Lola followed him eagerly.
Reuben got more silent the longer they toured the house, maybe because she prattled on about improvements and gave him her suggestions.
"What's wrong?" she asked when they were once more in the foyer.
Reuben shook his head. "I don't know. Two days ago you said you hated construction and now..."
"I am changed, remember?" she said overly brightly, partly to stop Reuben looking at her with that speculative, distrustful gleam in his eyes.
"Yep, change," Reuben said after a while. "I'll go get your stuff."
"I'll come help you." Lola pushed up her chin defiantly. "They are not that much or that heavy."
*****
Reuben Scarlett. Lola ran his name through her head as she watched him prepare dinner. He was not just a pretty face. She hadn't spent seven hours in his presence yet and already she picked up that he had stellar qualities. His sisters loved him. Joy spoke about him with the fondness seeping through her voice. He loved working with his hands and he was extremely neat.
She couldn't believe that he had singlehandedly done the work he said he did. He could cook; he chopped up onions like he was a professional chef, and he was a good conversationalist. She was sitting at the table in the nook preparing for an awkward time pretending to be Terri but was soon caught up in a conversation about greenhouses versus traditional farming methods.
He loved gospel music; he had it playing in the background while he worked. He loved the kind of music that her grandfather loved, where choirs sang loudly and one person would drag out a song from deep in their belly and have other people shout hallelujah.
He called it real gospel music. She smiled as he sang along to a song. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.
He had a nice voice.
"I am going to practice that with my youth choir tomorrow. We are going to the finals in the National Choir competition in Kingston next week Monday. Want to come?"
Lola blanched. "To sing?"
"Why not?" Reuben grinned. "You used to be the lead singer in the choir in your teens. Remember when you had us paying to come and listen to you as you did your one-woman concerts?"
"I did?" Lola cleared her throat but she couldn't hide the stricken expression on her face. She could envision Terri doing that but not her. She could not hold a note worth anything. Her grandfather had suggested to her in the most tactful way after church one day that he hoped she would sing a little lower in church. "Blend in with the rest, Lola, dear."
Reuben shook his head. "Okay, you don't have to sing if you have the jitters. Why you would be nervous though, I have no idea. I have never seen you nervous before a crowd."
Gregarious Terri, not quiet semi-introverted Lola.
She cleared her throat. "Thank you for not pushing the matter," she said in relief.
And Reuben picked up on it.
"You went to church while you were living in London, didn't you?" Reuben asked, spinning around with a long fish in his hand. He had been gutting it; the knife was still in the head.
Lola held back a shudder. She was contemplating how to tell him that she hated fish. He was supposedly preparing Terri's favorite dish—brown stew. It sounded gag-worthy.
Lola couldn't remember Terri eating fish in London but they had only lived together for a few weeks.
"Er...sure. Of course." Lola nodded vigorously. "Why?"
"Just checking." Reuben turned back around. "You know how sometimes we forget God when things are going our way and we are successful or we got an inheritance like we did."
Lola shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She hadn't really gone to church but Terri had.
Her grandfather had given her the same speech before about forgetting God. His lecture was expected; he was the senior pastor for a large congregation.
Reuben washed his hands and excused himself from the kitchen after he fried the fish. He returned with a checkers board.
"Remember, we have a rematch, Miss Lady, and I am not letting up on you."
They played checkers while they waited for the meal to finish cooking. Lola won three games. Reuben won one. He shook his head.
" Since when have you gotten so good?"
"I have been planning for you," Lola said, avoiding his eyes.
"Hmmm." Reuben nodded and got up to dish out the food.
He served the fish whole, the tail hung over the plate. Lola looked at it in horror. "Er, Reuben," she stood up hurriedly, "I, er, I can't eat fish. I don't like it anymore."
Reuben narrowed his eyes and looked at her. "Is this part of the new you?"
"No. Well, gosh, I haven't really eaten it since I left here."
"Oh." Reuben murmured. "Why didn't you say?"
"I am sorry." Lola eyed the plate. "I can just get a peanut butter sandwich."
"You hate peanut butter..." Reuben began and then stopped. "Good Lord, Terri. It seems as if I don't know you anymore. You really are taking this change thing too far. You even feel different. And I am not sure..."
He looked tormented.
"I feel different with you. I can't..."
Lola tensed waiting for him to say, ‘You are a fraud. Who are you really?’
He shook his head and indicated to the fridge.
"Don't feel bad. I am sorry. You said you wanted change but not eating fish...Anyway, I must be losing a screw. I haven't been getting enough sleep lately. That must be why I feel so attract...nothing. Forget about it, just a mental lapse."
Lola tried to act casual. "I have had mental lapses too."
She walked to the fridge and looked over her shoulder at him. "Do you have any bananas?"
He raised his eyebrows. "You don't like bananas..." he sighed and then smiled. "They are over there, in the pantry."
When she got back, he watched her silently.
"And to think you were saying that you are stagnating. New hairstyle, new eyes, new tastes. You were wrong, Terri."
Lola avoided his eyes and bit into her sandwich.
"You have a speck of peanut butter, right here." Reuben brushed it away and then dragged his hands from her as if he was burned.
Silence reigned in the kitchen while they both ate. Neither of them looked at each other for a long time.
Chapter Ten
It was just four o'clock in the morning. The sensor light at the back of the house flickered on as Lola made her way across the cobblestone walkway to the hammocks a short distance from the house. It was silent out until a dog howled in the distance, and then another.
Lola lay down in one of the hammocks and closed her sleep-deprived eyes, wishing that rest would come.
The setting was perfect; a cool, soothing breeze wafted over her pajama-clad legs. She could hear the sea below but she couldn't see it; it was a vast, empty space with only the Aluminum Company lights in the distance illuminating the sea.
Reuben's hammock was one of a twin set, which he had tied between two trees in his back garden. He had jokingly said to her that he envisioned lying here with his significant other when they were old and gray and looking over at the sea.
He had said it wistfully but she had found herself wishing that she was that significant other.
Just one day with Reuben and already she was building fantasies.
He was quite literally a very lovely man. He was the kind of man you were proud to introduce to your parents. If your parents were normal people.
Hers weren't. They wanted her to marry an old man that she hadn't met and knew she wouldn't love. She knew she wouldn't love him because she had met Reuben.
He was the one.
She was terribly attracted to him but other than that, she knew this was it; it felt right. She had never felt this way before and she was not prone to fanciful emotions. She had chosen her first boyfriend, Pietre from university, not because of fantasy or love or even attraction; she had chosen him because of rebellion.
She was guarding against her parents and their expectations of her by taking a lover
. And now she regretted that little rebellious phase. She and Pietre hadn't even lasted a month. She had tried to feel for him but had failed.
And now here she was, battling feelings for Reuben Scarlett. If only she wasn't posing as his cousin. If only she wasn't tied up in a stupid contract with Hamad. If only they had met under different circumstances.
If only...If only...If only...
He was one of the reasons that she couldn't sleep. Her impersonation of Terri was weighing on her mind. If she stayed for a couple more days he would be bound to find out that she wasn't his cousin.
She was not a very good actress and she had botched the whole fish and banana and peanut butter thing. She could have tried to choke it down but she just had a problem with any protein that had a face.
She should not have come here with him. Terri would kill her when she heard. She would probably jeopardize Terri’s relationship with her cousin. He was very fond of Terri. Lola heard it in his voice and saw it in his gaze.
The other reason for her sleeplessness had to do with Terri. What was her progress in convincing Hamad to release her from the contract? Was it working?
It was a full day—two if you counted this new day. You'd think Terri would have found a way to call her by now. Surely they had communication on the island? She needed to check her email to make sure that Terri hadn't written. And then the horrendous thought cropped up as it did every single day since Terri had left. What if Hamad found out their deception and demanded that she return to him?
What then?
She wished that Terri had not left her phone.
She shivered as a cool gust of wind rustled the trees. The summer was not as hot as she thought it would be, not on this side of the island.
"This is a first," Reuben said in the dark behind her. He slowly walked into her field of vision
He was in a black track bottom and a long sleeved shirt. He handed her a blanket. Lola took it from him and huddled into its warm folds. "Thank you."
"You usually can't wake up early but here you are at two in the morning." Reuben walked around to the other hammock and got in.
"I have a lot on my mind," Lola murmured.
He turned his head and looked at her. "Like what?"
"Like my, er, friend…" Lola finished weakly. She could still feel Reuben's stare.
"You mean the girl who was married to a prince?"
Terri had told him that?
"Well, yes," she croaked. "Yes. Her. She is on my mind a lot lately."
"You never told me her story," Reuben said. "You had to go use the ladies."
"Oh." Lola cleared her throat. "Well, she, er, is my friend."
"Who you lived with in England and she is like a sister to you."
Lola's ears grew warm. Terri had said that about her?
She blinked back weak tears, suddenly realizing what a precarious position she had put her friend in, sending her off to fight her battles.
"Well yes, she is like a sister to me." Lola sniffed. "She grew up in Canada to a Muslim mother and a Christian father. Her dad died and then she moved back to Qatar where her mom is from."
"So how did she get engaged to a prince?" Reuben asked, seemingly fascinated with the story.
"Her stepfather is from the neighboring country, Akdhir. Have you heard of Akdhir?"
"Yes," Reuben murmured, "they are major diamond exporters."
"Yes, that's right." Lola swung the hammock. She was warming up to talk about herself in the third person.
"The stepfather is part of the royal house of Al Jerza—a distant cousin, really. He is very conscious of his connection to the royal family though, and ready to exploit the connection anyway he can, so he arranged for, er, Lola to get married to Prince Hamad Al Jerza.
"Lola was not home for long before he exercised his right as head of the family to arrange the marriage. It was done fairly quickly. Lola signed the contract, thinking that they weren’t serious. The prince allowed her to go her merry way until she forgot about it and then one day he sent his messengers to get her.
"Just like that—she hadn’t even met Prince Hamad. She knew he was fifty-five. He had two other wives and children older than she was."
Lola said the last part in a huff.
"Whoa." Reuben looked over at her. "Calm down."
"Yes. Sorry," she said on a sigh.
Reuben shifted in his hammock. "You should pray for your friend. That's all you can do now. If God doesn't want it to work out he will find a way to get her out of it."
"You really think he'll do that for me?" Lola murmured.
"Of course, why not?" Reuben sighed. "I'll help you pray for her."
"Thanks Reuben," Lola said, her lips trembling. "You are a really good friend."
"Remember what I told you about my, er, about Roxy."
"No," Lola murmured.
"Seriously, Terri." Reuben shook his head in the half dark. "I told you that I went to Florida and met transgender Roxy."
"Oh yes," Lola said too brightly.
"I had doubts about going. I had prayed about it, but I still followed my mind, ignoring God because I wanted to find someone to love.
"You were right you know. I probably lived with my mother and sisters too long. I needed to have started my own family a long time ago."
Lola was listening, fascinated. She had no idea what his background was. It had crossed her mind that he was too cute to be single, and with all of the women throwing themselves at him, as his sister Joy had said, he should be hitched by now.
"So haven't you ever loved anyone besides Roxy?" She whispered the question.
Reuben growled. "I didn't love Roxy."
"Sorry." Lola giggled.
"Now that's more like you," Reuben said gruffly, "laughing about Roxy. No, I haven't loved anybody. Ever. Maybe I came close in my twenties. There was Joyce DaSilva from church. Remember her? Always stylishly turned out and she can sing."
Lola nodded uncomfortably. It was a good thing that Reuben did not require her to say yes outright; he just kept on talking.
"She was ten years older though, and my mom discouraged me from pursuing her. I guess she thought the age gap was too much like her and Peter Scarlett."
"Peter Scarlett your dad?" Lola asked confidently. Terri had told her about her missing uncle.
"Yes," Reuben murmured. "You know the story. She was his teacher in high school. She was an assistant teacher, twenty-five to Peter's seventeen. He was a very charming teenager, who brought her flowers…sweet-talked her in his awkward way. As she likes to say, she succumbed to his charms. When she realized she was pregnant she told him and he ran away.
"A month after that grandma died because of it. It was the scandal to end all scandals. Even to this day people still talk about it."
"So you have never met him?" Lola asked.
"No. You know that," Reuben mumbled. "These days I find myself wanting to meet him though. Maybe it’s because Pops died. I don't know. I guess it would be nice to find out what happened to him. I really hope he is alive somewhere. Thirty-eight years is a long, long time to be hiding out from your own family."
"Maybe he doesn't want to come back because folks said he killed his mother," Lola suggested, “or he's too ashamed of his boyish mistakes."
"Or he's a deadbeat who can’t take responsibility for anything. I could never be like that. It is just unthinkable."
"How was it growing up with your stepfather?"
Reuben paused before answering. "You have never asked me that before."
"And because I haven't it’s a big deal?" Lola turned on her side and looked at him.
"It's no big deal, it's just...nothing. My stepfather was crazily strict and didn’t allow my mother to forget her scandalous past…how she fraternized with her own student. And he never allowed me to forget that I was the result of that affair."
"How sad," Lola whispered.
"It wasn't that bad. I had you guys. And Pops. Dear Pops, who told me one day w
hen he found me crying, I was about ten, I think. He said, ‘Reuben Scarlett, you have nothing to do with how you got here. You are my very first grandson and I love you. That has to count for something.’"
Lola reached out her hand and touched his fleetingly.
Reuben tensed up and looked over at her. "What are you doing?"
"The comforting touch." Lola pulled back her hand and shrugged off the tension that had suddenly descended around them. "Tell me about your choir."
"My choir?" Reuben asked as if he were befuddled. "Well we... er... we are doing two songs for the choir competition. Next week Monday is the day. I hope you are planning to come with us."
Lola yawned. "Once you don't expect me to sing, I will be happy to come."
Reuben grunted. "It would be so nice if you would just sing with us."
"Nope." Lola murmured, her voice fading away. It was a struggle to keep her eyes open. The sleep which she had craved was finally coming. "Night Reuben."
Reuben chuckled and looked over at the lightening skies. "Night Terri."
*****
Reuben watched her as she drifted off to sleep, a frown creasing his brow. Just now when Terri touched him his arm had tingled. Since yesterday he was reacting to her like an awkward teenager. He had to be constantly reminding himself that this was Terri. Terri Scarlett, his cousin.
He used to walk her to school when she was little. He was the one who taught her how to ride a bicycle. He was the one who listened to her various temper tantrums through the years. And listened to her laugh at him for any- and everything.
She was good old Terri.
Somehow his body had forgotten that.
And his mind. It was as if a dormant switch had suddenly flared up in his head. And now he was hyperaware of her.
What had changed? Was it the fact that she looked a tad different with her brown contacts and her newly straightened hair?
He flipped over on his back and watched as the sun breached the horizon. He was attracted to his cousin and he had to nip this madness in the bud. It would upset the dynamics of their family on a level he didn't want to think about. Not to mention the fact that Yuri and Troy would probably tie him up and dump him at sea.
Scarlett Secret Page 8
