by Chanta Rand
When she wasn’t with him, she was thinking about him. When she was with him, nothing else mattered. After three weeks of seeing Dane, she couldn’t imagine herself with anyone else. It was crazy, but she was head over heels for him.
One afternoon, as she lay in bed after another one of their intense sexathons, she admired the fine lines of his naked body. “You have to leave soon,” she told him. “It’s getting late, and the kids will be out of school.” She wished he could spend the night, but that was too much too soon. She didn’t want to send her kids a bad message. Their gazes caught, and his mesmerizing green eyes pulled at her. If they were married, they could wake up to each other every day.
Damn! Where did that come from? She’d sworn off marriage since divorcing Cruz. Dane must really be infiltrating her defenses for her to consider walking down the aisle with him.
“I have a proposal,” he said, pecking her on the tip of her nose.
Shivers ran down her spine as she associated his proposal with marriage. He left her side momentarily and came back with a deck of cards he’d pulled from his duffle bag. This was a strange proposal.
He expertly shuffled the cards. “I bet you didn’t know I’m the King of Pitty Pat,” he told her. “For the number of games you win, I’ll put on one piece of clothing. For every game you lose, you owe me fifteen more minutes of heavenly bliss.”
She giggled. “You know you’re only delaying the inevitable.”
“I’ll take whatever time I can get.” He kissed her bottom lip, plying her mouth open. His tongue slipped languidly past her lips to softly suckle. He tasted so good. “Alright woman,” he said, withdrawing from her mouth. “Prepare to be inevitably delayed.”
********
“We need to talk.”
Charly balanced her cell phone on one ear while dusting the cobwebs out of her closet. So far, she had three garbage-sized bags of clothing and five pairs of shoes ready to be delivered to Goodwill. She’d instructed her children to do the same, and deliver any items to her that they hadn’t worn in a year. The results were mixed. Joi was the quintessential pack rat. Diego was disturbingly clean for a teenage boy. The only thing he’d found was a pair of pants he could no longer wear, unless he wanted to bring highwaters back in style.
“I’m a little busy right now, Shontal.”
“I found some interesting info about Dane that I think you should know.”
“Here we go again,” Charly groaned. “I bet when they hired you to clerk at the courthouse, they had no clue you would be snooping into everyone’s business.”
Shontal had worked at the Office of Records for the last five years. Before that, she was a receptionist for a private investigator. Everyone in the family joked that she graduated from assistant to persistent. Apparently, all that subterfuge had rubbed off on her. “It’s public info, Charly. It’s not like I snuck a peek.”
She closed a large bag and tied a knot in it. “Why did you look him up?”
“Something didn’t seem right. He’s just too perfect.”
“Would a perfect guy punch a man he didn’t know?”
Shontal sucked her teeth, making a loud, smacking noise. “Cruz needed some sense slapped into him.”
Dane wasn’t perfect. Nobody was. But she didn’t want perfection. She wanted a chance to get to know him better–on her own terms. Shontal had no right to pry into his life. “Girl, you don’t see me following your men around.”
“So Dane is your man now?”
Damn, did I just say that? “Don’t get off on a tangent. What you did is an invasion of privacy.”
“Dane has no privacy until he can prove he’s worthy of trust. Don’t get it twisted, Charly. I’m doing this for you. If Dane is a serious contender, don’t you want to know everything about him?”
Charly folded a pair of pants and placed them in the donation pile. “I want to know everything about him, but I don’t want everybody else to know.”
“I’m not everybody else, Charly. Do you really want another Cruz on your hands?”
“Dane is not Cruz! Not even close.”
“But he does have secrets. Instead of being mad at me, you need to be asking him what’s up with his marriage.”
Charly stood, poised like a mannequin, her hand frozen in mid-air, stuck in the same position as when she’d been reaching for a skirt in her closet. It took several seconds for the effects of Shontal’s bombshell to dissipate. “He’s married?” she managed to squeak out.
“Yes. I’m sorry to be the deliverer of bad news.”
“Are you sure.”
“I wouldn’t call if I wasn’t. I found a marriage license on file for him,” Shontal confirmed. “He got married ten years ago to a woman named Nichole Andrews.”
Married? For ten years? Charly sank to the bed in a daze. How could Dane do this to her? He assured her he was single. What had he said? ‘I’m free to do as I please and you don’t have to worry about any woman laying claim to me.’ He seemed so genuine when he said that. But public records didn’t lie. Even as the bitter reality dawned on her, she grasped for any straw of hope. “Maybe they’re separated.” She winced at her own words, realizing how desperate she sounded. After all, she didn’t believe in separation.
“Uh, I don’t think so. I’m sure he’s still married to her ass. Have you been to his house?”
“Not yet.”
“Why the hell not? It’s been at least a month since y’all started seeing each other.”
“He having some renovations done and he doesn’t want me to endure the smell of paint.”
“Yeah, right.”
Charly didn’t like the way this conversation was going. The moment she spoke the words aloud, she realized how stupid she sounded. Why hadn’t she questioned him before? Less than twenty-four hours ago, Dane was rocking her world. Now, her world was tumbling off its axis.
“We should go over there,” Shontal insisted.
“Where? And who is we?”
“To his house. You can’t go by yourself. You need backup. What if that bitch is crazy?”
Charly choked back a sob lodged in her throat. This was too much for her. She couldn’t believe Dane would whisper words of sweetness to her and make her body hum, all the while knowing he had a wife at home. She smacked her forehead repeatedly with her palm. She was supposed to be better at this. She was supposed to be able to spot a liar. Hell, she was married to one for years! Yet, dishonesty had reared its ugly head again, making her look like an even bigger fool. When would she learn?
“I’ll call you back, cousin. I need to think.”
“Okay, I have the address. Let me know when you’re ready to roll.”
She didn’t know whether to be pissed or grateful toward Shontal. She let out a deep breath. “How did you get his address?”
“You don’t want to know.”
Shontal was right. She didn’t. “You are a meddling hussy,” she charged.
“When it comes to my family, yes I am.”
Charly curled into a ball, holding the phone against her ear. “I’m going to lie down for a while.”
“Make it a power nap,” Shontal instructed. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
********
Texas sunsets could be as breath-taking as those in the Maldives. The only difference was there was no brilliant expanse of ocean for the sun to reflect its golden rays upon–unless you counted Galveston Beach. Which she did not. Those murky waters could never compare to the paradise thousands of miles away. Memories of those islands, once so sweet to her were now flavored with soured realities as she thought about Dane’s transgression. She sat parked in Shontal’s car a few houses down from his and waited as the muted reds and lilacs gave way to royal purples, and finally rich blacks. Self-doubt flowed through her veins like blood. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered. “What is this going to prove?”
Shontal sat in the driver’s seat, her dark eyes surreptitiously scanning the block. “We’ll wai
t for Nichole to drive up. Or see if she comes out of the house for any reason.”
“It’s nine o’clock at night. She is not coming out of the house.”
“You’re right. Let me check the mailbox.”
“For what?”
“To see if her name is on any of the bills.”
“Hold on–”
Shontal slipped from the car before Charly could finish her sentence. Her heart pounded like a bass drum in her ears. She was afraid to find out what was in Dane’s mailbox. She wiped her damp palms on her jeans as she watched Shontal run back to the car with a stack of mail.
Her cousin hopped inside, and pulled a thin flashlight from her purse before sorting through the envelopes. “You carry a flashlight in your purse?” Charly asked. “Why?”
“For instances like this.”
“I’m really worried about you, Cuz.”
I’m worried about you. That’s why we’re here. Aha!” She held up a clothing catalog. “Irene Sullivan. And the address is the same as Dane’s.”
“Who’s Irene?”
Shontal shot her a confused look. “I don’t know.”
Charly twisted her lips. “I’m shocked. You know everything else about him.”
“Maybe it’s Nichole’s middle name. Or maybe it’s another woman.”
“So, now he has two wives?”
“And a mistress named Charly.”
“Give me that!” Charly ripped the mail from Shontal’s hands. “I’m settling this once and for all.”
With determined steps braver than she felt, Charly stalked toward Dane’s front door. Only after she’d both pounded on the door and laid into the doorbell did she feel her knees turn to jelly. The vicious barking of what sounded like large dogs resonated from inside. She’d totally forgotten about Dane’s dogs. What the hell was she doing? She should just leave now and never call him again. That would be his punishment. She’d disappear from his life and never let him back in for doing this to her.
Yeah, but he knows where you live now. You’ll have to deal with it sooner or later.
After a few minutes, the door opened to reveal a disheveled Dane wearing a pair of warm-up shorts and a t-shirt. His bare feet looked comfy on the Berber carpet. Most noticeable was his shocked expression. “Charly, what are you doing here?”
********
Charly’s eyes held a mixture of anger and pain. She stood in the front entryway of his home and made a big production of sniffing the air. “Funny, it doesn’t smell like paint in here. I thought you were having your place remodeled.”
His lie had come back to bite him in the ass. “I’m sorry, Charly. I didn’t wa–”
“You lied to me, Dane. Maybe you didn’t want me to come over because you’re married!”
“What? No, I’m not married.”
“Who the hell is Nichole?”
His heart stopped as Charly’s fists flew to her hips, her gaze defiant. His throat constricted. He opened his mouth to gulp air laced with the fumes of Charly’s hostility. His initial shock at seeing her dissipated at the thought of having to explain himself. “I wanted to tell you about her, but it never seemed like the right time.”
“Well, I’m here now, and it’s just a good a time as any.” She brushed past him, barging into his living room in jeans and sneakers. “Where is she? At work? Does she know about me?”
“No,” he shook his head, trying to regain his composure. Outside the glass patio doors, Sasha and Sergei barked loudly, clamoring to get a view of the new female visitor.
Charly’s eyes flew around the room until they landed on the framed photographs on the mantle. She shot him an accusatory glance. “Is this her?”
Dane’s eyes gazed at the photo of the woman he’d once loved. Still loved. Shared a decade of his life with. He remembered the day he’d taken that photo. He’d captured Nichole perched on the edge of a massive boulder at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Surrounded by muted browns and brilliant reds, her jet black hair stood out. Her brown eyes gazed at him from the photo as though she were still alive and vibrant, before her life was snubbed out by a fatal car accident. “Yes, that’s Nichole.”
Charly smirked. “Why haven’t you told Nichole about us, Dane? Why haven’t you told her you’ve been cheating on her with me?”
For years, after Nichole’s death, Dane had felt like he was cheating on her. But with Charly, it felt so right. “I’m not cheating on her, Charly. And I haven’t told her about us because…she’s…dead.” He battled the dam of grief that threatened to burst even after all these years. Saying it out loud was harder than he’d imagined. “She died tragically in a car accident. It’s been over ten years now, but I still think of her frequently.”
Her mouth dropped open. “So, while you were sexing me, you were thinking of her?”
“Never.” He shook his head. “I never once thought of her while you and I made love.”
Charly’s lip quivered, and Dane gut’s wrenched, hating himself for being the source of her misery. If he’d known Charly was going to find out about Nichole in this manner, he would have told her. “Wait a minute. How did you find out about my marriage anyway?”
“Shontal found your marriage license on file at the Office of Records.”
He shoved his hands into his warm-up pockets. “If she would have looked further, she would have found a death certificate too.” But of course, that would never occur to her. Dane couldn’t help feeling a bit antagonistic toward Charly’s cousin for having the gall to investigate him. “Shontal had no right to pry into my life.”
Charly raised her chin a notch. “Just like your brothers found you a blind date, my cousin was looking out for me. And I have to say I’m glad she did because obviously you had no intentions of telling me.”
“That’s not true.” He moved closer to her, noting the strain on her face. Things were not going as he would have liked. First, a fight with her ex-husband. Now, a colossal misunderstanding about his deceased wife. “I planned to tell you. I admit I should have done it earlier. I screwed up, Charly. I’m not perfect. But I’m willing to move past this if you are.”
Her full lips pressed together in irritation. “That depends. Is there anyone else I should know about?”
“No.” He stepped closer, ready to envelop her in his arms. He didn’t like it when they were at odds.
She moved away from him. “What about Irene?”
“Excuse me?”
“Irene Sullivan. Is she another one of your wives? Shontal found her mail in your mailbox.”
Dane fought to control his growing impatience. “Irene is my mother. Just so there’s no confusion, I also have a dog named Sasha. And despite what you may think of me, I’m not sleeping with her.”
Charly crossed her arms over her chest. “Sorry.” The look on her face was tinged with embarrassment and regret. Dane had never seen this side of her. He understood she was hurt, but this subterfuge was too overwhelming for him. Checking his mail. Tracking his address down. Looking at his marriage license. How well did he really know Charly? This revelation was like a kick in the teeth: it hurt like hell!
“Listen Charly, I found you after all this time. I don’t want to lose you again, but…”
“But what?”
Her challenging gaze almost made him change his mind. He wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t set some boundaries. She’d crossed a line he wasn’t comfortable with. “Maybe we need some space.”
Her tone was calmer than he expected. “Now that you’ve screwed my brains out, you want to dump me?”
Ouch. “You know it’s not like that.”
“You don’t have to sell me on your reason, Dane. I’ve already figured it out. You’re pissed I showed up at your house. You can’t stand the fact that your little indiscretion followed you home.”
“You are not an indiscretion.”
“Well, why are you trying to hide your life from me?”
“You were the one who said you wanted
to keep our lives private.”
She fumed. “That was before I knew you were still married!”
“I’m not married, dammit!”
Sergei and Sasha barked again, agitated by the loud voices inside.
“You’ve been telling me how much you desire me,” Charly accused. “How much you want a relationship with me. Then, I come here and find another woman’s picture on your mantle. If she’s been dead for a decade, why do you still have her picture up, Dane? Why?”
Dane let out a breath of anger and frustration. He just wanted her to stop accusing him of stuff. “I don’t know Charly. Maybe it’s because every day another part of her disappears. I guess I didn’t want to forget her.”
Charly’s maple eyes flashed. “Well, maybe it’s time you did!”
His heart sank to the pit of his stomach, leaving no room for him to digest her cold words. “That was cruel and insensitive.”
“You not telling me the truth was cruel and insensitive. Goodbye, Dane.”
He watched her walk away, torn between chasing after her and staying stubbornly frozen in his living room. He chose the latter. Tonight, he’d seen a side of Charly he hadn’t liked. She’d transformed from the hot, passionate bombshell he’d met in the Maldives to an insecure, distrustful woman with her guard up. He thought they had something special. Maybe he was wrong.
Chapter 10
Charly dragged her weary body into her kitchen. Shoving a mug beneath the drip of her automatic coffeemaker, she poured what Dolly Pardon referred to as a ‘cup of ambition’. As she seasoned the murky liquid with sugar, she didn’t feel so ambitious. For the first time in a long time she felt uncertain and lost. The fact that she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days didn’t help.