by Jessica Gray
Linda smiled. “Sure. I have an open calendar at the moment.” Like I ever had a full calendar.
Chapter 9
Across town, Chuck was sitting on the back deck of his house, watching the waves roll in and thinking about Linda. He lived in a modest bungalow on the beach, and although it was small, it fit him perfectly.
He heard the sound of his phone and pondered whether to get up to answer it or… The ringing stopped and a moment later, his cell rang with the distinctive family tone. Okay, so much for an undisturbed evening.
“Hey, Drake. How’s things?” Drake was his second oldest brother and a geologist who specialized in volcanoes. His work took him to the hot zones all over the world, and sometimes Chuck didn’t hear from him in weeks.
“Great. Are you coming to our parents’ house this weekend for my farewell party?”
“You know about that?” Chuck asked with a laugh. “Let me guess, Tyler told you.”
“Who else than our firefighting brother? That boy could never keep a secret.”
Chuck had grabbed his cell from the coffee table and wandered outside again. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag… Yeah, I’ll be there. Where are you headed this time?”
“Ecuador. I’m going to try and finalize the volcano research I started five years back and couldn’t finish, because the Pichincha broke out.”
“Sounds interesting,” Chuck said, his tone indicating he thought it anything but.
“Tyler told me Preston is going to fly in and – hold tight – he’s bringing his girlfriend along.”
“In Ecuador?” Chuck asked, his mind only partially on the conversation up till this point.
“No, at the parents’. Why would Preston be in Ecuador?”
“Sorry, man. I was distracted…” …by thinking about Linda. “It’s great to see Preston, but I could do without Sandrine. How’s his newest project in Sandy Beach?” Preston was the oldest Armstrong sibling and owned several vacation resorts, the latest one being built in Sandy Beach just outside Chicago.
Drake chuckled into the phone. “I guess it must be going well, but I still don’t know anyone who would willingly spend their vacation up there in the cold Chicago area. L.A. is so much nicer.”
“And warmer,” Chuck added. “Sure he’s bringing her?”
“Unfortunately yes. I have no idea how in the world he ended up with that horrible girlfriend.”
“She’s a gold digger and Preston is too enamored to see it.” Chuck sat on the back deck and looked out at the ocean.
“I happen to agree, but you’d better keep your mouth shut this weekend. Preston doesn’t want to hear any reasonable arguments or thoughts where she’s concerned. It would be better for everyone involved not to start a fight with him. Especially after all the work Mom went to to put my surprise party together. I don’t want to see her upset.”
“Yeah, got it.” Shaking his head, he asked, “Have you heard about Vivian’s plan to do interviews with veterans?” Their baby sister Vivian was a court reporter, but her real passion lay in becoming an investigative journalist.
“Just talked to her this week. She wants to interview wounded or amputee veterans and compile their stories to write a report about their struggles and their triumphs.” Linda works with veterans as well. She would like Vivian, and the two might possibly work together.
Going down that road was pointless, and he made a concerted effort to change the topic of conversation. “River coming?” Chuck asked, inquiring about their youngest brother.
“No. He’s somewhere in the Caribbean, taking yet another group of highly paying customers on his luxury scuba diving excursions.” Drake answered. River was a free spirit and couldn’t stay in one place for long. At twenty-four he already owned a scuba diving school and tour company, and as part of his job, he worked a large part of each year in the warm, clear waters of the ocean.
“I still say he has the best job of all of us,” Drake commented. It had been a standing joke between the siblings that River’s job was to always be on vacation in some exotic place.
“That’s for sure.”
“I need to get going, but I’ll see you this weekend.”
“See ya.” Chuck hung up the phone and grabbed a cold beer from the fridge. He drank it on the deck and as the sun began to set, he decided to go for a run along the shoreline. The beach was his place to relax, and being able to run at the water’s edge anytime he wanted was one of the best perks he could think of. That very thing was one of the reasons he’d jumped at the chance to own this particular property.
Chuck changed into running gear and set off. As he jogged, his imagination kicked in and he could see Linda and her dog playing on the beach or running alongside of him. I must be going crazy, I don’t even like dogs. And yet, here I am envisioning a dog running alongside me.
Sure, Courage seemed like a nice dog, but that didn’t mean he liked him or wanted to run along the beach with him.
But for Linda…he might make an exception.
Chapter 10
Linda woke up the next morning, her mind tired and her emotions all over the place. She’d spent the night dreaming about Chuck, replaying Nate’s words over and over in her head. But this morning, she wasn’t any more convinced than before that Chuck might be interested in her.
She knew that she was useless, and he must know it as well. He’d heard her mother say it several times. And yet, a spark of excitement rushed through her body at the prospect of seeing him today.
The dining room was set for breakfast and though she’d purposefully come downstairs late, her mother was still sitting at the table. Nice way to start a new day. “Good morning, Mother.”
Her mother glanced up and beamed. “Yes, it is a good morning. Chuck was playing hard-to-get yesterday, but today he’ll succumb to my charms. You wouldn’t know about those things, given the losers you’ve been going out with, but that man is bound to be relentless in bed. Those muscles….yum! I can’t wait to get my hands on all of his hard parts.”
Linda almost puked at the image of her mother’s hands on Chuck’s body, but Ev didn’t notice. She continued to rave about Chuck’s physical attributes and how he’d become her newest plaything.
When Linda couldn’t handle it anymore she spit out, “Have you forgotten you have a boyfriend? Or, for that matter, that you’re still technically married?”
Ev didn’t even pause in her verbal assessment about the handsome Chuck, which shouldn’t have surprised Linda. Her mother had never been faithful in her life. Why would she start now?
Linda somehow managed to choke down some morsels of the tasty omelet the maid served her. She had already acceded to the fact that her mother had decided to ignore her criticism, but she should have known better.
Because Ev finished her monologue with the words, “Besides, it is the prerogative of a famous actress to choose her men – many men. If you’d ever done anything with your life, you might know that.”
Linda was so disgusted, she gulped down her entire glass of freshly squeezed orange juice to keep herself from saying something nasty. The only thing worse than listening to her mother’s romantic conquests was the idea of following in her footsteps. Uggh! I’d rather be a lonely spinster.
Then she decided to tackle the subject she really wanted to know. “Did you come up with any other suspects that might have taken the Oscars?”
Ev brought tears to her eyes, as if on cue. “I cannot believe anyone would be so cruel as to take my Oscars. They mean so much to me, I just cannot believe they’re gone.”
Linda mentally rolled her eyes as her mother’s melodrama filled the dining room. God, she’s so fake! But she didn’t say that. Instead, she surprised herself by saying, “If you would be nice to people, they wouldn’t steal your things.”
Ev placed a dramatic hand on her chest and gave her daughter an indignant look. “Me? I’m not mean, and there is no excuse for stealing. If anyone took my dearest because they thought I wa
s mean, they’d better hope I never catch them. My revenge for this humiliation will be eternal.”
Sarcasm dripped from Linda’s voice. “Mother, do you ever listen to yourself? We’re talking about little statues.”
“They are not just statues. They represent my lifetime achievement. Not that you would know anything about achievements. Despite my continued efforts, you’ve never done anything useful in your live.”
Linda wanted to protest, but her mother was on a roll. And she probably was right; she didn’t have any successes to show for her years on Earth.
“You should be glad I’m allowing you to live at my expense, because you’ll never be able to stand on your own feet. I really have no idea why I was punished with a daughter like you.” Evangelina stood and left the dining room.
Tears welled up in Linda’s eyes and she grabbed her fork, as if it was a weapon, ready to stab that cruel woman in her heart should she say another word. God, Nate’s right. I have to move out. I can’t continue to listen to this day in and day out.
But every time she’d considered doing just that, panic had crept in, leaving her unable to act. She was too fragile to survive on her own. Her mother, her teachers, and even her psychiatrist had hammered this fact into her.
Around the age of fourteen Linda had become anorexic in a desperate effort to at least please her mother by way of how thin she was. But Evangelina had never so much as even noted the lost pounds – until the day Linda collapsed and needed an extended hospital stay to be saved from starvation.
Her mother’s wrath over that humiliation had been legendary. One by one the doctors had succumbed to her mother’s hateful tirades and given Linda the blame for her status. And the sessions with the psychiatrist hadn’t helped either. That woman had only reminded her how fragile she was and that she needed help. That she couldn’t live on her own. Her words were still deeply ingrained in Linda’s soul. You need to get help. You won’t make it on your own.
Perhaps the psychiatrist had been right and Linda needed help. But from a person that wasn’t her mother. Buying Courage had helped, but he was only a dog; he couldn’t assist her with mundane tasks like finding an apartment to rent.
She’d even gone once or twice to one of those anorexic and bulimic anonymous meetings. At the memory her stomach twisted. After each meeting she’d ended up feeling worse than before. One of the key elements of the program was to tell other attendants, strangers, about your problems. My shortcomings.
Linda had that one covered. She knew her shortcomings, and if she ever dared to forget, her mother was there to remind her on a daily basis. She didn’t need to tell a bunch of strangers how useless she was. Nor did she need to hear how useless they were. It was better if everyone kept that kind of stuff to themselves.
A few minutes later the doorbell cut through her morbid thoughts and her stomach did a somersault. Chuck. With a thundering heart she walked down the hallway, as ladylike as she could manage to, and arrived just in time to see Chuck standing on the front step with flowers in his hands.
Ev opened the door and reached for the flowers, gushing over his thoughtfulness: “Thank you, darling. Oh, how beautiful.” She reached back inside the door and grabbed one of her glossy photos. “Let me autograph this for you.”
Chuck cleared his throat. “Actually, the flowers were for Linda.”
Ev gave him an incredulous look and then a scoffing laugh. “Linda? Don’t be silly. Of course they’re for me. You don’t have to be shy about it.”
What happened next made Linda want to punch her mother right in the face. Ev leaned forward, wrapped her blood-red nails around his neck, and kissed him smack on the lips. Linda gasped.
Chuck seemed to be uncomfortable, because he tried to back away from her mother. But Ev wasn’t to be denied; she lowered one hand to his butt and plastered herself the full length of his body. Linda stood frozen in place, watching the scene unfolding like a voyeur – torn between wanting to scream her denial, and tear her mother’s hair out.
When Chuck finally managed to break Ev’s embrace and politely backed away, Linda waited with bated breath for him to berate her mother. Nothing. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
Linda turned on her heel. Enough was enough; no need to witness any more scenes. Chuck wasn’t any better than the rest. The only reason he’d been nice to Linda was because of her famous mother.
Nobody had ever liked her for herself.
Chapter 11
Chuck was seething on the inside, and he could see how much Ev’s kiss and embrace had hurt Linda, but she’d rushed down the hallway before he could say a word. He longed to go after her, but Evangelina was his client and he was here on business. This was one of the reasons why he never mixed business and pleasure. It only complicated things, and Chuck liked it simple.
Bringing the flowers had been a colossal mistake. He swallowed back his frustration and decided to make the best of the situation and focus on the employee interviews.
“Don’t pay any attention to my daughter, she’s not normal.” Ev didn’t apologize for disparaging her daughter in front of him yet again, and Chuck bit his tongue to hold back the rebuke that wanted to spew forth. And who on Earth could be normal with you for a mother?
He tried to step inside the house without a repeat of her earlier greeting, but she wouldn’t keep her hands off him. She looped her arm through his own and placed her free hand upon his chest, petting him as if she owned him. Every time he politely removed her hands, the next attempt only became bolder.
After a few minutes, he’d had enough. “Mrs. Ross, I’m afraid this isn’t going to work.”
She stopped and batted her eyelashes at him. He almost laughed at her indignant-confused look. “Whatever are you talking about?”
“You. Since I arrived you’ve had your hands all over me, and if you insist on acting this way, I won’t continue to work with you.”
The actress made a production of acting heartbroken, and he realized he should have never taken this job. On her first call, his gut feeling had shouted out loud that working with Evangelina Ross would mean trouble. But despite politely declining her request, he’d fallen for her playing the damsel in distress. Chuck groaned. Not again. His siblings had teased him a million times with his week spot for helpless women, and he still hadn’t learned to resist playing the white knight.
Ev was watching him carefully, trying to determine if he was serious, or just making a verbal stand. He met her gaze until she finally dropped her own and stalked down the hallway. “This way.”
Chuck hid his smile and entered the same sitting room as the day before. Ev turned and said in a matter-of-fact voice, “I’ll have the employees start coming in to speak with you.”
“Very good.”
After he’d interviewed the entire staff and the last employee had left the room, Chuck was still at a loss as to who might have stolen the Oscars. Normally he had an uncanny ability to find out if someone was lying, but not today. Either all of them were telling the truth or his mind was too clouded by his anger about Ev and his worry for Linda.
Another reason not to mix business and pleasure. He was losing focus.
He stepped to the door and saw Ev waiting impatiently in the hallway. “Come on in.”
“Did you find the thief?” she demanded to know.
“No. I don’t believe the thief is one of the employees. They all have ironclad alibis and seem upright and honest.”
She shot daggers at him.
“Can you think of anyone else who had access to the house?” he added.
“It has to be one of them. No one else had access to the house.” She was growing angrier by the moment and her breast heaved up and down with her forced breaths. “You… You’re completely useless. You came with the highest recommendations by friends, and yet you can’t even solve a simple theft case. What kind of private investigator are you?”
Chuck listened to her tirade, inhaling deeply to contain th
e wrath forming inside. He was beginning to understand why Linda hated her mother so much. Instead of adding fuel to Ev’s fury by trying to defend himself, he let her rant on, until she dismissed him for the day.
On his way back to his SUV his brain told him to drive away, but his heart had other plans. Damn. Why did he have to complicate things and go find Linda?
***
Linda had rushed out, fuming. Angry with her mother. Angry with Chuck. But most of all angry with herself, for being such a pathetic loser.
Even work didn’t help to easy her mood. For the first time she found no joy in it, and after finishing her last therapy session, she decided to take Courage on a long walk.
Courage, though, was super-excited and hopped into the back of her SUV. She had to laugh at his antics – almost. The image of her mother kissing Chuck was deeply ingrained in her soul and killed her mood.
She drove to Rosie’s Dog Beach, the only officially sanctioned off-leash dog beach in Los Angeles, and let Courage out to explore. He was ecstatic and after an hour-long walk, letting him run ahead chasing a stick every now and again and even go for a doggie swim, her mood lit up. It was just impossible to stay miserable in the presence of her dog.
Still, the picture of Chuck followed her everywhere, and she longed to hold his hand while they both watched Courage having fun in the ocean surf. Sigh. She needed to rid her mind of thoughts about Chuck. Nothing good could come out of lusting after him.
The only reason he was around was because of the missing Oscars, and Linda knew her mother wouldn’t give up until they were found.
She sighed again, wishing she’d never taken the darn things to begin with. Yes, she’d taken her mother’s Oscars and hidden them at Nate’s place. She shuddered at the thought of his tirade, if he ever found out. I should go get them and put them back where they belong.
But she didn’t want to do that. Her mother deserved to feel the heartbreak over losing the only things she’d ever truly loved. Maybe then she’ll be nicer to me.
