by Hope Ramsay
Wednesday afternoon, Charlene had finished her last patient visit for the day and had settled at her desk to catch up on emails when Cindy buzzed on the intercom. “You better brace yourself.”
“What?”
“Your aunt and mother are on their way back. I tried to stop them but—”
A moment later Mother burst into the office. She was dressed to kill in a Lilly Pulitzer dress that Charlene hadn’t seen before. But then Mother had more Lilly Pulitzer dresses than the entire Palm Beach junior league. “Charlene, we need to talk. Miriam Randall is senile, and I will not have you dating a Methodist,” she said.
“Now, Frances, don’t get all excited.” Aunt Millie followed Mother into the room. Unlike Mother, Millie was wearing a pair of plain khaki pants and a green striped blouse that she’d probably purchased online from L.L. Bean.
Charlene clamped down on her fury. Mother had not yet apologized for what she had done yesterday, and now she was passing judgment on Tim Lake as if she had one word to say about how Charlene lived her life.
She flashed back to those moments at the river yesterday when Mike had held her and told her he forgave her. There had been such deep kindness in his eyes right before he kissed her. As if he’d seen the very worst of her and still could find something worthy.
If she told Mother that she had fallen for a gambler, she’d be even more outraged. Unless she brought home someone exactly like Daddy—some lawyer or banker with a Charleston background—Mother would be equally outraged.
There was no pleasing her. Ever.
She suddenly appreciated Cousin Simon’s decades-long rebellion against Aunt Charlotte.
“Mother, I’m not speaking with you, remember?” she said.
Mother stopped in her tracks and gave Charlene an odd look. But it didn’t last long. She shook it off and said, “Don’t be ridiculous. You spoke in anger yesterday. I didn’t for one moment take anything you said personally.”
“You didn’t?” Man, that was disappointing. Mother seemed to be living her life inside some kind of shell composed of copious quantities of wine and self-delusion.
“No, I didn’t. Now, we need to talk about Tim Lake. Miriam Randall says that he’s your soulmate. Millie just heard that Reverend Lake has officially signed up for this bachelor auction. And everyone says the two of you are going to find love there.”
“Pastor Tim signed up for the auction? I’m amazed.”
“You can be amazed if you like,” Mother said. “But it’s a big problem. Your grandfather would spin in his grave if you became a Methodist, much less married one. And besides, everyone in this town knows that Miriam Randall is going senile. So I don’t care what she may have said about you and that new minister. The fact is, we both know you don’t care one fig for that man. It’s that little black girl that’s got you all twisted up inside. You marrying that man because of that girl would be a huge mistake.”
All of yesterday’s emotions came roaring back, along with Mike’s words out at the river. For once, Charlene fought her way through the guilt and saw the truth. Nobody cared about Rainbow’s racial background except Mother. The Methodist Altar Guild was actively trying to create a family for this little girl. And in Charlene’s opinion, they were doing the Lord’s work.
Charlene laced her fingers together and stared down at them, trying to control her rage. She’d let it loose yesterday, and it hadn’t done any good. It hadn’t changed Mother. She would never change.
Charlene had to change herself. She had to walk away, and she had to protect Rainbow from the ugliness that Mother insisted on spewing. But Mother had one thing right. Charlene didn’t care one fig about Tim Lake. On the other hand, Mike didn’t look like a paragon of husband material either.
Between the two of them, Tim would be the better bet. And besides, he was the one with Miriam Randall’s endorsement. And she’d be a fool not to pay attention to that.
She looked up from her hands, right into her mother’s censorious gaze. “Mother, I adore Rainbow Taggart. I want to be her mother more than anything I can think of. And since Miriam Randall thinks Tim Lake and I would be great together, I’d be a fool not to give it a try. So I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to buy Tim Lake at the auction this Saturday.”
“No!” Mother gasped.
“All Riiiiight!” Millie said as she clapped her hands.
Mother glowered at her sister-in-law. “Millie, really. You’ve always been foolish and silly, but this time you’ve overstepped your bounds.”
Millie gave Mother the stink eye. “Frances, go suck an egg.”
Mother’s mouth fell open, but Aunt Millie ignored her. Instead she turned toward Charlene, her face bright with her signature smile. “Now, honey, we need to schedule you for an appointment with Ruby and make you gorgeous for Saturday. I think you are a pretty girl, but as Ruby is always saying, it doesn’t hurt to give nature a little boost from time to time.”
CHAPTER
19
Mike joined ranks with the Methodist Altar Guild, and boy, those ladies could move mountains. They got Timmy to sign up for the bachelor auction. They spread the word about Miriam’s matrimonial forecast. And they were all on the lookout for permanent homes for the cats in Charlene and Rainbow’s lives. So events seemed to be moving in the right direction.
By Saturday, everything would be settled.
And while he let the church ladies do their thing, he settled into a routine with Rainbow. He took the kid to day camp in the morning, then he picked her up in the afternoon, sometimes to take her to see Dr. Newsome and sometimes to bring her home.
He let her have an hour at Charlene’s house playing with the kittens, but he stayed away so as not to confuse things. Then he made dinner—Rainbow had expanded her list of acceptable food choices to include macaroni and cheese, and she even tolerated broccoli if he cut it up finely and buried it in the noodles.
He bathed her, but he’d quit washing her hair every day. Instead, he had sought help from Amy at the Rexall drugstore, who directed him to a big section filled with special hair care products. And then he learned to braid Rainbow’s hair by following the detailed instructions in a YouTube video designed specifically for white people caring for African-American kids.
Then he read to her, usually the book about Pete the cat.
And once they got through all that, he set the kitchen timer and gave her a final ten minutes with Tigger before bedtime. After that, she had to sleep on her own.
It made him feel terrible every night when he put Rainbow to bed and then closed the cat up in the large walk-in closet that served as his office. The kid cried. The cat meowed. And the first night, Rainbow had gotten up in the middle of the night and hauled the cat back into bed with her.
So Mike put a latch on the door, way up high, out of Rainbow’s reach. That seemed to keep the cat and the kid where he wanted them. It wasn’t the best situation in the world. But what could he do? In a few days, Rainbow would have to go live with Tim. She couldn’t take Tigger with her. So he figured this was a case of tough love.
Besides, if his plans panned out, Rainbow would lose the cat, but gain a mother. And that seemed like a pretty good deal.
But on Wednesday, his routine got all fouled up because Timmy took Rainbow to dinner and off to see the new Disney animated feature up in Orangeburg. Everyone had agreed that it was important for Tim to do this on his own.
So Mike ended up sitting at his kitchen table with the cat looking daggers at him, the two of them brooding over Rainbow’s absence.
He used the time to check in with Paul Kozlowski and see where things stood with Dragon Casinos. Paul didn’t have anything new to report, but his agent sure did give him a lecture about taking his sport seriously. Time was running out on him. He would have to get back to Vegas next week or lose his agent, in addition to losing a possible sponsor.
He’d bet everything on this bachelor auction. And if he lost, he would lose big.
He ste
wed on this while he sipped a beer and watched the parking lot. He pretended that he wasn’t waiting for Charlene to come home from her rounds. But his mood lifted the moment she pulled her truck into her reserved spot and hopped down from the cab. She wore the same sundress she’d had on the night of the mouse disaster, with her hair down. The summer sun gave it fiery highlights and she looked adorably fresh and absolutely luscious. Lust seized him low and tight across his gut. He needed to keep his distance from that woman. Rainbow’s future depended upon it.
But instead of following that advice, Mike pushed up from the table and headed for the front door. Talking to her for a moment on the front steps would be innocent enough. Besides, he needed to encourage her to buy his brother next Saturday.
He caught her on the landing. “Hi,” he said, and then the words dried up in his suddenly parched throat.
“Hey,” she said, taking the steps to her front door.
“Um, I just wanted you to know that Rainbow isn’t going to darken your door tonight. She’s off with Timmy.”
“Oh? Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I guess.” He paused for a minute. “About Sunday, when I—” Damn. Why exactly had he come out here to talk to her? Not to discuss the kiss, surely.
“Look, kissing you was a big mistake, okay? I was emotionally distraught. And you were being sweet. So let’s just put it right out of our minds and pretend it didn’t happen.”
“Okay.” Of course forgetting the kiss would be impossible. Especially since he wanted nothing more than to kiss her again. But that would screw everything up, so he stood there stupidly, as wordless as Rainbow.
“Uh, look, Mike,” she said, obviously not having the same problem with her brain or her mouth as he was. “I want to thank you for everything you said to me out at the river on Sunday. And I realize that I need to move on. I’m seriously considering this idea of me and Tim together.”
“What?” Confusion stirred his brain, throwing everything into chaos.
“Don’t act like you don’t know what’s going on. I know how you’ve encouraged the Altar Guild, talked to Miriam Randall, and convinced Tim to sign up for the auction. I’m just saying that I guess I appreciate it. And I’ve decided I’m going to buy him.”
“Really?” Holy crap, all phases of his master plan had clicked into place, and just in time for him to still make the big tournament and maybe even land the deal with Dragon Casinos, too. He should be dancing in the streets.
Instead his chest hurt as if someone had taken a laser and cut out his heart.
“Yes, really. I imagine you’re pleased,” she said.
Right, he should be more than pleased. He should be ecstatic. Instead, he blurted, “You know you’re going to have to give up your cats, don’t you?” Why had these particular words popped out of his mouth? He struggled to breathe, as if maybe he might be having an asthma attack.
She rolled her eyes and tapped her cheek with her finger. “Hmmm, let me think about that for a moment. I could keep my cats and become a crazy spinster cat lady, or I could take a chance that Miriam Randall knows what she’s talking about and find my soulmate.” Her phony frown turned right into a brilliant smile. “Don’t stand there looking flabbergasted. You’ve done a good thing. I adore my kitties, but I would give them up for love. Real love. The kind of love Miriam always finds for people. So I’m good with it.”
He slapped his poker face on. “I’m glad to hear it. Really glad. Rainbow loves you.”
“I love her back.”
“Great. I need to get back to my computer. The overseas markets are opening.” It was a lie. He needed to get away from her before he admitted that he hated the idea of her giving away Winkin’, Blinkin’, and Nod. Just as he hated the idea of taking Tigger away from Rainbow. But hey, maybe it would work out. Rainbow would get Charlene and Charlene would get Rainbow. And Timmy would get both of them.
And he’d get a sponsorship.
Everyone would get what they needed or wanted. A complete win-win-win-win scenario.
Except for the cats.
And for some strange reason that bothered him.
On Thursday afternoon, Angel Menendez dropped by Charlene’s office unannounced and without his little dog, Muffin. Cindy sent him back to Charlene’s office. He strode in, wearing his usual faded jeans and T-shirt, and slumped into one of her office chairs. “We need to talk,” he said.
“What is it? Are we still short of bachelors for Saturday?”
“No, we have more bachelors than we know what to do with. You and Wilma have done a great job. I never thought Reverend Lake would participate.” He gave Charlene a meaningful and direct stare.
“You can save your breath. I’ve already made up my mind. I’m buying him.”
“Chica, I have spent the last day and a half trying to decide if I should talk to you about this or not. And I have concluded that I would not be a good friend if I did not let you know a few things.”
Her chest constricted. “Angel, if you’re about to tell me that Pastor Tim is gay, I think I will go off and join a nunnery.”
“No, I am not here to tell you that.”
“Good, then whatever it is you have to say about him, keep it to yourself. The truth is I’m tired of chasing after guys who have tons of emotional baggage. I’ve got enough baggage of my own. So I’m going to follow Amanda’s advice and go after someone who is actually available, physically and emotionally.”
“You think Pastor Tim is emotionally available? Really?”
Charlene didn’t know the answer to this question. But in contrast to Mike, he definitely looked more mature. Tim was so mature he verged on boring. But really, boring would be better than having her heart mashed again. And Tim came with a big fringe benefit—Rainbow. “I think Timmy is a good catch.” She folded her hands on the desk in front of her.
Angel got up and started pacing the room.
“What’s the matter?”
He sat back down. “Look, Charlene, I do not want to spoil your plans, but I spoke with Miriam Randall yesterday, and she cannot remember ever saying anything about you and Tim Lake. And I am only here telling you this because I would hate to see you throw yourself at a man who is going to make you give up your cats.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I am not kidding.”
“You’d rather I become a crazy cat lady than a married woman with a family?”
“No, of course not. But I have a hard time seeing you with a guy who is allergic to cats.”
“Well, love is blind, and we can always get a hypoallergenic cat, like a Sphynx.”
“A Sphynx?”
“It’s a hairless breed.”
“You’d get a fancy cat when there are so many in the shelter?” He seemed truly upset with her now.
“Angel, I’m just saying that marrying Tim Lake would not necessarily require me to give up cats.”
“Just the ones you have right now.”
“I’m not choosing cats over Tim or Rainbow,” she said, trying to ease the tension in her neck. Angel was literally becoming a pain.
“Do you love him?” Angel asked.
She hesitated a moment. She should have told him a lie, but lying to Angel was impossible. “No, I don’t,” she said on a long breath. “Not yet, anyway. But Miriam says I will, someday.”
“Assuming Miriam said anything at all. Tell me, chica, do you even like him?”
He certainly had her there, didn’t he? She stared at him until he blinked. “Damnit all, Angel, I’m trying to be mature. I’m trying to follow Amanda’s advice.”
“Amanda told you to go after Tim?”
“No. She told me to quit going after guys who need fixing. You know the kind. Guys like Dr. Dave and—” She bit off the rest of the sentence before she said what was really on her mind.
“Like who?”
She looked down and pretended to rearrange the papers on her desk.
“Li
ke who, Charlene?”
“Damnit, it’s none of your business. Why are you here?”
He braced his elbows on his knees, and this time he sank his head onto his hands. He was a picture of misery. “Angel? What’s the matter?”
“I did not come here to upset you. Really. I just thought you should know that Miriam does not remember saying one thing about you and Tim. But I did talk to Savannah, and she said that Tim will soon find his soulmate, and she will be someone involved in medicine. So maybe that is you.”
“Veterinary science is not exactly medicine.”
He looked up. “Maybe she was using an expansive definition.”
“Yeah, but you came in here mainly to tell me to rethink, didn’t you? You came in here determined to burst my bubble.”
He shook his head. “No, that actually was not my main reason.” He paused for a moment, the tension building. “My main reason for coming was to ask your advice about something.”
“You need my advice? On what?”
“Dr. Dave.”
She tried hard not to let her mouth drop open.
“I know,” Angel said with a fluent hand gesture. “It is crazy for me to be asking you for advice about Dave. But you know him better than almost anyone.”
“Okay, what do you need to know?”
“Would it be wrong if I bought him on Saturday?”
“Angel, I don’t have any problems with same-sex relationships. But I’m not sure that Dave is ready to come out. I’m not even sure he knows he’s gay. God knows, I was fooled.”
“He knows. The thing is, Savannah said something yesterday at the meeting of the Purly Girls about how I should go for it on Saturday. And Pat Canaday heard what she said and started speculating about which bachelor might be gay. And if Pat is speculating, that means every knitter in Last Chance is speculating, too.” He paused for a moment, frowning. “Let me amend that, every knitter who isn’t nearly deaf and over the age of eighty-five. So maybe I should tell him that, huh?”
“Crap. I don’t know. Maybe. Or maybe you should ask some woman to buy him for you.”
