As she was watching the porpoises, she heard the noise of a car door. She peered behind her shoulder and saw a young man and woman walking up Steven’s steps. She hurried inside, hoping to get there before the doorbell rang. Too late. She ran to the bedroom to wake Steven up, but he was still sound asleep. She jostled him and he started to come awake.
The doorbell kept ringing, then she heard someone say, “Hey, Steven. It’s Carlos.”
Carlos. Serena left the groggy Steven and opened the door. Curiosity had gotten the better of her. A young Hispanic man stood there with a Hispanic woman wearing short shorts and a tiny midriff shirt. A pink rhinestone shone from her naval and her dark hair was pulled up messily into a comb.
Carlos looked startled when she opened the door. He wasn’t expecting to see Serena. “Oh,” he said. “I’m sorry. I was coming to see Steven.”
“He’ll be right here,” Serena said sweetly. “Won’t you come in?”
“This is my girlfriend, Maria,” Carlos said, grabbing Maria’s brown hand in his.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Serena said. “Can I get you some coffee?”
“I love coffee,” Maria said. “I get it at Starbucks all the time.”
“Well, I’m afraid this won’t be like Starbucks,” Serena said. “It’s just plain old coffee.”
She led them into the living room where they sat on the couch. She went back to the bedroom. Steven was putting on his jeans and a T-shirt.
“It’s Carlos and his girlfriend,” she said.
Steven looked at her sharply. “You’re kidding,” he said.
“Not kidding. They’re waiting on you in the living room.”
While she was pouring cups of coffee for Carlos and Maria, Steven came out into the living room.
“Hey, man,” Carlos said. “I’ve been trying to call you. Did you forget we’re going out on the boat today?”
“I did forget,” Steven said. “That car trouble I had just threw everything out of whack.”
“We don’t have to go,” Carlos said, looking disappointed.
“That sounds fun,” Serena said, wondering what she was doing. She looked over at Steven who just stared back at her with a blank look on his face. “Okay?” she said to him.
“Okay,” Steven said. He turned to Carlos. “Sorry I forgot, man. That meeting in Tampa was so boring and then my car went out on me. I just forgot everything.”
Carlos glanced at Serena, then back at Steven. “It’s okay. We can do it another time,” he said.
Steven looked at Serena and she could tell he was hoping she would agree to do it another time. “We’d love to go,” she said defiantly to Carlos. “It’ll take us a few minutes to get ready.”
“Okay,” Carlos said. “We’ll go down and wait on you at the car.”
As Carlos and Maria were walking out the door, Maria said, “We’ve got a cooler full of beer and I made sandwiches.”
Serena smiled at the girl serenely. “Thank you, Maria.”
Back in the bedroom, Steven turned to her. It felt like he was turning on her. “Why did you agree to go?” he asked sternly. “Couldn’t you see I didn’t want to?”
“I’m sorry,” she said sweetly. “I thought you wanted to go. It sounds kind of fun.”
“It’s okay,” Steven said putting on his shoes. Serena put on her sundress and sandals and together they walked out of the house and down to Carlos’ car.
“We’ll meet you over there,” Steven told Carlos. They followed Carlos to the Gulf Coast Oceanography Institute’s building, where the boat was docked nearby on the sound. Carlos and Steven carried the coolers onto the boat and Maria and Serena followed.
Steven, with Carlos at his side, drove the boat through the sound, under the bridge that connected the Esmeralda Island to the mainland, and out onto the water. Serena and Maria pulled beers out of the cooler and sat on the chairs at the other end of the boat.
“So how long have you known Carlos?” Serena asked.
“Oh, we’ve known each other for a while. Our parents are friends in Miami. But we didn’t really get to know each other until college. That’s when we started dating.”
“And you’ve been together ever since,” Serena said more as a statement than a question.
“Yes. When he got the job with the institute, I came with him. I haven’t been able to get anything in my field yet, but I hope to.”
“What is your field?” Serena asked.
“Social work. It’s what I really want to do, but right now I work as a secretary for a law firm in Fort Walton.”
“I guess that must be interesting,” Serena said.
“Not really,” Maria said. “It’s not what I want to be doing. But Carlos is happy here, so I make the best of it.”
Maria didn’t indicate that she and Carlos had any problems. When she watched Carlos and Maria together, they didn’t seem like a couple in trouble. They were easy with each other, affectionate with each other. They looked like a young couple in love and nothing more complicated than that.
A couple of hours later, Maria brought out smoked turkey sandwiches and a container of chicken salad.
“This is Cuban chicken salad,” she said. “My grandmother’s recipe. I’ve got tortillas we can wrap it in.”
Serena looked at the chicken salad. It didn’t look like any chicken salad she had ever seen. It had corn and black beans in it, along with strips of grilled chicken. Maria pulled out a bag of shredded lettuce. She opened a tortilla and spooned the chicken salad and lettuce onto it before rolling it up. Serena did the same. She crunched down into a melding of flavors she had never tasted before. Chili and lime, cumin, corn and black beans all came together to dance on her tongue.
“This is so delicious,” she told Maria. “I’ve never had anything like it.”
“Thank you,” Maria said shyly. “I’ve been eating this my whole life.”
“She’s a great cook,” Carlos said, putting his arm around Maria. “She keeps me happy.”
After they had eaten, Carlos and Steven decided to do some fishing. Serena and Maria were alone again.
“Did Carlos have to go to Louisiana to the oil spill?” she asked Maria.
“Oh, yes. He went to Louisiana and Alabama and Mississippi. He went all over the Gulf Coast. It was terrible what happened. Carlos was so upset about the oil in the ocean and about those men who got killed.”
Serena realized that Maria was talking about the BP oil spill, not a recent spill off the coast of Louisiana.
“Yes, that was terrible,” Serena agreed.
“That’s one reason I love Carlos so much,” Maria continued. “He really cares about the ocean and about people.”
“Are you two planning to get married?” Serena asked.
“Yes. We want to get married. We’re living together right now, but our parents really want us to get married. They don’t understand living together.”
“I guess it’s not how they grew up,” Serena said.
“I guess not. But we are going to get married. In fact, we just decided when last night.” She looked away at the water, then turned back to Serena.
“It’s still a secret right now, but last night we decided to get married next month!” Maria burst out laughing in happiness.
Serena laughed with her. She stood up and hugged Maria. “Congratulations,” she said. “I’m happy for you both.”
“Thanks. We’re going to call our parents later on and tell them. You’re the first to know.”
“I feel honored,” Serena said.
Steven and Carlos fished for a couple of hours, but threw back everything they caught. Serena was relieved when it was time to leave. She had already decided that she wouldn’t say anything to Steven about Carlos and Maria. She just wanted to go home. She needed to see Nonna.
They said goodbye to Carlos and Maria and headed back to Steven’s house.
“How was that?” Steven asked in the car.
“It was good. I real
ly enjoyed talking to Maria.” She left it at that.
When they got back to Steven’s, Serena said she needed to get home. She had a lot of things to do before the work week started. She gathered her things and then kissed Steven goodbye at his door. She brushed him off when he tried to walk her to her car.
“No need,” she said, walking down the stairs and getting into her car. She rolled down the window and waved at Steven as she backed up and pulled away. Standing at the top of the stairs, he waved back.
Chapter Eleven
Monday night, Serena left after dinner and didn’t stay to have a drink at the bar. Nonna was surprised to see her when she walked in the door of the cottage. Serena sat on the couch to watch You’ve Got Mail with Nonna. Her phone buzzed on the table beside the couch, but she didn’t answer it.
“Your phone is jumping around,” Nonna said.
“It’s okay,” Serena said. “I don’t want to talk to anybody right now.”
Serena went to the kitchen and poured glasses of wine for herself and Nonna. They finished the movie, and then Nonna said she needed to get to bed. “I’ll be right up,” Serena said as Nonna climbed the stairs.
She got her phone and went outside to the deck. Steven had left a voice mail. “Where are you? I’m at Rossetti’s thinking you’d be here.”
Then another message. “I’m leaving Rossetti’s now. Guess you aren’t coming. Call me. I love you.”
Serena sat her phone on the table and walked out on the pier. She couldn’t call Steven back right now. She didn’t know what was going on, but things did not seem right. Eventually, she would have to talk to him, but not that night. She went to bed instead, pulling the covers up to her neck. She heard her text signal, but she didn’t pick up her phone to see who it was. Steven, probably.
The next night, Serena did stay at the bar. If Steven came in, she was prepared to talk to him. Jeff brought her a Cosmopolitan, but didn’t stick around to talk. Angela was keeping her eye on him.
Steven did come in around ten and sat down beside her at the bar. Jeff brought him a draft. He looked at Serena for a second, before walking away to the other end of the bar where Angela waited.
“I’ve been trying to call you,” he said. “Why haven’t you called me back?
Serena was ready. She had been thinking about it all night.
“Carlos and Maria didn’t seem like a couple in trouble to me,” she said. “They seemed very happy and untroubled. Maria told me they’re getting married.”
Steven looked at her without saying anything. He took a drink from his mug of beer.
“So you think they’re the happy couple?” he asked, incredulously.
“They seem to be. I don’t understand why Carlos would be calling you all the time. I don’t get that Maria walked out on him the very night they decided to get married.”
“What do you think, Serena?” Steven asked. “That I’m lying about Carlos and his problems? You think that just because you met them one time that what I’ve been saying isn’t true?”
He slammed his mug down on the bar and beer sloshed out of it. Jeff looked over and started walking that way. Serena looked at him, a look that told him to stay away.
“I’m not saying that,” she said. “It just seemed strange that they seemed so happy and effortless together. Usually you can tell if a couple has problems.”
“I don’t know about that,” Steven said. “But why would I make something like that up? What could I possibly have to gain by making it up?” he asked.
Serena thought about it. She had been thinking about it and she didn’t have an answer.
“I also mentioned the oil spill to Maria. She just talked about the BP spill. She didn’t seem to know anything about a recent spill,” she said bravely, determined to have every question answered.
“What did she say?” Steven asked.
“She said that Carlos had been involved with the BP spill. She didn’t mention the recent one where you left.”
“That’s because Carlos didn’t go with me on that,” Steven said. “The last and only oil spill he’s been involved with personally was the BP spill. He stayed behind on the last one to check things off the Florida coast. He didn’t go.”
Serena was starting to feel very foolish, like a suspicious woman accusing her man of lying.
“What’s going on, Serena?” Steven asked. “Why are you suddenly so suspicious?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I guess it’s because you’ve been gone and . . . . I don’t know.”
Steven took her hands. “I love you, Serena. Don’t you believe in that?”
She looked into his eyes. They looked sad and she felt responsible for that. Steven had been working hard and Serena was giving him a hard time, for no good reason. She loved Steven.
“Yes,” she said. “I believe in that. I love you, too.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Steven said.
Serena picked up her purse and slid off of the barstool to follow Steven out the door. She turned and waved goodbye to Jeff. He waved at her, but he didn’t look happy.
She followed Steven to his house and they fell into bed as soon as they could get there. Steven ravished her and she wanted to be ravished. It was the most exciting lovemaking she had ever experienced. Afterward, they lay back on their pillows.
“Serena, I love you,” Steven said into the dark room. “I want to be with you all the time. It makes me feel bad that you don’t seem to trust me.”
Serena reached over and rubbed his arm. “I’m sorry, Steven,” she said. “I do trust you. It’s just that things seemed weird while you were gone. And then with Carlos and Maria. But I understand everything now.”
“I wish you’d come over here more than you do. I want you to come over every night.”
“I wish that too,” she said. “I just feel like I need to be with Nonna sometimes. She’s all alone. But I can come over more. I want to come over more. But I’ll need to leave most nights.”
He sighed. “I understand,” he said. “I’ll just have to live with it.”
She kissed him then and told him she loved him. Then she got dressed to go back home. Steven walked her down the steps to her car and kissed her goodbye.
Over the next couple of weeks, Serena went to Steven’s almost every night, but she left before midnight, except on Saturdays, when she stayed all night. Nonna was familiar with her routine and accepted it without question. “It’s amore,” she heard Nonna saying in her head. All for love.
********************
At the paint store in Fort Walton, Serena chose pale and neutral colors for the walls. “I think we should paint the upstairs parlor in this antique white with white trim and the rest of the rooms in this golden ecru with white trim,” she said to Jeff.
“Whatever you say,” he said. They bought several gallons of paint and rollers, paint brushes, and a container to put paint in for the roller. Jeff loaded everything into his car and they made their way back to Luna Bay.
“So, how’s everything going?” Jeff asked her on the drive.
“Everything’s going fine,” she said looking out the window at the scenery. “Just fine.”
“You don’t look like everything’s fine,” he said.
That made her very angry. How dare he comment on her life, especially when he was totally wrong. She was very happy. She was in love. Why couldn’t he see that?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. “And besides, my happiness or unhappiness is none of your business.”
“That’s true,” he said. “I only say that as someone who knows you. Someone who’s your friend.”
“You don’t know me at all,” she said. Tears were welling in her eyes and she’d be damned if she’d let them fall. “You don’t know me,” she repeated. She turned her head all the way away from him and reached up her hand to wipe the tears that were falling from her eyes whether she wanted them to or not.
They drove on in si
lence. “I’m sorry, Serena,” he said. “I don’t mean to interfere.”
“There’s nothing to interfere in!” she said angrily. “There’s nothing going on, so I don’t know what you keep going on and on about.” She turned her head back to stare at the scenery with unseeing eyes. Jeff didn’t say anything else.
When they got back to the diner, Jeff unloaded the paint and supplies and carried them upstairs. Serena didn’t help him. She wanted to get away from him. When he came down for the last load, she said, “We’ve got a ladder out in the storeroom.” She pointed in the direction of the storeroom beyond the garden. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
Jeff walked over to her and put the paint cans down. He reached for her, but she pulled away.
“I’m here if you ever need to talk,” he said. He picked up the paint cans and walked up the stairs. Serena stood there looking at the stairs long after he was gone. Her tears fell easily then, when there was no one to see them. Damn Jeff! Damn him.
Jeff borrowed the vacuum cleaner from the diner and took it upstairs for two days. When he brought it back down before lunch one day, he said, “Those wood floors are in fantastic shape. I think a coat of varnish would do the trick.”
Nonna looked at Jeff. “I want to see,” she said. Her eyes twinkled and she giggled. Nonna seemed almost childlike in her delight.
Jeff took Nonna’s arm and led her to the staircase. He turned and looked at Serena. “You coming?” he said. Serena put down the head of lettuce she was washing and followed them up the stairs. They walked into the parlor, and it was magnificent. The dingy walls had been painted in the antique white and all of the woodwork gleamed with new white paint. Nonna turned around and around looking at everything.
Serena's Choice - Coastal Romance Series Page 11