Something to Talk About

by Melanie Woods Schuster

  Alicia took a good long look at Bryant as she sipped her smooth, icy cold mojito. She didn’t drink often, but she loved the taste of the Cuban rum cocktail. And she didn’t see Bryant Porter often, but she always liked what she saw. He was an intriguing and personable man. And unattached, which was a total puzzle to her. As she often did, Alicia spoke before she thought.

  “Bryant, you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met Why aren’t you married? Are the women in Chicago just nuts or what?” she asked curiously.

  Bryant laughed out loud, a deep, sexy, belly laugh. “Well, thanks for the compliment, but I might ask you the same thing about the men in Detroit. How have you managed to evade matrimony? You’re gorgeous, smart, funny, and down-to-earth. Why has no man snatched you up?”

  Alicia twisted her face in a halfhearted imitation of a smile. “I can cook, too,” she said wanly. “And I’m not as, umm, irresistible as you might imagine. I was engaged once, to my college sweetheart, as a matter of fact. We were going to get married right after I finished grad school.”

  Bryant could sense her withdrawal and probed gently. “What happened, Alicia?”

  “Oh, the usual. I was extremely busy with a dual program of architectural design and urban planning. One of them is bad enough, but combined it makes for the program from hell. I was studying and working on projects almost twenty-four-seven,” she said quietly.

  “Well, sure, that’s to be expected. So what became of the fiance?”

  “He decided I wasn’t giving him enough attention and he found someone else who would,” she said simply. “And that’s my sad story. What’s yours?”

  “Well, I was married for a while, I have two beautiful children,” Bryant told her while admiring the slight slant of her big eyes. “Apparendy my wife was feeling unfulfilled and neglected too, although I wish she’d let me know about it before she found a lover.”

  “Wow. I’m sorry I asked. I wasn’t trying to get in your business,” Alicia began.

  Bryant waved away her apology. “It’s ancient history,” he said easily. “I don’t want you to think it didn’t hurt because it did; it hurt like the devil. That’s a blow to the heart and the ego that’s almost unbearable, but you know about that, don’t you?”

  Alicia nodded in agreement. “You’re right about that It’s painful and miserable and depressing. But you get over it eventually. I have to tell you, though; your wife was a big fool. As wonderful as you are, I don’t know how she could turn her back on you.”

  She took in his per-fecdy smooth ebony complexion, his deep dimples, his straight white teeth outlined by his impeccably groomed moustache and goatee, the whole package set off by a small gold hoop earring. Once again her well-known candor kicked in before she realized what she was saying.

  “So why hasn’t some lucky woman snatched you up? I can’t believe someone as handsome and talented and successful as you isn’t taken.” Her remark earned another shout of laughter from Bryant.

  “Alicia, you’re so good for my egol I’d take you back to Chicago with me, but I don’t think your partner would like that at all,” he said with a knowing smile.

  “Oh, I think you’re right,” she agreed. “We have so many projects going, if I was to leave town he’d be a little bit perturbed.”

  It was Bryant’s turn to study her face; he admired her silky skin unadorned by makeup, her high cheekbones, and her wonderfully sensual mouth. He was starting to wonder what that mouth would feel like on his when Adam returned to the table. Adam gave him a quick look without speaking, a look that most people would have missed. It was just a flash, something that could have been dismissed as imagination, but Bryant was wise enough to read the signal and Adam was telling him in no uncertain terms to step off. Adroitly changing the subject, Bryant announced that he would be spending a lot more time in Detroit

  “I was asked to teach a course at Wayne State this summer, so I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other for a while.”

  Alicia was enthusiastic in her response, which made up for the total silence from Adam. “Bryant, that’s wonderful. This’ll be great, there’s a lot to do in Detroit in the summertime, and you’ll really enjoy it. Will you be here on the weekends, too?”

  “Probably some of them, but I’ll be going back to Chicago as much as possible to spend time with my kids. I can’t stand being away from them. It’s hard enough not seeing them every day,” Bryant said solemnly.

  Alicia patted his hand comfortingly. “That’s only natural. Maybe they can come to see you sometime. Adam has a ton of nieces and nephews they can play with; they’d have a ball.”

  Bryant’s sexy mouth turned up in another huge smile. “That’s a great idea, Alicia. I have a feeling that this is going to work out just fine, once I have a place to stay.” What Adam thought of the situation was an entirely different matter.

  Chapter Two

  After following Alicia home to make sure she arrived there safely, Adam drove around aimlessly for a while. Alicia always insisted there was no need to follow her home; she thought he was being needlessly protective. Adam would let her say her little piece, and then he’d calmly follow her snazzy green Mini Cooper with the black and white trim to the condo where she lived with her sister, Marielle. He would wait until she had closed the door and turned the outside light off and on, the signal they’d established over the years. Nothing was ever going to happen to Alicia as long as he was alive to protect her. Besides being his partner in their very successful firm, she was his best friend and companion. He couldn’t imagine living without her in his life, although lately he was imagining a lot more. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when he accepted the fact that his platonic love for her was turning into something else, but he could remember three specific instances that had occurred in the last six months that had started his mind working in an unfamiliar manner.

  First there was the racing incident. Adam was a true daredevil. Extreme sports were made for him; he loved testing himself in all kinds of ways, including physical endurance. Snowboarding, parasailing, white-water rafting, and motorcycle racing had all taken his fancy at one time or another, but car racing had eluded him until a few months earlier when he decided to give it a whirl. He’d taken racing lessons and decided to enter a Formula Five race to test his skill. All his brothers came to the track to watch, and naturally, Alicia did, too. It was an exciting race, made even more heart-stopping by the fact that another car had spun out in front of him, causing him to almost lose control of his car. After a brief moment of sheer terror he’d recovered control of the wheel to win the race, to the excitement of his cheering brothers. After the formalities, he’d joined his family, looking around vainly for Alicia. He found her returning from the ladies’ room looking as pale as paper and trembling like a leaf. As he walked toward her, concern all over his face, she’d crumpled a little and he had to catch her to prevent her from felling down.

  “Alicia, baby, what is it?” he’d asked. She couldn’t answer; she stood there mutely with tears running down her face.

  “Were you scared? Did you think something was going to happen to me out there? Come on, baby, you know me better than that, I’m made of iron,” he’d told her, trying to make her smile

  Instead, she burst into real tears as she put her arms around him and he could feel how hard she was shaking. She clung to him urgently, nestling into his neck with a shaky, tear-filled sigh. All he could do was hold her and whisper comforting words into her ear until she began to calm. He’d kissed her hair and her face and promised her he’d never do it again and finally she drew a long, shuddering breath and stared up at him as if he were the center of her entire universe. He had felt himself leaning toward her to seal his promise with a kiss when they were joined by his loud, happy brothers, the ones with no sense of timing at all.

  Adam was still shocked by that incident, both by Alicia’s reaction and his response. Alicia was a tomboy at heart, she was certainly no sissy, and she enjoyed phy
sical activity as much as he did. They’d parasailed together on a trip to the tropics and had also gone rock climbing and rappelled into the Grand Canyon together. He’d never seen her fell apart like that, certainly not over any of his stunts. And he had no intention of ever getting behind the wheel of a race car again. If it made her unhappy, he just wouldn’t do it, that’s all. Adam had never compromised on anything in his life and here he had capitulated totally, just to spare her pain.

  By now Adam had reached his spacious loft in the Harbortown section of Detroit. He parked his ancient and venerable Range Rover and went into the building, checking his mail as he did so. After entering the loft, he automatically took off his shoes and hung up his sport coat, stopping to turn on a few lights and point the remote at his stereo. Soon he was sitting on his long custom-made window seat watching the moonlight on the Detroit River. He had a bottle of mineral water in his hand, but he wasn’t drinking it. He was thinking about the second revelation he’d had concerning Alicia. This one had happened soon after his niece’s premature birth last November.

  After the race incident Adam was more aware of Alicia than he’d ever been, or so it seemed. He found himself watching her when she was unaware of his observation, drinking in her essence as though savoring a fine wine. When his brother Donnie brought his wife home from the hospital with the newest Cochran, Lily Rose, Adam had taken Alicia over to their house to meet his infant niece. Alicia had been instantly smitten with the baby, as expected. She loved children and was always happy to be around them. While she’d had her turn holding the beautiful baby and cooing at her, someone had teased her about having one of her own. To his surprise, she’d agreed that it was time.

  “I do want a baby, more than anybody knows. In fact, I’m going to have one. In two years, I’m having a baby no matter what.”

  The calm assurance with which she’d uttered the words had shaken Adam. At that precise moment a pain had pierced his heart, a sensation totally foreign to his normal range of emotions. He’d had a primal revelation, a flash of insight that stunned him. Nobody’s putting a baby in her except me. If she wants a baby, I’ll give her one. As many as she wants, but no one else is putting their hands on her.

  Adam did take a long swallow of water at that point; the mere memory of that episode still caused him to sweat a little. He’d never considered marriage or children up until that point, and it wasn’t as though the many women in his life hadn’t tried to lead him that way. He’d been totally content to lead the life of a happy, handsome bachelor until the moment he’d seen his best friend cuddling his tiny niece. At that very second his whole world had been rocked and rocked hard.

  He stood up quickly and stretched. He took the bottle of water with him as he went into his bathroom. Like everything else in the loft, it was custom designed just for him. A long hot shower before bed was just what he needed. In a few minutes he was standing under a forceful stream of hot water lathering his body with the special hard-milled soap with which Alicia kept him supplied. He loved the big oversized bars from Spain and Portugal and France. Even the fact that they were highly scented delighted him because they reminded him of her. And she always got him sandalwood or pine scents, things that weren’t too feminine. He didn’t want to admit it, but he wished she were in the shower with him. He’d almost gotten that wish two weeks before. It was the third incident that had made him realize once and for all that he wanted more from Alicia than he’d ever acknowledged.

  ***

  Two weeks earlier

  The Range Rover sailed over U.S. 10 W heading to Idlewild, Michigan. Alicia was relaxed and almost completely happy as she checked out the scenery. It was a bright and sunny, albeit cold, day. Frank Zappa was blasting out of the stereo and Adam was singing along with the music. The only thing that was missing to make her day perfect was a pit stop. Adam was determined to make the four-hour drive without a break, something that was making her really uncomfortable.

  “Adam, I don’t care if you have to pull over next to a tree, I have to go. You know I have a bladder the size of a pea; why do you do this to me?” she complained.

  “Okay, we’ll stop at the next exit,” he said. “I don’t think you want to be dropping trou by the side of the road; there’s a lot of wildlife around here.”

  Sensing another one of Adam’s tall tales, she raised an eyebrow. “Wildlife? Like what?”

  “The usual. Deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, bears, coyotes,” he said with a sidelong glance at her to see if she believed it.

  “You’re making that up,” she said slowly.

  “Oh yeah? Check that out,” he replied, pointing out his window.

  Alicia’s mouth fell open as she beheld a herd of buffalo. They were confined in a corral and were obviously domesticated, but it was a weird sight nonetheless.

  “Would you look at that? A buffalo farm. Who would believe that?” She continued to stare at the huge, shaggy creatures as the SUV sped past. They passed a Christmas tree farm and then she caught sight of a sign that made her laugh out loud.

  “Dairy Doo? What kind of place is that?” she asked curiously.

  “It’s a dairy farm that also sells manure. See? It’s all color coordinated and everything,” he pointed out. Sure enough, there were towering piles of neatly arranged manure in different shades of brown.

  “Adam, you certainly know a lot about this area,” she said as she continued to gaze at the unusual array.

  “You know me, once I decided to build a summer place for the family, I started doing research. I’ve been up here a few times looking around and I found out quite a bit about Lake County. My dad was born here, you know.”

  Alicia pushed the brim of her battered baseball cap up so that she could see Adam’s profile better. “No, I didn’t know that. Where in Lake County was he born?”

  “He was born and raised in Idlewild. We’re going there first so I can show you around. Idlewild used to be this fabulous black resort back in the day. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was the place to be. They had camping, fishing, hunting, and boating, and besides all that, there were these amazing nightclubs with floor shows that rivaled the Copacabana and the Las Vegas strip. Everybody who was anybody came to Idlewild. W.E.B. Dubois, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, you name them, they were here,” he told her.

  “Wow. I’ve heard about it, but I never knew what it was really like,” Alicia admitted. “Your sister’s movie gave me more insight on it than anything else I’ve seen.” A few years earlier, his only sister, Benita, had written a screenplay titled Idlewild that was produced by her husband, Clay Deveraux. “So, Adam, what happened to it? Why did people stop coming to Idlewild?”

  Adam raised one shoulder in a gesture of resignation. “Desegregation happened, mostly. People came to Idlewild because the white resorts wouldn’t allow them in. When the color bars were raised, people scattered en masse. They didn’t want to come here and be treated like royalty anymore; they wanted to go where they were barely tolerated,” he said with a hint of bitterness.

  Alicia opened her mouth to respond but was distracted by the sight of a gas station ahead. Adam let her out in front of the building and she made a mad dash for the facilities. Adam was pumping gas when she returned a few minutes later drinking from a large bottle of Dasani water. He went inside to pay for the gas and rejoined Alicia, giving her a sardonic smile.

  “What?” she asked innocently.

  Adam nodded at the water. “You were just complaining about having to go and here you are filling up again. Is that logical?”

  She looked from the bottle of water to Adam and gave a short, embarrassed laugh. “Okay, maybe not. But we’ll be there pretty soon, right?”

  “Yes, we’re almost there.”

  After they arrived in Baldwin, Idlewild’s neighboring community, they checked into the Pere Marquette River Lodge, a motel that also offered quaint two-bedroom log cabins. Alicia took a look around the cabin and was very pleased with what she saw.
The cabins were comfortable and nicely decorated in a rustic lodge motif that made them homey and inviting. “This is really nice, Adam. When we come back, we’ll have to plan on cooking while we’re here,” she said as she inspected the small but nicely appointed kitchen.

  Adam knew she was talking about the inevitable trips from Detroit that constructing a house in Lake County would engender, but it sounded like she was talking about vacations for the two of them. For his own reasons, he liked the way that sounded.

  ***

  After a day of exploring Idlewild they had dinner at the Village Inn in Baldwin where Alicia, as she put it, made a pig of herself over the homemade carrot cake. It was dense, rich, and moist with the best cream cheese frosting she’d ever eaten and she had two pieces. Adam was satisfied with one slice of chocolate cake with thick fudge frosting, but, as always, he got a charge out of watching her enjoy her dessert. When she licked the last bit of frosting from her fork, he felt a faint thrill of sensation at the base of his spine. Adam was more than happy to get the check and settle their bill; if he had to continue to watch her pretty pink tongue lick her luscious lips, he wasn’t sure what would happen next, but he could feel his control slipping.

  They returned to the cabin tired, but happy and totally ready for bed. Adam’s realtor was coming in the morning and they had another long day to look forward to, so an early bedtime was a good idea. The only problem was that while the living room and Adam’s bedroom were warm and cozy, it was still frigid in Alicia’s room. Adam offered to trade rooms with her, but she refused.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it.” She yawned. “I’ll sleep in my sweats and I guarantee you I’ll be out like a light in about ten seconds. I shouldn’t have eaten that second piece of cake, but it was so good.” She gave another huge yawn and told Adam good night. In a few minutes Adam heard the shower running while Alicia prepared for bed. When it was his turn to shower, his senses were assailed by the warm fragrance Alicia left in the small bathroom. The scent of her perfumed bath gel surrounded him and subjected him to a burst of physical longing that was as unexpected as it was unwelcome. After a quick shower, he toweled off and threw on a T-shirt and sweats in deference to the other occupant of the cabin, then went to bed. The sooner he was asleep, the sooner he’d stop having inappropriate thoughts about his best friend.