A Touch of Passion (boxed set romance bundle)

by Uvi Poznansky

  When the water began coming out of the shower in a cold steady stream, Charity stood and shut it off. She toweled off, dressed in pink shorts and a white, pink striped top, combed her hair, and just tucked it behind each ear instead of drying it. She studied her face in the mirror and tried to remember how to breathe calmly again. Since there was nothing left to do but see what David had to say for himself, she steeled her nerves and headed for the living room.

  Right before she opened the door Charity had another panic attack. Fear that he had just disappeared again while she’d been stalling to face him had her heart racing all over again. She wondered what she would do if he had left, as she made her way to the living room. A mixture of relief and anxiety filled her the moment she saw him seated on the sofa. He looked up the moment she stepped into the room. She couldn’t be sure but he appeared to be just as anxious as she was feeling. After a couple of deep breaths, she headed towards David and sat in the chair directly in front of him.

  His keen dark blue eyes took in her anxiety and her stiff poise in the chair. When she didn’t say anything he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.”

  His expression clearly demonstrated his sincerity, but Charity wasn’t going to be that easily swayed. Instead of accepting his apology, she just stared at him and waited.

  He broke eye contact for a moment, his gaze drifted to the ocean view. After a second or two, he stood and walked over to the sliding glass doors. Only after putting some distance in between them was he able to make eye contact again. “I understand I have sorely tested the limits of our friendship and I also understand you may never trust me again.” He held both hands out from his sides as if surrendering. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you, and to Suzette.”

  For a brief moment all she wanted to do was run over and throw her arms around him. His heartbreaking expression was almost her undoing, but then she remembered how many times Suzette had needed him and he hadn’t been there for her. “Your daughter needed you. Do you have any idea how many times I have walked the floor with her crying the entire night because she was inconsolable? Did it ever occur to you that you weren’t the only person affected by Maria’s death? Did you ever think your daughter needed her only living parent and that maybe, just maybe, she might have been grieving too?”

  She held up a hand to forestall him from answering. She stood and glared at him. “I understand you lost your best friend. Your daughter lost her mother. The one person on earth who might have helped heal that loss was you, but you were too wrapped up in your own grief to think about anyone but yourself. So if you think for one moment you have something to say to me that will explain why you think any reason could justify your desertion, you can just save your breathe because I don’t want to hear it. The one thing I have learned over the past couple of years is that actions speak louder than words.”

  There were so many emotions playing over David’s face that she couldn’t even begin to fathom what was going through his mind. For the first time since seeing him on the beach, it occurred to her that she was a guest in his house and was no more than a glorified nursemaid to Suzette. He could tell her to pack her bags and leave. He was under no obligation to explain his actions to her and she could very well lose everything. Everything was what Suzette had become to her. That thought almost had her hyperventilating again, but she put on a brave face and waited.

  By some miracle her voice came out sounding much calmer than she felt, “Are you staying, or are you leaving town again in another puff of smoke?”

  David took a step towards her. “I’m staying.” He shifted his weight under her heavy stare. “Will you please stay and help me with Suzette? She’s afraid of me.” She recognized deep regret and a pain he couldn’t hide.

  Misery was thick in his tone and expression, and it broke Charity’s heart just a little. “I would like to stay here with Suzette. What are you going to do about Charles’ movie? Are you going to sign?”

  David ran his fingers through his thick black hair. He had let it grow quite a bit over the past months. It fell well below his collar. The long hair gave him a devilish look that he had not possessed before. “I called Charles yesterday and asked if he would give me a couple more days to decide. I wanted to ask you first, if you would be willing to work with me. I don’t want to do anything to make you uncomfortable on the new set.”

  “I don’t have a problem working with you. I had it put in my contract for Suzette to be looked after by a wonderful nanny on site. I remember the long hours we had to put in for Touchdown of the Heart. I knew there would be plenty of time in between filming to visit. With you on site we can both be there for her.” Her nerves finally got the better of her and she had to sit.

  David must have been waiting for her to do so because he immediately walked over and sat in the chair facing hers. “You deserved much more from me than a message through Michael about where I had gone off to. My daughter deserved so much more from me. I took advantage of your natural kindness, and misused my friendship and Maria’s friendship. I used you, and I can’t even begin to imagine what you think about me. I know you have put your career on hold to take care of Suzette. Michael called me every week to let me know how you and she were doing. It is easy to see how much my daughter loves you.”

  Charity shifted in her chair. The ease she had always felt around him no longer existed. It felt as if they were more like strangers than friends. “To be quite honest. I’m not certain how I feel about you.” She sat forward so they were almost knee to knee. “I love you, David. That’s never going to change. I know how much you loved Maria. There’s some part of me that understands why you left and there’s another part that never will. You owed your daughter more and on a lesser level, you owed me more.”

  She reached out and touched his knee. “I love Suzette with every fiber of my being. I’ll admit I just spent the last hour being madder than hell at you, but sitting here with my best friend in the entire world, I can’t stay that way. Suzette needs you so much and I’ll do everything within my power to make this easy on both of you.” She pointed a finger at him. “Don’t leave us again.”

  He leaned forward and took her hand. “I’m not going anywhere.” He looked at their hands and then met her eyes again. “Do you think that we can ever be friends again?”

  Charity sighed and tried her best not to cry. “The sad thing is, we always were. I was here for you the whole time. Suzette and I both were.”

  He broke eye contact again and cleared his throat. He kept his eyes glued to their intertwined fingers. “I know that now. I spent every day and night wondering what I could have done differently and then last week Michael showed up with two envelopes. One held the new contract and the other was filled with pictures of you and Suzette. I refused to open either envelope until after he left, and when I did, I died inside.”

  He finally looked up again but only as far as her chin. “I saw my best friend in the world and my baby daughter. There you both were in snap shots and I realized there wasn’t a bigger fool on earth than me. While I had been busy trying to reclaim my past, I was losing my future. I knew then I had so much to answer for and so much to make right.” Only then did he look into her eyes again. “I will never let either of you down again and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make up to Suzette what I stole from her.” He let out a long sigh. “What I stole from me too. Maria’s gone. There are moments it still doesn’t feel real, but I know I have to let her go.” He shook his head and looked away again. “She would be so disappointed in me right now.” A tear slid down his cheek.

  Charity reached out and wiped it away. “You’re here now so why don’t we both just focus on the future and what’s best for Suzette. We’ll take it one day at a time. How about that?”

  He gave a solemn nod.

  When they heard sounds of her stirring on the baby monitor he followed Charity into the nursery. By the time they reached Suzette, she was holding onto the bed railing and peeking o
ver the edge. She grinned when she saw Charity, but the moment she saw David, she frowned and plopped down onto the mattress. She eyed him warily before holding her arms out for Charity to pick her up.

  While he tried not to show his disappointment and hurt, it seemed as if his acting skills had suffered during his self-imposed exile. It was easy to see that it was going to take some time before Suzette trusted him. To her, he was just another stranger. Charity knew that had to hurt but there was nothing she could do to fix that. It was just going to take time, patience, and a load of love from David to overcome what his absence had created.

  ❋

  The next few weeks turned out to be a series of tests for David. Even Charles insisted on meeting him at the studio the next morning for a one on one meeting when David called just to tell him he was ready to sign the new contract.

  There had only been a hand full of people who knew where David had really been after Maria’s death. Fortunately, Michael had convinced everyone else that he had traveled to his and Maria’s house in France, with his newborn daughter, to recover from Maria’s death. The people who knew the truth were at first standoffish, as if he were a fragile vase or something. Everything was strained but with each day it got a little easier for everyone and even David was slowly beginning to lose his haunted look. There were times he actually appeared to see people instead of seeing through them. He was smiling more often and was actually beginning to put on some of the weight he had lost while he had been away.

  ❋

  When the day finally came for them to appear on the new set, it turned into a frenzy of activity. It took a full hour to meet the new cast members and catch up with the old ones. Since it was the first time anyone had seen Suzette everyone had to hold her. The first chance she could reclaim Suzette, she grabbed her and all but ran toward the nursery Charles had built just to accommodate Suzette’s needs.

  Since her hands were full from holding Suzette and her bag of extra clothes Charity kicked the nursery door shut with her foot. She leaned up against it and drew in a long weary breath. After a second of calming down from all of the meeting and greeting, she finally faced the new nanny. “I see you didn’t have any trouble finding the new nursery. It’s crazy out there with the sets still being worked on. Charles has reassured me that they should have everything wrapped up by Friday. Do you think the noise is going to be too much for Suzette?” Charity glanced at Suzette. Her head was lying on her shoulder but her eyes were wide open and alert.

  The new nanny, Mrs. Hamilton, appeared to be a sixty-something year-old lady. Charity had never asked her age, and Marge had never found any reason to disclose it. Her graying hair was sprayed into a football helmet and her present attire was a bright flowered dress, stockings, and no-nonsense black shoes.

  Marge took Suzette out of Charity’s arms. “Our little girl here loves all of the activity and attention. She’ll be fine if we can keep her admirers down to a minimum around nap time.”

  Marge carried her over to the crib and placed a colorful quilt over her. “I have a tape of lullabies in my purse. That should help with the noise. It’s not so bad in here with the door shut. Babies are very adaptable so you shouldn’t worry about her. She’s going to be just fine.”

  Charity carried the diaper bag over to Mrs. Hamilton and handed it to her. “David and I will be in meetings for the rest of the day. If the noise becomes too much for Suzette, call Stanley and he can take both of you to the beach house. I’m going to let you decide what’s best for Suzette. David and I would like for her to stay here but we also don’t want the constant distractions to upset her rest.” With that, she hurried out of the room to catch up with the other cast members for the production meeting. It wasn’t easy leaving Suzette, but it was easy to see that Mrs. Hamilton was quite capable of taking care of her for the next few months.

  It only took a couple of days for Suzette to get used to her new routine, and she loved all of the attention she was getting from everyone on the set. It wasn’t that easy for Charity to learn to share Suzette.

  About mid-week, while in between production meetings, Charity took the time to check in on Suzette. Mrs. Hamilton was spooning the applesauce into her mouth when Charity entered the makeshift nursery. Suzette grinned through bubbles and applesauce when she saw her.

  “How’s my sweetie-pie doing?”

  Mrs. Hamilton gave her stool up so Charity could take over Suzette’s feeding.

  Charity grinned as she took the spoon filled with applesauce. “How are the two of you doing with all this noise? It’s not too much, is it Marge?”

  “We are doing just fine.” Between each bite Marge wiped at the corners of Suzette’s mouth with a damp cloth. “Suzette loves the noise and activity. It’s not always easy to get her settled down for her afternoon naps though. Mr. Warren was just here feeding Suzette her peas and carrots. That was quite a chore, since our little girl here doesn’t like those nasty vegetables.”

  Charity laughed and pulled Suzette out of the high chair. It took some expert maneuvering to extract her from the complicated contraption and not get any of Suzette’s lunch on her own clothes in the process. “You don’t have to tell me that. She somehow always manages to spit out more than I put in. I’ve thought about calling Ripley’s Believe it or Not. It must be some kind of scientific wonder.”

  Suzette wrapped her tiny arms around Charity’s neck and planted a wet, applesauce kiss on her cheek. “Hello sweetheart. How are you doing? Do you want to go outside for a little while?” The only answer to that was a wide applesauce grin from Suzette, so Charity took the wet cloth from Marge and finished cleaning Suzette’s face. The baby thought that it was a game and began giggling and squirming. Charity wiped furiously until all signs of applesauce were gone. She handed the cloth back to Marge and told Suzette, “Let’s go before someone sees me and drags me back into another long boring meeting.”

  Suzette clapped her chubby hands together.

  Charity turned to Marge and said, “You should go take a break and get out of here for a while. They still have the lunch table set up if you’re hungry.”

  Marge didn’t have to be told twice. “Thanks dear. I’m starting to get a little hungry. When you get back, I will put Suzette down for her nap.”

  “We’ll be back in about thirty minutes. I’m not certain how long Charles plans on keeping us here today. I still have to be measured for a few more costumes. I’ll let you know as soon as I do. It could be David will get finished first. He may want to head home with Suzette so she can rest in her own bed this afternoon.”

  The noise outside of the studio wasn’t as loud, but it had just as much activity going on as it did inside. Charity had to walk several minutes to find somewhere suitable to put Suzette down so she could play. She finally located a small grassy area some distance from the studio. Suzette crawled around and pulled at the blades of grass.

  “I guess I should have thought to bring a toy out here for you to play with. I will try to remember one tomorrow. We will just make do with the grass today.”

  Charity sat down on the grass next to Suzette and after only a few minutes, a shadow fell across them. Charity looked up to see David standing over them.

  “Do you mind if I join you?’

  Charity shaded her eyes against the sun. She was still not comfortable around David. She had not forgotten her promise to let the past stay in the past, but it had not been as easy as she’d thought it would be. She missed their easy friendship.

  She tried to sound casual. “Sure, if you don’t mind grass stains.”

  David scooped Suzette up before he sat down. Suzette froze at first, and looked over at Charity for assurance that she wasn’t going anywhere. When she saw that the person she trusted the most in the world wasn’t leaving, she relaxed, deciding it was okay for David to pick her up, and clapped her hands playfully on his face.

  The two of them were growing closer every day and soon they weren’t going to need her. She had to m
ake a conscious effort every single day to remember Suzette was David’s daughter and not hers. It was impossible to see how it was all going to end without getting her heartbroken. Charity couldn’t see a happy ending and that made her feel selfish and a little greedy. Why did loving another person have to hurt so much?

  “The two of you looked so happy out here. I had to join you.” He pulled Suzette closer and hugged her. “It hasn’t been easy sharing her with everyone on set.”

  Suzette grabbed a handful of David’s hair. A look of pain crossed his face, but he let her keep her prize. Suzette decided since the hair felt so good, she should probably taste it too. She chewed on it a bit and decided that it felt better than it tasted.

  Now there was a trail of slobber from the top of David’s head to Suzette’s mouth. Charity laughed at the sight. She circled her finger over her head indicting where he should wipe off. “You should probably wipe that spit out of your hair before our next meeting.”

  David sat Suzette back onto the grass and the moment she was free from his arms, she crawled over his long legs to Charity. Suzette pulled herself into Charity’s lap and patted the side of Charity’s face. Charity pulled Suzette up and planted tiny little kisses all over her chubby cheeks. Suzette squealed with delight.