Until you came (Series Stonebridge, #3)

by Diana Scott

  “Don't be an asshole.”

  “Why don't you call Dolores? She sure knows how to hire the right woman.”

  “Dolores isn't in town," Reed replied dryly as he hit the furniture trying to move awkwardly. Gabe looked at him with some sadness in his gaze but hid it behind the little girl's body. His brother had failed to recover and his mood was souring at tons per minute.

  “Damn wheelchair," he protested in a whisper. “I sent her out. Dolores was in danger by my side.”

  “But Dolores has always been with you, what's different now?”

  “Nothing.”

  Gabe shook his head in anger. Reed Blackman was a lonely and reserved brother, but since the accident he couldn't get a word out of him.

  “Then talk to Anne, she would be delighted to help you," he said hopefully.

  “Delighted? She hates me with all she has.”

  “And I can't think of a single reason why...” Gabe ironized the comment.

  “You’re a fucking asshole.”

  “Have you noticed how many times you say the word ‘fuck’?” Gabe asked annoyed.

  The young man chose not to ask any more questions about Anne Foster's absence from his life. The two previous times he had tried, his brother had become so irascible that he feared for his sanity.

  “And isn't that what I am? A fucking devil cursed for everything.”

  That's not true, you've managed to save yourself and you've got a beautiful little girl. You've got a lot to go on.”

  The baby began to fall asleep in her uncle's arms as if he were able to understand his words of affection.

  “A little girl I'm not able to take care of.”

  “No first-time father and widower would know how to do it.”

  “But none of them has to watch out for their lives.”

  “I don't understand you, Reed, what's going on? I'm your brother, you can count on me! I'm no longer the little one you have to protect.”

  Reed looked at Gabe and couldn't help remembering that childhood when he more than once stood in front of his father to be the one to take the beating instead of his little brother. No, Gabe was no longer a child but his daughter was, and as long as Falconi was at free, he would not have peace. The cards were laid and in this world there was no place for both of them.

  “Brother, I don't know what you're planning but I know how it looks and I don't like it.” Gabe kissed the little one's forehead as he carefully placed her on her splendid pink crib.

  “I'll be fine.”

  “Will you? Well, let me tell you, I'm not so sure. You moved into this house and set up a first-generation gym but I hardly see you using it and the times I've seen you with Raymond all you do is piss him of.”

  Reed smiled with the memory of his new friend the physiotherapist. The two were arguing loudly but the reality was that there were no better times to vent their nerves than the fierce fights with Raymond. If he was no longer able to box, then why not relax with a good fight of words.

  Gabe was right, he haven’t see him use the gym but he really is using it more and more. His legs still didn't hold him, but thanks to the walking orthoses that Raymond had ordered for him, the progress had been extraordinary. When he put them on he was able to support his own weight and even take a few short steps. It wasn't much, but with greater mastery of these devices he would be able to stand up and trick Falconi into taking him to his field.

  “Now why are you smiling?”

  “For nothing.” He replied knowing that for the moment he should keep the secret.

  He hated lying to his brother but couldn't involve more people.

  “Hello, hello... I used my own keys, I hope you don't mind.”

  The ebony goddess walked through the door wearing an impressive white dress that left little room for imagination. Gabe opened his eyes without giving credit to what was in front of him. A stunning woman with eyes like the same night, came in with a small Louis Vuitton bag through the door as she owned the house and shaking a bunch of keys high.

  “The new nanny?”

  “For God's sake, no! Little things with poop and snot are not my thing.”

  “Collette, this is my brother Gabe.”

  “I should have guessed it, you have the same eyes," she said as she gave him two most suggestive kisses. "And the same masculine aroma.”

  Gabe squinted, annoyed at the inappropriate comments. He was a crab and he was always ready in front of a beautiful woman, but this one in particular did not make him a bit of fun.

  “But look how cute she is in her sleep.”

  “Careful, you wouldn’t want her snot on you.” Gabe said he was trying to take the woman's hand away from the crib.

  The warning seemed to work because the goddess raised her hand with an instant disgusting face.

  “Well, I'm going to leave this in our room before we leave.”

  “Our?” Gabe asked, unhappy with the news.

  “Collette is my partner and will move in with me," his brother replied with zero happiness.

  “What? But she is... she is.... She is not someone who can take care of my girl.

  “She's not your girl. Her name is Nayade and...”

  “Anne baptized her with that name and you didn't change it.”

  “Gabe, stop it.” He said as he watched annoyed how Collette took over his room.

  “I'm not stopping, but what the hell were you thinking?! That woman is the least you need right now.”

  “Or maybe not.”

  “I don't believe you, you can't have forgotten her, not after suffering so much for her.”

  “Olivia is dead.”

  “I'm not talking about Olivia and you know it," he muttered annoyed and mumbled.

  Collette then entered the living room with her hair tied up with a ponytail and a leather jacket to cover herself from the cold of the night.

  “Ready to go.”

  “You're leaving? What about Nayade?”

  “I forgot to tell you that I need you to stay with her. I'll be back soon.” Reed said as he pushed his chair towards the exit door.

  “No kidding, I did it yesterday and the day before yesterday... Reed... Reed!”

  “I promise I'll have a babysitter this week.”

  “He shouted as he fled through the door and his brother watched him board his Porsche 911, now adapted to his disability.”

  Gabe closed the door as he watched the little girl who, oblivious to all conflict, sleeps as she was a real little nymph of crystalline lakes.

  “Nayade, I hope your father knows what he's doing... although I don’t see a good end coming.

  Back to school

  “Don't eat all the chocolate cookies!” I scream as I elbow her to force he to let go of the ice-cream tub.

  She always does the same thing, she eats all the bits of chocolate cookie and leaves me only the vanilla cream. Jane and I share the ice cream tub but that doesn't stop her from owning the best pieces.

  We look pathetic and feel that way, but what difference does it make to look like something we really are? I pull the blanket to cover me while she pulls on her side.

  “Don't pull it, you're unclogging me!”

  “Well, don't monopolize it all for yourself,” I protest while I pull again to get my feet covered.

  “You're the heaviest of the sisters.”

  “Whatever you say, but why are you putting calories in a tube?” I ask as I fight to put my spoon in. “My life is a real mess but I thought you and Suraj were going well.”

  “Good! He demands that I make a decision that I can't, he recriminates me at every step, he hasn't spoken to me in days and the worst of all is...”

  “You miss him.”

  “Like a mad woman, I can't stop looking at the phone waiting for a pardon that will make me run to his arms. Nothing like that has ever happened to me. Anne, have I gone crazy?”

  “No, you're just in love.”

  Jane puts the spoon so full of ice cream i
n her mouth that I fear for the frostbite of her brain.

  “Someone is ringing the bell," she babbles, trying not to let half of the ice cream slip out of her mouth.

  “Well, stop swallowing like a fat girl and go yourself.”

  “It's your house.”

  I get up from the sofa grumbling but I'll take the ice cream. If I don't eat, neither does she. Come on, I also suffer from lovesickness and I need the same dose of chocolate as her.

  I'm going to the door barefoot, I'm too sick of life to have to look for slippers.

  “Gross! You haven't combed your hair during the whole weekend?”

  “Hello, Elsa,” I turn to shout to the sofa. “Jane, it's Aunt Elsa!”

  “Hello, Elsa,” she answers from the sofa without even bothering to get up.

  “You came on a motorcycle," I say, looking at the helmet. “Didn't we agree that you'd sell it?” I ask as I close the door and see Elsa leaning on the table.

  “I said that I would sell it when you made me enter the Temple of the Passions and since you haven't done it yet.... “ She speaks as the leather jacket is opened.

  “And again with the same tune. You're in your seventies!” Elsa hated it when we told her the exact number.

  “And look how well I am,” se fixes her neckline with a mischievous smile. “But that's not the point.”

  “Oh, no, and what is it? Oh!” I scream in pain as I feel Elsa pulling my hair as I tried to sit down to eat more ice cream.

  “Don’t even think about it! You go to the shower immediately and you take your tongue out of that ice cream and get rid of that awful pajamas before I burn it.”

  “Elsa, you don't understand, but neither Anne nor I are in the mood for... Ouch! - My sister gets hit on the back of her neck.

  “I said you're going to dress up with all your charms while your sister does the same with a good shower.”

  “But Elsa...” I'm trying to give my opinion, but the woman has her hand ready to give out more knoks, so I decided to shut up.

  “You've got me tired, this attitude must stop. You must start over or fight to get him," she says as she pulls my ear.

  “It hurts!” I shout, but the woman didn't flinch.

  “And you will make a decision and stop being afraid of everything, even spiders” she commands us while, with the other hand, pulls Jane's ear to lift her from the sofa.

  “Spiders are long, hairy and disgusting...” My poor sister can't justify herself and gets another tug of the ear.

  “Oh, it hurts!” We shouted at the same time.

  “You're going to fix this right now. I'll wait half an hour or I'll get angry and you know how I get when I get angry” she tried to fill us with fear.

  The truth is that we didn't know, Elsa never got angry with us, she spoiled us too much and her fake anger never lasted more than two minutes.

  “All right, all right, we promise to dress up and be ready in half an hour as long as you leave your ears stuck to us.”

  “Where are you taking us?” My sister asked as she caressed her sore ear.

  “We're going to a sex school.”

  “We both covered our eyes with our hands, and of course, it was Elsa, what else could we expect?

  “Just tell me why we're here?” Jane asks me in my ear while I raise my shoulders selflessly and sit in the free chair next to her.

  The women's group is quite large and I can't help but be amazed at how crowded these kinds of places are. The stage is very wide and the lights illuminate everything. From the ceiling hangs a big sign that says "Eight female techniques to make a man fall in love".

  When I read it, I can't believe it and I re-read it to verify that I haven't made a mistake and I'm in a bad dream.

  I try to get up indignant but Elsa sits me again with another hit on the back of my neck.

  “You stay there”

  “This is outrageous. It goes against all my principles of woman, we are not meat for that ... Ouch!” Elsa's strikes make me shut up instantly while Jane laughs out loud.

  “It's about time she hits you more than me... Ow! And why was that?”

  “Because I feel like doing it!” She says as if that was justification enough. “You're a fool crying in the corners for a man you don't know if he's coming or going away," she says as she sits down in her seat. “ And you, even if you haven't told me anything,” she reproached, "it's not hard to see how lost you are.”

  “And is a gentleman who talks nonsense supposed to solve our problems?” I hate these little courses where they believe in the divine gift of knowing all the women and they believe they can encompassing all of us as if we were a flock of sheep.

  “It won't solve anything, but it will show you another side of life. One that you have forgotten.”

  “Elsa, this is nonsense...” Jane pretends to get up, but Elsa's hand was ready and my sister can't risk her neck again.

  A short man, with orange curls, makes an act of presence and the smile comes to me without wanting it.

  “And this is the expert?” I mumble in a whisper getting a smile from my sister and a funny look from Elsa.

  “Do you want another one?” She threatens me by showing me his open palm.

  “No thanks, I've had enough,” I smile.

  Elsa is not only like our mother but the only one capable of reading where no one can. She is the right word at the right time.

  The man's speech begins most solemnly, but after a few minutes the laughter of the women flooded the place. The presenter asked for four volunteers to whom he distributed Twister ice cream and explained in great detail the correct way to perform a blowjob. The women worked hard on the task while the others laughed and shouted gracefully.

  “When are the practices?!” One woman shouts.

  “There will be scholarships somewhere in Boys!” Screams another one with a hilarious laugh.

  Jane and I open our eyes like plates to launch ourselves to laugh like everyone else. The forgotten happiness emanated from our pores and the laughter flowed directly from our entrails.

  At first I tried to show rejection because I was considered an object woman, but now I understood perfectly Aunt Elsa's strategy. She only wanted to give us a little joy.

  “Thank you,” I whisper to her ear as she looks at me with those eyes that become more and more crystalline due her age. Her hand covers mine with affection, perfectly understanding my message. Jane and I need to laugh and see life from another perspective and the way out that Elsa has prepared it was getting it. The women gathered there may or may not seek love, they may or may not suffer for a man, but they had fun assuming the best and the worst of us. We all laughed at our misfortunes accepting that we were much more than rejected women.

  “And the best is coming,” Elsa says out loud while Jane and I look at her strangely.

  “Now the feminine tools to conquer a man,” the presenter speaks aloud. “Hair movement technique. I need five volunteers.”

  My sister and I looked at Elsa and said, "Don't even think about it," but we were late. My aunt got up and pointed at us with both arms up.

  “Here, here. These two are eager to participate.”

  The women began to applaud and Jane and I knew we were lost.

  We climbed on the dais ashamed to the marrow. Jane looks at Aunt Elsa who from her chair can’t avoid the laughter.

  “All right ladies, I'll show you the infallible tricks to conquer a man's interest. Are you ready?”

  The short, spectacled host screams leaving his lungs while the women answer him with their hands up. Yes! Go get them!

  I try to put a touch of reasoning but time doesn't run out in my favour: when I manage to look at my sister and my three companions, I see them moving their heads around like headless chickens, but what are they doing?

  “Come on, pretty girl, move that hair back and forth. There is no man who can resist a good movement of silky female hair.”

  I was about to answer that “not even in my
wildest dreams” when the hands of one of my companions with more than thirty and a few extra pounds decide to intervene between my thoughts and my body. The plump hands hold me by the neck and begin to move like a dizzy duck. I try to beg for liberation but it was impossible. The woman was determined that my hair would move as if moved by a winter blizzard.

  “Come on, honey, we're leaving married out of here!” She shouts as he moves her head and mine out of control.

  God, I think I'm going to throw up. The sky is moving... I ask for help, but my new friend insists that we leave this one with two boys of eighty meters and shakes me with even more energy.

  “That's right, girls! You're doing great. Now open those little mouths sensually and give you little sensual nibbles on your lips.”

  Jane looks at me asking for help because for some reason our new friends had decided to be our private teachers. Do we look so desperate?

  “Like this, do it like this.” My sister's companion says to her. The woman was identical to Miss Matilde, my first child teacher, just as thin and tall, pointy nose like a witch, sunken eyes covered by small metal glasses and lips... the lips fled one day never to return. The woman tries to teach Jane how to do that sensual nibbling, but the poor woman puts so much emphasis on her that she almost tears off a piece of cheek. Jane looks at her with exorbitant eyes but as long as she doesn't receive any more practical classes she decides to bite her lips and finish the matter as soon as possible. I can't stop watching them. The two of them move their heads from one side to the other like madwomen in a madhouse while biting their lips. The situation is so crazy that my laughter explodes without complexes thinking what an idiot my sister looked like. I was most amused when my corpulent new friend, who should be at least a member of the Russian army, decides that I too should follow in Jane's footsteps and learn to conquer, so she holds me by the shoulders without warning and shakes me from side to side as she commands me in a deep voice.

  “Bite that little mouth of yours while I help you with your hair. Come on, don't be shy! I'm sure we'll get it.”

  “No, please, I...”

  I meant I couldn't take it anymore, but I couldn't finish the sentence. The woman insisted on shaking me until I threw the porridge.