by James, Sandy
Lucas constantly invited Bela and Illona to the track. Janos couldn’t help but hear when Lucas promised them a personal tour of barns and offered to treat them to dinner at the track restaurant. Lucas also tried to tell Bela about his house, his work at the track, and what he did to help retired racehorses. None of it seemed to pique Bela’s curiosity, but it did make Janos want to learn more about horses and racing.
Bela usually walked away shaking his head and muttering insults in Hungarian, but Illona thanked Lucas for his offers and politely declined. And she always listened to each of Lucas’s stories. Janos had caught his mother’s knowing smile the last time she had talked to Lucas. The guy was wearing her down.
Way to go, Lucas.
Not that Lucas could ever win Bela over. But, damn it all if Janos wasn’t rooting for Lucas anyway. He’d never seen anyone be so impossibly patient while also being so doggedly persistent in pursuing a goal. And it was clear that goal was winning over not only Joy, but her family as well. A person had to admire that kind of tenacity. Taking Illona’s baby steps toward acceptance into consideration, Lucas might just succeed.
Tamas was an entirely different story. Each time Tamas saw Lucas, things became so intense you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Janos knew Tamas had reached his boiling point. Hell, he’d probably passed it judging from Tamas’s perpetually red face and constantly clenched fists. But Lucas just kept coming to Gypsy anyway. The guy had balls of steel.
Tonight Lucas had two men as his guests. Janos unlocked the door and opened it. “Long time, no see. Your usual table?”
Lucas smiled and nodded toward his guests. “Of course. Same waitress, too. You know, that short one with the curly hair and the sharp tongue. Janos, this is my brother Brian and this is Seth Remington. Guys, this is Joy’s brother, Janos Kovacs.”
Janos shook both of their hands and led them to the greeter’s podium. Picking up three menus, he took the men to the same round table Lucas had been sitting at every evening for two weeks. “You guys work with horses too?” Janos asked.
Brian and Seth both nodded. Seth was the first to speak. “I’m looking for a place that can cater a big party. The ball-and-chain and I are coming up on our first anniversary, and I thought I’d get everyone together. Do you think you could handle something for about forty people on short notice?”
“Depends. How short a notice? We’ve got most of our Fridays booked up for rehearsal dinners, and Saturdays are usually reserved for wedding receptions and regular customers,” Janos replied. “Maybe the end of September I could squeeze you in if you need a weekend.”
Seth was already shaking his head. “Don’t sweat a weekend. Gotta be a Monday or Tuesday. They’re the only nights we don’t race. And I’d like it to be real soon.”
Joy came breezing into the dining room, carrying a tray of silverware that she began to set on an empty table. Tamas was hot on her heels. Janos watched as Lucas’s face lit up like a Roman candle as his eyes shifted between happiness and anger.
Having a hard time concentrating on all Seth was asking, Janos studied his sister’s reaction to Lucas. It was obviously killing her to not be able to run to him, and Janos felt her pain as if it was his own. Poor kids. Just like Romeo and Juliet. “I’m sorry. You were saying...”
“I asked about this Monday, if you can handle a party that quickly,” Seth said.
Janos nodded. “Sure thing. Forty for next Monday. Jozsa, do you want to handle the arrangements?”
She had obviously been listening. An enormous smile lit her face, probably at the prospect of having a whole evening to spend with Lucas. She would have thirty-nine other guests, but Janos knew who would receive most of her attention.
“Of course,” she replied. “I’ll get Krisi and Mama to help. That way we can put them in the private dining room. The rest of the girls can take care of the regular customers. How does that sound, Seth?”
Seth nodded his approval. “I wanna surprise Katie, so you bozos don’t say anything,” he replied, throwing Brian and Lucas a chastising glare. “You either, Joy.”
“Cross my heart. My lips are sealed. I’ll make sure it’s a great party,” Joy said. She turned to go back to work, but Janos saw the yearning glances she kept casting at Lucas over her shoulder as she waited on new customers who had just been seated at another table.
“If you want it catered as a buffet, you’re looking at twenty-five to thirty bucks a head. That includes three entrées, soda, iced tea, appetizers, and some nice desserts. Does that fit your budget?” Janos asked.
Lucas and Brian snorted a laugh, but Seth simply gave them another scolding glare. “It’ll fit in my budget just fine. And a buffet is great. You’ll need to batten down the hatches. You’ve got horsemen coming. They’ve been known to terrorize a place or two. And can we have an open bar?”
Janos nodded. “Cash bar?”
“Not for this. I’ll pick up the tab,” Seth replied.
“They’ll bankrupt you,” Brian said with a chuckle.
“Oh, I think I can handle it,” Seth replied, looking a bit indignant. “Even with that new Chicago skyrise Remington Computers is building, I think I can foot the bill.”
Lucas watched Janos and Seth finish deciding the details of the Remington anniversary party. He was entirely grateful that Seth had agreed to use Gypsy instead of The Place, their usual haunt. Perhaps his friend understood the importance of Lucas’s mission to win over Joy’s family. Throwing a lucrative catering gig their way had to help his cause.
After Janos walked away to wait on some other customers, Joy came back to the table. Her gaze darted around furtively before she reached down to take Lucas’s hand into hers. “I missed you,” he said as he gave her hand a squeeze before he pulled another folded letter out of his pocket and slipped it into her grasp.
An enormous smile crossed her pretty lips as she glanced at the note and then slid it quickly into her apron’s pocket. “Thank you, Szivem.”
“Anytime. One of these days you’ll have to get a cell phone so I don’t have to keep slipping you notes. We can text message each other.”
Joy smiled again, her eyes twinkling. “But I love the letters. I’ve kept every single one.”
Brian and Seth had been grinning like a couple of idiots and pretending not to hear Joy and Lucas’s private conversation, but now they were both rolling their eyes. Lucas tried to silence them with a nasty scowl, but it wasn’t having much of an effect. He briefly considered kicking them both in the shins. They would never see it coming.
Joy let her gaze wander again for a moment, then she leaned over to kiss Lucas’s cheek. “I miss you,” she whispered into his ear, sending a wave of heat rolling through him.
Rein it in, Lucas. You want to win over her family. Be a gentleman. “I miss you too, Sweetheart.” She hurried away, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
He understood why she hadn’t been to the house. Joy had explained it all in the letters she’d written to him. Bela and Tamas watched her like hawks, and she knew if she pushed to see him, especially if she lied to sneak away, their cause would be harmed. And this was too important to blow on a quick meeting.
Not that he didn’t think about her, didn’t miss her in his life and in his bed. The pillow she’d slept on still bore her wildflower scent. Lucas woke with his arms wrapped around it every morning as every part of him ached for her.
But this quest was so much more to Lucas than a chance to spend some stolen hours with a beautiful woman. He wanted the big brass ring this time. Lucas was trying to win a wife, someone he could spend the rest of his life loving. He and Joy would grow old together. Just like Brian and Samantha. Just like Seth and Katie. Lucas wanted it all.
Of course, he hadn’t come right out and told Joy that he had big plans for a future with her. He would start winning her over just as soon as her family agreed they could date. One step at a time. Once they had Bela and Illona’s approval, Lucas would do all the right t
hings. For once. He’d bring her flowers and take her on picnics. He would sneak her little gifts, and he’d steal a kiss whenever he could. Lucas promised himself that he wouldn’t rush into anything physical. Just kisses for a while. He had used her that way once already, taken advantage of her sweet, soft body, and he sure didn’t want Joy having the impression he was hanging around for sex. She had obviously forgiven him for their passionate encounter at their house, but he wouldn’t risk giving her the wrong impression now. There was simply too much at stake.
But Lucas dreamed about making love to her again every single night.
The letters he gave her had been Chris’s idea. The strategy had worked for Chris with a girl he’d had a crush on in high school whose parents thought horsemen were worthless bums. He had slipped her notes and turned up at her house often enough that her parents had finally warmed to him. The letters Lucas wrote told Joy about some of his plans for the future, and he hoped they would keep her from becoming too impatient.
Lucas knew he wasn’t much of a writer, so Chris had helped him with the first few. Not that anyone would every mistake any of his notes for one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. The letters didn’t say much of any real importance. Lucas told Joy about the house and the progress he’d made on making it inhabitable. He wrote about the new horses in his barn, but he was afraid to pour too much of all he truly felt for her into words. Calling himself a spineless fool for not sharing all of his feelings, he still worried about scaring her away if he came on too strong.
When Seth found out Lucas was getting Chris’s help writing letters to Joy, he joked about some story called Cyrano de Bergerac. But neither Chris nor Lucas knew what he was talking about. On their last Monday gathering at The Place, Katie had brought the movie Roxanne and showed it on the restaurant’s big screen. Everyone there that night had howled at a modern telling of the story done as only Steve Martin could manage. Lucas and Chris finally got the reference.
Chris didn’t need to help him write the letters anymore. Lucas was finally handling the contents just fine on his own.
Joy didn’t write as much as she drew. Every missive had a sketch of another room of their house. Sometimes she attached tiny swatches of cloth or small pieces of wallpaper to show him what she liked. And Lucas loved each drawing. When he returned to the house, he would always pin them to the wall of the room she sketched as he tried to envision things the way her artist’s eyes saw them.
“Earth to Lucas,” Brian teased, bringing Lucas out of his reverie. “How’s the progress going on Papa Bear?”
Lucas’s smile faded. “Not very well. The guy will barely talk to me. It’s like I’m white trash or something.”
“From what you tell me,” Seth said, “it wouldn’t matter if you were white, black, or purple. You’re not a gypsy. That seems to be all that matters to the old man.”
“It’s a shame her father isn’t impressed by money. You could just wave Seth and his bankbook under his nose,” Brian added.
“I’m already using Seth enough. I really appreciate you having the party here,” Lucas said with a grateful smile.
“No sweat,” Seth replied. “I don’t know how much it really helped.” He inclined his head toward Bela who had appeared in the arched entryway to stare holes through Lucas from across the room. “Papa Bear doesn’t seem very impressed.”
Joy came back to take their orders, but first she slipped a note into Lucas’s hand. He hurriedly glanced up at her father and was grateful the man’s attention had been turned toward Janos. Lucas wouldn’t have been at all surprised if Joy and Janos had planned the whole distraction so she could pass the message.
As Seth and Brian asked her a slew of questions about the different dishes the restaurant offered, Lucas palmed the note before hiding it under a napkin. When they finally settled on something they thought sounded good, Joy gave them a hesitant smile and headed toward the kitchen. After she disappeared through the swinging doors, Lucas unfolded the note.
Meet me upstairs. Five minutes.
* * * *
Joy threw herself into his arms the moment Lucas stepped through the door of her apartment. She had to touch him, needed to touch him. Standing on tiptoe, she rained kisses on his face until he stopped her by covering her lips with his. After almost two weeks of feeling dead, her heart fluttered back to life.
God, how she had missed him! The kiss fed her soul and helped her realize the time Lucas spent trying to win over her father was worth the time they had to stay apart.
Oh, how she loved him for his persistence, for his eternal patience with her stubborn family. She almost held out some unrealistic hope that Bela might someday accept Lucas. But deep down, she was still very frightened that something would interfere, that something would stop the forward momentum Lucas had begun.
Joy let her body press against his as she drank in that masculine scent she loved so very much. She pushed her arms around his neck as he nudged her lips open with his tongue. He’d lifted her off her feet. At least she thought he had because she felt as if she was standing on air.
Lucas pulled his mouth away and whispered in her ear, “Oh, Jozsa. God, I’ve missed kissing you.”
Her heart melted like snow in bright sunshine. Just touching him sent shimmers of warmth racing through her. She couldn’t even find the proper words to reply. As he kissed her ear, her throat, and her face, she wanted to sing her love for him. She remembered how it felt to have his hands on her body and wanted to demand that he make love to her again, that he take her back to that paradise they had once carved in the world.
It was risky inviting him up to her apartment, but two weeks of keeping their distance had suddenly become more than she could bear. Having him so close every day but unable to share anything she felt with him was killing her. Especially as she slowly began to realize that Lucas was no longer hiding...anything.
He wore shirts with short sleeves. He talked openly about his house and his horses. He was making plans for the future. Lucas was whole again.
And the letters, those wonderful letters, had made her heart sing. In her mind’s eye, she could picture the changes he had made in their house, and she reveled in the success he was finding in rehabilitating racehorses. He had broken several animals to saddle and sold them for a nice profit to a children’s camp. The place had promised to come back to him to arrange to purchase more before next summer.
Lucas was happy now, but Joy felt like a prisoner. She’d read his letters until she had memorized each word, but no matter how much time she spent thinking of him and reading his messages, the letters were a poor substitute for the real Lucas. If it wasn’t for his daily supper visits, she would be screaming and pulling her hair out in frustration. But even when he was at Gypsy, they couldn’t talk, couldn’t share anything but a few words and some longing glances. They had to pass clandestine notes like they were a couple of kids in junior high school. Joy hadn’t realized just how important her independence was until it had suddenly been snatched away.
Her father demanded to know everywhere she went as if she was some child who couldn’t take care of herself. To sneak off would be disrespectful and against her upbringing. Romungro daughters are obedient. She was having trouble shopping for things for the house, looking for wallpaper, or fixtures. Bela had hollered for thirty minutes this afternoon when she’d finally returned from buying art supplies he considered a waste of money. Not that she had much opportunity to use them now anyway.
Bela and Tamas demanded that she be on duty almost every hour Gypsy was open. To reassert her independence would only bring friction to her parents’ visit and would do little to turn her father toward accepting Lucas. But after two weeks without a break, Joy was exhausted. Fatigue shadowed her every action. She had actually fallen asleep standing up as she leaned against the wall during a catered dinner the night before.
Lucas had stopped kissing her, but he was whispering in her ear. The heat of his breath against her skin kept her heart
racing. “I want you to come to our house tomorrow. I’m having a barbeque. We’re all painting the barn. Everyone will be there. Brian, Sam. Seth and Katie. Can you get away?”
“Papa probably won’t allow it,” she replied even though she wanted to go with all her heart. How she longed to spend time with Lucas without the chastising stares from her father or Tamas. Perhaps Sam and Katie could tender some good advice on how to handle the melodrama that was her family. And she desperately needed to get the hell away from Gypsy, even if for only a few hours.
Lucas hugged her to him and nodded against the top of her head. “I understand.” The anguish in his voice made him sound like a kid who had just been told that Santa Claus was a myth.
The gears in Joy’s head were rapidly turning, planning how she could lure Janos into a conspiracy. Maybe he could help her fake being sick. Maybe he could help her sneak out. Maybe he could come up with a plan, any plan, so she could get away and go to the barbeque. “I’ll try. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try.”
Lucas squeezed her harder against him, forcing the breath from her lungs. “Really? Do you think you could go?”
Her nod belied her fear that she wouldn’t be able to plot an escape. “What time will everyone be there?”
“Two. We’re going to do some painting then cook out. Do you want me to come pick you up?”
“Sweet Jesus, no. It’ll be hard enough to try to sneak out. I’ll just have to get there when I can. Maybe Janos can help.”
And then Lucas was kissing her again, the touch of his lips to hers making Joy forget everything else. Stay, Szivem. Please, please stay. But she knew it was impossible. Her longing to hold him in her arms pulled her down like an undertow, threatening to drown her in aching need. Now wasn’t the time. And this, most definitely, was not the place.
But she loved his kisses. She loved the caress of his tongue against hers. She loved the way he made her feel like there wasn’t a single nerve in her body that wasn’t tingling at just the thought of his touch.
