“Oh, my goodness! Viv, what happened?” Mariah came out of her room as Vivian passed and grabbed Vivian’s arm.
“I… he…” The words got lost as she sobbed uncontrollably. She tried to unlock her door, but it wouldn’t open, causing her to cry even harder.
Mariah eased the key from Vivian’s hand. “Let me do it, sweetie.” She opened the door, wrapped her arm around Vivian’s shoulder and led her over to the bed. “What happened?”
It took two tries before Vivian could compose herself enough to tell Mariah what she had seen. “I spent the night with Devin and—”
“You what? Didn’t you say you two weren’t getting back together? I thought you were supposed to tell him why you broke up with him.”
“I know, I know. I was, but after the boat, the dancing…and the kiss, it just sort of happened.”
“That’s wonderful, if that’s what you wanted. But that doesn’t explain why you’re crying your eyes out.”
Vivian squeezed her eyes shut to try to block out the image of Devin and Dawn seared on her brain. “We were supposed to meet for lunch later and I came back to shower and change, but when I got here, I realized my room key fell out of my purse and I went back to get it. When I got there…” The tears started again. “When I got there, Devin was standing in the door wearing nothing but a towel and…” She trailed off again, not wanting to say the words.
“And what,” Mariah coaxed.
“And Dawn was there in the doorway with her dress open and her hand all over him,” Vivian finished on a broken sob.
“What?” Mariah fairly shouted, jumping to her feet. “Please don’t tell me you said what I think you did.”
She swiped at the tears that continued to fall and nodded.
Mariah clapped a hand over her mouth and stared with disbelief. “I don’t believe this,” she muttered over and over. “I know she’s a big flirt, but I never thought she’d go this far. I just assumed she was trying to push you toward Devin.”
“You and me, both. Boy was I wrong.” She threw up her hands. “How could she do this to me? Especially since she knows how I still feel about him. So, what… is she going to keep making passes at him behind my back then smiling in my face?”
Mariah’s expression continued to mirror shock. She slowly lowered herself back to the bed next to Vivian and said, “I don’t know.”
“She was supposed to be my best friend.”
“Mine, too. But I can’t be friends with someone who would do this.”
Vivian and Mariah shared a look and knew that Dawn had crossed a line that had done irreparable damage to their friendship. Tears filled Mariah’s eyes and they both cried, mourning the loss. Half an hour later, they were both cried out.
“What are you going to do about Devin?”
Vivian shrugged. “There’s nothing to do, now. I had planned to talk to him over lunch and hoped he understand and, maybe see if we could work things out because I never stopped loving him. But now, it doesn’t matter.”
“Vivian what really happened between you two?”
She took a deep breath. “You know my family history is not something I’m proud of, Riah. That’s why I never talk about them, or bring you around them.” Her father had served two years for burglary during Vivian’s teen years and was now two years into a twenty-year sentence for armed robbery. Her mother was so devastated she couldn’t seem to shake the depression, and her older brother was determined to follow in their father’s footsteps. “I didn’t want to draw anyone into this craziness, especially Devin. His architectural career was taking off and I couldn’t take the chance of some of my drama splashing over and ruining things. But, remember when I told you my brother was going down the same path? Well, I found out he and his friends were breaking into houses of people we knew… including Devin’s.”
Mariah gasped sharply. “What? Oh. My. God.”
“I was over to my mom’s house one day, went out to the garage and walked in on him and two of his buddies stacking all kinds of things.”
“How did you know some of it was Devin’s?”
“He had an African mask in his hand and I remembered seeing it at Devin’s house. I knew it was his because I really liked it and there’s no way my brother could afford something like that with no job. It had pieces of jade, onyx, opal and a couple of other semi-precious jewels inlaid. Do you have any idea how angry I was?”
“I can’t even imagine. I probably would have kicked his butt.”
“Believe me, I wanted to do that and more.”
“But that still doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
“I found out about it three weeks after the fact.”
“Three weeks? Oh. Well, yeah, I can see how that would be a problem,” Mariah added when Vivian nodded. “Why didn’t you just tell Devin instead of breaking it off?”
“I wanted to, and even told my brother I was going to call the police. But he said if he went down I would, too. He said he’d tell the police I was an accomplice.”
“So, he’s been holding this over your head for the last two years?”
“Yes. He found out about Devin taking me to Monte’s concert on a private plane and started asking about where he lived, what kinds of things he had in his house and about Devin’s sister’s house. I told him Devin broke up with me and I didn’t have any of that information. He’d even bragged about breaking into the house of the guy I went to senior prom with, too.”
“How did he find out where Devin’s lived?”
“According to Greg, he followed Devin and I back to Devin’s place when we were leaving the movies at the Great Mall one night.”
“I am so sorry. I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been for you.”
“You don’t know the half of it. Every time I thought about going to the police, I remembered that threat and I just couldn’t do it.”
“You should have told Devin anyway.”
“Maybe, but we’re talking jail. I did get a small measure of revenge on my brother, though. I waited until he and his friends left and took the mask. It was in a box with a couple of other things, including an antique wedding ring. I also found the painting his sister had given him. Greg had a lot of explaining to do to his friends when those items came up missing. They all accused each other, but never figured I had done it.”
“What did you do with Devin’s stuff?”
“About two months after we broke up, I made an anonymous call to the police. Then I told my brother if he kept stealing, I was going to the police, threat or no threat. He’d already taken enough from me and I had nothing to lose.”
“Girl, you took a big risk telling your foolish brother that. What if he called your bluff?”
She rubbed her temples. “It was a chance I had to take. I couldn’t let him keep taking from people without doing something. It’s bad enough that I have to live with knowing it.”
Mariah laid a hand on Vivian’s arm. “Sweetie, that was a big sacrifice and I think Devin would have understood if you had talked to him. I know he cared about you.”
Vivian stood. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter now. I need to take a shower. I was supposed to meet Devin in an hour, but I’m not going. I think I’ll just lay down.”
“Can I stay in here tonight? Dawn probably won’t be able to get another room today, but I can’t spend one more moment of my vacation sleeping in the same room with her, knowing what she did.”
“Of course. Just take the key.”
“Okay.” Mariah stood and hugged Vivian tightly. “I’m sorry everything turned out so rotten. We still have a few days. Maybe we can salvage what’s left.”
She gave Mariah a sad smile. “I hope so. Thanks, Mariah. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Same here. You’re like the sister I never had. If you want, we can order in and eat on the balcony. I’ll even let you order a real drink. You’ve earned it and it’s noon. Hell, I think I might need one, too. I’ll be bac
k in a few minutes.”
She laughed. “Okay.”
Shortly after, Vivian stood under the warm spray, washing away all traces of her time with Devin. Too bad she couldn’t do the same with the emotions imprinted on her heart. Once again, the tears fell. Instead of trying to stop them, this time she let them come. She leaned against the shower wall and cried until spent. By the time she emerged, Mariah was back and seated in one of the chairs on the balcony.
“I thought I was going to have to come in there and get you,” Mariah said when she glanced into the room and saw Vivian. “You going to be okay?”
Vivian took the chair opposite Mariah and inhaled deeply. “Eventually.” But she wasn’t sure of anything right now.
Devin waited near the restaurant entrance at the scheduled time and scanned the area for Vivian. He checked his watch again for the third time, noting she was five minutes late. He wanted to finally have “that conversation” and try to convince her to give their relationship another chance.
“Well, well. I didn’t expect to see you anytime today,” Jason said, coming up the step.
He folded his arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We saw the way you lit out of the reception last night with your girl. But I also noticed her friend making a play for you, along with three other guys. If you don’t plan to get with her, you’d better watch out. I figured we’d have to flip a coin to see who had the better evening between you and Tony. So, who was the lucky girl?”
“Who do you think?”
“I knew you were a smart man.”
“But Dawn showed up at my room earlier and I had to shut her down.”
Jason’s eyebrows shot up. “She stepped to you like that, knowing you and Vivian’s history? I knew that chick was a little wild, but damn.”
Devin nodded. “I was pissed, but she acted like it was no big deal.”
“Do you plan to tell Vivian?”
“I don’t know. I’m leaning toward no because it would devastate her.”
“Sounds like you two are getting back together.”
“We still need to talk, but…” He let the sentence hang. Devin frowned and glanced down at his watch.
“You need to be somewhere?”
“No. I’m supposed to be meeting Vivian, but she’s late. I think I’ll go up to her room and check on her.” Maybe she had fallen asleep.
“If you’re interested, a group of us are planning to do some sightseeing tomorrow. I’ll leave you a message with the times.”
“Thanks. I’ll catch up with you later.” Devin took determined strides to Vivian’s room. He knocked several times before Mariah opened the door. “Oh, hey Mariah. I’m looking for Vivian.”
Her expression went from pleasant to indignant in a flash. “What do you want?” she asked coldly.
“Is there a problem?” She had come to him and apologized yesterday and now they were back to square one.
“Vivian doesn’t want to see you.”
“What? Why? Where is she?” He attempted to get into the room, but Mariah blocked his path.
“You’re not coming in here.”
“The hell I’m not. When she left me two hours ago, she was fine. Now, all of a sudden she doesn’t want to see me.” Their voices were steadily rising.
“If you don’t leave, I’m calling hotel security,” Mariah snapped.
“I don’t give a damn who you call. I’m not leaving until I talk to Vivian. You can either let me in or I’ll pick you up and go through you. Makes no difference to me.”
“Stop it! Both of you!” Vivian appeared in the doorway rubbing her temples. “Everybody on this floor can hear you. I’ll handle it, Riah.”
“He—” Mariah started.
“Mariah, I said I’ll handle it,” Vivian gritted out. Her tone softened. “Just let me take care of it, okay?”
Mariah glared at Devin once more. “Fine.” She stalked off.
Vivian blew out a long breath.
Devin scrutinized Vivian’s face and frowned. She had been crying. “What’s wrong? Can I come in?”
She stared at him a lengthy minute then opened the door wider and stepped back for him to enter.
Mariah sat in the desk chair glowering at him.
“Let’s go out on the balcony and talk,” Vivian said, leaving him to follow. She closed the door behind them and went to stand at the rail facing the water.
“All right, Vivian, what the hell is going on? We’re supposed to meet. You don’t show and I come up here and find out you don’t want to see me. What happened between the time you left me two hours ago and now?”
“Dawn happened.”
Devin ran a hand over his face. “I take it you saw her outside my door earlier.”
“Obviously you weren’t so tired that you couldn’t sneak in a quickie with my best friend.”
“Come off it, Vivian. You know me better. I would never disrespect you like that.”
Vivian chuckled bitterly. “So, you’re going to stand here and tell me that I didn’t see Dawn at your door with her dress wide open and you wearing nothing but a towel?”
“No,” he said, scrubbing a hand down his face. “She showed up about five minutes after you left. I had just finished showering and thought you were at the door. Believe me, I was just as surprised as you were. Yes, she tried coming on to me, but I shut her down cold and sent her packing. I don’t know what you saw, but that’s what happened.”
“Riiight. You expect me to believe nothing happened.” Vivian pointed her finger in his face. “I saw her hand on your bare chest.”
Devin smoothly brushed her finger aside. “For about one second before I stopped her. If you don’t believe me, we can find her and ask. And I dare her to lie.” He took a step closer to her and reached for her hand. “Sweetheart, you know me. You know me. We were together for eight months. In all that time, did you ever see me so much as glance at another woman?” She gently pulled away from his grasp and turned back to face the water. He took comfort in the fact that she didn’t snatch her hand away.
“No,” she answered in a barely audible voice.
He closed the distance between them and gathered her in his embrace. She held her body stiffly. “I’m sorry. I know she’s your friend, and I swear I didn’t do anything to give her the impression I wanted to pursue anything with her.” Finally, Vivian relaxed against him. They stood silently for several minutes then he said, “I need to know you believe me.”
She hesitated briefly. “Yes, I believe you.”
“Thank you, baby.” He sighed in relief, glad they had cleared up that misunderstanding. But he couldn’t relax fully. He knew they still had one more obstacle to overcome.
CHAPTER TEN
It took some doing, but Devin convinced Vivian to follow through with their lunch date. Sitting across from him as they ate, she was glad she had consented. He had been right about never looking at another woman when they dated, even when women tried coming on to him. She’d been on the receiving end of hostile glares many times and had even overheard one woman ask, “What does he see in her?”
She picked up her second piece of pizza and took a bite. Still upset and out of sorts, Vivian resorted to her comfort food—pizza loaded with pepperoni, mushrooms and green peppers.
“I can’t believe you still do that,” Devin said with a laugh.
“What?”
“Turn your pizza around and eat the crust.”
“Hey, it’s called saving the best part for last. I don’t want anything to interfere with my taste buds once I dig in to my toppings.”
He shook his head. “I remember the first time I saw you do that.”
Vivian rolled her eyes. “Yeah, so do I. You laughed so hard and long that you had to reheat your pizza twice.”
Devin smiled. “You have to admit it is kind of comical to see a plate with three pieces of pizza, all with no crust.”
“Whatever, Devin. You eat your pizza the way you want and
I’ll eat mine the way I want.”
“I eat mine the normal way.”
“Are you going to eat your food, or are you going to sit here and keep criticizing the way I eat? Because me and my pizza can go sit on the beach.”
He lifted his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry, Princess.”
They managed to finish eating without more teasing then Devin suggested they take a walk. He entwined their fingers and led them in the direction of the beach. Vivian paused to take off her sandals and placed them in her free hand as they strolled leisurely along the water’s edge.
Halfway down the shore, he spotted two free loungers and gestured to them. “Let’s sit for a minute.” When they reached them, he sat in one, pulled her to sit between his legs and wrapped his arms around her. “We’ve danced around the subject long enough, Viv. I need to know what happened between us. Did I do something?”
She’d known he would ask sooner or later, but her heart still wasn’t prepared to have the conversation. Taking a deep breath, she began. “You didn’t do anything, Devin. You’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met.”
“Then why, Viv? Help me out here.”
“Two years ago, my father was convicted of armed robbery and he’s in prison. It wasn’t his first brush with the law, though. He served two years for burglary when I was fourteen. He broke into the little mart near our house. It was the hangout for many of us kids and we typically stopped there everyday. Can you imagine my humiliation when my friends and I went in one day after school and the owner said he wouldn’t sell anything to the daughter of a thief? I ran out of that store and all the way home only to find my mother face down on the bed crying her heart out because the police had arrested my father, who had been identified by the store’s camera.
“She stayed in bed for the next four days, not eating and barely sleeping. I’d hear her crying throughout the night and go in to ask if she needed anything, but she’d yell and tell me to get out. From that point on, I was on my own for cooking, cleaning and everything else in the house. It was months before talk died down and some of my friends talked to me again. But, I never went back to that store. I have a brother who’s two years older who wasn’t much help and—”
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