Ten Brides for Ten Hot Guys

by Donna Fasano

  “So you ready to take a look inside?” he asked me.

  I nodded and grabbed a few more tissues for good measure. I wadded them tightly in the palm of my hand. “Sure. Let’s do it. I know it won’t be pretty.”

  We stepped around the big yellow tape across the door, mutually agreeing to ignore that little obstacle. What could the authorities do? Sue me? My heart had already been ripped out, and I felt as though I’d been bled dry.

  I handed Billy the key from my handbag and he pushed the door ajar.

  We didn’t step in. We didn’t have to. The big, ashy cavern of a place was all that was left. The beautiful mahogany bar was gone, the stage, all the tables and chairs. My eyes swept everywhere, but nothing remained except a handful of memories.

  Not that I cared a rat’s ass about the material stuff. What mattered to me was the mural that Susie had painted so beautifully, and the brick wall behind the bar—that had so many happy times in the past warned us of the magic.

  Had it somehow survived? And what about the poor Indians buried beneath? Had their long-lost spirits survived too? Were they still hooping and hollering around, furious at this new outrage, or were they to be silenced forever?

  ~*~

  A short time later Billy and I walked into Jake’s room and found him sitting up in bed. He looked much better than the night before. The oxygen tubes were out of his nose, but we could see his breathing was labored.

  He grinned when he saw us. “Hey! Thanks for coming. I wasn’t sure if you were stopping by. Figured you’d have enough to do with the investigation and such.”

  “Naw. Nothing’s more important than you,” I told him, and leaned in for a quick peck to the cheek.

  His eyes searched mine. “Did you go over there today?” At my nod, he spoke gently, “How bad was it?”

  I swallowed hard and bit my bottom lip. Words were still difficult for me. Speaking of this loss would only result in a crying jag, and that was so not going to happen. Those mobsters might take everything from me, but they wouldn’t break me.

  Billy answered for me. “Nothing’s left. The structure is still standing but the place is gutted inside.”

  Jake nodded. “Figured it would be. Shit. With all that liquor around, the place went up like a torch. Didn’t take any smarts for those assholes to figure that out.”

  A faint smile turned up the corner of my lip. “Why didn’t they leave a calling card?” I asked Jake. “That way the police could just pick them up.” A thought occurred to me. “Our security cameras probably were destroyed but I bet some of the other businesses in the area still have theirs. Wouldn’t they be seen collecting every month? What do you think?”

  “I’m sure the guys are smarter than that,” Billy answered. “They’d conduct their business out of sight of the cameras, or they are too stupid for words.”

  “You’re probably right. But if the police could bring around a photo album of hoodlums, maybe the business owners could pick them out.”

  Jake grinned. “A nice big fat family album filled with mug shots? You’re a sweetheart, but you make me laugh.”

  “Well, whatever they call it. A mug book then.”

  “Tell the police to get over here.” Jake sat up straighter. “I’m sure I could finger the guy that put the heat on me and slipped cocaine behind the bar.”

  “You bet I will.”

  The morning drifted into the afternoon and the police came and went. It seemed like there was a steady stream of traffic in Jake’s room. The girls came of course, and there were doctors and nurses and people jabbing him with needles and taking his blood pressure every few hours. The usual fun and games of a hospital visit.

  I kept my eyes out for Krista, wondering if she’d be on duty again today. Perhaps she was on the night shift. I hoped so. While I was home sleeping I wanted him in good hands.

  All the activity wore Jake out, and he drifted off to sleep. Billy left for the apartment, but I stayed a little longer. Going home would only make the reality of everything that much harder to bear. Here, I had little time to think.

  I fell asleep in the chair, my hand gripping Jake’s.

  After awhile I awoke, feeling someone standing over me. I pushed my hair out of my eyes, straightened up and lifted my head.

  Harrison. He had come.

  My heart skipped several beats—I really should see a cardiologist with all the dancing it’s been doing lately—and I whispered his name.

  “Candy. How are you holding up?” His hand touched my hair, then stroked my back.

  “Better now. What are you doing here? You have an important case to try.”

  “It can wait. Besides, my sympathies are with the woman, and that’s never a good thing for a prosecutor to feel.”

  “It is, if you’re the person charged with the crime.” My nose crinkled up at him. “I’d like very much for the prosecutor to be on my side.”

  “I am.” He gave me a warm smile. “How’s Jake doing?”

  “Not great. But he’ll be out in a few days, hopefully.”

  “Can we go somewhere? Grab a bite to eat? I left the office before noon today and never had any lunch. It’s what?” He glanced at his Rolex. “Four already. What do you say to an early dinner?”

  “Sure. As long as we’re not gone long. I’d like to be back when Jake wakes up. It was a trying day today, what with visitors, the police, and he was in pain, I could tell.”

  “No problem. I won’t keep you away.”

  “Okay.” I picked up my handbag and my ebook reader, and kissed Jake’s cheek. “See you later, pal.” His eyes flickered but didn’t open.

  “You want to eat in the cafeteria?” Harrison asked as we made our way to the elevators.

  “No, I’ve been here most of the day. Let’s get some fresh air.” The elevator door opened and we stepped inside, sliding toward the back to accommodate a wheelchair and attendant. “I know an outside café where we can catch a quick bite.”

  “Sounds good.” He led the way to his rental car, and I noticed in was a very basic model. Nothing fancy for this quick trip.

  “Business slow?” I asked with a grin, as he opened the door to the silver Chevy.

  “Ha. Ha. Thought you should see how real people live.”

  “Yay. Right. I might be a little short on cash for awhile.”

  “That’s part of the reason I’m here.”

  “What? Because I’m short of cash?”

  “No silly, because I’m flush with it.”

  “Well, good for you.” I settled in the car, fastened my seatbelt and wondered why he was being so insensitive as to brag about his wealth.

  He tried to keep a straight face but I noticed a little tick in his jaw. Not like the first time we’d met. That had been an explosion waiting to happen. This was a baby in comparison. Funny how after only a few short weeks, I was able to read when Harrison was agitated or not.

  “What’s going on? You look like you’re bursting to tell me something.”

  “It can wait. Over a glass of wine. You will have one, won’t you? I mean, take an hour out with me?” He sounded nervous, which was most un-Harrison-like.

  “Why not? You flew all the way here. I should give you an hour of my time. Besides, I’m actually happy to see you.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” He gave me a quick look. “Truthfully, I want a lot more than that.”

  “Harrison. You left me without a word. Well, not much of one anyway.” I crossed my legs in the small front seat, noticing the movement had raised my skirt a few inches. I left it. “What do you expect from me?”

  “I don’t expect anything. Hope might be a better word.”

  “Hope right now is something I’m a little short of.” I fingered my hair, glad I could no longer smell the acrid scent of smoke. It had taken several shampoos to get the horrible smell out of my hair and my skin. I’d tossed my clothes, but what does one do to get rid of the stench below the surface? Inside, where it lingered and festere
d?

  “Maybe I can fix that.”

  I smacked his knee. “There you go again. Being all mysterious. Out with it. I can’t stand the suspense any longer.”

  He shot me a look. “How far is this café of yours?”

  “About four more blocks. At the next light, take a right.”

  “Good.” His lips turned up in a smug smile. “You can wait then.”

  “You are so mean.” I crossed my arms under my chest, and since I wore a white tank top, my breasts were further on display. So, let him deal with it!

  I didn’t say another word until I spotted the yellow striped umbrellas hanging over the sidewalk. “There is it. Find a parking spot where you can.”

  “How about if I drop you off, then go and park?”

  “If you like, but I wouldn’t mind the walk. I’ve been sitting most of the day.”

  He drove past the restaurant and found a car pulling out just one block ahead. Expertly, he backed into it with one complete swing.

  Show-off!

  Something was irking me, but I had no idea why. It might have a little to do with the mere fact that he looked so perfectly handsome, so healthy and fit, and my dear, sweet Jake was lying in a hospital bed with a crushed lung. How would he like a crushed lung?

  I marched off in front of him, and he ran to catch up, grabbing my hand. “Candy. Are you annoyed that I’m here? Have I done anything wrong?”

  “No. It’s not that.” I tried to pull away, but he tugged me closer. “It’s just you. Everything about you and your life is so very perfect, and mine, well mine, quite frankly, is a mess.”

  “I want to make it better.” He slipped an arm around my waist. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, Candy. My life didn’t seem so perfect without you in it.”

  “I doubt that. If that were the case you’d have called.”

  “I have called. Several times. But I’ve been busy, and you’ve been busy. Doesn’t mean that I didn’t miss you and wish you could be with me.”

  “You’re just saying that because…because you feel sorry for me!”

  “Sorry for you? That’s the last thing I feel.” As if to prove it he captured my face and gave me a long slow kiss.

  Although every bone in my body went into a slow melt, I whispered, “Don’t do that.”

  “Why?” His arm tightened around my waist, and my boobs were squashed into his side. Perhaps it was the warm day, but I felt a flash of heat.

  “Because we’re out on the street and if you’re nice to me like that, I might start to cry. I’ve been doing a lot of that lately.” I tossed my head back and lifted my eyes, very much wanting to read his expressions.

  “What? Crying?”

  “Uh-huh.” I bit my bottom lip. “And feeling unnaturally emotional. Like I’m pregnant or something.”

  His mouth dropped open. “Are you?”

  “No, of course not!” I laughed. “You should see your face. I didn’t actually mean that, I was just making a comparison to my emotional state.”

  “I wouldn’t mind. If you were.”

  “Well, I would mind. Anyway, it’s just this whole mess. My beautiful bar. These horrible mobsters who not only destroyed my livelihood, but my street. And Jake. He’s in love with me, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know. What about you? Do you love him too?”

  “Oh, I do! So much. But not the way he’d like me too.” I blinked rapidly. “That makes me so sad. I wish I could. I wish I could love him like crazy… like…”

  “Like what?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. The way a man and a woman should feel about each other when they are madly in love. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that before.”

  “You’ve never been deeply in love?”

  “Stop quizzing me, okay? I don’t know. Let’s get that wine. I need it now.”

  “You can have as much wine as you want…as long as you confide in me. I need to know where I stand.”

  I glanced at the street. “You stand right here, about three steps away from dinner and drinks.” I pulled at his hand. “Come on. Don’t waste your hour.”

  “You’re a devil, you know that?”

  I answered with a smile.

  Chapter 29

  The minute after the waiter took our order, I turned to Harrison. “Okay. Out with it. What’s this big secret, or whatever it is, that you refused to tell me in the car?” I unfolded my napkin and put it on my lap. “It better be good after this much suspense.”

  “You’re the one who’s built it up. It’s not that big a deal. Just a lucky lotto ticket.”

  “You won money from a lotto ticket?”

  He grinned and stroked my hand that was nervously plucking at things on the table. “Yes. Remember that first night we met…at the Candy Bar? You shouted at me to wish for something, and you said make it good and make it fast.”

  “I remember.”

  “Well, my mind went completely blank. You seemed so insistent that there was some magic hocus pocus going on, so I quickly wished for a million dollars. I don’t have any need of it, or even any real desire.” He looked embarrassed to admit this, but carried on just the same, “but that was the first thought that popped into my head. The second was about you. I figured you were nuts for sure and that I had better warn my daughter about the family she wanted to marry into.”

  “Oh, that’s real nice.” I swallowed a sip of water and glared over his right shoulder.

  “You must admit, you did seem a little off!” He chuckled. “And your girlfriends were dancing around, hooping it up. Very strange, I thought.”

  I gave him a stare that should have turned him into stone. When it didn’t I released a huge sigh of disappointment. “So that’s your big secret? You won a million bucks? Whoopie-doo.”

  “Yup. That’s it.” He put his feet between mine and I could feel his knees under the table. “And I’m giving it to you to rebuild the bar.”

  “I don’t want it.”

  “Too bad because you’re getting it anyway. It belongs to the Candy Bar, not to me.”

  “The Candy Bar politely refuses.” The wine came right then, and without a thank-you to the waiter, I chugged half of it down. “I’ll have another, please. It’s on him.”

  The cute young waiter lifted a brow and shook his head, as if to say “women” then he scurried away.

  “Candy. I insist on you taking the money. I have no use for it, and I know that you wanted to sell the bar and do something else. Now you can.”

  “Don’t you get it? I don’t want your money. Besides, I don’t need it. I have friends—real friends that are willing to help.” I didn’t look at him when I said, “Fran’s going to throw a benefit concert right on the streets, and Susie is going to get permission from the city counsel to put in a small park and do an art sculpture. With all the work she does at children hospitals, she’s quite well known and respected by city officials. The street will be beautiful again, and the Candy Bar will be rebuilt, and life will go on as before.”

  His eyes were hurt as they regarded me. “And I’m not one of your friends? You’ll take help from them, but not from me?”

  “I didn’t quite say that. What I meant was…it doesn’t feel right. Save it for your daughter. Or buy Katie and Billy a nice home to begin their married life.”

  He sipped his beer, and wiped his mouth. “I see.” He looked down at the table for a long moment and I wondered what was going on in his head.

  When he lifted his eyes again, I could see the pain. “I thought we were more than friends. At least you were to me. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.” He touched his chest. “Or here.”

  My heart started thudding fast, laboring like one of those roller coasters climbing a hill, getting ready to swoosh down again. Maybe I needed a pacemaker.

  “What are you saying?” I squirmed in my seat, as antsy as a four-year-old.

  “I’m saying that I’m in love with you.”

  “No shit.”
<
br />   “That’s your answer?” He looked miffed and I started to laugh.

  “Why are you laughing?” His jaw ticked again.

  I reached out to touch it, and left my palm there. “Because this whole conversation just keeps getting crazier. You won a million dollars because of the Candy Bar magic, you thought I was certifiably nuts, and then within a week of knowing each other you fall in love with me?” My smile grew big. “How can that be?”

  “Doesn’t it always happen that way at your bar? Two people meet during a tropical storm, their eyes and hearts collide, and then they’re connected deeply and forever. I get it now. I didn’t back then.”

  The smile slid off my face, and my mouth dropped open. Harrison Wolfe, the most delectable man I knew, was in love with me? Could it be true? Could the Candy Bar magic have come through for me at last?

  “Oh my.” I put my hand at my throat, trying so very hard to keep my excitement from exploding. “I believe you’re serious.”

  “I’ve never been more serious in my life. And I don’t give a damn what Katie and Billy think. You’re the only woman I want and I need.”

  Our eyes met and I reached for his hand. “If that’s the case—then what are we going to do about it?”

  “Whatever you want. We should get married for starters, and then you can live here or in Boston or anywhere else on the planet. If you don’t want the money for fixing up the bar, I could quit my job and we could move to Tahiti for all I care.”

  “I don’t think I’d like Tahiti,” I said with a tinkly laugh. My happiness was starting to bubble over and I didn’t think I could contain it for long. “But if that’s a proposal, I accept.”

  “Not so fast. I’m afraid that you’ve forgotten something.”

  “What?” I glanced at him again, and his eyes were warm and smiling. I loved him like this--happy, excited, eager-to-please. I loved him--every which way. How in the world did I—Candy, single mom, a mongrel compared to an aristocrat--ever get so lucky?