A Fare To Remember

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  “Did you try bondage?” Chloe asked. “I hear older guys like that a lot.”

  Sabina shushed Chloe, then turned back to Mrs. Nussbaum. “What did she give you?”

  “She gave me a potion. I have no idea what was in it, but it worked. I poured a bit on top of his apple cobbler and we had a night of passion that you wouldn’t believe. I just came to get more. I have big plans for tonight. I’m making a custard pie. Mr. Nussbaum loves custard pie.”

  Sabina cleared her throat. “I’m afraid my grandmother is busy at the moment. But I’ll have her call you when she gets back.” She gently grabbed Mrs. Nussbaum’s elbow and steered her toward the door. “Good day, Mrs. Nussbaum.”

  The elderly woman turned and smiled. “It is a very good day, isn’t it?”

  Sabina watched the older woman exit, then turned and stalked to the back of the store, cursing beneath her breath. “One day, that stubborn old woman is going to get us both in trouble,” she muttered. “Nana! Nana, come out here right now.”

  A moment later, Ruta emerged, dressed in her Gypsy costume. “I hear you had a date last night, Bina,” she said.

  “That’s not what I want to talk about.”

  “The charm is working.” She gave Chloe a wink. “You said he was handsome. Where did you meet him, darling?”

  “I met the man on my way to get bagels. It had nothing to do with the charm. But we do have to discuss the potions you gave Chloe and Mrs. Nussbaum.”

  “I have to get ready for Mrs. Marston’s reading. We are going to summon the spirits of her three dead ex-husbands today. Something about missing stock certificates.”

  “Nana, what did I tell you about potions?”

  Ruta blinked, then sent her granddaughter a nervous smile. “I don’t know, Bina,” she said, waving her hand distractedly. “Did you tell me something about potions?” She gave Sabina a blank look, but Sabina wasn’t about to fall for that old trick. Ruta was an expert at using her advancing age to manipulate any situation. She conveniently forgot conversations whenever it suited her, yet managed to remember the vital statistics of every single professional man who walked in the door of the shop.

  Sabina raked her hair out of her eyes. “Do not play the old woman with me. We’ve discussed this at length and still you won’t listen.” She reached out and grabbed her grandmother’s hand, turning it palm up. “Let me tell you your fortune, Nana. If you want to lose this shop, then you keep right on mixing those potions.”

  “What is wrong with my potions? They have been handed down for generations. Tested by time. I may be an old woman, but you worry like an old woman.”

  “And if one of our customers has an allergic reaction or doesn’t follow your directions or heaven forbid, dies, what then? We will be sued and you will lose this shop and everything you own. And Simon Harnett will be waiting on the sidewalk to snatch it all up and turn it into condominiums or a huge hardware store or some silly shops that no one really needs. And then where will we live? Where will all our tenants live?”

  Ruta waved her hand. “Don’t be so dramatic, Bina. No one is going to die. Neither Simon Harnett, nor his son, Alec, can force us to sell if we don’t want to.”

  A sick feeling settled in Sabina’s stomach. “Alec Harnett?”

  “Hey, wasn’t that the name of the guy who was in here last night?” Chloe asked.

  “He came again last night?” Ruta asked. “Mario told me was here yesterday around noon. He dropped him off out front and saw him go into the shop. Did you talk to him, Bina, or did you kick him out? You should have called me. I would have given him a piece of my mind.”

  Sabina swallowed hard. Her mind spun with confusion. They’d had no other customers over the lunch hour except for Alec Harper, the man she’d met on the sidewalk that morning. A whirl of emotions surged inside of her as the truth became more apparent.

  Sabina drew a shaky breath. “No, Nana,” she lied. “We didn’t have any customers. Mario must have been mistaken. Besides, we’re not talking about the Harnetts, we’re talking about potions. No more. Agreed?” She reached up and tugged the charm over her head, then pressed it into her grandmother’s palm. “And-and no more charms. They give people false hope.”

  “No more potions.” Ruta muttered something else in Hungarian before she spun on her heel and walked back through the bead curtain, her jewelry jingling as she moved.

  She glanced over at Chloe. “Why are you smiling?” Sabina asked.

  “This is the most interesting thing that’s happened in this shop since your grandmother summoned the spirit of Marilyn Monroe by mistake.” Chloe paused. “She was supposed to be looking for Caroline Monroe.” She tucked her hands under her chin and braced her elbows on the counter. “So, what are you going to do? You could always put a curse on him. Maybe make all his hair fall out. You know how men are about their hair. Or you could make him impotent. Not forever, because that would be cruel, but for a year or two.”

  Sabina glanced up at the clock, then grabbed the phone book from behind the counter. “Find out where Alec Harnett’s office is. Harnett Property Development. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Where are you going?” Chloe asked.

  Sabina didn’t bother with an answer. She and Alec had made a date yesterday to meet for coffee. “Same place, same time.” It was nearly nine. If he was waiting out on the sidewalk, then she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to tell him exactly what she thought of his deception.

  As she walked down the sidewalk, she recalled their encounter in his kitchen. Things had been going so well and then everything had come to a dead halt. He’d probably begun to feel guilty. No, Sabina thought. That would mean he had a conscience, something that didn’t run in the Harnett family line.

  Sabina held her breath as she rounded the corner. She froze when she saw him leaning against a mailbox. In truth, she hadn’t expected him to be waiting. And now that he was, she wasn’t sure where to begin.

  He straightened as she approached, his gaze fixed on her face. “I was hoping you’d come,” he said, smiling weakly.

  Sabina stopped a few feet away. It wouldn’t do to get too close. “Alec Harnett,” she said.

  His smile faded into a grimace. “So you know. Was it the mailbox? I just realized that my name was on the mailbox. When you left the house yesterday.”

  “No, it wasn’t the mailbox,” she replied. “Never mind what it was. What difference does it make? You lied to me. You led me on. You tried to seduce me so that you could convince me to convince my grandmother to sell her building.”

  He held up his hand. “That’s not true. I tried to seduce you because you’re beautiful and sexy and irresistible. It had nothing to do with real estate, believe me.”

  “You are a snake. A-a sleazeball. Slime.” She turned to walk away, but Alec reached out and caught her hand.

  “When I came into the shop, I did have business on my mind. But then you were her-the woman I’d met on the sidewalk earlier-and business didn’t seem to matter.”

  “So then you don’t want to buy my grandmother’s building?”

  “I didn’t say that. But my interest in your grandmother’s building has nothing at all to do with my interest in you-at least not anymore.”

  “I’m supposed to believe that? Your father has been waiting like a vulture to swoop down and snatch that place out from under her. He’s filed lawsuits and bribed city officials and worried my grandmother needlessly. She cares about the people in that building. They’re her friends and there is no way she’ll ever leave them to your mercy.”

  “I’m not the bad guy here,” Alec said, holding tight to her hand. “We’re not going to turn them out on the street. We’ll find them new apartments, and we’re even prepared to offer them a generous settlement for agreeing to move. Believe me, they won’t be homeless.”

  “Because they all have a home. In my grandmother’s building.”

  “Your grandmother got that building when my grandfa
ther wasn’t of sound mind. He was distraught over my grandmother’s illness and he would have done anything to make her well. Including letting himself be taken in by a charlatan.”

  Sabina gasped at his accusation. Sure, she didn’t have much faith in her grandmother’s power, but that didn’t give him any right to insult the family honor. “As I recall, that was the basis of the lawsuit your father brought seven years ago. And the judge threw it out. Your grandfather gave my grandmother a run-down storefront with eight shabby apartments above it. It wasn’t any great gift. It’s only now, when the building is worth millions, you’ve decided you want it back.”

  “We’ve wanted it back for years. This is nothing new.” He paused, drawing a deep breath. “Arguing about this isn’t going to get us anywhere, Sabina. Let’s find a place where we can talk and I’ll explain my offer.”

  “Why? So you can take advantage of me again?”

  “Hold on there. Now you’re rewriting history. I may have kissed you first, but you were a willing participant after that. You enjoyed it as much as I did.”

  “I was confused,” Sabina said. “And misinformed.”

  “Really?” Alec reached out and slipped his arm around her waist. He leaned closer, so close she couldn’t twist away. “You know who I am, so you’re no longer misinformed. And you know what I want, so there should be no confusion. Now, what are you going to do, Sabina?”

  His eyes dropped to her mouth and Sabina felt a thrill of desire race through her body. The attraction between them was undeniable. Even now, in the midst of her anger and indignation, she still wanted him. The air seemed to vibrate around them and she could hear her pulse pounding in her head.

  He reached out and ran his fingertip over her lower lip. Sabina shivered. She wanted him to kiss her, to prove to her that none of this made any difference. But she’d already misjudged him so completely. How could she trust that he wouldn’t fool her again?

  “This doesn’t have to be the end of us,” he said. “Let me make my offer to your grandmother. If she refuses, then that will be fine with me. I won’t push. Except to convince you to have dinner with me again tonight.”

  He leaned forward, but Sabina stiffened in response. “I won’t kiss you,” she said, twisting in his embrace.

  “Yes, you will,” he murmured. “Maybe not now, but you will kiss me again.”

  His arrogance pricked her temper. “I won’t kiss you. I’ll-I’ll curse you.” Sabina twisted out of his arms. “I, Sabina Amanar, granddaughter of Ruta Lupescu, curse you. May all your luck be bad. May-may all your dreams be nightmares. And-and may you fall in a hole and break your leg!”

  At first he looked a bit shocked. But then a smile broke across his face and he laughed out loud. “That’s it?” Alec said. “That’s all you have?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t hear a lot of conviction in your voice.”

  She sent him a murderous glare before walking away. For the first time in her life, she wished she actually possessed some special powers. Whether her curse took or not didn’t really make a difference. She’d made her feelings about Alec Harnett perfectly clear. He was to stay away from her and her grandmother.

  “SHE CURSED ME.”

  Simon Harnett leaned back in his chair and linked his hands behind his head. “The old woman?” he asked.

  “No, her granddaughter. It seems that Sabina is even more powerful than Ruta.” Alec maneuvered over to one of the guest chairs, his crutches slipping on the hardwood floors.

  “Did you break your leg after the curse or before?”

  “It’s not broken, just badly sprained. And it happened after the curse. I was playing basketball with some friends day before yesterday and I stepped in a hole.”

  “On the court?” Simon asked.

  “No, on the sidewalk on the way to my car.” He lowered himself into the chair, groaning at the ache in his ankle. The pain was exacerbated by exhaustion, which was probably due to lack of sleep. He hadn’t had a decent night’s rest since she’d issued the curse a week ago. And he’d lost two deals in as many days.

  Alec was ready to cry uncle. Sabina Amanar was obviously more powerful then he could have ever imagined. “I’ve been thinking we might want to make alternative plans. I mean, why sit on those properties when we don’t know if the old lady is going to sell?”

  “Are you giving up already?” Simon asked, disdain dripping from his voice. “One little curse and you get scared off. I was cursed every year and I never let it bother me.” He shook his head. “When I put you in charge, I thought I could trust you to get the job done.”

  “You said it. You’ve been after Ruta for years and she’s never wavered. Unless she gets into some financial trouble, she’s there to stay. And her granddaughter has plans to stay long after she’s gone. I think we better consider doing the condo project. We don’t need Ruta’s building for that.”

  “Have you even made an offer?” Simon asked.

  In truth, whenever he’d been around Sabina, the last thing he thought about was business. His mind became consumed with touching her and kissing her, testing the limits of their attraction to each other. “Well, not formally. But I’ve already been turned down.”

  Simon stood up, bracing his hands on his desk. “Don’t come whining to me until you’ve tried for at least five years. Then we’ll talk.”

  Sensing the meeting was over, Alec got to his feet and tucked the crutches under his arms. But there were still things that needed saying. “You gave me this job because you wanted me to make the big decisions. If I decide to do the condo project, then that will be my decision. And if you don’t like it, then you’re going to have to find someone else to run this company.”

  Simon slowly sat down, a scowl on his face. His father was stubborn. But he’d also gotten used to the lifestyle of a semiretired real estate mogul. Weekends in the Hamptons, golf with his buddies and winters down south. “Are you going to make an offer?”

  “I’m going over there now. But first I’m going to get her to remove this curse.”

  Alec hobbled out of the office and grabbed his briefcase from the receptionist’s desk. “Did you call a cab?” he asked.

  Karen nodded. “Security said he’s waiting out front.”

  Alec turned for the elevator. But it was impossible to hang on to his briefcase and the crutches. Karen hurried out from behind the reception desk and took it from him, then rode the elevator down.

  “So she cursed you,” Karen mused, staring up at the lights above the door. “My grandmother has this neighbor who goes to a psychic healer and she’d probably be able to break the curse. Would you like me to call her?”

  Alec smiled politely. “I think I can take care of this myself.”

  Getting into a cab was tricky, but after a few stumbles, he was comfortably seated. Only then did he realize he was sitting in a familiar backseat. Photographs lined the interior of the cab and Mario Capelli’s face stared back at him from the rearview mirror. “Ruta’s?” he asked.

  Alec didn’t even want to consider the sheer luck it took for him to get inside Capelli’s cab for a second time. He could only take comfort in the fact that he was relatively safe considering Capelli and Ruta were friends. “Yeah, Ruta’s,” Alec replied.

  “She’s not home. I took her to New Jersey this morning. She’s doing a brunch for a family reunion. She’s very popular as party entertainment.”

  “I’m not interested in seeing Ruta. I have business with her granddaughter, Sabina.”

  Mario’s grin grew wider. “Now, there’s a beautiful girl.”

  “Beautiful, but dangerous,” Alec muttered. “Very, very dangerous.”

  “Ah, but what woman isn’t? When they have the ability to steal your heart away, it’s a frightening thing. But once it happens, you realize that it’s better off in their keeping.”

  “That’s a pretty sappy sentiment,” Alec said.

  “I believe in romance. I believe that for every single guy, th
ere’s a gal out there waiting to be needed. And for every gal, there’s a guy waiting to be saved. Look around you. I know what I’m talking about.”

  Alec scanned the photos, the smiling faces of at least a hundred couples, young and old. “And you think Sabina and I are one of those couples?” He chuckled as he held up his hand in protest. “She cursed me. In the past week, my life has gone straight to hell and she’s the cause.”

  “I never said it was going to be easy,” Mario replied.

  As the cab headed downtown, Alec leaned back and closed his eyes. No, it wasn’t easy. The entire thing had been confusing and frustrating. But it had also been exhilarating and crazy. It had been seven days since he’d last seen Sabina, and he’d spent almost every waking hour thinking about her, wondering what she was doing and where she was going. He’d looked for her face on the street every morning on his way to work. He’d visited her favorite coffee shop, hoping that they might run into each other.

  Hell, their relationship had begun and ended in a twenty-four-hour span, yet Alec felt as if he’d known her so much longer. In the past, women had come and gone without much fanfare or fuss. He’d preferred to keep his social life uncomplicated. But Sabina had been nothing but trouble.

  Maybe that’s what he found so intriguing. With any other woman, he would have walked way. But there was something undeniable about his attraction to her. She was worth the trouble-or at least she had been until she’d cursed him.

  Alec lost himself in a lazy replay of the time they’d spent together, rewinding their encounter in his kitchen over and over again. If he hadn’t decided to suddenly grow a conscience, they may have ended up in bed. Even now, the thought of losing himself in that beautiful body sent a wave of heat pulsing through his veins. Whatever relationship he had with Sabina Amanar might be over. But he preferred to believe that it was just beginning.