“Nothing happened,” she started to say, but Reno gave her that don’t bullshit me look that made her correct herself. “I got weak, okay? I got a little dehydrated. But after things turn around at the store---”
“Stop treating this like it’s a temporary problem. It’s a problem. It’s a big fucking problem! One I’m going to fix.”
Then he exhaled. Trina folded her arms, ready for the onslaught.
“Here’s what you’re going to do,” he said.
But Trina had to try one more time. She had to play hardball too. “Champagne is mine, Reno,” she said. “It’s in my name, it’s my business, and you can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do with my own business.”
“Here’s what you’re going to do,” he said again as if she hadn’t made her plea at all. “You’re going to take a break. A couple weeks off. I want you to go visit your folks. They moved back to Dale and you haven’t been there once to check on them. If you’re too busy to check on your own parents, you’re too busy.”
Trina knew he spoke the truth. But the timing!
“I’ll take care of Dominic,” he went on. “But I want you to take some time off and take care of yourself.”
“But I already have plans to go and see them. Maybe next month some time, when things pick back up I can---”
“You’re going now. Tomorrow,” Reno said. “And when you get back you will announce to the public that Champagne’s will be closing its doors---”
“Reno, no!”
“You’re going to announce to the public,” he said again, “that Champagne’s is closing its’ doors at its’ present location. And you will also announce that it will reopen its doors by early Spring, inside the PaLargio.”
Trina looked at him. It was what he wanted all along. Then suddenly the entire purpose for her branching out on her own and opening her own business beyond her husband’s reach would be lost. She would once again be completely under his care and control. She would once again have nothing to point to that would have her stamp on it. Nothing that would say that she built that, and that she was the driving force behind that. It would once again be Reno’s baby. She would once again be Reno’s baby!
What she kept trying to tell her husband was that a woman like her, who’d been independent all of her adult life, couldn’t continue to maintain with a reality like that. Being his woman was great, in many ways it was a dream come true for her, but she had to be her own woman too.
“I’m not closing my doors and I’m not relocating my business to the PaLargio, Reno,” she said firmly, looking just as serious as he was. “And I mean that.”
Reno stared at her with a look that chilled her to the bone. “You’re going to Mississippi to see your parents. And when you get back,” he said, “you will do what I said you’re going to do. I’ve let this shit go on too long. I assumed you would get the message and cut your losses. But your stubborn ass wouldn’t know what cutting losses mean. I should have known that from the beginning. So now I’m making the call. When you get back in town---”
“Is that it, Reno?” Trina asked, attempting to sidestep the truth of the matter because she knew that his word was always final in their family. “Is the fact that I’m doing my own thing the real problem here?”
“When you get back,” Reno said even firmer, “you’ll going to do just what I told you to do. Or I’ll do it for you.”
“But what about my partners?” she asked him. “They may not want to move Champagne’s.”
“You know they want it, Tree, don’t you sideways me like that. They wanted that boutique inside the PaLargio from day one. But you overruled them.”
“I’m not moving my business to the PaLargio, Reno,” she said again, knowing she was fighting a losing battle, “and I mean that.”
“You’ve got some thinking to do, Katrina.”
“There’s nothing to think about!” she blared.
But he blared right back. “Look at you!” he yelled as he grabbed her by the chin. “Look at those dark circles under your eyes. Look at those bags!” He slung his hand away from her. “You aren’t eating worth a damn. You’re losing weight. Little Dommi asked me the other night if you were ever coming home because he hardly ever sees you anymore! And forget the money you’re swamping into that black hole, forget that. That’s the least of it. But if you think for a second I’m going to let the love of my life end up with some heart attack or stroke or something even worse just because she wanted to prove some fucking point, you’re mistaken, lady. Badly mistaken!”
Then he stood up, and placed his hands inside his pockets. He hated getting into it with Trina like this, but sometimes she could be one stubborn as hell tough broad. “Go see your parents. I’ll take care of the boys. You just get you some rest. But when you get back here, whether you want to do it or not, you’re going to make that announcement. That issue is no longer debatable.”
He stared at her a moment longer, wanting to hold her but knowing that would only weaken his resolve. And he couldn’t be weakened. She could take care of herself, he knew she could. But when she wouldn’t, he had to step in.
He was stepping in.
“I’m late for a meeting,” he finally said. And without kissing her, or reassuring her, he left.
When the door slammed shut, Trina grabbed a pillow from the sofa, and flung it across the room.
FOURTEEN
Cecil Hathaway leaned back and rubbed his sizeable belly. His wife, Earnestine, was full too, although she hadn’t pigged out the way her husband had. It was only breakfast, after all.
“If I don’t see another slice of bacon in my entire life, I’ll be happy,” Cecil said. They were in Dale, Mississippi, in the kitchen of their newly purchased home.
“The day you give up bacon,” his wife said, “will be the day I die.”
“Okay, don’t believe me. You just better not give me any more bacon.”
“I won’t. Until you start begging for it again. Doc Marson said it wasn’t good for your heart anyway.”
“Why you signed me back up with Doc Marson anyway?” Cecil wanted to know. “Amos Cates is back in town. He was a big city doctor. He knows more than Marson will ever know.”
“That might be true, but Doc Marson isn’t in love with our daughter.”
Cecil frowned. “What?”
“I’m telling you what I know! Amos Cates still loves Katrina. Every time I see that man he wants to know all about Tree. I get tired of telling him. If you become his patient, you’ll get tired of it too.”
“I still say he would have made her a good husband.”
“What you say!” Earnestine said. “He would have made her an excellent husband. But you know Tree. He wasn’t thuggish enough for her.”
Cecil laughed. “What a terrible way to put it.”
“Well it’s the truth! She didn’t like the good boys, she never have. It’s the truth.” Then Earnestine paused. “Speaking of that daughter of ours,” she said, “I worry about her. She’s been depressed the whole time she’s been here.”
“What depressed?” Cecil asked. “She’s not depressed. Little bored maybe, but not depressed.”
“She’s depressed,” Earnestine insisted. “That child has been here a full week and I don’t think I’ve seen her smile one time.”
“It ain’t about no smiling. She would rather be home taking care of her store, that’s what it’s about. Reno made her come here.”
“So he has to make her come and see about her own parents?”
Cecil didn’t respond to that. They’d never been particularly close to their daughter, although Cecil’s relationship with Trina was less intense. “I agree with Tree,” he said. “She has a new business she’s trying to get off the ground and Reno had no call making her leave it like this. I would be mad too. What he’s making her do doesn’t make a lick of sense to me.”
“It makes perfect sense to me,” Earnestine said. “Trina is just like you. She’ll work herself
to death if Reno let her. But he won’t let her, and I respect him even more for that.”
“Oh, give me a break!” Cecil said with the wave of his hand. “You’ll respect him even if there was nothing to respect. Reno Gabrini can do no wrong in your eyes no matter what he does.”
“I call it like I see it. He’s a good man. That’s all there is to it.”
“I’m not saying he’s not good,” Cecil said with some agitation. “But Trina is a full grown woman. She should be allowed to make her own decisions.”
“I trust Reno’s judgment,” Earnestine said. “And that’s all there is to it.”
“What in the world you know about his judgment? You don’t know squat about his judgment!”
Earnestine let out a long sigh. “I only pray Tree doesn’t blow it, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Blow what?”
“Her marriage to that good man! He’s good to her, Cecil. Yet she’s been here a full week and hasn’t called him on the phone or tried to speak to him once.”
Cecil looked at his small, pinch-faced wife. She was a very beautiful woman back in her day. But her day, he thought as he watched her, was long gone. “What are you trying to imply, Earn?”
“The last time they talked was the day she got here. And even then he just wanted to make sure she arrived safely. She said she had and that was the end of their conversation.”
Cecil already noticed that Trina hadn’t mentioned her husband either. “That’s none of our business,” he finally said. “Trina’s always been a strong-willed girl. She knows what she’s doing.”
“I sure hope so. ‘Cause sometimes she can be too strong-willed if you ask me. That’s why she left town when she was a teenager with that no account Jeffrey Graham.”
“Jeffrey turned his life around, why are you calling the man no account? He’s a changed man now.”
“He wasn’t worth sweeping out the door when Trina left Dale with him. And she wouldn’t listen to a word we were trying to say to her. We couldn’t tell her a thing even then. I hope that same stubbornness doesn’t cause her to lose Reno.”
Cecil shook his head. Then he looked up and past his wife. “There she is!” he said with a smile.
Trina entered the dining room attempting to look as cheerful as she could manage. She heard her parents talking about her. She knew she hadn’t been the best houseguest she could be. Today she was hoping to change all of that. So she entered smiling. She wore blue jeans, a red turtleneck top, a form-fitting corduroyed thigh-length jacket, and a pair of what Cecil called her “power boots.”
“Well good morning, Baby Girl,” he said as she bent over and gave both of her parents hugs.
“Hey, Dad, hey Mom,” she said as she sat at the table, placing her oversized Gucci bag and keys in front of her.
Cecil was amazed at how sophisticated his daughter looked now. Every time he saw her, he found himself staring at her.
“It’s cold in here,” Trina said as she rubbed her hands together.
“Why didn’t you turn the heater up?” Cecil said. “You want me to turn it up?”
“No, it’s okay. I’m heading out anyway.”
“Where are you going?” Earnestine asked.
“Just around. Say hey to some old friends.”
“Can you pick up my prescription at the drugstore while you’re at it?”
“Oh, Ernie,” Cecil said, “I can pick up that medication.”
“No,” Earnestine said flatly. “Every time I send you for my medicine you forget to get it. No. Katrina can get it for me.”
Trina didn’t seem to have a say in it either way. Which, she thought with a wry smile, given how Reno treated her sometimes she should have felt right at home.
“You spoke with my grandson this morning?” Earnestine asked her.
“You know I did,” Trina said with a smile. “I spoke with Jimmy too.”
“That flu still got Dominic down?”
“It’s just a little cold but I don’t want him out in the elements just yet.”
“You are so overprotective,” Cecil said. “That’s a boy! He can handle it.”
“Don’t you listen to him,” Earnestine said firmly.
“Yes, ma’am,” Trina said with a laugh. She and her mother never really got alone terribly well, but since they’d been around each other this past week things were beginning to pick up between them. At least they weren’t yelling at each other anyway.
But that didn’t mean her mother was not above lobbing her curveballs. “What about Reno?” she asked Trina. “You spoke to him this morning too?”
Trina hesitated. “No,” she admitted.
“And why not?”
“He’s supposed to be giving me my space,” she said. “I’m supposed to be thinking things over right now, remember? I told you that.”
Earnestine wasn’t convinced. “But I don’t get it, Katrina,” she said. “All the man wants you to do is give up that failing clothing store of yours and move it to where he can make sure it can be successful. What’s so terrible about that?”
“That’s none of our affair, Ernie,” Cecil said, rescuing Trina from a response. “You want something to eat, Baby Girl?” he then asked his daughter.
“I’m not hungry, Dad, thanks.”
“You need to eat, Katrina,” Earnestine said flatly. “Your husband called me earlier this week and told me to make sure you ate. He said sometimes you forget to eat.”
“I never forget to eat.”
“Well that’s what he said. You know how he worries about you.”
“Yeah, well,” Trina said, ready to put Reno on blast, but she decided against saying more. She would have had her parents certain she was headed for divorce court if she would have said what she really wanted to say.
Her father, however, felt a need to explore too. “What’s the matter, Baby Girl?” he asked her.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Trina assured him.
“Don’t tell me that. There’s trouble in paradise, isn’t it?”
Again, Trina hesitated. “Not trouble, no,” she said to her father.
“Is it all about that store of yours like your mother said?”
“Reno’s on my case about it, yeah,” Trina admitted. “It’s taking up too much of my time, he says. He doesn’t like how tired I am when I come home from work, he says. Sometimes he works so hard he doesn’t come home at all, but he’s complaining about my hours. That’s how ridiculous this is. Then when those long hour arguments don’t work, he says it’s draining too much money. He has a ton of complaints.”
“Is it your money it’s draining, or his money?” Earnestine asked.
“All of it is his, Ma,” Trina replied. “Reno was rich when I first met him and I barely had a pot to piss in. But he doesn’t distinguish it like that. It’s draining our money, is how he sees it.”
“Well is he lying?” Cecil asked.
“No, but that boutique is my thing, that’s what he doesn’t understand. Business will pick up, I know it will. We’ve got to give it more time. Reno just wants me under his thumb at the PaLargio, that’s what this is about. He’s afraid some shadowy enemy of his may try to get revenge on him by going after me and there’s no reasoning with Reno when he’s worried about my safety.”
“And that’s a problem why?” Earnestine asked her. “Do you know how many women out here would kill to have a man who cares about them like that? And you’re complaining about it? Me and your father would never have been able to retire to Florida if it wasn’t for Reno. He’s been good to all of us!”
“I know that, Ma. He’s a good man. I’m not saying he’s not a good man!”
Cecil glared at his daughter. “Then what are you saying, Baby Girl?”
Trina exhaled. “In Vegas, before I married Reno, I was Trina Hathaway. I had my own apartment, my own job, my own life. Now I’m Reno’s wife. I’m the mother of Reno’s children. I’m the president of Reno’s hotel. Champagne’s was supposed to be m
ine. My clothing boutique. And I want so much to make it successful. And yes, I want Reno to be proud of me. I want to give back to him for a change.”
“Let me guess,” Cecil said. “He doesn’t think it’s necessary, does he?”
“He thinks it’s insulting for me to even think it.”
“And he’s right!” Earnestine insisted. “All that man does for you!”
Trina gave up. She and her mother almost never saw eye to eye. And this was one of those times. Her father, however, usually got it.
“Anyway,” he said, rising. “Time for me to go.” He looked down at his daughter. “Stop worrying so much,” he said. “God will work it out.”
Trina smiled. “Thanks, Dad,” she said.
Cecil kissed his wife goodbye, reminded them again that he would be at the church and for them not to be late for the founder’s day celebration this afternoon, and then he was gone.
Trina looked at her mother. She wanted to confide in her, to really tell her how torn she was feeling. But they never had that kind of relationship.
Her mother stood up, and began clearing away the dishes.
Reno opened his eyes early Saturday morning, realized Trina was still gone, and then closed them back again. He was waking up in bed on the sixth day of her absence. Six long days. Not that she hadn’t been on trips without him before. She had. But she had left under a cloud. She had left after another one of their heated arguments about that failing boutique of hers. Reno saw how it was draining every ounce of energy she had. He saw how it was becoming a money pit with no bottom in sight. Cut her losses and move on, he tried to tell her. Then he tried to tell her to move the shop inside the PaLargio, where she would at least have no trouble getting customers. But she wasn’t trying to hear that either.
Reno Gabrini: A Man in Full Page 14