"Now, Mrs. McCloskey, he's been attending church. Whatever he's done in his past or present is none of our business. Right now, I'm working with him to refinish his grandmother's house. That old grand home is going to be beautiful once again."
The lady perked up and sat a little straighter.
"He bought Mildred's house? I knew his grandmother, God bless her soul. She was a nice woman who use to watch me and my brother when my mother was working the fields."
This was intriguing news.
"Mildred was my favorite sitter and I loved when she babysat us. His mother was a wildcat just like him." The old lady leaned in close like a confidant. "She met her husband, running naked around the Cupid statue. The one they're trying to get removed."
A chill went up Chloe's spine and she turned to see Drew walking toward her. The information slammed into her, overwhelming her with ramifications for her and Drew.
"That's interesting."
Glancing around to make certain no one could hear her, she whispered, "Stay away from that young man. A pretty girl like you can find a better man than that hound dog."
"That would be hard since we're working together," Chloe said. "I'll keep my eye on him."
"Be careful. A man like that has hands as fast as lightning. Your clothes will be off before you can object. Make sure someone is with you at all times."
"I'm not afraid of him because he would never hurt me," Chloe defended Drew. After all, the night they danced around the statue, he had the perfect opportunity to take advantage of her and he'd only kissed her to shut her up. Though, she would never tell Mrs. McCloskey.
"You're such an innocent woman and you don't need the trouble a man like him can bring. My nephew Charles Montfort III will be here next Sunday. I'll introduce you two. You should sit with us."
"Maybe," Chloe replied not wanting to confirm or deny. Then the memory of meeting her nephew once before and how she found him so boring and dull, she almost went to sleep during a church dinner. A real date would probably leave her comatose.
"In the meantime, stay away from that Lawrence boy."
"Thanks for the advice," Chloe said, feeling the urge to get away quickly from the exasperating smug woman. Did she not realize she was actually driving Chloe straight into his arms?
Chloe walked away, ready to escape the picnic and the well wishers, the women who wanted to protect her, the do-gooders and even the disbelievers. Needing time away from the people of her father's church.
"Where you going?" Drew called.
"Home. I've reached my people limit," she said quietly.
With a laugh, he took her hand. "Can I walk you home?"
"Sure, as long as you don't talk to me about who I should be dating. The bitchy side of me would breakout since I can't take much more before I lose it."
A chuckle came from him. "Mrs. McCloskey?"
"Oh yes," she said as they began to leave the park. "You're not her favorite person. Though in all fairness, she has someone all picked out for me."
"Who is it? I'll kill him," he said in a mocking voice.
Gazing at him she smiled. "Oh, you, a lawyer would go to prison for me."
Warmth filled her and she realized she liked this casual, teasing Drew way more than the pretentious attorney. Then again, sometimes she felt like Drew could be a chameleon changing into who he needed to become for that social setting.
"No penal institution. Remember, as an attorney, I've been inside a prison before, and frankly, I'll write a hundred boring wills to keep from going back. No, I would convince him of all the reasons he doesn't want you as a girlfriend."
"Mr. attorney tell me why he doesn't want me for a girlfriend?" she asked, curious to what Drew would come up with.
"No one knows, but she has a shopping addiction. Her credit cards are maxed out. Seriously, man, the woman wields her power tools in a manner you never want to experience."
Chloe laughed out loud. "Oh my, if he believes that then he wouldn't be worth my time. Obviously, I'm not a shopper since my main clothes are jeans and a T-shirt."
They walked along the sidewalk, the cool Texas spring breeze blowing her hair. Soon summer would arrive, and with it, the heat. For now, it was a beautiful day to talk beneath the trees and enjoy the sunshine.
"Mrs. McCloskey said she knew your mother and grandmother."
"Really. Mom was active in town, especially when we were in school. How did she know my grandmother?"
"She loved your grandmother, said she use to babysit her while her parents worked in the field."
Chloe longed to tell him about his mother bumping into his father as they danced around the statue. But she didn't have any evidence and she knew he would want proof.
"Your mother died not long after your father," she said. "My own mother had passed away three years earlier, and I remember your mother's service."
With a nod he said, "After dad's illness, I wanted to come home from college and help Jim run the ranch, be nearer to mom in case she needed me. Jim and Mom ganged up on me and said no. Finish my dream, become a lawyer, they said. Mother was determined all her children would graduate with a diploma. Only Jim didn't finish. When Dad became too weak to take care of things, Jim came home to take over the ranch operations."
As they walked down the street, a bird chirped, singing its song of bliss. Drew grew quiet and she could sense the sadness in him at the mention of his mother.
A shadow crossed his face. With a sigh, he said, "I should have been here when Mom died. We never had the chance to say goodbye."
"Sometimes we don't get what we want," she said, realizing how much his mother's death still hurt him. Pain reflected in his gaze and on his face and she had the most incredible urge to stop and hold him. But they continued walking.
"True, but I didn't want her to die alone. Dad’s illness was lingering, but mother’s stroke took her immediately. When Dad died we were all by his side. We should have been with Mom, as well. One day she was fine, and the next, she was gone," he said, kicking a rock with his shoe, sending it clattering down the sidewalk. "What about your mother?"
"My mom left me when I was in my teens. Since that time, every woman in church has claimed me as their poor orphan child."
While the ladies all had good intentions, they could never replace her own mother. Several years went by before she learned to let go of the anger at her mother leaving.
He chuckled. "I can see that."
Just like the women in the congregation thought she needed mothering, could Drew be looking for the loving embrace of his mother? In his own way, were his one-night stands an unconscious pursuit for the missing part of his life? A way to satisfy a void left from his mother's death? She had to ask him. She had to know.
"Did you ever consider your constant search for a woman is possibly your need to fill the hole after your mother died?"
The look on his face went from stunned to shock before he looked at her with disdain. His body tensed and he appeared almost affronted.
"You think I have mother issues? Should I call you Therapist Chloe now? Are you psychoanalyzing me to find out how I tick?"
Gazing at her, his eyes darkened and she cringed, not wanting to make him mad, but knowing she touched a sensitive nerve. Dealing with the death of her mother at a young age, she sought professional help to learn why she felt so much rage.
"No, but I saw this doctor on a talk show and he mentioned that sometimes when a parent dies and leaves behind children, we go searching for that feeling they gave us. That man helped me to understand why I was so angry at my mother for deserting me. Though, she had no choice, I was still hurt she left me behind when I still needed her."
Walking along in silence they reached her house. Finally, he turned to her. "Women are available to me. So, I partook of what they offered, though, part of me says we were both taking what we wanted. Having multiple sexual partners has nothing to do with my mother dying."
The attorney did not like to be surp
rised with emotions he never considered. At this point, he wasn't ready to accept that his pursuit for intimacy with women who were not right for him was his way of handling the loss of his mom. And he could be right. "Good to know. So, why haven't you found an everlasting love then?"
"Maybe, I didn't want one. Maybe I was enjoying the moment. Maybe I just wanted to have great sex."
Tilting her head, she stared at him. "You should enjoy the moment. Your mother and dad's moments ended way too soon. Just like my mother and dad's moments were interrupted by death. No one knows how long we have and I want to spend as much time as possible with the man I'm supposed to be with."
Not really wanting to hear his response, she turned and waved at him as she walked up the sidewalk to her cute little cottage. Drew Lawrence had never gotten over the death of his mother. Probably, in some irrational way, blamed himself for her passing.
She wished there was a way she could help him through such emotional pain. She’d think of something in the end.
Later that night, curiosity got the best of Chloe. She'd spent the afternoon paying bills, preparing for the next week, and suddenly she couldn't stand it any longer. She had to know who the diary belonged to. The book lay on her desk, like a beacon calling out to her. Picking it up, she sank down in her favorite chair and pressed the clasp.
The book opened and she read the first couple of pages. The story of a young woman poured from the paper and she laughed at the antics of being a teenager in the early seventies. The same drama, the same angst of her own early years were revealed through the eyes of a mysterious girl. The same parental fights and how her mother wanted her to wear her skirts longer.
Quickly, she came to understand and even liked the girl. She was a sweet person who couldn't wait to start her life. Her plans to attend college doused when she learned there was no money.
Chloe read until she came to a passage close to the end:
Dear Diary,
Last night my friends persuaded me to try the Cupid dance. So, while they waited in the car, I stripped off my clothes and ran in my birthday suit around the Cupid statue. Scared out of my wits, I couldn't believe who I bumped into dancing naked around the statue.
Now according to the legend, he and I are true loves and yet, he is the biggest flirt, the most popular boy in school, the one known for dating a different girl every night. Why would I marry a man like him? Though he is awfully cute and he was sweet to me and promised me this would be our secret.
Then the man asked me to go out with him the next night. I'm going to find out if there is anything between us or another dead end. Regardless, I've decided to go to Fort Worth, get a job and go to school at night. Time to face reality - grow up and become an adult.
James Lawrence would not be part of my life.
Chloe realized whose diary this belonged to. Mary Beth Lawrence, Drew’s mother.
Nerves trickled down her spine, sending a shiver rippling through her. Drew's parents had run into one another around the Cupid statue just like Drew and Chloe.
Could this mean she and Drew really were meant for each other, meeting the same exact way?
Drew had rented a temporary office until his new place was refurbished, not knowing how long it would take to remodel his grandmother's house. The plans Chloe had drawn up and then revised to his specifications were perfect or so he believed. Only time would tell if they would work with the house.
The bell above his door tinkled and he glanced up as Chloe's father, Reverend Kilian, walked in the door.
"Hello," Drew said, standing and greeting him as a twinge of uneasiness scurried down his spine. At the very first meeting, the man made it clear he didn't care for Drew. His reputation preceding him.
The man shook his hand and then sank down in a chair. "First off, I want to say welcome back to Cupid and I'm glad you're attending church, again."
Drew waited. Why did he get the feeling a big but was about to be slammed down on him? One that probably would end with - stop seeing my daughter.
Putting his pen down and closing his laptop on the details of a case he was currently working, Drew gave him his undivided attention.
"Thank you," he said still not warm and fuzzy about her father being in his office. The man obviously had something on his mind.
"You've been hanging around quite a bit with Chloe," he said, gazing at him the way a father did when he didn't approve.
"Yes, I hired her to refurbish my grandmother's old house."
"Oh, the Perkins homestead," he said.
"Yes, sir." As a lawyer, he'd learned years ago, it was better to let the client confirm what they wanted and needed. So, he sat back and studied the older man, noticing the lines around his eyes and the way his hair had turned silver since Drew was in high school.
"Chloe's mother died when she was a teenager. A father can never take the place of a girl's mother. The ladies in the church have taken her under their wing, but sometimes I think she gets tired of their meddling, as she calls it. This morning, my phone rang with two of the women objecting to her being with you. Are the two of you seeing each other romantically?"
Drew smiled. Part of him wanted to say yes, just to piss the old man off. That wouldn't be good for Chloe. "Like I said, sir, we're working on my project together."
The man frowned and Drew wondered why would he seemed disappointed. Shouldn't he be relieved he wasn't pursuing Chloe?
"Do you like my daughter?"
A trickle of nerves gathered in his stomach and he hesitated, considering how truthful he should be. But again, he didn't want to lie either.
"I enjoy Chloe's company very much. She's a beautiful, intelligent woman."
That brought a smile to the preacher's face. "Chloe is so much like my Margaret. When I look at her I get teary eyed," he said softly, then he straightened and stared Drew in the eye. "I'm no different from any father. You want your children to be happy. To find someone to walk through life with that has her best interest at heart. To love and care for her."
The reverend lifted his hands and made a steeple with the fingers almost as if he were praying, while he stared at Drew. "Since you came home, you appear a more mature person than you were as a kid coming home from college. I've yet to witness or hear of any wild escapades. Maybe the playboy has finally decided to settle down."
With a shrug, Drew smiled, neither confirming or denying. "At this point in my life, I’m trying to build a practice."
A moment of silence ensued with Chloe's father carefully regarding him.
"Call me old fashioned, but I need to find a man for my daughter. Someone who makes her happy. You're not the first man I’ve approached, and the others Chloe rejected. But with you, I see her smiling and laughing and she seems to brighten around you. I'm looking for her a husband."
That was news. Why hadn't he noticed her reaction to him? She always seemed so confident, so sure of what she wanted and not willing to budge on her morals. Which was probably a good thing. Yet, there was the problem that he didn't want a ring and a vow.
Why was her father involved in his daughter's dating life?
"We've moved past the time of fathers choosing their daughter’s husbands. Why are you trying to marry her off?"
Again, the man paused as if he didn't want to confide in Drew.
"My wish for my daughter is to see her happily married and settled before I die. Sadly, my time is limited. Doc says I have six months without chemotherapy and twelve with the drugs."
The reverend shrugged. "The Lord says it's my time and I'm prepared to meet my maker. I want Chloe either engaged or married before I'm called home. The thought of her alone is terrifying."
Drew's chest clenched. How would Chloe react to losing her last remaining parent. The memory of hugging his mother that last time - when neither of them had known it would be goodbye - overwhelmed him. Oh, how he wished he could go back to that day and tell her how much he loved and appreciated her.
"Have you told Chlo
e?"
"No, and I'm not going to until I can't put it off any longer. My life needs to remain as normal as possible for as long as possible. My daughter should not be under pressure to find someone just to make me happy."
In some ways, Drew could understand. He was attracted to Chloe, but he didn't plan on finding forever after. "I'm honored you think I'm a worthy enough man for your daughter."
"Oh, son, don't misunderstand me. I didn't say that. If I had my way, she'd be going out with some boy from our congregation, but she's not interested in them. With you she appears different."
All the eloquent words on the tip of Drew's tongue suddenly ripped away. All his reasons for not accepting the man's offer drifted away like ashes in the wind.
"You're not my first choice, but I think you might be Chloe's choice."
Again, he battled his conscious. "What if I'm not the marrying kind?"
"Are you interested in her? If so, I want to know now and then I'll back off and let God do his work. If not, please back away. It's a dying man's desire to see his daughter at least happy with someone, if not you, I'll continue the search."
The thought of her father looking for someone else for Chloe sent a jealous spiral coiling like a snake inside Drew. He didn't want another man dating her. Yet, Drew didn't want to marry her, but he didn't want anyone else to have her either. It just didn't seem right.
Sometimes even when you knew your feelings weren't logical, they were still your emotions. And he didn't want anyone else to take Chloe out.
With sudden insight, he realized he wanted to date her.
Since arriving in town, he wanted to explore the attraction between the two of them. Quickly, she put him in his place, telling him if he wasn't looking for forever after, then not to waste her time.
Was he wasting her time? Was he wasting the precious time her father had left? Confusion roiled in his gut and he didn't know the answer, but selfishly longed to find out.
"At this point, I'm not going to promise you I will marry your daughter. I'll agree to ask her out. We'll see where this connection between us goes, but it wouldn't be fair of me to tell you I'll marry her. I'm not certain about marriage and only Chloe can make the decision even if I did ask her."
Cupid's Heart: Western Contemporary Small Town Romance (Return to Cupid Book 6) Page 5