by Ron Benrey
That won’t be an easy job. She’s as stubborn as…well, as I am.
SIX
What could she buy a man who undoubtedly had everything? Ann mused as she strolled past the boutiques on Main Street. The trendiest stores hadn’t reopened after Gilda’s visit to Glory, but the most touristy of the bunch—the shops that sold tacky souvenirs and T-shirts—were ready for business.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
She turned and found Sean Miller grinning at her. A strand of his dark hair had fallen across his forehead. He swiped it away.
“How’s Carlo?” he asked.
“I haven’t seen him yet. I called my mother after you left, and we spoke longer than I’d meant to. I’m going to the hospital right now. I thought I’d get Carlo a small get-well gift on the way. I’ve been pondering what to buy without much luck.”
“Carlo Vaughn is supremely simple to shop for,” Sean said. “He’s easily satisfied with the best of everything—or at least, the most expensive.”
She cast a sideways glance at Sean. He had tried to come across as flippant, but his lips had drawn into a thin line that signaled deep-seated displeasure with his colleague.
“You don’t like Carlo very much, do you?” she said.
“Liking Carlo is not part of my job description.” He shrugged. “The truth is, Carlo can be a tough man to work with—or like. He’s supremely self-centered, overcritical and difficult to please. I’m enjoying this time away from him.”
Ann decided that Sean had a rip-roaring case of Carlo envy. But being judgmental about someone wasn’t in her job description.
“What about you?” she asked. “Where are you headed?”
“Back to the Scottish Captain. However, I suppose I should take advantage of our fortuitous meeting and fess up.” His expression became sheepish. “I ignored your advice and went to see Phil Meade.”
“Oh, no!”
“I’ll say. You were right about him. He threw me out of his building after I explained my ideas. He also encouraged me to leave Glory.”
“Yeow!” Ann exclaimed.
“Well said. He not only didn’t buy my conclusions—he assumed that you’d put me up to telling him.” Sean grimaced. “I’m sorry if I got you into more trouble with him.”
“Regrettably, that’s impossible. He hates everything about me. Don’t worry about it. You can make it up to me by helping me with a gift for Carlo. Does he like chocolate?”
“Do the citizens of Glory have Southern accents?” He raised a hand to stop her. “You know, I did see something in one of the shops that Carlo might actually like.”
“Which one?”
“Follow me.”
Ann followed Sean across Main Street. He led her to the Glorious Giftery and pointed to a display of T-shirts hanging in the front window. The collection included many variations on one theme: I survived Gilda’s visit to Glory.
“I’d die before I’d wear those words,” Ann said. “Do you really think Carlo would like a grim T-shirt like that?”
“He’d love it. It will become his favorite casual shirt.”
“You’re not just saying that because you dislike him?” Ann asked.
“Not at all. I think Carlo’s a jerk, but leading you astray would make me an even bigger jerk.” His grin deepened. “Tell you what. To prove that I’m not pulling your leg, I’ll buy one for myself.”
Sean held the door open as Ann went into the store. “Does Carlo have a favorite color?” she asked.
“When he steals my T-shirts, he seems to favor dark colors.”
Ann chose a black T-shirt with white letters. Sean picked navy-blue with gray letters. She asked the clerk for a large.
“I’d go with extra large,” Sean said. “Carlo is chubbier than he looks.”
Ann stuck out her tongue. “Sean Miller, you are incorrigible.”
“That’s what everyone tells me, even my mother.”
When they left the store, Sean said, “I know that you don’t want company when you visit Carlo, but do you mind if I walk with you to the hospital? I’ll spend a few minutes with Mr. Magnificent after you leave.”
The request pleased her, although she wasn’t sure why. She took a moment to form a reply that wouldn’t communicate her feelings. “Actually, I’d appreciate your company, although you’ll have to explain ‘Mr. Magnificent’ to me.”
“That’s what the production people at the Storm Channel call Carlo when he can’t hear them. On occasion, he behaves like he’s the center of the universe.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. He is a rather special person,” Ann said.
“True! Provided you define ‘special’ correctly.” His expression became more mischievous. “I’ll give you a tip for when you’re chatting with Carlo. Whenever the conversation lags, begin to talk about him. It gets his attention every time.”
Ann noticed that Sean’s eyes seemed to gleam whenever he criticized Carlo, but so far he hadn’t said anything that was genuinely mean-spirited. Sean’s mild tirades seemed more begrudging than malicious. She reasoned that TV stars like Carlo were resented by their associates and subordinates. Carlo displayed the temperamental nature of a TV star, which meant that he was highly respected by the Storm Channel. Obviously, they put up with his foibles because he was good at what he did.
When they reached the hospital, Ann smiled at Sean. “Thanks for walking with me. I enjoyed your company.” For a second, she thought she saw him blush, but he quickly said goodbye and headed off to the waiting room. She detoured to the gift shop and purchased the largest box of chocolate truffles they stocked. She tucked the Glory T-shirt beneath the chocolates in the bag, and took the elevator to the third floor.
Carlo was sitting up in bed watching TV when she entered his room. He looked even more handsome than when she’d first met him. The large white bandage had been replaced by a small black eye patch. It added an interesting hint of the exotic to his face, and he definitely resembled a heroic movie pirate.
“Huzzah!” he said, offering a slight bow. “Glory’s dazzling church administrator has arrived, bearing gifts.”
Ann couldn’t help laughing at Carlo’s corny compliment. He beamed at her, plainly pleased with her reaction to his greeting.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Spectacular, now that you’re here. You’ve brightened my whole day.”
“What did the doctor say about your eye?” Ann asked, sitting in a chair positioned next to the bed.
“I’ve lost track of time. Today is Wednesday, right?”
“All day.”
“The medics tell me that I’ve recovered sufficiently to leave the hospital this afternoon. I’ll check in with my eye doctor again tomorrow. If I have his blessing, I’ll fly back to New York City on Friday. That’s where I live.”
“Great! These will taste even better out of the hospital.” She handed him the box of truffles.
He hefted the box. “Wow! You must have thought I’d be laid up for months.”
“One can never possess too much chocolate.”
“Remind me to propose to you one of these days! We think alike.” He lifted the lid and chose a piece of candy. “I love dark chocolate.”
Ann noted that he chewed the truffle with astonishing delicacy. Carlo was certainly one of the most graceful men she’d ever met. He maintained his elegance and dignity even in a hospital bed.
He went on, “I hope you realize that our makeup department won’t be able to keep up with the zits these fat pills generate. If you see an ugly blotch on my face during a broadcast, know that you are personally responsible.”
She shrugged theatrically. “I’ll do my best to live with the guilt.”
“Follow my approach. Never, ever pay attention to your conscience. It can get in the way of your fun!” Carlo lifted the lid again and selected another truffle. “Fabulous! If I begin to display the symptoms of death by chocolate, please press the nurse-call button.”
> Ann gave the plastic bag a shake.
“Goodness!” Carlo said. “I hear something else. Don’t tell me that you brought two presents.”
“The truffles will soon be nothing but a fond memory.” She unfolded the T-shirt and held it up. “But this is an enduring memento of Glory.”
“I can’t wait to wear it. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.” Carlo used his remote control to switch off the TV. “I love the truffles and the shirt, Ann, but my fondest memories of Glory will always be of you.”
Ann laughed, but warning bells rang in her head. Carlo’s comment had been way over the top. He couldn’t possibly expect her to take him seriously.
“Give the man with only one working eye a break,” Carlo said. “You’re sitting too far away from me. Come closer.”
Ann pulled her chair closer to the side of Carlo’s bed, then realized that she’d also moved out of her comfort zone.
Carlo patted the mattress. “Why don’t you sit here with me?”
Ann swallowed a gasp of astonishment. She managed to say, “Thanks, but we’ll both be more at ease if I stay in my own chair.”
Carlo seemed unfazed by her refusal. “But if you don’t sit down next to me, I won’t be able to hold your hand.”
Carlo leaned sideways faster than she could react and grasped her hand.
“You and I are soul mates. I knew that the first time I saw you.”
She thought about pulling her hand loose, but she didn’t want to insult or embarrass him.
“You strike me as a very caring person,” he said. “You like to help people, don’t you, Ann?”
The tone of his voice was making her feel awkward. Not knowing how else to answer his question, she nodded. “I try to help people whenever I can.”
“We’ll, you’re in a position to help me and, in exchange, I can help you.”
“How can I help you, Carlo?”
“I need a place to stay tonight and tomorrow night,” he said, smiling his warmest smile.
“We have several charming B and B’s in Glory,” she said. “Sean is staying at the Scottish Captain. I’m sure they can accommodate you. They have delightful rooms, full of antique furniture.”
“I was hoping for something more private.”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Ann said, a feeling of dread creeping up her spine.
“What about your house, Ann? I saw a picture of it in Monday’s newspaper. I’ll bet you have a captivating guest room.”
“Not really,” she said, stunned at where Carlo was leading the discussion.
“What about a living room sofa? I’m not fussy about where I sleep. All that matters is that we’re together tonight and tomorrow. We have so much to talk about—especially your television debut.”
“My what?”
“I intend to put you on the Storm Channel and show you off to our millions of viewers. A lovely face like yours deserves to be on television!” He swept his free arm in a broad arc. “You’d make a dynamite weather girl.” Carlo gazed at her with a startling intensity. “I find that the first step of working together effectively on the air is to become friends—intimate friends.”
She felt her face begin to burn. Television debut? Intimate friends? What does he think I am?
“I couldn’t possibly invite you into my home,” she said. “That would be wholly inappropriate.”
Carlo suddenly pulled Ann toward him.
Yikes! He’s trying to kiss me!
The eruption of indignation that coursed through her body gave her the strength of ten. One quick yank broke Carlo’s grip on her hand. For a delicious instant she thought about delivering a mighty slap to his cheek, but her good upbringing prevailed. How could she strike a man with a bandaged eye, lying in a hospital bed? Instead, she grabbed the box of truffles and the T-shirt, and fled toward the open door.
“Don’t go!” Carlo shouted. He tried to stand up and his sheet slithered sideways, revealing a pair of knobby knees. She let herself laugh. The real Carlo Vaughn was less impressive than the TV personality—much less impressive.
Carlo fought with the sheet. “Give me another chance, Ann. You misunderstood me.”
“To the contrary, Mr. Vaughn. I understand you perfectly. You’re a class-A rat, a callous womanizer and an unmitigated lowlife. Be glad that I’m listening to my conscience right now. If I wasn’t, I’d put your other eye out of commission.”
Carlo’s eyes lit up in anger. “Lighten up, lady. You lead a dull, hick-town life. I’m the most exciting thing that’s happened to you in decades. You can’t wait to tell your mind-numbing friends that Carlo Vaughn made a run at you. Of course, you’ll leave out the crucial fact that I was half-blind at the time.”
“You pompous, egotistical sleaze bucket!”
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but leave the chocolate. I’m hungry.”
She pushed the door closed before she could say something she’d regret, and made her way down the corridor to the visitor’s lounge. True to his word, Sean was waiting inside.
“Why didn’t you warn me about Carlo?”
“What happened?”
“What you knew would happen. I barely escaped his clutches!”
“Ah, well. Carlo can be relied upon to be Carlo,” Sean said.
“You should’ve warned me what to expect.”
“I told you he was a jerk.”
“You didn’t tell me he was a letch,” Ann countered.
“First, I didn’t think I had to. Carlo’s reputation as a ladies’ man is nationally known, well-deserved and reinforced by everything he says and does. Second, if I’d reported anything negative about Carlo, you wouldn’t have listened to me.”
“That’s no excuse! You let me walk into his hospital room like a lamb to the slaughter,” she said, turning and heading toward the stairway that led downstairs. She could hear Sean following her, and she was fairly certain that he was laughing.
Well, I deserved to be laughed at. I made a complete fool of myself.
But when she looked over her shoulder, she saw that he wasn’t mocking her at all. If anything, his expression seemed gentle and tender.
Why is he looking at me that way?
“Don’t be angry with me,” Sean said. “I knew that you could take care of yourself. And you proved me right.”
“That’s only because my mother warned me years ago that a girl on her own can’t trust a smooth-talking traveling man. Fortunately, I listened to her.” She added, “I’ll bet you and Carlo have women stashed in every town you broadcast from.”
“Nah. Carlo’s approach is so clumsy and obvious that intelligent females send him on his way, like you did. Me, on the other hand—I have dozens of lady friends from coast to coast.”
Ann worried for an instant that it might be true. Sean’s smile told her otherwise. “In your dreams!” she said.
Sean batted his eyelashes at her. “I’ll have you know that women in every state are eager for my smooth-talking ways. But there just isn’t enough of me to go around!”
“Shut up and eat a truffle,” Ann said, trying not to smile. She thrust the box under his right arm. “I reclaimed them from Carlo. Along with the black T-shirt.”
“That must have made him mad. He loves chocolate.”
She nodded. “He was furious. Even his knobby knees were glowing red.”
“You saw Carlo’s knees?”
Ann began to laugh out loud and didn’t catch her breath until they reached the hospital’s lobby.
Bless you, Sean. I needed that.
One of the things that Sean liked best about Ann was that her face openly announced the way she felt. During the past several days, he’d seen her display a festival of emotions: fear, pleasure, worry, annoyance, delight, anger, amusement and now something else. It took him a moment to recognize that Ann, who had stopped laughing, had been thoroughly embarrassed by the wretched scene in Carlo’s room.
Despite her shorter stride he had trouble
keeping up with her as she marched toward the Broad Street exit. She deftly sidestepped an elderly couple blocking her way, pushed through the revolving doors and disappeared from sight. He managed to catch up with her half a block away. He didn’t need to see her face to know that she was chagrined and disappointed.
“Slow down, Ann.” He moved alongside her and matched her pace. “Everyone has to learn the hard way about Carlo Vaughn. Don’t blame yourself.”
“Who else can I blame?” she said, still charging a step ahead of him along the sidewalk. “I feel like a cliché—a naive, small-town girl outwitted and outplayed by a handsome city slicker. I should have recognized from the get-go what Carlo was really after. He’s a TV star and I’m a—”
“A marvelous woman who’s much too charitable to recognize that Carlo is human pond scum. And a total pinhead, to boot,” Sean said. Ann made a sound he couldn’t decipher. “By the way,” he continued, “nobody at the Storm Channel considers Carlo a TV star. To us, he’s just a weather reporter.” He took the box of chocolates from under his arm. “Would you like a truffle?”
“As a matter of fact, I would.”
“Can we rest for a few seconds? I can’t open the box while I’m speed walking.”
She stopped and did a slow pirouette. Sean removed the lid and offered the box on his outstretched palm. She chose and devoured two dark-chocolate truffles.
“Yum.”
“How about another?” he asked.
“Two of those delicious caffeine-filled puppies erased all memory of Carlo Vaughn. A third would merely keep me up all night.”
“Good. I’ve had an idea.”
“I’m not sure that I can handle any more male ideas this morning.”
“Let’s go see Rafe Neilson. We’ll tell him my theory,” Sean suggested.
“I’ve told you what will happen if you share your crazy ideas with Rafe.”
“Actually, you didn’t. You said that Rafe would ignore me. But I propose that we talk to him together.”
“What difference will that make?”