’ll be easiest and fastest to get to it there. I’m gonna manage to get to the car and then I need you to drive me home.”
He was gruff, and on top of that, clearly unhappy with her presence. But he obviously felt like shit, so she didn’t say anything. Instead, she helped him get to the freight elevator that led to the side entrance where Kenny waited.
Kenny jumped out of the car and helped a very cranky Carlos into the passenger seat while Amy ran around to drive. They rode to the condo in silence, save for Carlos’ panting breaths and soft moans.
Carlos spent the first two hours after they arrived at the condo in the bathroom attached to the bedroom. Then he collapsed on the couch, his head resting on Amy’s lap.
She stroked his hair, damp with sweat, and got him to drink some water before he turned on his side and curled up in a ball, his cheek pressing into her thigh.
“I’m so sorry you have to see this,” he said softly. “She fucking knew Everett would be out of town.”
“Why, exactly, would you prefer Everett over me?” Amy tried to temper her question, but it was difficult not to let her irritation come through. She knew he was hurting, but preferring his friend over her in his time of need was really starting to bug her.
“It wouldn’t have mattered. I would have to come home anyway. And this will go on for a few days…I don’t know.”
Amy knew that his reaction to gluten was bad. They’d discussed it a little and she’d looked it up online. The tiny molecule caused his intestines to have an auto-immune reaction, attacking themselves. He digested nothing, he absorbed no nutrients, and his stomach cramped and obsessively emptied itself. The effects lasted for days, until it was all sorted out in there.
“I am trying not to give you a hard time when you are so miserable, Carlos. But why are you so opposed to me taking care of you when you’re sick?”
“I just hate that you have to see me this way,” he said, his voice thick.
Amy leaned down and kissed his temple. “Don’t be ridiculous. I love you. When you’re sick, I want to help. I don’t understand why on earth you would think any different.”
Carlos let out a deep breath. “Kim hated it when I got sick, even though it was usually her fault because she refused to keep our kitchen gluten-free. She thought I was…disgusting when I got ill. That’s why she did this, I’m sure. So you would see me this way. It was her way of sabotaging us.”
Amy took three deep breaths before speaking. “Well. I’m not her.”
Carlos rolled his head back so he could look at her. “Of course not. I’m sorry.”
“And I’m going to stay right here until you feel better. Except for the small amount of time I need to leave in order to murder your ex-wife. But I’ll wait until you fall asleep for that.”
****
Amy called both she and Carlos out sick on Friday. By Sunday evening he was finally feeling better and eating solid foods again. They’d even gone for a walk in the park near the condo. It was the furthest he’d been able to get from a bathroom since Thursday afternoon.
On Monday, Carlos worked from home while Amy went into the office. She sat in her cubie in the sales department seething over Kimberly and her evil lunch-tampering-ass.
Despite having promised Carlos she would steer clear of the Dragon Lady, she found herself making an excuse to run up to HR. With a divine sense of righteous indignation, she waltzed up to Kimberly’s open door and stood in the entrance until Kimberly looked up at her.
“Huh,” the evil witch said, looking up at Amy. “You look pissed.”
Amy stood, her arms crossed over her chest, her hip thrust out and resting against the doorframe, her mouth pressed into a thin line. “How very observant of you.”
“Why don’t you come in and shut the door?” Kimberly suggested, as if she weren’t a horrible human being.
Amy did as instructed, but instead of sitting in the chair Kimberly gestured to, she remained standing, leaning against the door, her hands clenched in fists and shoved safely into her elbows.
“You poisoned Carlos,” Amy accused.
“You can’t prove that,” Kimberly answered calmly.
Amy ignored the denial. “Why did you do it?”
Kimberly sat back in her chair, regarding Amy as if she were an insect of particular interest under a microscope. “I didn’t. But there is something you should know about Carlos and me.”
“There is no Carlos and you,” Amy said forcefully. “There is only Carlos and me.”
Kimberly smiled. “For now.”
Amy knew she shouldn’t rise to the challenge. But she couldn’t help it. At the moment she didn’t care that she was probably out matched by this terrible tyrant. She didn’t care that she would be back working for her again in less than three months.
“Not just for now,” she said through clenched teeth.
Kimberly crossed her legs and ticked up one corner of her blood-red painted mouth. “I hear you are relatively new to relationships.” She looked at Amy as if asking for confirmation. Amy wondered which part of the rumor mill she’d gotten that information from, but she didn’t move a single brow hair in response. “Well, anyway,” Kimberly continued. “Some relationships are complicated. And that’s how it is with Carlos and me. We can be apart for a long time, then we get back together. We can even get divorced. But it doesn’t end what we have. It never ended.”
Amy’s Aunt Beth had a relationship like this with YaYa’s father. They broke up and got back together several times before getting married and divorced twice more. But she didn’t believe for a moment Carlos and Kimberly were like that.
“Bullshit,” she said calmly.
“It’s true. And this thing—” Kimberly gestured to Amy “—between you and him. It’s temporary, sweetheart. Whether you accept it or not.”
Amy walked slowly toward Kimberly. She leaned over the desk, planting her palms on the slick wood. She towered over Kimberly, who still sat in her chair. “Don’t come near him. Don’t fuck with his food. Don’t fuck with him.”
Her warning delivered, Amy straightened and turned her back to her boss. She marched out of the office without a backward glance.
JULY
Chapter 20
Amy pushed open the glass door, plunged into the sunshine, and took a deep breath for the first time in hours.
“I think that went well.” Julia caught up as Amy made her way across the parking lot toward her modest vehicle.
Amy stopped in front of the driver’s side door and looked back at the nearly all glass building that stood in front of the large complex housing the adventure center and sighed. She wanted it.
Since she was a child, Amy had wanted to be involved in extreme sports. She wasn’t competitive with other people, but she held something else inside her that made personal challenge appealing. She could imagine pushing herself to her own limits. Like she did at the gym, she enjoyed challenging herself to do something hard and improbable. But she’d never been allowed to. Now that urge was merging with her desire to find the perfect way to make a living. This was it.
The dream was so much closer
now. She and Julia had just met with the owners, a husband and wife looking to retire and move to Oregon to be closer to their grandkids. They were willing to wait until Amy could get all her finances in order to sell the business to her. They’d promised not to sell it to anyone else. And Julia, who she’d brought along for advice and support, agreed that they were genuine about this.
There was only one thing missing.
“So.” Julia leaned her hip against the back of the car and turned to face Amy. “When are you going to tell your business partner?”
Amy had referred to her business partner when talking with the Howards, and in her mind that partner was Carlos. But the problem was, she hadn’t yet told him about any of this. The night she had first intended to bring it up, Carlos had gotten sick. Then Amy had convinced herself her offer would be rejected so there was no reason to bring it up again later. Then the realtor had called two days ago and Amy had lost her nerve, feeling like he would be angry with her for not mentioning it when she first sent the offer. Which was pretty legit, she thought. So now she was stuck in this awkward position.
Amy ran her hand through her hair. “I will talk to him tonight. I guess.”
“Don’t guess, Amy. You just promised those people you were going to make this happen. You and I both know you are ten thousand dollars short. And we also know that buying a business and not telling the person you are living with is straight crazy. You could easily fix both your problems by telling Carlos. I can’t believe you waited this long and got this far.”
Amy knew Julia meant well. She wasn’t trying to be hard on her friend, she was trying to infuse some reality into this situation.
“I know. It’s just that something always came up.”
“There’s more to it than that,” Julia pressed. “There has to be.”
Amy sighed. “This whole ‘partnership’ thing is new to me. I’m used to doing things on my own, despite my hovering family. In fact, because of my hovering family I got into the habit of doing my own thing quietly and without permission. I remember my mom and Uncle Clint insisted that any gym class I had in school required them having a major meeting with the gym teacher and providing me with my own place to change. So when I joined the soccer team, I did it on the sly.”
