Yesterday

by Fern Michaels

  Sela’s face crumpled, “It’s me, and I apologize, Callie. I hate what’s happening to me, and I’m taking it out on you and Brie. I’m feeling sorry for myself, that’s all.”

  “I accept your apology,” Brie said, crunching the pillow against her stomach. “I wish there was a man who loved me the way Wyn loves Callie.”

  “Does that mean you haven’t met any eligible men in California?” Callie asked. “As a detective on the police force, I would think you’d meet a lot of men.”

  Brie’s freckles danced across the bridge of her nose when she wrinkled it to show what she thought of Callie’s remark. “Oh, I meet a lot of men all right—criminals, and detectives who never get to see their wives and children except on weekends. Who wants someone like that? On a more serious note, I don’t want what happened to Sela to happen to me. When I get married, if I get married, I want it to be forever.”

  “That’s how I feel, too. Why do you think I waited so long to say yes to Wyn?” Callie said softly. But her starry eyes were now full of shadows. Brie wondered why.

  “I think you waited this long because you wanted to see if Bode Jessup would finally wake up and notice you,” Sela said.

  “So, okay, that goes under the heading of being sure,” Callie said, a flush mounting to her high cheekbones. “Let’s not get started on Bode.” She was never ever going to think about yesterday afternoon.

  “You’re the one who said you’d like to drag Bode to bed, just once. Those are your exact words, Miss Calliope Parker,” Sela said.

  How was it possible that Sela Carron Bronson was her best friend, Callie, wondered. She was mean-spirited, selfish, arrogant, and had a mouth like a longshoreman. Maybe she needed a little of Sela’s confidence, a little . . . something. Sela was beautiful too, these days, with hair the color of honey and large dark eyes that looked like huge chocolate drops. Wyn said Sela had bedroom eyes—eyes that enticed and beckoned and promised.

  Sela was an interior decorator, a profession she’d worked on for exactly ninety minutes or, as Sela said, until she set eyes on Dylan Bronson.

  “I was a child then—it was nothing more than girlish chatter,” Callie said defensively. “Furthermore, Miss Know It All, Bode is like a brother to me.” Part of it was true, Callie thought, her neck growing warm. Her eyes filled with more shadows.

  “My ass it was girlish chatter! You were twenty, for Christ’s sake. Don’t go switching up on me now just because you’re getting married. If there’s one thing I don’t need to do right now, it’s question my own sanity. You were twenty goddamn years old when you said you wanted to go to bed with Bode. Furthermore, you said—and this is a direct quote: ‘I want to rip off his clothes and drag him onto this very bed we’re all sitting on.’ End of quote. Go ahead and deny, Mrs. Soon To Be Archer.”

  “So what?” Brie snapped, joining in. “I thought about dragging Bode to bed myself, many, many times. Admit it, Sela, you would have given up your false eyelashes for Bode to even wink at you. You goddamn lusted after him. Why are we even talking about Bode Jessup today? Callie is getting married tomorrow, and we should be talking about her honeymoon, the presents she’s going to get, and how happy she’s going to be, being Mrs. Wynfield Archer.” Brie’s own eyes were full of pain.

  “Fine, fine, let’s talk about all the tacky gifts she’s going to get—silver, crystal, satin sheets, more silver, more crystal, china, and a few ugly things she’ll hide in the attic. She’s going on a honeymoon to Hong Kong and other places where she will screw her brains out for ten straight days, come home, put the satin sheets on her bed and screw some more. She’ll plan on having three children, two boys and one girl. That’s it,” Sela said, flouncing off the bed.

  She is my friend, my best friend, Callie thought in dismay. “Is it possible, Sela, that you missed it all by getting married by the justice of the peace? Please, listen up. I don’t want to worry about you today. Be happy for me. Am I asking too much of you?”

  “Well, now that you mention it, yes. Those stupid antebellum gowns cost a fortune, not to mention the shoes. Then there was my airfare. And the gift,” Sela said, going into the bathroom and slamming the door behind her.

  “Whoa.” Brie let out a long breath, rolling her eyes at Callie. “Sela’s going through a bad time. I guess it’s hard for her to see how happy you are. You are happy, aren’t you? I see something in your eyes that doesn’t compute.”

  “You were always the one who made the most sense,” Callie said, rolling the thread that was now a triple-tight knot between her fingers. “I’m going to miss this house. By the way, I see something in your eyes, too, that I’ve never seen before. Explain, please.”

  “Allergies. Are you selling it?”

  “Who would buy this ramshackle white elephant? No, I deeded it to Wyn. This afternoon at the cocktail party I’m going to give it to him. It’s all I have—not that it’s worth anything,” Callie said ruefully. “It’s called a deed of trust. Bode did it for me.”

  A frown built above Brie’s eyes. “The land, too?”

  “The whole thing, all five hundred acres. Hey, he’s not getting a prize here. Half the land is wetlands and they have to be preserved and the other half, or at least most of it, is fallow. It will still be mine in a way, don’t you think?”

  The frown cut deeper into Brie’s forehead. “This is a wedding gift, right?” Callie nodded. “What’s Wyn giving you?” She held her breath waiting for her friend’s reply.

  “First off, he doesn’t know I’m giving him the deed of trust. I want it to be a surprise. But, to answer your question, he’s giving me his grandmother’s pearls. Brie, they are to die for. And he couldn’t wait to put my name on all his holdings. I think I’m supposed to sign all those papers this afternoon. There was one small hitch so maybe the papers won’t be ready till we get back from our honeymoon. Everything, Brie, has my name on it. He is so generous. Everyone today wants prenuptial agreements. Not Wyn. What’s his is mine and what’s mine is his. That’s the way it should be. I’m sorry Sela’s husband didn’t feel that way. What is she going to do?”

  “She told me last night, the only thing of value she has is the Rolex watch Dylan gave her. She’s selling it and taking a real-estate course. She wants to be a real-estate mogul or maven or something like that. With the balance of the money she can live cheaply until she sells some property. She admitted she stole a Chinese vase and sold it right under Dylan’s nose. I think she got eighteen thousand dollars for it. She’ll be okay, but she’ll have to watch her money.”

  “She actually stole it?” Callie whispered, her dark eyes unbelieving.

  “Yep. The lady has balls, but then we both know that. You are happy, aren’t you, Callie?”

  “Lord yes. We’re going to try for a baby right away. Wyn is wonderful, and he loves me as much as I love him. If I told him I wanted a star, he’d try to get it for me.”

  “Trying and getting are two different things,” Brie said quietly.

  “You don’t like Wyn much, do you? It’s okay if you don’t. I can handle that. Do you want to talk about Bode?”

  No. “I like Wyn just fine. What I don’t like is he races greyhounds. I just hate it. I know you don’t like it either, but you put up with it. Why is that, Callie?”

  “What do you expect me to do? His father did it, his grandfather and his great-grandfather did it. I made my views known. It is a sore point between us,” she admitted miserably.

  “I thought Bode was the only sore point,” Brie said sourly.

  “You like him better, don’t you?”

  “I can’t forget how wonderful he was to all of us. He’s a good, kind, gentle human being.”

  “If you have something to say, maybe you should say it now,” Callie said tightly.

  “What is there to say? Wyn hates him. Hates the relationship you have with him. You never told me why that is. I think we should talk about this. Bode doesn’t know who his parents are. You were the one who said he
just appeared one day. Pearl said she didn’t know anything, said your father brought him home one day, and that was that.”

  Callie hated arguing and defending Bode. She always defended Bode because she loved him. A vision of Bode in the parking lot respecting her flashed in front of Callie’s eyes.

  Bowdey Malcolm Jessup, Attorney at Law. It was Bode who had encouraged her to attend law school in the north. It was Bode who promised her a job in his one-man office when she finished law school and her internship. It was Bode she called in the middle of the night when something was bothering her. He was supersmart, devilishly handsome, a kind, gentle, good man, just the way Brie said he was. Bode was perfect. Yesterday, he finally, with words and his eyes, let her know where she stood in his life.

  “What does Wyn have to say about you working with Bode?”

  Callie’s lips tightened. “He doesn’t like it, but he’s leaving it up to me. It’s what I went to school for. I want to practice family law. My two and a half years working in Columbia has really helped. I’ll be an asset to Bode.”

  “Okay—don’t get your panties in a wad.” Brie grinned. “I say go for it. Do you think I’ll ever get married, Callie?”

  “Absolutely. Stop being picky and give those guys in San Diego a chance. What’s it feel like to pack a gun?”

  “Awesome. I’m a good cop, Callie—detective, I mean. I’ve been accepted to the FBI Academy.”

  “Congratulations! Honest, Brie? A female FBI agent! I’m so impressed. Sela will be rich and famous and I’ll be . . . happy working for Bode and having Wyn’s children. We’ve come a long way,” Callie said.

  She sounds defensive, Brie thought. She revised the thought almost immediately. Frightened was probably a better word. Damn, she liked Bode Jessup more than she liked Wynfield Archer. But if a contest were in the making, her vote would have to go to Wyn because he loved Callie heart and soul, and whatever made Callie happy made Brie happy. But then Bode loved her, too. She knew it as sure as she knew the sun would set later in the day.

  Poor Bode.

  “A penny for your thoughts,” Callie said.

  “I don’t know if they’re worth that much,” Brie said ruefully. “How’s it going to work if you take Pearl with you? Wyn has his old nanny. Won’t they clash? That’s what I was thinking,” she lied.

  “Wyn is pensioning off his nanny; she’s going to live in the guest cottage on the property. Pearl said she wanted to come with me. Thank God. She’s . . . I can barely remember my mother. She’s all I have except Bode, and he isn’t a blood relation. Trust me when I tell you, the only way I would give up Pearl is if Bode wanted her to make a home for him. He wanted her, I know he did. But in true Bode fashion he agreed to let her come with me. I don’t want her to work so hard. She’d be picking up after Bode all day long and cooking and cleaning seven days a week. She wouldn’t even have time for church.”

  “Bode would drive her to church. He used to do it all the time,” Brie grumbled. “You owe him now for Pearl. He has as much right to her as you do.”

  “I don’t owe Bode anything. The decision was Pearl’s. She loves Bode, and he knows that. It’s fine—really it is, Brie. What is that girl doing in the bathroom?”

  “Putting on two pounds of makeup. It takes a lot of time to cover up unhappiness. You, on the other hand, sparkle, almost. I’m so happy for you, Callie. I wouldn’t have missed this wedding for anything in the world even though those bridesmaid dresses are shitful. Sela is right about that. Whatever were you thinking when you picked them out?” Better to move on to other things. Talking about Bode was too painful.

  Callie flushed. “Actually, Wyn kind of . . . more or less . . . he gave me . . . input.”

  “And lavender! I hate to say this, but I feel like I’m laid out, you know, as in dead, in that color. It washes me out. If I had your nice tan, I could see it, but I’m too fair; Sela, too.”

  “Oh God, I can’t do anything right. I wanted to please Wyn so I agreed. Bode said the same thing. Maybe if we take the crinolines and hoops out, the dresses won’t be so—”

  “—Shitful?”

  “I was going to say ‘awful,’ but yes, ‘shitful’ pretty much sums it up. They are the exact same color as the wisteria that covers Wyn’s garden—I think that’s why he picked the color he did. Do you have any suggestions?” Callie asked.

  “Well, I do,” Sela said, emerging from the bathroom perfectly made-up. She wore a daffodil yellow dress that was so plain and so severely cut, Callie knew it had to be an original of some kind and outrageously expensive. Sela made a face as much as to say, “I had to get what I could while the getting was good.” She said, “We could take down your drapes and curtains, and swag them across our bodies in a toga effect. Anything, Callie, would be better than those awful gowns. Brie?”

  Brie looked at Callie, who winced and shook her head. “Taking out the hoops and crinolines will help. It’s too late to make other changes. God, you don’t think this is an omen of some kind, do you?” she asked. “When things go wrong at the onset it pretty much goes downhill after that.”

  Brie hitched up the baggy pajamas that were so glorious in color Sela said she needed sunglasses to look at them. “I see that your fashion sense hasn’t improved, Brie,” she said bitingly. “When was the last time you wore a dress? Are you sure you aren’t a dyke? God, you are skinny!”

  “Up yours, Sela,” Brie said, heading for the bathroom. She slammed the door so hard the windows rattled.

  “Testy, isn’t she?” Sela drawled.

  “You bring out the worst in her, Sela. Why do you keep doing it?”

  “Because I’m jealous of her just the way I’m jealous of you,” Sela said honestly.

  “For God’s sake, why? I have less than you have. Brie is doing what she loves. She always wanted to be a cop, and I bet she’s the best San Diego has to offer. And now the FBI Academy. That’s not shabby. She went after what she wanted, and she is not a dyke. I hate that word, Sela. Please don’t call her that again. Look around—this house is so rotten it’s falling apart. This room and the kitchen are the only rooms that are livable. Pearl’s room is okay, too, but that’s it. I have no money. I took off a year and worked, my car is so old they don’t make parts for it anymore. I squeaked through college and law school by the skin of my teeth whereas you took honors; Brie too. So you made a few bad decisions; it isn’t the end of the world. I see a bitterness in you I never saw before. Please, Sela, don’t let it eat at you. He isn’t worth it. Start over and put the past behind you.”

  “Easy for you to say, but you’re right, as usual. I really do wish you all the happiness in the world, Callie—I mean that. And I am so very proud of Brie, I could bust. I tell her that, too. She knows what I’m like. Real friends accept one another for what they are. The gowns are shitful though.” She grinned wickedly. “Will you be coming back here after the wedding?”

  “No. Most of my things were sent to Beaufort earlier in the week. Pearl’s things are going there today. She’ll pack the few remaining things tomorrow, and one of Wyn’s employees will pick her up and drive her to the plantation. It’s going to be hard for her to give this up. It’s the only home she’s ever known.

  “Sela, look at the curtains,” Callie went on sadly. “Pearl mended them so many times, the patches have patches. You can see the backing through the carpet. The floor is warped, and the windowsills are so rotten you can stick your fingers in the holes. The place is full of termites and powder-post beetles. It’s not safe to walk on the second floor, and there are so many leaks in the pipes the walls are wet. The wiring is a fire hazard, and there’s no insurance. Do you know how I got through my last year of law school? And you sit there and say you’re jealous of me! Don’t ever tell me that again,” Callie said coolly.

  “Wyn offered to pay for your schooling.”

  “The bottom line is I simply wasn’t smart enough to hold a real job and study, too. I would never take financial help from Wyn. Ne
ver. When we move to Beaufort I am going to treat Pearl like a queen. I am going to wait on her hand and foot. I am going to bring her breakfast in bed. I am going to take her shopping and buy her fine dresses and good shoes. I am going to accompany her to church, and I am going to do the dishes while she watches me—and guess what? I’m even going to teach her how to drive, and I’ll buy her a car when I start to earn money. I’m going to take real good care of her. What do you have to say to that, Sela?” Callie demanded, her face flushing a rosy pink.

  “I think it’s wonderful. She deserves the best, and I hope you follow through.”

  “Do you think I won’t?” Callie screeched. “Do you think I just said all those things to hear myself talk? I meant every single word.”

  “Sometimes the best intentions go awry. What about Wyn? He’s going to want to socialize. How are you going to do all those kind, wonderful things if you don’t have the time?”

  “I’ll make the time. Pearl comes first. She does, Sela, don’t look at me like that. Wyn understands. And if he switches up on me at some point, tough.”

  “Good for you, Callie,” Sela said, hugging her friend fiercely.

  “Ta da!” Brie sang from the bathroom doorway.

  “My God, it’s wearing a dress,” Sela said in mock horror. “And its hair looks fashionable, and is that makeup I see on those freckled cheeks? Earrings, too. Lord have mercy!”

  “You’re an asshole, Sela. I told you that when you were six years old and I’m telling you it again now. My question is this: are you going to drive Pearl down here to see Bode? I can’t exactly picture him pedaling that bike of his all the way to Beaufort. Did he ever get a car?”

  “Yes, but he hardly ever drives it. He said he doesn’t want to contribute to the pollution.”

  At that moment, Pearl appeared in the doorway, dressed in a colorful muumuu, her favorite daytime attire. A massive braid was wrapped around her head and fitted her like a crown. Once black, her hair was now streaked with gray to match her eyebrows. Her eyes were round, dark, and as shiny as new pennies. There was always a smile on her moon-shaped face, matching the one in her eyes. All she had to do was hold out her arms and all three young women would rush to her, grateful for the warmth and love she gave them. Her feet were big with calluses so thick and hard she wore them like a second skin. She hated shoes and only put them on when she went to church, which was seven days a week and twice on Sunday.