Love Garage

by Liz Crowe

  “You are so beautiful when you blush.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I love you.”

  “Antony, I….”

  Before she could finish, he climbed into his truck. “Horsies, Jeffrey?” he asked, glancing into the rear view mirror.

  “Horsies! Horsies!”

  Rosalee propped her arms in the open window. “I’m not who you think I am,” she insisted, her heart pounding so loudly it deafened her. “I’m not…I need to tell you—”

  He grabbed her for another kiss, cutting her off.

  “You are exactly what I want in my life, my bed, my world.” His wild, desperate expression scared her a little. “I’ll have him home in one piece, if a little dusty and full of ice cream. Oh, and we need to talk about Thanksgiving. I don’t think Mama is up to feeding us all this year.”

  She stepped away and watched the truck drive out onto the street. By the time she stumbled back inside her own house, tears ran down her face in anticipation of the conversation she needed to have with Antony and Aiden’s mother.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Thanksgiving

  “I’m not lettin’ her do anything,” Rosalee insisted, hauling one of two huge turkeys out of the oven, and setting them on the counter already crowded with dishes.

  Renee wrapped tin foil over one of the three pans of dressing. Angelique poured the gravy into a plastic pitcher for ease of transport. Jeffrey and Aiden were yelling at the television in the next room, playing some video game or another.

  “But she wants to,” Antony insisted. He held a box full of table linens she’d handed him. “I’m telling you not helping out is makin’ her nuts.”

  Rosalee wiped the sweat off her forehead and made a mental calculation of the turkey poundage versus the number of people she had to feed for the thousandth time.

  “Antony, please just pack the car. Your mama is coming off two days of chemo. Let her rest. Tell your daddy to get her to the garage at three o’clock like we told him.”

  She blew a lock of hair out of her eyes when Renee appeared in the doorway.

  “Did you bring them?”

  Renee smiled. They’d made a sort of peace during the last week’s worth of planning for the Love family Thanksgiving dinner. Rosalee had initiated it, thinking it the mature, Christian thing, while choking on jealousy at the sight of the woman’s emerald ring. But no matter her own misgivings about marrying Antony, she knew Renee didn’t deserve to be in the middle of all the mess between her and Aiden.

  “Sure did.” The woman pointed to the small suitcase she’d parked by the fridge. “Who’s first up?”

  “Me, I guess.” Dom appeared in the doorway, holding a beer, and running his hands through his long, blond hair. “You sure this is really….” He stopped at Rosalee’s glare. “Never mind. Let’s get it over with.”

  Renee patted the chair on top of a big plastic tarp in the far corner of the kitchen and opened the case. “This won’t hurt a bit, sweetie. Just leave it to me.” Rosalee focused her attention back on the remainder of the meal prep and pack-up, knowing Renee had her part well under control.

  The sound of a hair trimmer filled the air while she and Antony ferried food to the car. When Aiden headed toward Renee, Jeffrey barnacled onto him so tight he couldn’t sit.

  “Jeffery Paul Norris,” Rosalee said, her nerves frayed, sweat dripping down her back. “You either let Aiden loose, or I’ll have Miss Renee take your hair off, too.”

  Jeffrey studied Miss Renee to gauge her relative harmlessness. The woman smiled and crouched down, holding the trimmers. When she switched them on he flinched. Antony grabbed Rosalee’s arm to keep her from leaping between them. He turned, shocked at how different he looked with a shaved head. He rubbed the stubble.

  “It’s just hair, Rosie. It’ll grow back. Remember?” He parroted her words back at her. She frowned then took a step back.

  “Come on, Jeff. We’ll let Miss Renee take care of us both,” Aiden said.

  Jeffrey let go of Aiden’s neck and flipped around without a second’s hesitation. Renee looked to Rosalee for confirmation. She nodded and let Antony put his arm around her waist for a few minutes. The whole thing had been her idea. She’d been bound and determined to make this show of solidarity. Lindsay Halloran Love had never been vain by any stretch of the imagination, but the total loss of her thick mane of red hair had hit her hard this last round of chemotherapy.

  Exhaustion pierced Rosalee between the eyes, and she swayed on her feet. Antony held onto her.

  “Tired of resisting me yet?” His whisper made her shiver. She kissed him, knowing Aiden watched, but also knowing the statement required making.

  “Maybe not,” she said, smiling and touching his newly shorn head. “Might have to get a wig on you though, so I know who that is…you know…doing that to me.”

  He winked and smacked her butt in front of everyone, which took a lot for him.

  “We’re almost all packed up. Why don’t you take the first bit over to the garage?” She sensed Aiden’s eyes on her. The noise of the trimmer filled her ears again as she focused on packing up the two apple and two pumpkin pies in the last box, ready to serve at the tables she’d arranged for the rental company to set up in Love Garage.

  He nodded, saluted, and headed out the door, followed by the equally bald Dominic. Kieran stood running his hands across his head.

  “Melinda know about this yet?” she asked, handing him the box of pies.

  He shrugged and flushed. Patting his cheek, she said, “We need to get going. I gotta change clothes.” She took off her apron and saw Jeffrey, sitting terrified clutching Aiden’s hand while Renee ran the trimmers over his hair.

  On her way out the door, she snagged the bandanas she’d stitched up for everyone. After ordering special fabric covered with horses and shamrocks, she’d stayed up late the last three nights finishing them. Since she couldn’t really sleep anyway, it seemed a good use of her time.

  The brothers had laid out the food as she’d told them. She wanted it to be a dish-passing meal, not a buffet, with Anton carving both turkeys, as he did every year.

  They had the beer flowing and the coffee made. She held Jeffrey’s hand, taking in the flowers, the candles, the music piping through the garage sound system, all to her specifications.

  After Aiden and Dom had spent hours scouring the floors and polishing every possible surface. Tears stung her eyes at the sight of the newly half-bald men, messing around the bar, laughing and acting like they’d not been at each other’s throats three weeks prior.

  “Mommy!” Jeffrey tugged on her hand. She crouched down to be on his level. His eyes were so huge and blue, even more so with his stubbly head, it made her throat ache with memory.

  I love you, Paul Norris. I never loved anybody but you. And I hate you for leaving me now with this decision.

  Jeffrey grabbed her face. “No crying, Mommy. It’s Thanksgiving!” He grinned at her, and in his face she saw the man he would be someday.

  Wiping her eyes, she gave him a bandana. “Here, hold this. I’ll be right back to fasten it on your head.”

  She handed the rest of them out. Aiden smiled at her in a way that meant nothing, but ripped her heart in two. Then he frowned at something over her shoulder. Rosalee turned and saw Angelique standing with Renee, touching her pixie haircut self-consciously.

  Renee had her arm around the younger woman. “Our girl here is donating her hair. I took care to keep her pretty, not that it took much.”

  Rosalee handed them both bandanas. She got hers on then Jeffrey’s, and took a deep breath. Renee stood beside Aiden without touching him, her face set in unhappy lines.

  Antony moved next to Rosalee. “This is incredible. You are incredible. I am a lucky man,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He tucked her under his arm when they heard Anton’s voice in the office area.

  “No, honey, it’s all taken care of, will you please just….”

  Anton an
d Lindsay Love stopped in the door, eyes wide and jaws slack at the sight of at the beautiful table, and at the people gathered around, all wearing bandanas like the one Rosalee had given her just yesterday.

  “Holy…haircut,” Anton blurted out, before Lindsay burst into tears.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Rosalee slept well past 10:00 a.m., waking only when Jeffrey ran in and jumped on her, demanding she get up and eat breakfast. She stretched and made him snuggle in next to her as delicious odors of coffee and bacon wafted into the bedroom.

  “Antony says we’ll horsie ride today again!” he yelled, before scrambling down and heading for the kitchen. She ran her hands down her sated body, recalling how sweet and loving Antony had been last night, when she’d finally acquiesced to his begging that they act like engaged grown-ups again.

  “What? You think I’m that kind of girl? Having sex before my weddin’ night?” She’d teased, already giving in to him in her mind.

  “I know you are. And it’s one of my favorite things about you.” He’d set his wine glass on the coffee table before pressing her down onto the couch and kissing her until she saw stars. She relished the reconnection to him. It was a new connection even, something that pleased her, because she understood it for the way things had to be. Her life now as wife to Antony, daughter-in-law to the volatile Lindsay and Anton, and sister-in-law to the young man who would not exit her fantasies.

  She and Antony would marry then Renee and Aiden then Kieran and that Melinda, even though she’d thrown the hugest hissy fit when she’d made it in time for the Thanksgiving dessert at the garage, and had gotten a load of his bald head.

  This had to be the way of the world now. Period. No ifs, ands, buts or take-backs. And no more messing around with Aiden.

  Antony had gone a long way toward shoving Aiden out of her mind last night, to be sure. Although she’d insisted they sleep at her house, not his. She smiled and a flush crept up her face as she touched her bare skin under the blanket. Wincing at the pleasant soreness between her legs, she got up and grabbed her jeans and one of Antony’s shirts, taking a deep breath of his scent as she buttoned it over her naked breasts.

  Antony kissed her and handed her a cup of coffee when she wandered into the kitchen.

  “Did AliceLynn check in last night?” She yawned. The girl had been sullen and quiet at the Thanksgiving dinner, but Rosalee had been too preoccupied to ask her why. Her role as future stepmother still made her nervous, but she figured she’d “been there, done that” as a rebellious teenaged girl, so she’d handle it, somehow.

  “Yeah. She stayed over at Janey’s.” Antony set the food on the table and hollered for Jeffrey.

  Rosalee grabbed him when he ran in and kissed his prickly scalp. “I may never get used to this.”

  “Stop it, Mommy,” he said, wiggling out of her arms and getting in his chair. “The sooner we eat and clean up, the sooner we can horsie ride, right, Antony?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  When they were done, Rosalee shooed them out, eager for some peace and quiet. “I’ll tidy it up. Y’all go and ride, and say hi to Miss Lindsay for me, and mind your manners, young man.”

  “Okay,” he said, heading out of the kitchen.

  Antony stopped him and turned him back around to face her.

  “I mean, yes, ma’am.” He looked up at Antony for approval and received it.

  Finally, they were out the door and in the truck. Rosalee sat nursing a cup of coffee and contemplating the next few weeks of wedding planning. Her mind spun with a thousand details, but her body felt strangely heavy—sated in more ways than one, and urging her back to bed for a little more sleep. It made sense. She’d been up nearly every night the week before Thanksgiving getting ready for that dinner. But it had been more than worth it.

  She took a shower instead, hoping it would revive her. After she cleaned the kitchen and did a few loads of laundry she ended up staring out the window, dazed and groggy. When her phone buzzed with a text from Antony, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

  Taking him to the house for early dinner. Mama says it’s fine. She wants to do it.

  Facing another hour or two alone, Rosalee settled in with a book and a cup of tea, and lost track of time until her phone rang. She grabbed it, but couldn’t answer before Antony hung up. She hit redial.

  “Good Lord, what time is it?”

  “Almost eight,” Antony replied. “Sorry. We ate then watched Babe, then played a video game. He’s getting cranky, so I’m bringing him home. Got any more wine?”

  “I think so.” She cracked a huge yawn.

  “Gee, sweetheart, sorry to keep you up.”

  “I’m not sorry. Or I won’t be later, I’m guessing. You were pretty amazing last night.”

  “I have my skills, yes.”

  “So, I’m wondering something,” she said, taking down a wine bottle and rooting around for the corkscrew. “What’s going to happen with your therapy sessions?”

  The question surprised her even as it exited her lips, and once the words were out of her mouth, she wished them back. Total silence filled her ear. She placed the wine bottle on the table.

  “Why do you ask?” He voice sounded wary, as if testing the waters.

  “You know why, Antony. I’m not playing games with this. I’m not comfortable with her, you know, around…. I told you that last night.” She started shaking and had to clench her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. What had possessed her to bring this up, she had no idea. She had something even more crucial to impart to him, but instead she’d decided to confront him? Way to deflect, she thought as she gazed at the wine bottle, wondering how much longer she could fake drinking along with him.

  “Well, I’m not comfortable with Aiden around either. But I can’t very well keep you from ever seeing him again. And I told you already—Margot is moving back to Michigan.”

  “That’s not the same thing, and—”

  “I’m not having this conversation on the phone with you.”

  She sighed. “Fine. I’ve opened the wine. I’ll see you in a few.”

  After tossing the floppy, whining Jeffrey into bed, she stopped in the bathroom to study her image in the mirror and wondered did she really want to open this particular can of worms now.

  She splashed water on her face and neck, feeling as antsy as a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs. Ridiculous. Frowning at her reflection, she headed toward the living room where Antony sat with his feet up and the TV tuned to an early-season basketball game.

  She slipped in next to him and took the wine glass out of his hand. He grunted in surprise then smiled as she climbed onto his lap. Kissing him, she tasted wine and the cigar he must have had with his father. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, but mostly she wanted to tell the man the truth.

  Paul had been a secret cigar smoker, or so he’d thought. He and Antony were alike in so many ways. Responsible, strong, mature, the one relied upon by others, lacking in spontaneity, and never ever out of control—well, except for that horrible Halloween party.

  Antony slid his hands up under her shirt and flipped open her bra, going further with the kiss, deepening it, until she tingled with anticipation. He cupped a breast and kissed down her neck.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, holding his head as he bent down to capture her nipple between his lips.

  “Hmm?” he muttered, giving the other one equal attention. “Now, about that baby I want….” That topic shocked her again, but he distracted her with his lips, and tongue, and hands that roamed down her back. But the sensation of putting on a show, of acting a certain way to make others happy clouded her brain.

  “No talking,” she insisted, moving back on his knees to unzip his jeans. She glanced up at him then dropped down to the floor and teased him with her lips, loving the way he groaned and angled his hips, thrusting into her mouth.

  “Oh…God, Rosie.” He fisted her hair as she took as much
of him into her mouth as she could. She wanted him to come and be done, so she could…what? Sleep? Drink? Talk?

  She kept up her suction and teased his balls, going through motions and counting the seconds. He pumped his hips and gripped her hair and groaned again just before he filled her mouth. Releasing him, she wiped her hand across her lips.

  He sat, breathing heavily, fully dressed but for his wet, glistening dick. With a grin, she sat down primly and picked up his wine glass. His satisfied smile made her warm inside as he reached for her arm, muttering something about “pay back.” When someone banged on the door hard, they both jumped. He rose and zipped up before opening it.

  “Hey…uh…what the hell?”

  Rosalee got up and spotted his friend Mark, the local cop, with AliceLynn and….

  “Margot,” Antony said, with a slight tremor in his voice. The expression on his face told her all she needed to know at that split second.

  “Antony, may I come in?” Mark asked, politely, as if he could be refused entry like a vampire.

  “Sure.” Antony opened the door. Rosalee sat, her knees shaking and her head pounding. A strange, dizzy, queasy feeling bowled her over.

  “Margot brought AliceLynn to me.” Mark crossed his arms.

  “Why,” Antony began, but Margot interrupted him.

  “She called me to come get her. She’d been at a party and had too much to drink and smoke, and thought she saw somebody drop something into one girl’s drink, so she hollered at him and he….” Margot stopped and met Antony’s eyes, her expression so intent it hurt Rosalee all over.

  Antony frowned at the surly teenaged girl. Rosalee sat on her hands to keep from running over and shaking her. They had come a long way, Antony and his daughter, but this sort of setback could put a real kink in the progress.

  “Are you all right?” Antony lifted his daughter’s chin up. Rosalee gasped when she saw the blood on her lip. “Goddamn it, Mark.” Antony shook with rage.

  “They just tried to stop me from running away and telling the cops, is all.” The girl jerked her chin out of Antony’s grip and glared down at her tightly clenched hands. “I tripped and fell and bashed my face on the concrete.”