By the time they went back inside, Mariah had arrived. “Mom?”
Georgia waved a hand. “I’m fine, Mariah. This is all surface damage.” She hugged her daughter though because Mariah was wild-eyed with worry.
“Any idea who might have done this, Mrs. Bates?” the officer asked.
“No,” Georgia said, giving him her attention.
“Yes, we do,” Vassal answered, correcting her. “My former stepmother had a bad reaction to seeing my former stepfather kissing Ms. Bates at an event yesterday evening. He and my former stepmother have been divorced for well over a year, but she still has unresolved feelings for him.”
“Are you saying Brent’s the cause of this?” Mariah said, outraged by the thought.
It wasn’t an appropriate time to laugh, but Georgia did it anyway. “Only indirectly. The sprinkler system went off…”
“Accidentally…” Vassal supplied firmly, giving Georgia a warning look. He looked at Mariah and smiled in introduction. “Hello, Dr. Bates. I recognize you from your website. I’m Vassal Milano.”
Georgia rolled her eyes at his formality and looked at Mariah. “What Vassal is trying to say is that his former stepmother climbed into the fountain in the foyer and made a scene. Brent’s other two ex-wives climbed in after her trying to keep him from getting upset at all three of them. When the sprinklers went off, she got wetter and left in a huff, as did all the guests. Vassal’s convinced it was his former stepmother who did this damage to my house.”
Georgia turned to the officer. “Like I said, I have no idea. I may be a sixty-two year old rabble rouser, but usually that’s only with grocery store baggers who squash my bread.”
The officer laughed at her joke. “How long have you and Mr…”
“Colombo,” Vassal interjected. “Dr. Brentwood Colombo.”
The man nodded. “I know him. Nice guy. He fixed up a police officer buddy of mine who got shot.” He turned to Georgia. “So how long…”
Georgia shook her head. Then she laughed. What else could she do? She looked at the police officer. “Believe it or not, last night was our first date. He was hosting a charity event at his home. His three ex-wives were in attendance.”
“No kidding? Rich people certainly don’t think like the rest of us,” the officer said. Realizing his mistake, he turned to Vassal. “No offense to you, sir. I appreciate you sticking around to help Ms. Bates.”
Vassal snorted. “I would never leave Georgia to deal with this alone. And neither would Dr. Colombo.”
“Yes, sir. I agree with you there. He seemed a caring type of person.”
“Well, I’m not convinced. What do you mean Brent’s ex-wives were at the event?” Mariah screeched, garnering everyone’s attention.
Georgia shrugged when the officer and Vassal exchanged grins. “You had to be there to get the humor.”
“I don’t see what's so damn funny,” Mariah snapped. “Why are you defending him? Is this why you didn’t want to go? I could tell, you know. It’s part of my job.”
Vassal chuckled. “Your mother was a wicked Cinderella. Brent was the consummate handsome Prince chasing her around all evening long. It all was vastly entertaining until we had the flooding in the foyer. Trust me. Only Brent’s ex-wives didn’t think so.”
“Yes, but why were they there in the first place? Why would Brent ask you to go to an event if they were going to be there? Mother…”
“It’s all good, Mariah,” Georgia said, rubbing her angry daughter’s arm. “You’re… what is it you call this? Oh, yeah… you’re redirecting. The damage to my house is just paint and broken flower pots. I’ll call Ann and Cal first chance I get. Worst case, I may have to replace the garage door. No one got hurt last night or today. That’s all that matters.”
“What if Brent’s psycho ex comes back to the house?” Mariah demanded. “You can’t stay here now.”
“Of course I can,” Georgia admonished. “I’ll activate the alarm and everything will be fine.”
The front door opened. A wild-eyed Hollywood rushed inside. He bowled her over before picking her up and hugging her tight. “I’m sorry, Georgia. Henna called and told me. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
Georgia wiggled her way free, but it wasn’t easy. “I’m fine. It’s being handled. The police are here. Vassal shouldn’t have scared Henna.”
He looked at Vassal. “Katrina?”
Vassal nodded. “That’s my guess.”
“Are you Dr. Colombo?” the officer asked.
Georgia huffed as one of Hollywood’s talented hands clamped like a vise around her wrist. “Do you mind letting go?” she demanded, yanking without results.
“Yes, I do mind. I was worried sick when Henna told me your house got vandalized,” he said.
Brent turned his attention to the officer. He explained in depth all the medications Katrina was on while the primary officer made notes. Catching him mid-explanation about his marital history, which she really, really did not want to hear, Georgia finally tugged her wrist free and went to stand by Mariah
“I can’t believe his ex-wives were there. That is not a perfect date. Brent’s in breach of contract,” Mariah grumbled.
“Breach of contract? Over a damn date?” Georgia asked, chuckling at the idea.
Vassal wandered over and stood next to Georgia. “Barring the scary vandalism, hanging out with you is positively the most fun I’ve had in ages.”
The door opened again. “Dad? I saw your car out front,” Henna began, looking around. She spied Georgia and walked over to her, wrapping her arms around her to hug. “I’m so sorry, Georgia. What happened to your house is just awful. It was probably Katarina. She’s the crazy one.”
Then Henna pulled back, her look of sympathy evaporating into a frown. “Is that my Bengals hoodie you’re wearing?”
“Yes. I had to borrow it this morning,” Georgia said.
“You stole my hoodie,” Henna said, disbelief in every syllable.
“No, I just borrowed it,” Georgia said firmly. “I plan to return it as soon as I can wash it for you. I had an emergency this morning.”
Henna crossed her arms. “What kind of emergency? The ‘I think I’ll mess with Henna again’ kind? I found my doggy slippers by the front door. Why didn’t you just take them too?”
Vassal snorted. “Listen Ms. The-World-Only-Revolves-Around-Me, Georgia couldn’t find her bra this morning.” He glanced sideways. “Not that she really needs one. I told her that, but apparently older women can be quite stubborn about taking an honest compliment.”
“Mother…” Mariah began, looking from Vassal to her in alarm.
Brent cleared his throat from across the room. “I hung your brassiere on the closet door before I left. Good lord, it’s bright purple, Georgia. How could you not see it there? I thought I put it in a very obvious place.”
Mariah, Vassal, and Henna all turned to stare at him, open-mouthed. Once again, Georgia laughed too loudly. All the stares turned to her then. Would she never learn how to keep her sense of humor to herself?
“No, Hollywood. I didn’t see my purple bra hanging on your damn closet door. I was too busy trying to figure out how to escape that twisted labyrinth you call home,” Georgia said, rubbing her forehead. “And now, thanks to you and Vassal, even the police know I slept with you on our first date. Why don’t you take out an ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer next? That ought to bring the wrath of all three of your exes down on my head.”
Vassal snickered beside her.
She elbowed him in retribution. “Why are you laughing? You were the one who brought up my missing bra.”
“I know. You’ve turned me into a troublemaker overnight. Or you could consider that I was defending you with my utter honesty.”
Henna smacked his other arm, drawing Vassal’s attention to her. “Why did you let Georgia steal my hoodie? You could have convinced her to put her suit jacket back on. It was on the hanger with her purse.”
“Because Georgia got lucky last night while I slept poorly on your couch,” Vassal announced, looking down at her. His mouth quirked in a grin as Henna blushed.
Georgia noticed Henna said nothing in response to Vassal’s revelation about their evening. The girl just crossed her arms and pouted while her face turned scarlet. Henna had a lot to learn about dealing with men.
Georgia glared at Vassal for Henna’s sake. “Those good looks of yours might stop Henna from being rude back, but they will not keep me from making you pay dearly.”
“Sounds like there was quite the party last night,” the officer said.
When Mariah’s glare turned his way, Georgia saw him duck his head to keep from laughing outright at all of their embarrassing chatter. The policeman’s amusement had her face flushing worse than Henna’s over Vassal’s comments.
“I’m really sorry for all this,” Georgia told the police officer.
“Are you kidding? You’ve livened up my Sunday. Come down tomorrow and give us a set of fingerprints, Ms. Bates. We’ll be in touch afterwards if we match anything off the hammer that isn’t you,” he said, nodding at Brent before leaving.
Then all eyes turned to Georgia. She laughed at their scrutiny and ran a hand through her hair that hadn’t been brushed since the sprinklers went off.
Mariah’s exasperated sigh filled the air in her living room. “Okay, Mother. Now that the police are gone, would you mind telling me what the hell went on last night?”
“I can answer that for both of us. We fell more in love.”
Georgia rolled her eyes at Hollywood’s dramatic statement. He walked over and crossed his arms before glaring at her. Now she knew where Henna got it from.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Georgia Bates. You spent the night with me. Now tell your daughter the truth.”
Georgia snorted. “Just because you think it’s okay to spread my business around Cincinnati at large doesn’t mean I have to admit anything to anyone.”
“So you aren’t falling in love with me then?” he asked.
Georgia blinked as she stared. “I didn’t say that. I’m… why are we having this discussion? It was just one night.”
“Isn’t that a guy’s line?” Vassal asked.
“A guy like you maybe,” Henna replied. She leaned over and punched her father in the arm. “Making Georgia confess will do you no good. She’s a talented liar… in a good way.”
“Oh, I know that,” Brent agreed.
Mariah lifted a hand. “I’m still not clear on the matter. So Brent… you invited your exes to your home on the same night you scheduled your date with my mother. Now you’re calling her a liar too? And in front of me?”
“Yes,” Brent said sharply, not denying it. “She’s also beautiful, easy to talk to, and one day I’d like to marry her, but I realize that’s not going to fly for a while. The exes thing was a mistake. Just like Georgia flooding my foyer was a mistake. What’s so hard to understand? She and I worked this all out last night.”
Mariah rolled her eyes and growled. Henna giggled and turned away. Vassal burst out laughing. Georgia whistled shrilly until she had all their attention, especially her daughter’s.
“Thank you all for caring about me getting laid last night, but my relationship to Hollywood is no one’s business but mine.”
“And mine,” Brent declared.
Sighing, Georgia shrugged. “Okay. You can stay, but everyone else has to go.”
“See? I told you,” Brent said to Mariah. “Your mother’s falling in love with me.”
“You really don’t have to stay,” Georgia said. Her yawn punctuated her speech.
“Of course I do. You’re still traumatized.”
“I am?” she asked, laughing at the idea. Maybe she was naïve about the amount of crazy out there in the world, but she didn’t want to spend any more time worrying about it.
“Well, one of us is still traumatized,” Brent said. “I can’t believe Katrina did all that to your house.”
“We don’t know it was her. It could have been a bunch of kids pulling a prank,” Georgia said.
“Are you still in denial?” Brent asked.
“Maybe,” Georgia admitted. She laughed as the man she was sleeping with walked out of her tiny bathroom wearing only a small pink towel around his hips. “There are big brown towels in the other bathroom. You didn’t have to use the pink ones under the sink. I use those for cleaning.”
She watched as Hollywood looked down at himself and shrugged.
“It’s a towel, not a rebellion against my masculinity.”
Her snort brought a grin to his face. She liked that grin. She liked it too much.
“Are you really falling in love with me?” she asked.
“Already fell,” Brent said, dropping the towel on the floor before climbing between the sheets.
“We’ve only had one date,” Georgia said around another yawn.
He pulled her close. “Well, we’ll have more and time will take care of proprieties. Mariah will lose me as a customer, but I’m sure she’s going to be gaining enough new clients that she won’t miss me. Henna will be gaining sage female advice on a regular basis. And my ex-wives will fade away into my history never to be heard of again. Please God…”
Georgia laughed at his sincere pleading. “You had me right up to that last part.”
She felt him shrug as he put his arms around her. She couldn’t believe the man was in her small double bed with her. She couldn’t believe she’d caved and let him stay.
She couldn’t believe any of the last week had happened.
“Thank you for letting me sleep here, Georgia. Dream about falling in love with me, okay?”
“Hollywood, you’re incorrigible… but I’ll think about it,” Georgia said, liking the way her soap smelled on him.
“Good. I’m an excellent husband, you know.”
“Well, you’re a good sport. I like that about you. Now kiss me goodnight so I can pass out.”
He did as she asked without complaint. Maybe marrying him wouldn’t be too bad. He was already trained in what it took to make her happy.
Epilogue
She’d held them off for almost a week, but that was all she’d managed. The police investigation hadn’t even taken a day. Vassal had been right. Katrina’s prints were on the hammer. She’d confessed to the damage, and gone into therapy to avoid criminal prosecution.
Other than not knowing how many other of Hollywood’s discarded females might come after her, she couldn’t complain with how things worked out this time.
“Did you bring a whole pan of croissants?” Georgia asked.
Trudy nodded and set them in the middle of the dining table. “Surviving a crime requires a sufficient stock of comfort food to see you through the anger and hurt. My house was broken into once. It was awful.”
Jellica bit her lip as she looked at Georgia. “Is it true one of Dr. Colombo’s ex-wives vandalized your house because she was jealous of you?”
Georgia shrugged. “Yes, it’s true.” She sighed and looked at her caring friends. “I really don’t want to talk about my house right now. The insurance is paying for new siding and a new garage door. Cal and his father have the repairs half finished already. I’m doing good and not on the verge of a mental meltdown over this.”
“You must still be getting laid then. Or did Brent’s ex-wife’s graffiti art on your house steal his joie de vivre?”
Georgia thought about the answer she wanted to give. “His French is fine. Hollywood and I…” They were hanging on her every word. “I guess we’re officially dating. I haven’t told Mariah yet. She's still mad at him.”
“Dating?” Three voices said in disbelief.
Georgia laughed at that and at the looks on their faces. “What the hell were you expecting me to say?”
“Something more amazing than dating, I guess. There was like major chemistry happening between you two. Everyone talked about it behind your back,” Ann infor
med her, giggling at Georgia’s frown.
Four heads turned in shock when Brent Colombo came walking out of Georgia’s bedroom. He was impeccably dressed and smelled wonderful. Georgia barely fought off the blush climbing her face.
“I’ve got to run or I’ll be late for my appointment. Why did you let me sleep in?”
Georgia lifted an eyebrow. “You were tired and refused to get up. It wasn’t like I had a choice… and I’m not your alarm clock anyway.”
Brent chuckled and kissed her mouth. He turned to the women and smiled. “Ann. Trudy. Nice to see you both.” He straightened and walked around the table. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
Jellica stared up at his handsome face. “Hello, Hollywood. I’m Jellica.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Jellica.”
Hearing his nickname prompted a smile that had all the women grinning. A horn honked in the street and destroyed the moment.
“That’s my ride. Really got to run,” he said, stopping to lay a lingering kiss on Georgia’s lips. “When I get my car today, I’ll be back.”
Georgia wrapped her untouched croissant into a napkin. “Here’s a snack. It’s good. Trudy made it.”
“Thank you,” Brent said, kissing her once more.
There was absolute silence as the four of them looked out the picture window and watched Brent climb into his taxi.
“I forgot the man’s allure. It’s like a presence, isn’t it?” Trudy said at last.
“It’s not him. It’s his cologne,” Georgia said. “My entire house smells like it.”
“Sure it is,” Trudy said slyly. “Now why didn’t I go for Brent when Patricia divorced him? I don’t remember now. How did he get you in his bed on your first date? You never said.”
“You slept with him on your first date? Georgia… there’s a third date rule for a reason. Men lose respect for women who put out too fast,” Jellica said.
Georgia sighed when Ann laughed and shook her head. She looked at the youngest among them. “Yes, Jellica. I did sleep with him on our first date,” she admitted. “And I’ve slept with him every night since. I’ve tried several times to run him off, but he keeps coming back. He’s trying to get me to go stay at that museum he lives in.”
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