“Have you called Merrilyn, and told her what you’re planning?” she asked Blaze over breakfast the next morning.
“Actually, I’ve talked to her a couple of times, and she’s reeaaallly interested to see who you are. She said you must be one hell of a woman to have my nose so wide open,” he laughed. “I assured her you are, and you do, and I love it,” he quipped cheerfully. She’s a great girl. She’s gonna make a terrific doctor,” he said proudly.
“Let’s drive into town,” Blaze suggested with his usual gentle smile, those pearly whites illuminating his gorgeous face.
“Sure, any particular reason,” Lynette asked.
“Don’t we need a few things from the store? I can think of a couple, besides you’ve been cooped up here at the ranch for days…” he tried to say.
“Cooped up! “I’m looking out over the Bonanza ranch, the colors out here change by the minute. I’ve got two dogs to play with, horses to ride, fresh air to breathe, an added sense of freedom that I cannot articulate, and a man I love so much it hurts me most of the time, what do you mean cooped up?” she said in defense. “I’m happy as a sissie on a troop ship,” she admitted.
“Senor,” she said in a sultry voice, “muy contenta, yo tengo muy contenta. Comprende,” she asked.
“Si, mi esposa, but let’s drive into town anyway,” he insisted pleasantly, “we need to buy you an engagement ring.”
“Oh Blaze, I don’t need an engagement ring. Look,” she said and she held out her hands, “I have two diamond rings. A plain gold band will be just fine on our wedding day,” she replied seriously.
“You can have that plain gold band if that’s what you want,” he said equally as serious, “but I want you to have something beautiful, as beautiful as you are.” He crossed over the living room, and held her at arms length, “you deserve the best that I can give you. I want you to wear my rings, as a token of my love. You can have the gold band as a permanent symbol of my unbreakable, undying love, and matter of fact, it’s probably a practical thing to have a simple band, with all the stuff we can get into on a ranch,” he agreed. “But, from what you’ve told me, that one ring belonged to your Aunt Nellie, why not give it to Janette. Pass it on down in your family. The other free-form ring has the stones from your first husband. Wear it as jewelry from time to time, but I want my rings on your fingers,” he said with conviction.
Lynette knocked on his open office door later that evening. “You busy?” she inquired.
“Never too busy for my Sweet Cheeks,” he responded cheerily. “What’s up?”
“I have an idea. Tell me what you think about this. You and I don’t buy the engagement ring. You take Janette and Merrilynn shopping and the three of you pick out a ring for me. I can get on the computer here and print you out a couple of suggested types that I might like, which would narrow the search some, and the three of you could get whatever you decide on. That way, Merrilynn and Janette can feel a part of all this and it can become a family thing. I’ll be happy with whatever you all pick, I assure you,” she said with her head cocked sideways like a cocker spaniel.
This was his Lynette. Unselfish, unspoiled, caring and loving. Looking out for the needs of others, not just herself. It was more what she did, than what she said, that continued to endear her to him.
Blaze sat behind his desk for a few seconds, then looked back up at her.
“You’re too much for me, Honey. I think it’s a great idea. I know the girls will love it. Is Janette very mercenary?”
“Why?” she asked, curiously.
“Because knowing Merrilynn, she’ll see something she also wants, within reason of course, and if Janette is anything like her, I’ll come out of the jewelry store with my checkbook a lot lighter,” he laughed.
Lynette stepped nearer to him, leaned and kissed him on the forehead without saying anything. Her husband, the man who lived in her soul, was so wonderful.
CHAPTER 17
¤
The Engagement Ring
The road trip over to Albuquerque and the flight into Austin was easy. It would be a trip they’d make many times. Blaze maneuvered the rent car into the two-car driveway of Lynette’s modest home.
“Cute House,” he said. “How long have you had it?”
“I’ve been here for twelve years. Bought it after my divorce,” she replied proudly.
As they carried their bags into the foyer, Lynette explained that at the time, she could’ve afforded a bigger, more expensive home, but she didn’t want to have a house payment so high that all she could do was sit at home. She was a traveler and she wanted to see as much of America as she could, now that she was unencumbered. So, she bought a nice, substantial three bedroom, two bath, two dining area, with a full deck out back and a two car garage home, in a nice neighborhood of garden homes about the same size as hers. The back yard was small, but since back then, she mowed her own lawn, she didn’t need a big backyard. Just another example of how well she managed her life. Blaze liked that.
Blaze looked around carefully, trying to feel her essence in her home. He was astonished at the number of Native-American pieces of pottery and art work she had all around the living, dining room and throughout the house. She had created a distinct Santa Fe effect even with a Kiva ladder, and a replica of an Indian blanket draped over it. The wall behind and above her fireplace was painted a rough Navaho Rust color – the same color as his bedroom fireplace! Over her bed in the “mistresses bedroom” hung an Amado Pena signed lithograph which spoke clearly to the strength of women.
“I’ve had a love of all things Native-American since I was a little girl,” she shared.
“Is that why you picked me instead of Aaron, when we had dinner that night?” he asked again curious.
“No, oh no,” she replied honestly. “If you’ll remember, it was you who caught my eye and held my gaze. I was really embarrassed that you caught me staring at you, but you picked up something from me, and you moved quickly on it, as I remember. You didn’t have to press your chest against my shoulder when you handed me that salad plate, but you did. Do you remember that?”
“I do. I wanted to see if you’d flinch or pull away. You didn’t. I could tell you liked the contact or at best, you didn’t reject it,” he replied, smiling widely.
“So you were purposely testing me, is that what it was?” she asked.
“Yeah. Wanted to see if you were touchy or you’d really been flirting with me or letting me flirt with you at the table. I think I was pretty obvious,” he admitted.
“And here we are, only a few weeks later happy as…”
He interrupted, “I know, as two sissies on a troop ship,” he laughed. “Where’d you get those sayings?” he continued to chuckle.
She showed Blaze around her home. It was beautifully appointed with nice and substantial furniture, but it was not frilly or fancy. It was sophisticated, tastefully done, full of color, well maintained and comfortably laid out. It was the kind of home that a single person fits well in. She should have many bidders for this home when she decides to sell it, he thought to himself.
Lynette opened the hallway door to the two car garage and showed him the washer/dryer area and the upright freezer out there.
“That’s where I keep all the green, red, orange and yellow boxes of food,” she laughed. “That’s why Clare was so surprised that I was in the kitchen so much at your house.”
He took special note of her white Mazda. It, like the home, was very well kept, with a good shine and new tires, but it was at least nine years old.
“Are you one of those people who keeps a car for years before you consider selling it or trading it in?” he asked.
“Well, yes. I kept my last one for seven years. This one is ten years old, but the old girl still has a lot of life left in her. I wouldn’t drive across country to New Mexico in her though. There are too many long stretches of nothingness out there, and if she was to have a problem, I’d be up that proverbial creek. So,
on the several times I’ve driven out there, either Clare or I have just rented from Enterprise.
Note to self. She’s got a birthday coming up next week, Blaze said to himself.
During the days that Lynette conducted her final seminar for the summer months, Blaze was busy as a one-legged sailor in an ass kicking contest, another of the phrases he’d learned from her. He bought her a car, and pulled her Mazda out by the curb, replacing it in the garage with a bright red Chevy Cobalt, 4-door sedan with all the bells and whistles. Conspiring with Janette, he arranged for her to fly with him to Houston to meet Merrilynn and afterward, shop for the engagement ring. He spent a couple hours on the phone conferring with his construction foreman back at the ranch, and discussed with his lawyer the amendments he wanted to make to his will to include and protect Lynette. Then there were issues about another land purchase. Lastly, he talked a couple of times with his son, Trapper, in New York, filling him in on the important details, and arranged for him to fly into Austin on the following Saturday. It would be a quick trip in and back out on Sunday, and of course, Blaze would pay for it. He liked being a daddy and he loved his son, no matter the circumstances.
As Blaze sat in the cafeteria at John Seale Hospital in Galveston, one of the University of Texas Medical School teaching hospitals where Merrilynn interned, he compared the two young women who sat across the table from him. Janette looked more like him that his own daughter. Janette had long, thick, coal black hair. She was brown-skinned with a distinct Native-American look. Lynette had earlier explained that her ex-husband’s maternal grandfather was a full-blooded Cherokee from Tennessee. A tall man with blue-black straight hair. The physical traits had remained down to this generation. Janette was tall, well built, strong and had the facial features of a western artist’s depiction of a mixed-race Indian maiden. The characteristics were obvious in both of her daughters, Lynette had said. In contrast, Merrilynn was blond, tall and lean with pale skin and blue eyes. She had taken more after her mother – or whomever her real father might have been. Observing the girls together, he knew that Merrilynn had not come from his loins, but she had his undying love, he paid for most of her medical school education, she always called him Papa, and though it did not prove biological parentage, his name was on her birth certificate.
The two young women hit it off right away, and within an hour they had Blaze wrapped around their little fingers. He laughed with them and at them till his sides hurt. Janette shared some of her travel woes, especially traveling in Europe, and Merrilynn shared stories about some of the doctors, who couldn’t find their behinds with both hands in a hall full of mirrors, but who believed they sat at the right hand of God. They were having a great time, but Merrilynn had to call a halt to the frivolities so she could get back to the surgical floor.
That evening, the three met and Merrilynn took them to a jewelry store in the Galleria in Houston, about an hours drive from Galveston. Janette, a full-blooded yuppie and power shopper, knew of the jeweler even though she didn’t live in Houston. Together, they picked out an awesomely beautiful engagement ring. Blaze had to remind them that he wasn’t The Donald and that Lynette had small hands, so a huge ring wouldn’t be practical. Blaze showed them the sample photos Lynette had sent showing a couple of suggested types she would like. No one said an engagement ring had to be all diamonds, and she loved rubies and emeralds. The one they chose was elegant and unusual and had a ruby in its center instead of a diamond. The ring was square on top with rounded edges. The ruby, a four-carat, brilliant cut stone, was surrounded by pave diamonds, and in the center of all four sides, the diamonds looked like they dripped over and cascaded down the sides. It was a gorgeous ring and would look good with a simple gold wedding band under it. Though diamonds and all that stuff didn’t usually impress him – like say, good horse flesh, a fine truck or a marketable piece of land, Blaze was a little excited,. He was also amazed at Janette’s negotiating savvy. The ring, in Lynette’s size retailed for $4700, but by the time Janette finished wheeling and dealing, Blaze paid only $3650 tax and all. Merrilynn rationalized that with the $1050 Janette had saved him, they deserved a little something. He knew it was coming, but he acted like the “tight-wad” father and even the jewelry sales team chuckled as the girls really worked him over.
The deliriously happy trio walked out of the store with three items. As they described it, the most beautiful engagement ring on the face of the earth, even prettier than the one Prince Charles gave to Princess Diana – and small diamond pendant necklaces for each of them, which together cost just under what Janette had saved the groom-to-be.
THE DOORBELL RANG AT ABOUT 7:30 in the morning. It couldn’t be Blaze, Lynette reasoned because he was still in Houston with Merrilynn and she was due to fly down there around noon to spend time with both of them. Besides, if it was him, returning early to surprise her, he had a key – why didn’t he use his key? Lynette struggled to get the belt tied around her short bathrobe, as she shuffled in her bare feet toward the front door.
“Just a minute,” she called out to whoever was on the other side. “I hope this isn’t a team of those religious proselytizers,” she mumbled to herself, “but even those don’t come around this early,” she rationalized. Gathering her sleep-worn hair into a loose knot on top of her head, she peered through the peep hole, recognizing the figure that stood on her porch. She remained still for several seconds trying to grasp the situation. Slowly opening the door, she stared silently at Roger, her former live-in lover.
“Hey girl,” he said in a quiet but friendly tone. “Hope I didn’t disturb nothin’” he mumbled in that all too familiar, half-sober slurring. “Can I come in? I know it’s pretty early in the mornin’ to be visiting?”
Lynette hesitated for a few seconds, a pregnant few seconds, then said “Yeah, come on in. What in God’s name are you doing back in Austin again?” she queried with a frown on her face.
“Just wanted to dig around in my old haunts before the Texas summer heat sets in,” he replied as he slipped past her and into the living room. There was an uneasy lull in the conversation. “I know you don’t drink coffee, but do you have any instant you could make for me. I’m a bit shaky this early. You know how it is,” he laughed, rubbing his forehead.
“Still trying to empty all the barrels of Kentucky whiskey, are you,” she said sarcastically.
“Now don’t start that shit,” he snapped in a subdued tone. “My head’s hurtin’ too bad to do battle with you so early in the day.”
Lynette had to decide whether she wanted to make him a cup of coffee. This was awkward. It would have been much better if Blaze had been there. She realized that after all of their years together, she was uncomfortable with him in her home, but her breeding said it was unconscionably rude to deny a guest something as simple as a beverage. Roger moved quickly and flopped into one of the kitchen chairs and just stared at her while she brewed just two cups of Blaze’s coffee.
“You look like hell, but you’re still my girl aren’t you?” he asked half confidently.
“Absolutely not Roger, and how do you think most people look when they’ve been awakened before they intended to get up? You and I’ve been over for a long time – five years at least. In fact, I’m engaged to a really wonderful man now, so don’t take this cup of coffee as anything more than plain common courtesy for an old friend. You know me well enough to know that I’d do this for a rank stranger.”
“But, I ain’t no stranger baby. I’ve seen every inch of that beautiful body, and been so deep in it that I had to have a crane to pull me out,” he laughed salaciously.
Lynette’s jaws locked as she wheeled around to face him.
“Let me tell you something! We parted fairly friendly, but if you think for one damned minute that you can slither back into this house and my life, you’re out of your rabbit chasin’ mind. You’ve got your nerve just showing up here unannounced anyway. You know the phone number. It hasn’t changed. Common decency should’ve
told you to call before just showing up at my door.”
“Common decency ain’t always common practice,” he retorted, holding his head down close to the table.
After she punched the switch to begin the short brewing process, she walked over near the table and looked across at him, careful to be out of arm’s reach. She’d seen him like this too many times.
“I’ve carved out a beautiful life for myself, and you’re nowhere in this picture,” she said, anger mounting in her voice. There was a long silence after that. The coffee draining into the glass pot sounded like someone urinating high above the toilet bowl.
Roger raised his aching head and stared at her as she lifted a coffee mug from the upper cabinet and poured him a cup. She didn’t sit down. As he sipped at the hot brew, she stood against the refrigerator with her arms folded across her chest, glancing occasionally at a man she once loved. When he was sober, he was a pretty decent person. This was the him that she despised.
“Got any eggs and sausage in that fridge,” he asked.
“Yes, but you’re not gonna have any of them,” she replied sharply. “You’re still hung over – half drunk from whatever you did last night, so as soon as you get this coffee in you, you need to be on your way to your next stop.”
“My next stop is on that couch we used to wear out, or that big king-size bed you got back there,” he said, squinting his eyes as he looked up at her. “You know damned well why I’m here, and you know what I can do for you, fucked up as I am. Remember baby, it takes me a lot longer to go off when I’m half-drunk. Remember how you’d get off more than once?” he laughed, leaning his head backward as though he was enjoying a vision.
Lynette snatched the half-consumed mug from his hand, sloshing some of the hot liquid onto hers. Without flinching at the burn, she poured the rest of the hot coffee from the carafe into it, and walked toward the front door with it.
Thunder In Her Body Page 19
