Strangers in the Night

by Ines Saint

  While Keila genuinely liked Jake’s mom, picturing Jake’s future children wasn’t as fun for her as it seemed to be for Patty. She couldn’t help but wonder why Mrs. Kelly was making plans for her future grandchildren. Was Jake seeing someone? And if he was, was it serious? She hadn’t heard anything about it on the news, but politicians were known for being secretive little bastards. After all, it had been six weeks since they’d kissed and a lot could happen in six weeks. Heck, her own parents had fallen in love in two days.

  “What’s the matter, hon?” Patty asked her.

  “Uh, nothing’s wrong. I’m just picturing Jake’s future little girl at the piano and his future little son holding a guitar. Cute picture,” she smiled a tight smile, knowing her voice sounded strained.

  Thankfully, Keila’s mother and aunt walked over to them with food. Keila introduced the women, and Patty was soon raving over both women’s pastelón, a lasagna-like creation that had green plantains instead of pasta.

  “But whose do you like better? Graciela’s or mine?” Aunt Gina, who was always competitive when it came to food, wanted to know. Patty diplomatically made excuses as to why she was ill-qualified to judge.

  Then Keila finally saw Jake, talking to some woman. She swallowed hard and pressed her lips together as the symptoms of her foolish and runaway infatuation instantly took over.

  She’d never seen him dressed in anything but suits, ties, and that heart-stopping tuxedo. Tonight, he was preppy and sexy. Not a combination she would’ve thought would make her look twice at a man — she was more into the rebel look. But anything on a man with those shoulders and that butt had to look good.

  Her aunt Gina then shoved a plate in Keila’s hand and said, “Then you tell us, Keila, whose do you think tastes better today? You can tell us the truth, we won’t hold it against you,” her aunt lied.

  “Yeah right,” Keila mumbled. Loudly she said, “Well, see, I already know which is which. I’ll just go find Robbie and he can decide. Robbie,” she called and waved him over when she spotted him with Tania a few feet way.

  But Patty called, “Jake!” at the same moment and said, “Jake can decide.”

  Both Jake and Robbie walked over, and when the two men saw each other they exchanged enthusiastic greetings, as though they were long-lost friends. The sound of Jake’s deep voice so very near to her did nothing to sooth her.

  Patty took the first paper plate of pastelón and thrust it into Keila’s hand. “Here, you feed him the first one and I’ll feed him the second. We need you to decide which one tastes better,” she turned to her son and explained.

  Jake and Keila finally looked at each other for the first time in weeks and Keila felt as if his eyes held two hundred and fifty watts of electricity. She immediately looked down at the plate in her hand. Inhaling deeply, she looked up and shoved a fork-full of food into his mouth before he could say hello.

  “Keila and I were just talking about your future children,” Patty remarked as Jake swallowed. He proceeded to choke.

  “Our children?” he said between coughs, staring at Keila, his eyes now bulging.

  “Here, have some punch,” Graciela offered.

  “We were talking about your future children with, you know, your future wife. Whoever she may be.” Keila quickly clarified, lest he choke to death. Uncomfortable, she quickly switched subjects by saying, “Okay, your turn to feed him,” to Patty, who was acting a little too giddy for Keila’s liking. The excited look left as soon as her Aunt Gina swiped the plate away from her, obviously wanting to experience the pleasure of feeding Jake. Few women in her family could resist feeding a good-looking man.

  “Okay. So which one wins?” Gina asked.

  Jake looked reluctant, but brave. Taking a deep breath, he said, “That one,” and pointed to Graciela’s pastelón. Keila’s mom hopped and improvised a mini-cheer. Gina scowled.

  “So,” Tania, who had never even been introduced to Jake, turned to him, grinning. “You remember Robbie from SummerDance, but you forgot my sister. Interesting.”

  Before Jake could answer, Graciela intervened. “Yes, Tania, he forgot Keila and we were not going to vote for him because of it, but he voted for my recipe today so now we’re going to have to reconsider. And now, Graciela’s pastelón for everybody!” she finished, and everyone followed her to a nearby table.

  “I guess I lost your aunt’s vote, then,” Jake shrugged, not really looking at Keila, and about to walk away.

  “Don’t worry; she’s here illegally so she can’t vote.” Keila couldn’t resist replying. At that, Jake whipped his head around to face her.

  “I’m just kidding! She was born and raised here. But did you see your reaction? You’re such a conservative.” Keila smiled up at him, feeling more comfortable now that she had teased him, and he finally looked down at her too, biting his lip, caught and clearly amused. “I like her and was concerned for her, that’s all.”

  Fireworks began to whistle up and explode in the sky in a blast of bright colors. Keila glanced up and laughed nervously because just looking at Jake after so long made the moment seem apt for fireworks.

  She watched as wave after wave of multi-colored flashes and flares coupled with explosive sounds filled the air. The sky above the harbor lit up, and the water below reflected the dazzle, but through it all she was mostly aware of Jake standing beside her. Everyone else remained silent, in awe of the spectacular display of colorful, showering lights. Keila was relieved to have the spectacle at least draw her eyes away from him.

  She heard Tania exclaim, “Hey, Robbie, there’s Jess,” and Keila, who hadn’t seen Robbie’s younger sister in months turned too, glad to have an old friend distract her.

  “Jess!” Robbie called.

  Keila turned toward Robbie and Tania to see the direction in which they were looking and frowned when she saw their faces. Robbie’s mouth was agape and Tania looked furious. Keila followed their gazes and her eyes widened in shock.

  Jess was wrapped in Mark’s arms and they were making out, heavily, on the pier. “Get a room!” someone from the boat laughingly shouted to the pair.

  Keila felt her heart hit her feet one second and a fiery burst of anger ignite her temper the next. But her aunt, her mother, and Tania were all by her side talking at once, saying things like “bendito,” and “pobre Keila,” and trying to shield her from the show.

  Both Jess and Mark finally turned in the direction of the boat. Mark immediately met Keila’s glower. Her mother said, “Come Keila, let’s get you away from those two.”

  But it was too late. Poof! Her temper had burst into flames. “Why that manipulative lying scumbag and that treacherous little — ” she breathed in the last word and marched across the boat, stopping to stand on the edge of the plank as a defiant Mark and a guilty-looking Jessica stood on the other end. She heard her niece say, “And she says she’s not feisty,” which made her swallow hard and try to keep her anger in check. She was not feisty, she was just mad.

  “How long has this been going on?” she confronted them.

  They didn’t answer, so she looked at Mark, incredulously. “Did you start seeing her before or after we broke up, Mark?”

  Mark looked at Jess, as if to see if she would comply with a lie, but a miserable-looking Jess was just staring at the floor. So Keila had her answer. Robbie had said Jess had been keeping quiet about a new boyfriend for months, and to top it off, Keila had been the one to introduce them at her mother’s house a few months before. She’d even told Jess where Mark played!

  “You,” Keila pointed to Mark. “Are a self-centered jerk and a hypocrite.”

  “What about you? You and your issues — ” Mark began, hotly.

  “I never cheated!” she fisted her hands into little balls, struggling to keep her voice even.

  People began to look their way and Keila decided to simply turn and walk away.

  “Aren’t you even going to hear us out?” Mark called after her.

  Ke
ila threaded her way through a crowd of people still gazing up at the fireworks display and disappeared down some stairs that led her to a cramped galley. Leaning against a cold, metal stove, she tried to gather her thoughts and make sense of her anger. No, she wasn’t in love with Mark at all, but she’d been honest with him. To think she’d felt sorry for him! To think she’d felt guilty!

  And then there was Jess. That hurt even more. To be cheated on with someone she’d babysat, to be betrayed by someone she’d always been very good to. Feeling stupid, gullible, and blind, she wiped an angry tear from her cheek and held her breath, hoping to stop more from spilling, wishing for once she wasn’t so emotional.

  Then Jake came in and stood in front of her in the cramped galley. “So, that was your ex-boyfriend and someone I take it you know,” he said sympathetically, his deep voice so close it reverberated within her and threw her into a second tailspin of emotions.

  Keila nodded, looking up, suddenly feeling she had no business being angry about Mark and Jess when being in Jake’s presence felt so good; the whole thing was too confusing.

  “Do you want me to me to go up and make sure they leave the pier, so you don’t have to face them again when you leave?” he offered.

  Keila shook her head. “You don’t know my aunt Gina and Tania. I’m sure they’ve already gotten rid of him.”

  “Not that you couldn’t have handled it on your own,” he smiled one of his sudden smiles and Keila swallowed hard.

  “I feel so pathetic,” she put her head into her hands. “My quasi ex-boyfriend was trying to get back with me while seeing my gay, first ex-boyfriend’s little sister behind my back.” While I lusted after Chicago’s possible next mayor, she thought.

  “Um, what?” Jake looked down at her. “Wait, I think I got it, Robbie was your first boyfriend? That girl with your ex was Robbie’s sister?”

  Keila nodded, sighing. “And Tania and my mom probably think I’m more upset than I am and they’ll want to drag me away with them this weekend even though having them fret over me is the last thing I need.”

  Jake lifted her chin with his thumb and made her look into a caring, concerned gaze she’d never seen on him. “What do you need?” he asked.

  Keila stared into his eyes and thought. “Peace, sheet music, and my violin.”

  “Then come away with me.” His gaze was so intent, she was nearly mesmerized.

  “Say what?”

  “You heard me.”

  Hearing him ask her to go away with him filled her with unexpected longing. But he backed away then, abruptly dropping his gaze and putting distance between them. “I need to blow off some steam too so I’m heading to my house by the Kankakee river this weekend, to do some work on it. It’s a big house, plenty of room, and you can practice all you want. It’s only an hour away and … I’d like to listen to you play while I work. I think listening to you will relax me.”

  Keila’s mind went on a wild three-second ride where her reason came up with a firm “no”, but her will to do what deep down she really wanted to do overrode her reason. Ignoring the nervous throbs in the pit of her belly she swallowed and murmured, “Okay.”

  They looked at each other, surprise palpable in each, for a long beat. Then Graciela’s concerned voice floated down to them. “Keila, are you down there? We’re all looking for you.”

  Without taking his eyes off her Jake called up, “She’s down here, Mrs. Diaz.” He then leaned toward her, soft gazes and concern gone, collected demeanor back, and instructed, “Pack a bag when you get home. I’ll pick you up at midnight at the same corner I dropped you off last time.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  A little over two hours later, Keila met Jake at the corner of her house. He leaned over the passenger seat, opened the door to his sexy, blue-with-white stripes ‘65 Shelby, and Keila climbed in, feeling like a sneaky teenager.

  “Hey,” she muttered.

  “Hey,” he said as soon as their eyes met. He then quickly looked away and pulled back out onto the street, his posture rigid.

  “Are you having second thoughts?” she asked.

  “No,” Jake sighed. “But I should be.”

  “Then maybe you should just stop here and I can walk back home. I’ll be fine.”

  “I’m not having second thoughts,” he assured her, more firmly this time.

  “Okay, then, before we get too far, just one more thing.” Taking a deep breath, Keila voiced her one small, but important request. “Just promise me you won’t kiss me, Jake. I’m notorious for my self-control. Heck, I was dumped for it, but you need to promise me you won’t kiss me. I believe you’ll keep your word.”

  Jake turned to her then and smiled a slow smile, his whole demeanor loosening up. “I promise I won’t kiss you,” he paused, “unless you kiss me first.”

  “Like I said, that won’t be a problem. It’ll just be you, working on your house, and me, playing my violin, just two friends, or ex co-workers or whatever it is we are, keeping each other company while we take a break and get away from it all,” Keila’s voice trailed off as she looked out the window.

  Soon they were whizzing down I-57, heading west to Rock Falls. As soon as they’d left the city, she relaxed.

  They stopped at an out-of-the-way Wal-Mart where Jake put the hood of his jacket so far up over his head it nearly covered his eyes. Keila laughed. Keeping his head low so as not be recognized, they had a surprisingly good time just zipping the shopping cart around the supermarket section, trying to decide who would cook what. In honor of Thanksgiving, they decided on turkey everything; turkey bacon and sausages for breakfast, turkey ham sandwiches at lunch, and ground turkey for a Thanksgiving lasagna dinner because they couldn’t find a turkey small enough for just the two of them.

  By the time they finished shopping and were back on the road, Keila was glad she’d agreed to the harebrained scheme. Every mile of road brought further relief. It had been years since she’d taken time away for anything.

  Jake asked her about her parents, her sister, and her niece. And he really listened. She told him how her super-smart and responsible sister had fallen hard for Chris, Mia’s father, when they’d met as sophomores in college. “I think Tania was just yearning for the same kind of love our parents had, to fill the void our dad left,” she shared. Then, she told him how her sister had instead been badly burned; her story nothing like their parents’ fairy tale.

  Hesitantly, she asked him about his own life, knowing that privacy was a necessity for him. She was touched that he trusted her with a few details about how his father’s actions had affected him, how he’d loved his father, but had never been proud of him. “For a long time, I was just as mad at how my mom would always take him back … but I love her too much to willingly judge her so I learned to let that go.”

  They left each other to their thoughts for a time. Keila found herself being grateful for the father she’d had, and the sting of seeing Mark and Jess gradually subsided as she thought of the really great things life had shown her.

  • • •

  A while later, after meandering down a dark, narrow grove lined by oaks and elms, Jake announced, “We’re here.” He turned to look at Keila, warmth traveling through his veins at the look on her face. She was as enchanted by the old country house as he’d been the first time he’d laid eyes on it.

  “Wow, Jake, it’s lovely. I feel like I’ve stepped into some other place and time. I can’t wait to see it tomorrow, in the daylight.”

  Jake took their stuff out of the trunk, handing her violin case over to her, swinging his bag on one shoulder, and carrying hers in his hand. They walked toward the house and he offered her a few details. “It was built in 1853, and I’m working hard to save as many of the original details as possible.”

  “You’re restoring it all by yourself?” she asked, incredulous. Jake nodded yes and she looked up at him, clearly impressed. “No wonder your hands are so...um, well they’re manly man hands, not politician hands.
Not that I’ve ever held another politician’s hand. Of course, it’s not like I’ve held your hand, it’s just that, you know, I’ve felt it.”

  Jake looked down at her and tried hard not to grin. She was clearly flustered at the thought of his...hands.

  As with everything relating to Keila, against all better judgment, he casually took her left hand in his right, led her up the stairs of the old world porch, through the front door, and into the large living area. The small action of walking into his house, holding Keila’s hand made him feel things he knew he had no business feeling.

  It was one thing to desire someone, it was quite another to feel tenderness toward them, as well. He dropped her hand.

  But she didn’t seem to notice. She was busy looking around, her eyes darting from one detail to the next: the carpenter’s lace above the doorway, the mirrored fireplaces and mantle, the winding oak staircase. Her hazel eyes glimmered, more golden than brown or green; her soft, glossy lips formed a sweet smile. Jake licked his own lips and decided it was time to take a breather from so much togetherness.

  “It’s nearly two o’clock in the morning. Let’s find you a room and you can get settled in, call whoever’s been hounding you non-stop,” Jake said in reference to the phone that had been beeping and she’d been ignoring the whole way. “And I’ll give you a tour tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” Keila quickly agreed.

  He led the way upstairs and showed her the bedroom he thought she’d like best. It had large picture windows and a window seat looking out over the moonlit river. He hadn’t even begun to decorate the house, and the only furnishing in the room was a plain, full-sized bed.

  Keila walked over to the window and sat down. “You have access to the river?” she asked.

  “Twenty-five feet of it. There’s a small pier to the right, but you can barely see it, it’s half-hidden by that black cherry tree over there,” he walked up behind her, and pointed toward the pier, his head just above her hair. He took in the scent of that damned coconut-scented shampoo, the one that had driven him crazy while they’d been working together, and realized with a pang that he’d missed her since then. “Do you think you’ll be all right in this room?”