Once she’d fallen asleep, he took his briefcase and headed downstairs. With the seeds of a new song dancing around his mind, he headed for Roxanne’s piano. Working all through the night and on into the next morning, he labored diligently.
Soon enough, time would come to record a new album and Frank had to get busy. Maybe seeing Roxanne again after all this time was actually a blessing. Because of his run-in with her, new and different words were coming to him every day. After the last album, he’d thought he’d exhausted that source within himself. But now, he knew it wasn’t true. Much more music still lived inside of him, aching for release.
Frank didn’t know any other way to express his feelings. Music was the only way he’d ever been able to constructively let it out. A few songs had done more damage than good, but it could’ve been much worse.
In the early hours of the morning, just after daybreak, Roxanne heard the piano as she made her way downstairs. Frank’s voice filled the air with a tune she couldn’t recall. She found it hypnotic, but couldn’t be sure if it was his words or his singing.
Letting go was so hard you see
Life without you has been painful for me
Memories cloud my mind
Of the love we had
Do you ever think of us
Does it ever make you sad
Well I think about us everyday
I think about us all too much
And I know I need to find some other way
Cause I miss your sweet touch
I tried to find someone to take your place
But I never had any luck
Girl, I need you here by my side too
Cause no one else will ever do
All those lonely nights
Were so hard to face
And I tried so hard to find someone else
Someone to take your place
Well I think about us everyday
I think about us all too much
And I know I need to find some other way
Cause I miss your sweet touch
I tried to find someone to take your place
But I never had any luck
I need to know that you still care
That you still need the kind of love that we share
I’m blinded by your charms
Is it really so bad to want to begin again
Because only in your arms
Can my broken heart mend
Well I think about us everyday
I think about us all too much
And I know I need to find some other way
Cause I miss your sweet touch
I tried to find someone to take your place
But I never had any luck
Roxanne stood silently behind Frank, who seemed to be one with the piano as he brought the last few lines of the song to life. His sunglasses sat on top of the musical instrument. At first thought she wanted to grab them and toss them in the trash. If she could see into Frank’s eyes when he talked to her, then she’d also see what he was thinking. His eyes didn’t lie, no matter how many half-truths and fallacies came out of his mouth.
Frank must have sensed her presence because he stopped singing and playing abruptly. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “What do you think?”
“It’s very pretty.” Roxanne moved closer and rested her hand on the edge of the piano. “I don’t think anyone’s ever played this piano until today,” she said, a little on the nervous side.
Roxanne’s eyes glittered with a wild, trapped look. That’s when Frank realized his sunglasses were off. He snatched up the Vaurnets and covered the mirrors to his soul. No matter how much he might want to, he couldn’t let his feelings get in the way. Above all else, he had to protect himself from Roxanne. He wouldn’t allow her another chance to hurt him. No matter what his songs cried out for, he refused to give her the opportunity to harm him again. This time it just might destroy him.
Frank couldn’t forget his main objective. Roxanne had to pay for what she’d done to him. Nothing else mattered.
Sometimes, Frank nearly lost sight of his goals. Luckily though, something always reminded him that he had but one purpose in life. He might get a little carried away now and then, and he might secretly wish for something totally unattainable. But he always remained in control. That control kept him within the bounds of reality now. Ultimately, only one thing mattered—Roxanne Simon had to regret the day she met Frank Garrett.
He knew better than anybody about that old saying regarding flies and honey. If he was sweet enough, he’d catch Roxanne with little effort. Then Frank remembered what had brought him to Roxanne’s house in the first place. Candy. He supposed he should adhere to the matter at hand. After all, good things come to those who wait. And he could wait until Candy came home. By then, he’d have a plan. One that detailed his plot for revenge against Roxanne.
He picked out a short, sweet tune on the piano and then slapped his hands against his thighs. “You ready to go to the hospital?”
“If it’s not an bother. You do seem rather busy.”
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” he said, standing. Taking the sheet music, he put it away neatly and protectively inside his briefcase. “Some things are more important.” He closed the lid. “This can wait,” he said, patting the top of the briefcase.
Roxanne and Frank headed for the hospital, while Frankie stayed home with Rose.
The doctor peeled the bandages away from Candy’s face, and Roxanne clung to Frank. Because of the implications, he couldn’t do anything but hold her and try to offer her comfort.
“The lacerations are healing nicely.” The doctor’s words were reassuring, but didn’t seem to be directed at anyone in particular. “I don’t think there’ll be a need for reconstruction, after all.”
“Does that mean my face isn’t mangled?” Candy asked with a hint of absurdity.
“That’s right.” This time, the doctor’s words were directed at Candy. “When we remove the pads you’ll experience some fuzzy vision because your eyes have been covered for a few days.” She peeled away the first pad. “It shouldn’t last too long.”
Candy opened her eyes, thinking she was mentally prepared for the fuzzy vision. She could see brightness to the left. The window must be over there. There were shadows here and there, but she didn’t have any idea where the doctor, nurse, or anybody else might be standing in the room. Somehow, Candy didn’t think this was what the doc meant when she said fuzzy vision, because she couldn’t see a damned thing.
Candy got scared.
The fact that Candy could only see shadows and a bit of light wasn’t considered as having any sight at all. She found herself being subjected to more and more tests. At the conclusion of all those tests, the doctors found they didn’t know anything more than they did when they’d started. Technically, there wasn’t anything wrong with Candy. Medically speaking, her vision should be close to perfect. She shouldn’t have a need for glasses, much less a blind person’s cane.
Candy sat there in her hospital bed, trying desperately to look around and see something. Anything. But it was no use. She couldn’t see a damned thing.
Hearing the soft knock at the door, she could guess her visitor’s identity.
“Rich,” she called out warmly.
“There’s no sneaking up on you, is there?” He gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek.
“They’re going to let me out of here this afternoon,” she said.
“Need a ride?”
“I guess I do. I don’t have a car anymore.” She sighed heavily. “Even if I did…I can’t see to drive.”
“Candy, I have to tell you something.”
“No. No, you don’t.”
“Yes I do. And it won’t do any good for you to say you don’t want to hear it.” He wanted her to understand his intentions. “If I would’ve admitted this in the first place, then we wouldn’t be here in this hospital room right now. If it wasn’t for my stupid pride…” With each w
ord, his voice powered up a notch. “I would have just come right out and told you a long time ago…that I do love you,” he said. “I always have and I always will.”
One thing Candy understood was pride. She had more than her share of it, too. It’d always been of the utmost importance to her. The way she saw it, if she lost her pride then she was bound to fall.
“Rich, we don’t have to play this game anymore. I know how you feel. You made that quite clear the other day,” she said. “I’ve accepted the fact that we can never be anything more than friends. So let it go.”
Candy underestimated Rich if she thought he’d back off so easily. As far as he could see, he had all the time in the world. If that’s how long it took, he’d wait patiently. He’d found his calling, and it really didn’t matter if she liked it or not.
Roxanne stayed with Frank in the hospital lobby and they waited for Rich to bring Candy down. Her heart and her conscience were heavily burdened by Candy’s prognosis.
“Since Rich is giving Candy a ride...do you want me to take you home?” Frank searched her face as if he was on the trail of some buried secret.
“You know where I’d really like to go?” Even as she said it, she wasn’t sure why she had. Sure, she wanted to go there, but with Frank?
Frank grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the parking garage exit, as if he knew exactly where she was talking about.
Why did that surprise her?
The drive to Sunset Beach remained mostly quiet between Frank and Roxanne. “It looks like rain,” his said, looking at the sky filled with unbroken gray clouds. Rain was inevitable.
But it couldn’t stop the unavoidable. Win or lose, it was now or never.
Coasting into a parking space in a mostly deserted lot, Frank killed the engine and stepped outside into a light drizzling rain.
“You still want to stay?” he asked, opening her car door.
She nodded. A little rain wouldn’t scare her away. She needed the comfort the sight of the ocean could bring. He helped her from the car and held onto her hand as they walked along the beach in silence.
Breathing in the damp sea-air, Roxanne looked out over the water. There was something a little unsettling in the way those tiny raindrops fell from the sky and created such a disturbance over the bay.
The rain fell harder, darkening the sand in spots. She didn’t care that she was getting wet, and he didn’t seem to mind either. They kept strolling along the water’s edge, away from the populated area, toward a cluster of trees and seclusion.
“I guess you won’t be needing me anymore,” he said with a hint of anxiety twisting his voice.
“Frankie…” Roxanne knew how much she needed him, but she didn’t know how to make him believe it—or care.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to push myself on you.” His words were promising, but his tone was remorseful. “I know I’m not what you want. I just want to be able to see our son.”
When life is uncertain
And the world is cold outside
“I won’t try to keep you and Frankie apart.” Roxanne stopped and turned to Frank, wishing she could look into his eyes. Even though she couldn’t see past his sunglasses, she tried to imagine what those baby blues of his might be hiding. “I know you don’t believe this—” She shook her head. “—but I love you!”
No. he didn’t believe it. But why couldn’t it be so. He’d always loved her. He might not be willing to say it out loud, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t so.
“I know I don’t have any right to be asking this of you…but I need you. I need to be with you.” She paused with a small catch of breath. “I know you don’t like me very much anymore…but I have never, not once, ever stopped loving you.”
Frank smiled. He’d won. Reclaiming her lips, he crushed her to him. His mouth throbbed with the passion that’d been lying dormant inside him for the last five years.
He was shocked at the effect the kiss had on him. It was hard to control himself. He hadn’t planned on this. He had won the battle, but his plans would have to change if he intended to win the war. Besides, it wouldn’t be so bad. He’d always enjoyed making love to Roxanne.
He cupped her face in his hands. “You know that I’ve always loved you,” he said, only because he knew it was what she wanted to hear.
The fact that it could be true was beside the point. It ran so much deeper than that. He supposed, deep down, he’d have to admit that he did love her. But he wanted to hate her more than he needed to love her. He wanted her to pay for the betrayal. But mostly, she had to pay for keeping his son away from him.
Glancing up and down the beach, he realized they’d walked so far that there were no houses or buildings in sight. And because of the rain, he doubted anyone would happen upon them.
Frank slid his hands under her skirt and they fell easily together, dropping down to the wet sand. He rolled on top of her and showered her with ardent kisses.
She welcomed his demanding kisses because she needed him so badly. She wanted Frank to make love to her. She needed to feel him inside of her. She’d made love with only two other men since disappearing all those years ago. In the end, she’d wanted nothing more than for both of those men to be Frank.
Right now, she could have the real thing. She knew her aspirations were wrong but she didn’t care. She knew Frank Garrett would be her downfall sooner or later. She just didn’t know if she needed to protect herself from him more than she needed to be with him.
“Make love to me, Frankie,” she whispered, giving way to desire.
Frank pushed his way inside her, feeling her urgency grabbing at him. This made his own passion grow with even more excitement. They made love. There on the beach. In the rain. And it’s not that he didn’t enjoy it, because he did. It’s just that he had more reasons for doing it, than passion’s sake. Even so, he’d derived more satisfaction from the experience than he’d willingly admit, even to himself.
Inside his mind, a plan came to him. If he married Roxanne, he could talk her into giving him legal rights to his son. Once that happened, he’d find a way to take Frankie away from her. Completely.
The rain subsided as she settled into Frank’s cozy embrace, exhausted.
Roxanne thought she’d never be able to feel these things with Frank again. Still, in all her indulgence she could only perceive the lie disguised so well as desire. It was a good lie, as far as lies go. But it was still a lie. Deep down inside she knew Frank was out to get her. And worse yet, she couldn’t do anything to stop him.
I could let you back in
If it wasn’t for my foolish pride
If I gave you the chance
Would you take my heart for another ride
But now that you’ve come back to me
It’s so plain to see
Even here in the rain
Things still remain the same
They walked hand-in-hand back to his car and Roxanne glanced at the ocean. The raindrops had ceased disturbing the water and she felt a little better about things now. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t going to go quite as easy as it currently seemed.
***
Chapter 19
Within a week the Rodgers family—who lived next door to Roxanne and Candy—sold out to the eccentric rock star Rich Hollander.
He’d made them an offer that was too good to refuse, including covering the expense to move to their new home. He had also supervised their progress because the faster they moved out, the sooner he could move in.
If Rich lived next door to Candy, it’d be a lot easier for him to look after her.
***
Chapter 20
Little Frankie had been waiting eagerly for Roxanne’s return. She’d gone to the pharmacy, and in all his excitement, she put the prescription bag on the table in the foyer and went into the living room to talk to him.
“Mommy…when is Daddy coming back home?” Frankie looked at Roxanne with hauntingly fa
miliar eyes.
That was a scary thought. One that she’d wager had found its way onto her face in the form of a puzzling expression.
“He stayed with us while Aunt Candy was in the hospital,” he said. “Why isn’t he here now?”
“Do you want me to ask him if he wants to stay with us for good now?”
Frankie nodded.
Sure, that’d please little Frankie, but it scared the crap out of Roxanne.
Frank entered Roxanne’s house and, passing through the foyer, he noticed the pharmacy bag on the table. He picked it up, out of curiosity more than anything else. Then he saw Roxanne’s name on the label. This piqued his interest. He opened the bag and shook the prescription bottles into his hand.
Thorazine, Elavil, and Valium. He knew what Valium was. And he could make a pretty good guess about the other two. He’d been through this before with Roxanne. He’d put a stop to it then and he was going to put a stop to it now.
Crazy For You Page 18