by Fiona Murphy
How old were you when they came into your care?”
“For the last seven years but I was there when they were born. I was thirteen when my mom met their father. From the moment I met him, I hated him. There was just something about him, he was too slick, too macho. She wouldn’t listen, she’d been without a man in her life for a long time and she would do whatever it took to keep him. When he began to slap her around she blamed me, not him or even herself, it was all my fault. Then he hit me and she yelled at me as my head rang from the blow, if I had kept my mouth shut he wouldn’t have had to hit me was all she said over and over. I knew I had to get out before it got worse. The next day I moved out and in with my best friend’s family. She didn’t care, she said it was best for everyone.
It was more than a year before I heard from her again and it wasn’t because she missed me. The idiot was in jail on a drug charge and she had just had the twins. She begged me to move back in with her because she was overwhelmed by having two small babies to take care of. Stupidly, I said yes. When he got out of jail ten months later she told me I could go back to living with my friend. No, thank you and I’ll miss you. It was, bye see you. So I moved back in with my friend and her family. If it hadn’t been for their support I wouldn’t have gotten out of high school with a diploma.
I never talked to her again after that. One day I got a call from Houston CPS with the news she was dead and she had left a will giving me custody. CPS confirmed I had my own apartment and a job then left with a wave and good luck. Never mind it was a one bedroom and the job was part-time because I was in school full time. I dropped out of school and my job was happy to have me go full time. It took a few months before I was able to move us to a two bedroom but we lived better than I think we would have if my job hadn’t come with a discount on rent.”
“What happened with your job?”
“I worked for a property management firm as an assistant manager for an apartment complex and the owner sold the property. The buyer had their own property management firm and there weren’t any full time openings with my firm. For a while I filled in here and there. I was beginning to get desperate, it was all over the place in Austin without consistency. My old boss offered me a position here in Dallas but I stayed too long in Austin looking for a place there. The twins acted like I was the wicked witch of the west for talking about moving from Austin, so I stayed longer than I should have trying to find something. I couldn’t find anything, my savings were dwindling and the cost of living is so much lower here than in Austin. When my old boss told me they were interviewing other people, I gave up and made the move up here. For now, I fill in at the property management company my old boss works for and I wait tables at a family restaurant as a second job. I’m sorry I cried all over you, it wasn’t just what you said, I have been feeling like a failure for months.”
“You aren’t a failure, don’t say it again.” His words were firm and his eyes glowed with a warning. Embarrassed all over again, she dropped her head and sipped her tea. “Eat another sandwich, give me five minutes and I’ll take you home.” He flicked back a cuff, glanced at a thin gold Rolex on his wrist and was up and moving back to his desk. “Lisa, cancel my five o’clock and tell Benito I’m out for the day. I’m sending you the excel file, I want it redone, it doesn’t include the projections for the additional landscaping the client added last week. Have it ready and back to me by ten tomorrow. I’ll be in late so let Javier know he’ll be doing the conference call on his own and make sure I get good notes.
Eat another sandwich or I will make you.”
She had been staring at him and blushed when his eyes flicked back to her. Turning back around, she selected a smoked salmon sandwich. It was so good the triangle disappeared in three bites. When he came back to her, she was on her second sandwich and he shook his head as she rushed to finish.
“Take your time, we are in no rush.”
“You don’t have to take me home.” She tried to reassure him.
“Yes, I do. You still seem a bit unsteady and Dallas traffic is bad enough even with all your senses about you. I also want to meet the twins and speak with them. After what you have told me it seems I have been a bit over-reactive. However, I don’t think simply letting them off without understanding the seriousness of their actions and the chaos they caused is the right thing either. It was their fault, not yours. As you admitted frankly and I’m glad you didn’t try to cover for them in that regard. They know right from wrong, you are doing the best you can under the circumstances you have been dealt, they are not. Instead, they blame you and that isn’t right. If I see something can be done with them then I will do the best that I can. Will you allow me that freedom?”
Standing, she put her purse over her shoulder and was surprised when his arm went around her waist as he guided her from the room. She was so surprised she forgot his question. They were in the elevator before she realized he was waiting for her response.
“I don’t understand the question.” She huskily admitted, he was so close it was hard to think. How did he smell so good? The heat of him against her was making her head swim from all her senses going into overload from him. His hand was on her hip and she never wanted it to move.
A small smile played over his beautiful mouth, a stray thought of what it would feel like against her own caused a blush that had her looking down. “I’m asking for you to allow me to handle the situation we find ourselves in. I want to be able to decide the punishment for the twins.”
At the word punishment her head came up. “What kind of punishment are you thinking of?”
“I’m thinking they work it off at the construction site they destroyed, with the men who have to repair the damage they did. Where are you parked, in the garage?”
“I’m on the street. I found a space a block down. Is that safe? Aren’t the men going to be angry and take it out on them? I’m not against them working, I think it would be good, actually.” Now that they were outside with the bright sun beating down on her, she came back to her senses. Except his hand was still on her hip and she could have sworn his grip tightened when she moved away slightly.
“I will take care of the men on the site. They will not be allowed to be mistreated or bullied. The havoc they wrought on the site is still being cleaned up and they should see the results of their destruction.”
Nodding, she was startled when he pulled her closer. A screeching car and the driver yelling had her realizing she had almost walked right out into the street without stopping. Embarrassment fizzled away in an instant when he didn’t loosen his grip on her. Carrie’s body began to slow burn from heat welling up from the center of her. This wasn’t like when he held her as she cried, and her body was reacting with need for more.
“Careful, mi dulce, just a moment for the light to change. Are you on this side of the street or should we cross?” His words were light but his eyes were knowing and she blushed to see people around them. What the hell was the matter with her?
“This side of the street. Thank you, okay, yes. I’ll leave it in your hands and support your decision.” Proud her voice wasn’t as shaky as she felt she pointed out her car. It was a late model car her brothers frequently complained about but she loved how dependable and gas friendly it was.
When she saw her car, she stopped and began to root around in her large purse, she was all thumbs. Loosening his grip he stepped away, she knew he was looking at the traffic, not her and she finally found the keys. She pulled them out and he immediately took them from her. He scanned the busy street and led her out onto the street. Hitting the button to unlock the car, he opened the door for her. When she was settled into the passenger seat, he walked around and got into the driver’s seat. She smiled when he got in and he was bunched up because of his long legs. He caught her smile and chuckled as he forced the seat back. It was a rich, throaty sound that stole her breath. Carrie was surprised to find he was willing to laugh at himself, she wouldn’t have thought it from the
time in his office. His smile was lethal to a woman’s sensibilities was her last thought as she forced her eyes off of him and out the window.
The soaring sounds of Chopin came through when he turned on the car. She was quick to turn it down low. Her drive had been hectic and she’d flipped to her CD player instead of the radio. “Sorry, you can turn it off if you want.”
“It’s fine, I like Chopin. Is this a CD of just him or does it have other composers?”
“This one is just of Chopin, I have two of Mozart and one of Hadyn. The other discs are the twin’s there’s an Eminem and a Tech N9ne CD in there, so be careful if you want to change it.”
“Ah, my nephew is a fan of Eminem and Tech N9ne and we debate often who is the better rapper.”
“Really? You listen to Eminem and Tech N9ne? How old is your nephew?”
“Yes, really and he’s twenty four. We’ve been debating for the last ten years and I’m sure we’ll continue to debate in the future.”
“How old are you? You don’t look old enough to have a twenty four year old nephew.” The question had been driving her crazy.
“I’m thirty seven, my older brother got a girl pregnant when he was only sixteen and I was twelve. My parents weren’t about to let him ruin his life by marrying the girl and they took in the baby. He was very much a little brother, my youngest brother was only eight when he came into the family.”
“How many brothers and sisters do you have?”
“My older brother died almost ten years ago and I have two younger brothers. I don’t have any sisters, my mother only kept going until she gave up on getting the girl she wanted. To this day I get to hear her moan of the lack of a single daughter-in-law.”
“I’m sorry about your brother.”
His sigh was heavy as he shrugged. “Manuel had too much yet none of it was enough. He was the first born, a boy and my father over-indulged him. There was no need for him to be accountable for anything he did from the time he was very young until the day he overdosed. My grandfather stepped in when I was about eight. Retiring, he left the company in control of my father and uncle but quickly became bored. He noticed my brothers and I were being left to the care of nannies and spoiled. He purchased a home near my parent’s home in Plano and basically moved us in with him. From then on he began to take us to the work sites and had us working on the weekends. He gave us an allowance, taught us how to handle our money and made us save as well as give to charity. Even more importantly to him, he taught us Spanish.”
“Your parents didn’t teach you Spanish?”
“No, my mother was very much the blonde Dallas society young woman, she didn’t speak Spanish and didn’t care to learn. My father didn’t have the time, he was in the office until all hours.”
“So your grandfather started the company?”
“Yes, he founded it in Mexico City until conditions became too corrupt and he applied for and got into the States. He moved the headquarters to Dallas. He had other offices in Mexico and Panama and he shut them down in order to move his money into the location in Dallas.”
“I had no idea, I probably should have looked deeper into your company, I didn’t even think about it.”
“Nothing all that interesting, just a family company that keeps growing with every generation. My grandfather was content to remain in Texas he opened an office in Houston. Then my father expanded into New Orleans, then over-extended the company going into Miami. By the time I was graduating from high school my grandfather had to step in, my father had taken the company to the edge of bankruptcy. I didn’t go onto university, I went straight to work, to help my grandfather. We worked day and night for a solid three years before we were back in the black. There were several times when I didn’t think we’d come out of it. Once the company was back on course my grandfather sent me onto university and during the summers I came back to Dallas and worked.”
“Where did you go to school?”
“Stanford, it was a nice school. I had actually wanted to go to A&M, my grandfather didn’t want to hear it. It was important to him for me to make the connections a school like Stanford would bring. He was right, when I opened an office in Los Angeles those connections came into play. They are also helping with our current expansion into Phoenix, so I guess he was right.
Where am I going when I get into Fort Worth?”
She gave him directions and her address. Carrie saw when he recognized the area and wasn’t surprised when he said it. “That’s not the best area in Fort Worth.”
“Yes, I didn’t know when I leased. I went during the day and it seemed decent, it changes at night.”
“Hmm, do you have security at all?”
Unable to meet his eyes, she shrugged, “The locks are good, it’s a duplex and the neighbor has a big dog.” He didn’t say anything, she fought the urge to defend herself again. “Is your mother where you get your eyes from?” The question running through her mind popped out and she blushed.
“Yes, she has green eyes and my youngest brother and I both have hazel eyes. The twins look nothing like you. Do they take after their father or their mother?”
“Their dad, I look a lot like my mom with the blonde hair and blue eyes. Except she was really tall and thin and I’m short and not thin.” Biting her tongue against the fat label her brothers had called her for years. They sometimes called her teapot, now she was down twenty pounds from where she had been at the same time last year. She didn’t feel fat, like she used to, although she was still in the double digits at a size fourteen. For years she had dreamed of getting down to an eight just to say she wasn’t a double digit anymore. After losing weight, she was hoping to get down to a size ten. Her curves embarrassed her and only got more pronounced the lower she went.
“Do they have any interaction with their father at all?”
“No and that’s how they want it. I have to admit I take the easy way out and don’t talk about him or our mom much at all. From some of the things they said, she wasn’t any nicer to the boys than she was to me. It makes me sad to think of, for the boys. While I was growing up she had been sometimes selfish and sometimes a little mean but not as bad as she became. They remember her a little and him barely. Thankfully, they seemed to have repressed the memory of him beating her to death. She had locked them in their room. Apparently, it had happened often before and they waited until she stopped crying. When she wouldn’t wake up, they called 911 the way she had taught them.”
“I guess it is a small mercy for them.”
“Yes, it just makes me so angry with her. She knew he was dangerous, still, again and again she took him back. It’s one of the reasons I don’t talk about her, her death could have been prevented. Instead, she laid down and let it happen.”
“From what I understand, a situation like that is hard to get out of. Also, from what you’ve said she seemed to thrive on the drama of it.”
Nodding, Carrie closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the seat. “I learned from her how not to be. It was a scary but deeply embedded lesson.”
When his hand came down on her hand, she went still. “Tell me, what did she teach you?”
“Not to cling to a man or become dependent on them and if I’m ever mistreated by even being yelled at I’m out. Also, to always use birth control. Her next door neighbor told me that she had frequently felt trapped because she was afraid of being on her own with two small kids. Apparently, she had two miscarriages because he beat her so badly.”
“I take it then you have no man in your life?”
It wasn’t really a question, she nodded anyway. “I’ve been busy with the twins and even if I weren’t.” She shrugged, not able to say out loud how little she trusted a man enough to enter a relationship.
Her cell phone rang and she checked the display. Damn it, she had completely forgotten her job. She hoped they weren’t upset. “Hello?”
“Carrie? Are you okay? I was worried because you hadn’t come in yet.”
“No problem, we aren’t busy at all. I’m sure Lupe will be happy you aren’t coming in. She just said she was relieved she managed to get three tables so far. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
“I will, thanks Mario.”
“Your boss?”
“Yeah, well, his son but he leaves it mainly to Mario to run. They’re so nice and easy to work with. Knowing Mario, he’ll probably bring over left overs for the night when they close.”
“Does he do that a lot, bring over food for you?”
“He does quite a bit I guess. Normally, I try to take it home when I leave but usually it’s quite a bit and he doesn’t want me to worry about dropping it. It’s a family restaurant and they really do seem like family. Mario’s mom is always so sweet, inviting me and twins to family gatherings.” As she said it out loud she wondered about how often Mario said it, even when there wasn’t much. He also usually managed to hang around for a while when he came by, even when it was late. Biting her lip she shook her head. Carrie didn’t like Mario like that, he had asked her out months ago and had been sweet about her turning him down. It was nothing, Mario was just being nice.
“Have long have you worked there?”
“Three months, it took a while to get settled and I didn’t realize I would be driving all over the metroplex. I had to ask to be limited to a handful of properties and it cut down on my hours. It wasn’t long before I figured out I needed a second job. At least the restaurant isn’t far from me.
I can’t believe I just thought about you. How are you going to get home? I shouldn’t have let you drive me home.”
“Do not worry about it. I have a car I can send for, it’s not a problem at all. Have you thought of trying to find something different from what you were doing before?”