Hope lifted her head, grinning and winking at the amber eyes watching her as she pressed closer.
“We have a Mina sandwich,” she whispered, pressing a little closer. “And she squishes out the middle like jelly…”
A burst of wild giggles came out before she broke free, little feet bouncing on the bed before jumping down and running for the bathroom with a loud squeal.
“This dancing on the bed…must be a girl thing,” Devon said with a deep laugh, quickly moving into the empty space and pulling Hope against him. “Good morning,” he whispered against her mouth, letting their kiss fill the quiet.
“It is a most wonderful morning,” she agreed, sighing and cuddling closer. “You’re adapting quite nicely to the girl things…”
“Hmm…I might need more familiarization…” He saw the laughter in her eyes when his palm slipped beneath the tee shirt and caressed one breast.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve gotten very friendly with that girl part…” She drew in a sharp breath when his thumb and finger rolled her nipple between them.
“What’s these?” Mina stood behind Devon, holding up a red foil packet.
Devon moved quickly when he saw the look on Hope’s face, lifting the little girl, removing the packet and dropping it into the drawer. He tossed Mina to the bed and cleaned up the left overs.
“Adult stuff…keep out,” he said simply. “We need a trash bin beside the bed,” he mumbled, heading to the bathroom.
“We need clothes and food,” Hope said firmly, heading them both to the little girl’s room. “I got a surprise for you,” she whispered as she pulled the nightgown over her head.
“Really? What?”
“It’s for breakfast…let me dress you and you go see if Jackie is there. Tell her it’s in the freezer…she’ll remember,” Hope said easily, quickly dressing the little girl in jeans and a t-shirt, barely getting the shoes on before she was off and heading down the back stairs.
She took a long shower before finding clothes and heading to breakfast, smiling at the happy grin and plateful of small pancakes.
“Your surprise is a big hit,” Jackie told her, pouring a tall glass of grapefruit juice for her. “We’re off to the market and some other stuff. Any requests?” She looked around and accepted the silence.
“Have fun,” Hope called after her, hooking her foot in the lower rung of the stool after finding a cloth to clean up the syrupy child. “Pretty good, huh?” She got a rapid nod while taking in another little pancake dripping with brown syrup.
Devon watched Hope clean up Mina before setting her free, a part of him wondering why it had been so easy to let the laughing girls get close to one another. Was he that in need of a break? Or was Mina that in need of a close woman in her life?
“Stay in the study,” Hope told her when she set her free.
“Okey-dokey.”
Devon laughed, his palm up and fingers beckoning. He set the coffee down, his hands settling on her waist when she moved between his knees.
“You have any idea how crazy I am about you, Hope?” His hands moved to take hers, placing them on his shoulders and pulling her close.
“I think maybe a little…since I’m crazy about you, too…” she answered honestly, fingers toying with the opening at his throat. Her nose wrinkled at the grin that lit up his face. “Doesn’t make us very good candidates for caring for a three year old, though…both of us being crazy and all…unless two crazies cancel out and…” She burst into giggles when he lunged for her neck and she ducked beneath his arm, keeping the large stainless steel island between them.
“You know this can’t end well…” He told her, edging a little in each direction and watching her counter moves.
“Oh? For which one of us?” Hope laughed happily.
“It always ends bad for the prey,” he said softly, pale lashes narrowed when he saw her grasp his meaning. “You know us wolf types…relentless…once we set our minds on our target…”
Hope maneuvered herself to the side opposite the opening to the hall, feigned right and ducked to her knees on the left, sliding over the floor and scrambling to her feet. She heard him curse softly behind her as she rounded the corner into the study.
“Quick! It’s the wolf!” She laughed, the shrill little squeal from Mina joining hers as they ran around the large room, ducking beneath the big desk in the far corner just as the wolf came to the doorway.
“What the…” Devon looked from the area that used to hold his office to the newly arranged furniture. It had been dark last night and he never noticed the changes. “What the hell happened to my office?”
“That is a bad word,” came the firm little voice from beneath the desk.
“Oh really…” He dropped to his heels and peered at them both. “Who wants to explain?” He almost laughed when Mina looked over at Hope.
“Urban renewal,” Hope began thoughtfully. “It’s a very carefully thought out plan….and the council voted…”
“We have a council?”
“Of course we do…and it was almost unanimous…Matt was only a half vote because he wasn’t fully on board with the idea,” Hope slid to the side and stood up, gesturing to the new toy area. “She figures she can sell in a couple years and make a killing in the market,” deep in thought with her story, she missed his movement and found herself pinned to the edge of the desk.
“This is going to cost you…I’m betting you’re the head of this council,” Devon murmured, his mouth down and nibbling over her throat with a sharp bite now and then that made her swallow hard to keep from yelping.
“Do girls like kissing?” Mina came from under the desk, looking at them both with a little frown before heading to play.
“Big girls do…” Hope answered easily, slipping to the side. “Little girls like tickling…” She took off across the room, a squeal of excitement from Mina when she realized she was the target.
“No!” Mina bounced onto the sofa pulling the quilt over her as they wrestled and giggled. Both lay breathing hard a few minutes later. “Can I bring my tea table down here now?”
“Hmm…well…we do have room for it…” Hope rubbed her palms over her face, pulling Mina onto her lap. “If we bring it down, it stays here. It’s not up and down with the big toys, alright?”
“I play more here…” Mina said thoughtfully, her hands toying with the pendant hanging at Hope’s throat. “Here, please.”
“Then we’ll move it…” Hope set her aside, holding hands as they went toward the stairs. Hope dropped to her heels, whispering to Mina and glancing at the man cautiously watching them both.
Hope held the laughter inside as Mina sauntered to her dad, leaning on his thigh and peering up at him adoringly. Hope could see the suspicion in the gaze he swung from her to the little girl and stood up, waiting.
“Daddy…we need your muscles to help us…please?” Mina took his hand and tugged him toward the stairs.
“My muscles, huh?”
“You’re a boy…you got lots of muscles,” Mina explained as they climbed the stairs, Hope following behind.
“And it’ll make this much faster with your help,” Hope told him, quickly gathering the tea toys while he collected the thick plastic table and chairs. “Be careful on those steps, Mina!” Hope called out when she carried two dolls in her arms.
“I am!”
“It’s all part of the urban renewal plan,” Hope told him as he walked past her down the stairs.
Chapter Thirty
Devon sat at his desk an hour later. He could hear them chatting in the kitchen as they worked on making cookies together. He had his phone out, brought up the information she’d input the night before and just stared at the insane amount of money. Then he remembered the look in her eyes when he asked. He’d try another route first, he decided, tapping in Charity’s number and waiting.
“Hello?”
“Charity, it’s Devon Alexander, do you have a few minutes to talk?” Devon kept h
is gaze on the entrance from the kitchen and his voice low.
“Sure…Hope’s alright, isn’t she?” Concern for her friend evident.
“She’s baking cookies with Mina…I’m not sure how to broach this…” He ran one hand over his neck. “Last night we attended a fund raiser for the hospice project,” he heard a long sigh from the other end. “Why do I get the feeling you know what I’m about to ask?”
“Because I know my friend,” she said softly. “It’s about the money she has, isn’t it?”
“She’s paying on a student loan, Charity. She lived with room mates that made her nuts!” Devon shook his head. “Yeah, it’s about the money.”
“It’s hers, Devon. Nothing illegal. Nothing…” Charity took a deep breath. “If she offered it to you, then you had to ask where it came from…”
“She said she’d talk about it another time…but I don’t…didn’t…like the look that came over her, Charity.”
“She’ll talk about it, Devon. I can’t…she’s my friend. I can’t…if she gives you permission and won’t talk about it…then alright, call me back. But…I can’t, Devon. It’s…we promised,” Charity told him softly.
“I understand that part,” he said with a long breath. “Alright. I had to try.”
“Umm…have you two…that is…are you…if you’ve…then…”
“Okay, now I’m totally lost,” He said with a light laugh.
“Alright…once more…” Charity closed her eyes. “I don’t mean to get too personal…I mean, with me and Faith and Hope, between us, it’s okay, but you’re…well…a guy…”
“Girl talk is different than guy – girl talk, got it,” Devon repeated.
“Hope has never had a boyfriend before,” Charity said carefully, slowly, hoping he got her meaning.
“That much I know.”
“Okay…from conversation or…practical experience?”
Devon almost laughed at the attempt to be casual from Charity.
“Are you trying to figure out if we’ve slept together or not, Charity? Yes, we spent the night together and I hope there are going to be many more like it,” he answered honestly. He heard a long sigh of relief from the other side of the phone call. “Charity…” His brain had kicked in, realizing the only reason she would be that concerned is if there was some reason to believe their night together wouldn’t happen.
“I can’t, Devon…I honestly…if that part is past, then she’s going to be…it’ll be easier for her, trust me,” Charity said with relief. “It means you’re the right guy for her, too…” She added in soft approval. “You’ll understand. Talk to her, Devon.”
“I think I’m the right guy,” he agreed, sighing. “Alright…thanks, Charity, and I do understand your loyalty.” He closed the phone and slid it back on the desk.
He laughed and relaxed with them over the lunch they had laid out in the kitchen. Watching Mina stand on the stepping stool they had found with handles on the side for her to hold while she climbed. She demonstrated how to make a good sandwich before climbing into her seat and eating the one she made for herself. Then the small fingerprint cookies were brought out with glasses of milk all around.
“I think she wore herself out,” Hope whispered, laying a quilt over the little girl curled up in her play area with her doll.
“You two don’t ever stop moving,” Devon commented, holding his hand out with one finger beckoning her to the other side of the room with him. He turned the chair, rising long enough to grip her waist and sit her on the end of the old, heavy desk. “Can we talk now?”
Hope sighed, her hands in her lap. She nodded slowly.
“Alright…paper and pen, please?”
“Hope…let’s start with why you are reluctant to talk about this…” Devon asked, handing her the striped pad and a pen.
She was silent for a long minute. “I didn’t want you to…I don’t want us to change…I’m afraid you’ll feel different…” She was ready to swipe angrily at the tear that broke free and was rolling down her cheek when he reached up and caught it with his thumb, his palm beneath her chin.
“It’s not possible…unless it becomes even more powerful than what I feel now,” he wanted to stop asking. Wanted to forget the questions and pretend.
“Go to the bank site I put in your phone last night,” she said firmly, turning slightly to watch him tap on the keyboard. She wrote on the paper. “That…is the user name…that…is the password.”
Devon entered the user name and frowned at the password she’d written. All one word.
RAPEDAT14.
He felt his stomach fall to his feet.
“Hope…”
“Enter it…and I’ll explain…” she told him, holding her head high.
Now he understood Charity’s reluctance to speak about it. Now he understood her questions about how intimate they’d become. He opened the accounts, his head still unable to wrap itself around what he saw.
“There are three accounts in there. One is the base deposit. The second, Dominic set up for what he called my retirement with a small portion of the original amount to purchase and expand on my stock portfolio. The third is where dividend money goes when it comes in. You get with Dominic and arrange to take the original account and donate it to the hospice, please.” She paused, inhaling slowly. “We have that in common, Devon. We both received money from something bad…something we didn’t want to happen…and neither one of us wanted to ever touch it or see it again.”
“Hope…you didn’t have to live with crazy room mates,” he teased, moving his chair closer and holding her hands in his.
“Like I said…I never wanted to touch it.”
“I didn’t want to bring it up…I tried getting Charity to talk to me,” he said softly. “But she’s a loyal friend…and told me to talk to you.”
“We…you and me…kind of agreed to no bars where conversation was concerned,” Hope said quietly. “I like that…I don’t want that to ever change, Devon. And it includes this. Faith and I went to the same high school. We met long before we met up with Charity in freshman college at Southern Cal. Some school administrators were visiting one summer when we were taking a couple classes…I was in track and Faith in a computer languages class. One of the administrators asked me to stop at his office after a meet one Saturday. I told Faith where I’d be and went…”
She slid to the floor, pacing for a quiet minute to collect her thoughts and run a set of shaking fingers over her shoulders.
“I don’t have bad memories, Devon. Because he gave me something to drink and I was unconscious for hours,” she went to lean against the desk, smiling wanly at the dark expression on his face. She touched his cheek. “You’re looking very much like the wolf now…”
“My sweet…you have no idea,” he said gruffly, carrying one of her palms to his lips. “No idea…”
“Faith came to the office as he was finishing…she kind of used her computer languages book and…” Hope offered a crooked grin. “He went down like a rock, she told me later. She called the police and ambulance…he had pictures and…and all the evidence was there…I woke up in the hospital a lot later…dazed and confused…a little sore…I think anger set in later…maybe a lot of fear that it would effect how I…if I ever felt anything…so I never explored that part of me…until I met you…I never wanted to explore it,” she inhaled deeply, her shoulders back.
“The prosecutor’s office accepted a deal from the administrators’ attorney. She talked to me…it was up to me…he received prison time of fifteen years and the fifteen million was placed in an annuity trust fund for me, and me alone. We talked about my relatives…they don’t speak to me because I refused to give them money.”
“When I turned twenty one, the account had been managed for me. I found the company Dominic was working for and turned it over to him. I signed whatever they need when they need it and just let them manage it. I remember him telling me the original amount would double every seven years�
��” she shrugged absently. “Did you think I was a bank robber?” She asked, a tiny grin on her face when he pulled her off the desk and onto his lap.
Devon kissed her softly, wanting her reassured that nothing she’d told him changed his opinion about them. He felt a rush of relief when she snuggled down against him, returning his kiss with the same passion they’d shared through the night.
“Devon…you’ll use the money…” Hope peered at him through her lashes. “Get with Dominic and have it transferred to the project.”
“Hope…”
“Please…” she whispered, dragging light kisses along his jaw to his ear.
“I’m doomed…between you and Mina…”
“Smart girls know how to wheedle,” Hope whispered in his ear, biting down on his lobe. “I’ll just find another way to get the money to the project.”
Devon knew he didn’t really have a choice since she’d made the request.
“Wheedle, huh?”
“Yep…I plan on teaching Mina everything I know…I’m going to work on dinner. Ten more minutes and wake her up….or call me and I’ll do it. Or she won’t sleep tonight.” She told him, hopping to the floor and heading to the kitchen. She felt like cooking.
Chapter Thirty-One
Charity knew she was fuming when she dropped her tray to the table. Both Faith and Hope stared for a minute, both offering a shrug to the other.
“Are you gonna talk or make us guess?” Faith asked after a healthy bite of her vegetable soup.
“I was just sent a notice from reception,” she began ripping apart a roll and dipping it in the sauce of her stew.
“Hmm…not resort related or you’d be running down the halls,” Hope remarked, digging into her salad, a tomato on the end of her fork as she waved it. “I’m thinking personal.”
“Relatives,” Charity supplied grimly.
“Here?” Faith swallowed hastily. “When?”
“Here,” she grumbled. “Tomorrow at six. I sent them a message telling them I was working the review that night and couldn’t make it. I invited them to the lounge.”
WindSwept Narrows: #13 Charity, Faith & Hope Page 22