Lucia in Love

by Heather Graham

  “Hey!” Joe called out. “What about goony golf? Aren’t you going to come?”

  Ryan paused, the towel cast carelessly around his neck. He looked at Lucia and smiled ruefully. “No. Thanks for the invitation, though. I’ve got, umm, a business meeting.”

  Joe nodded to him. “Ciao.”

  “Ciao,” Ryan agreed. He looked thoughtfully at Lucia one more time, then turned and left the courtyard, heading for the elevators.

  CHAPTER 4

  The next day was relatively calm.

  Or it would have been if Lucia hadn’t spent the entire time worrying about the possibility that Ryan might show up.

  Or maybe, she admitted to herself, she was worried about the possibility that he might not show up.

  Lying in the sun with a huge straw hat covering her face, she reflected that goony golf had been a lot of fun. The women had easily thrashed the men—even though Frank and Bill and Leon and her uncles loved golf and had made reservations at almost every one of the numerous courses in the Myrtle Beach area. Sophie’s score surpassed all the rest, but, on the whole, the women had a tendency to do better at getting the balls into the mouths of the dragons and other beasts that made up the course. Joe had spent the first half of the evening talking about the tremendous amount of fun they were having and the second half swearing that it was a dumb game and that he never wanted to look at a golf ball again in his entire life. He’d had them all laughing, and Lucia would have enjoyed herself tremendously if…

  If she had been able to forget Ryan Dandridge for just ten minutes. Because of her, he hadn’t come, and she knew it. Or at least she’d thought she knew it. But when they stopped off at the hotel for drinks and snacks after the game, she had discovered how Ryan had spent his evening: with a tall blonde. They had been outside, dining on the terrace, and Lucia had seen them through a plate-glass window. No one else had noticed him, and she had tried very hard not to watch him herself, but she had felt so eaten up inside that she hadn’t been able to resist. It wasn’t that he had been doing anything. The two of them had been eating—king crab claws—and sipping wine—something white. They’d had coffee, but skipped desert. And when they had finished their meal, Ryan had helped the blonde out of her chair and into her wrap, and Lucia had gritted her teeth, watching the way his fingers grazed over the woman’s shoulders. Ryan had paid the bill, and then he and the blonde had walked away along the beach.

  She hadn’t heard a thing anyone said after that. And when they’d returned to the condominium, she couldn’t help wondering if the blonde was in Ryan’s apartment. She had stared up at his windows, but they had been dark.

  When she and Dina reached their apartment, she mumbled some excuse about having left something in the car. But she didn’t run downstairs. Instead she ran up. She wanted to knock on his door, but she’d realized that would be crazy, that it was his business what he did with his time, and who he did it with.

  She fled back downstairs and was grateful to discover that Dina had already gone to bed. Lucia went into her own room, stripped and crawled into her nightshirt, then lay awake most of the night, consumed with jealousy.

  Now it was late afternoon. Ryan hadn’t appeared at all that day. Sophie and Theresa were dozing nearby, the twins and Mark were building a sand castle, and the Three Graces had the baby and Serena and Tracy upstairs with them while they prepared more food than anyone would ever eat.

  Sophie sat up suddenly, stretching. She yawned, dug into the cooler for a diet soda and stretched again.

  “Where has Dina gotten to today?” she asked, puzzled. “You know how she is about sun. She hates to miss a second of it.”

  Lucia rose on her elbows, tilted back her hat and shrugged. “I don’t know. She wasn’t around this morning when I woke up. Maybe she isn’t as desperate for sun as you think. It’s summer in Massachusetts, too, so she hasn’t been freezing recently.”

  Sophie laughed. “That’s right, we did have summer. It came on July seventeenth this year and lasted all day. Hey, it may be warm in September here, but back home, the nights are already cold. If I know Dina, she’s out in the sun somewhere.”

  “She’s a big girl. I’m sure she’s all right,” Theresa mumbled. “Besides, her mother is here. Aunt Faith can worry about her, and my mom and Hope can help. I’m sure that’s about all the worrying any grown woman could possibly need.”

  The three of them laughed, knowing that the Three Graces—and Patience, too—could worry about anything for days on end when they chose.

  Lucia laughed in recognition; then her laughter slowly faded. She saw her Uncle Tony down the beach, and he wasn’t alone. He was in his trunks, with a baseball cap over the shiny part of his bald pate. His hands were locked behind his back, he was looking out to sea, and he was listening to the man beside him: Gino Lopez.

  “Lopez is back,” Lucia said.

  Theresa bolted up, looking at her father. “I’m going to find out what’s going on,” she said.

  “Wait, I’ll come with you.” Lucia jumped up to follow her. Sophie, not about to be left, rose to join them, too.

  They all went hurrying down the beach, Theresa in the lead. “Dad, hey, Dad!”

  Tony looked up at them. Lucia thought that a quick look of dismay passed over his features, but then he smiled broadly. “Hi, there, girls, enjoying the day? It’s delightful, huh? You all know Gino, right?”

  They nodded. Gino gave them his big, reptilian smile, but Lucia didn’t even try to smile in return. She just stared at him.

  “Lucia, the little Lorenzo. Your parents aren’t here, huh?” he said to her.

  She shook her head.

  “They’re in Paris,” Uncle Tony said. “Henry’s thirtieth wedding anniversary present to Patience.”

  “Well, how nice. You tell your folks hello for me when you see them. We’ve missed them since they moved to Georgia.”

  Lucia smiled then. “Well, you’ve missed them for a while then. They moved before I was born.”

  “But they used to come for summers. Now—” He shrugged. “Now we don’t get to see them very often. So you tell them hello for me, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “I guess I’ll be going. See you, Tony. Oh—there’s my son, Ron.” He paused, narrowing his eyes and shading them with his hand. Lucia saw who he was pointing to, a tall, striking man with a dark tan, sandy hair and dark eyes. A sullen expression marred his good looks as he walked through the surf to the shore. Then he saw his father, and the group waiting for him, and a miraculous transformation seemed to take place. The sullen look left his face, and he smiled brightly, suddenly charming.

  “Ron, come up here. You know Tony Chimino. This is his daughter, Theresa, and his nieces, Lucia and Sophie.”

  Lucia shook hands with Ron Lopez. She drew away as quickly as she could. He was very handsome, but she found it impossible to forget who his father was.

  “Nice to meet you,” she murmured. “I have to get back to the apartment. I’ll see you all later.”

  She turned around and started back. A second later, Theresa and Sophie joined her.

  “You should have seen him!” Theresa whispered.

  “He was eating you up!” Sophie added.

  “Who?”

  “Ron Lopez. Actually, he isn’t bad, Lucia. He’s very good-looking, and Lopez is worth a fortune, you know.”

  “Yes, and remember how he got his money!” Lucia said. “I’m not interested.”

  She felt Theresa shrugging to Sophie behind her back. “Most of the men here are eating you up. With their eyes, I mean.”

  Lucia stopped walking. “What are you talking about?”

  “You look good in a bathing suit, Lucia. Really good. You can take your pick of the men on the beach, you know.”

  “You could tell,” Theresa continued, “with Ryan Dandridge last night.”

  Lucia started walking again, quickly. “You know, you’re both sweethearts, but I’m really not looking for a man.”
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  “Lucia, you’re not getting any younger,” Sophie warned her.

  “And I’m not quite ready to keel over, either, thank you both very much!”

  “He was really taken with you, I’m certain,” Theresa said smugly. “Ryan Dandridge, I mean.”

  “It was almost as if you two had known each other before,” Sophie teased.

  “Really? How interesting.”

  “Now that is a man worth having,” Theresa said firmly.

  None of them realized that they had stopped right by the spot where the twins and Mark were building a sand castle. Giles stood up, grinning.

  “Marry him, Cousin Lucia. If you do, we’ll get to come here all the time.”

  “Giles!” his mother chastised him.

  “I’ll bear that in mind, Giles,” Lucia said.

  “He would be a great catch,” Sophie said decidedly.

  “A great catch?” Lucia threw her hands in the air. “What age are we living in? I’m an adult with a nice business and I support myself very well, thank you, and I don’t need ‘a great catch’!”

  “The term has changed meaning, that’s all,” Theresa said lazily. “He’s gorgeous, he’s courteous and he’s great with kids. And he’s sexy as hell. And we’re all human, and by a great catch, I mean a man with warmth and laughter and the right kind of personality. He’s a great catch,” she repeated firmly.

  “I’m sure he is,” Lucia murmured, dropping her eyes and searching desperately for a way to change the subject. She looked from Theresa to Sophie, certain that what she had to say would catch their interest. “What do you think is going on?” she asked in a low voice. “Last night Lopez was harassing Uncle Mario, and Uncle Paul jumped to his defense. Today it’s your father.”

  “I don’t like that man,” Sophie said.

  “Maybe he’s just here on vacation,” Theresa told them. “He’s here with his son, after all.”

  “Maybe,” Lucia said, shrugging. She didn’t have any other answers. At least, not that she wanted to think about. “I’m going to shower.”

  “See you at cocktail hour,” Theresa said.

  “Cocktail hour?”

  “We’re going to have drinks and snacks at Frank’s and Ellen’s, and then move over to Charity’s and Faith’s for dinner. Sounds fun, just like a vacation.”

  Lucia laughed. “Just like a vacation.”

  They had reached the parking garage, and the sound of squealing tires caused them all to turn around.

  Frank, Leon, Joe, Uncle Mario and Dina were all stuffed into a white Mercedes—and Ryan Dandridge was driving.

  “The mystery of Dina is solved!” Theresa said.

  “I didn’t know she likes to golf,” Sophie said.

  “I don’t think golf was the driving force, no pun intended,” Theresa said.

  Lucia didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of this conversation and, most of all, she didn’t want to see Ryan. She didn’t want to see Dina laughing and putting her hands all over him.

  Where was the blonde now? she wondered, then shrugged inwardly. But her fingers were trembling, and she really did need to get away. “I’m heading in. I really want a shower.” She lifted her hand and waved to the returning golfers, then headed quickly for the elevator. She hit the button for her floor, and the elevator door closed behind her.

  When the door opened at her floor, she found herself staring at Ryan, who was leaning casually against the wall, waiting for her.

  “How did you get here?”

  “I walked.”

  “You must have run like the wind.”

  “I walked quickly.”

  “Why?”

  The doors started to close again, and he pulled her out of the elevator. She shrugged quickly away from his touch. “Oh, no, Mr. Dandridge. Hands off, remember?”

  He scowled. “I was merely trying to get you out before the doors closed on you.”

  “You built this place. I know that an elevator door here would never close on me.”

  “Such faith. I do appreciate it, Lucia.”

  She ignored him and started walking toward her apartment, pulling out her key as she went. He followed her. He was in golf clothes: a white polo shirt; blue shorts; white socks and sneakers. He looked like an ad for a sporting-goods store. Bronzed, healthy, muscular, rugged and athletic.

  The blonde had probably thought so, too.

  To her distress, she fumbled with the key when she tried to open her door. He took the key from her fingers, and easily opened the door, pushing it inward. He made no attempt to come in, nor did she ask him, but when she tried to walk past him, he caught the door so she couldn’t enter.

  “What do you want?” she asked him.

  “I want to know what you were doing outside my door last night.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t give me that wide-eyed innocent look. I heard you and I would have come out, except I wasn’t dressed. By the time I put something on, you were gone.”

  Lucia pushed past him. “Not being dressed was a deterrent for you? Why? I imagine that half the population of Myrtle Beach and Garden City has seen you in the buff by now. Excuse me, will you?”

  But he didn’t excuse her.

  The door slammed shut, and she jumped back, looking up at him. She hated being barefoot when he towered over her. She didn’t much care for the angry pulse she saw beating in his throat, either.

  “No, half of this place hasn’t seen me in the buff, Ms. Lorenzo. Is that what this is all about?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t you?”

  “No.”

  “What were you doing up there?”

  “I, er, I thought that I had lost an earring up there yesterday morning. Then I realized I hadn’t.”

  “So you were going to come and get it at midnight?”

  “I realized how late it was and I left. Sorry I disturbed you.”

  “Lucia, you’re a liar, and a bad one. What did you want?”

  “I didn’t want anything,” she said firmly. But her innocent pose wasn’t going to work. He wasn’t touching her, but he was almost on top of her. In a moment he was going to grab her arm and pull her close, leashing his anger so he didn’t hurt her, but the tension would bubble and rise and cascade all around them, and then—

  “Lucia, there you are. Ryan, are you coming in for a while?”

  The moment was broken as Dina came hurrying off the elevator, smiling. She slipped her arm through Ryan’s. “It was hot out there today. Lucia, you look charbroiled, nearly as copper as a penny.”

  Ryan disentangled his arm, smiling at Dina. “I’m not coming in right now.” He raised his eyes over her head, meeting Lucia’s. “I think maybe I will come to the cocktail hour, though. See you then.”

  He turned and walked toward the elevator. Both women watched him go. Dina sighed. “Joe says he’s carrying a torch.”

  “What?” Lucia demanded.

  “Joe says he’s just coming out of an affair that went sour on him. Who would leave a guy like that?”

  Lucia didn’t answer as she entered the condominium. Instead she said, “I am charbroiled. I’m going to hop straight into the shower.”

  Lucia went into the bathroom, eager to wash away the salt and the sand of the beach, and eager for the cold water that could momentarily take her mind off Ryan Dandridge.

  Joe said that he was still carrying a torch….

  Not for her. Besides, Ryan Dandridge didn’t carry torches. He had a whole score of understudies in the wings at all times. Maybe it wasn’t his fault. Maybe he just liked women, and they liked him in turn.

  The bathroom door suddenly burst open. Lucia froze, panicked. Then she realized it was just Dina.

  “Hey!” Dina called. “You’ve been in there forever! Thank goodness we’re not paying for water here. I made you one of my specialities. It’s a super-duper piña colada. It’s on the sink when you come out.”

  “T
hanks!”

  “Sure thing.”

  A few moments later Lucia came out wrapped in a big towel. She sipped the drink and smiled—it was delicious.

  Piña colada in hand, she wandered through her bedroom to the living room. She sat down, setting her drink on the coffee table, unwrapped the towel from her hair and started to dry it.

  Then she heard Dina giggling from the balcony and realized that the doors were open, but it was too late. Dina stepped into the living room, already showered and dressed in a casual blue cocktail dress. Ryan followed her in. He, too, had already showered and changed. He was dressed in jeans and a tailored stone-washed shirt, and a casual soft fawn jacket lay over his arm. Both of them stopped and stared at Lucia, who was still clad in a towel.

  She stared at them both in turn, muttered an expletive, then disappeared into her bedroom.

  She leaned against her closed door, suddenly very frightened and unable to breathe. It had been one thing to bear the pain of leaving him when it was something private, something she had been able to endure from a great distance. But now he was everywhere she turned. With a blonde. With Dina. Her own damned cousin. It wasn’t fair.

  She pushed herself away from the door, tossing back her hair. She didn’t care. She didn’t care. She didn’t care…let Dina suffer the heartache this time.

  But she did care. She discovered that when she went to her closet. She chose a soft teal dress of swirling silk that was nearly backless, sheer stockings and four-inch heels. Then she swept her hair high off her neck in a French braid. When she was done, she stepped back. The effect, she thought, was perfect. Mature, sophisticated. Pleased with herself, she picked up her evening bag and headed for the living room.

  Then she paused for a moment, realizing that she was competing with her cousin. But I saw him first! she protested inwardly.

  You saw him, but you couldn’t handle the competition, and you ran away, she reminded herself.

  She bit her lip. It didn’t matter. She had to be cool and casual, and she had to hold her own.

  They were still in the living room when she came out. Ryan was seated casually on the couch; Dina was across from him on the chair. He wasn’t sipping one of Dina’s piña coladas, though; he was drinking a beer.