“I’ve called him twice.”
“But you have no reason to call him at all.”
“I called about the doll.”
“Listen, Audra—”
“Aubrey.”
“Whatever. Do us all a favor and leave him alone. Do you honestly think he could ever be interested in someone like you, when he has me to come home to?”
Vicki walked across the floor, as graceful as a runway model. She paused with her hand on the glass knob of the door. “I’m only telling you this to keep you from being humiliated. Besides, you’ve got your girlfriend. What do you need with a man?”
She walked out the door and got into a sporty little red car. She backed onto the street, slamming on the brakes when a pickup driver laid on the horn before she could back into him.
Aubrey swallowed her hurt and wiped the excess moisture from her eyes.
“Shit fire! Shit fire!”
Aubrey looked at the bird. “Can’t you find something a little more encouraging to say?”
“Whoa! Nice hooters!”
Aubrey shook her head. “Thanks for the moral support.”
****
“Is this really necessary?” Vicki asked.
“It won’t take long. You can wait here, if you want.”
Jim opened the car door, half surprised when she opened hers.
A strong wind slammed his door shut. He braced against it.
“My hair,” Vicki moaned, covering the elaborate curls with both hands.
“I thought the wind-blown look was in,” he murmured, opening the door of the toy store. It took a bit of effort as the wind blew against it.
Aubrey looked up from a wooden box on the counter. The corners of her mouth started to tip up, then slowly dropped back into place.
What was wrong? he wondered.
Vicki slipped her arm through his. “It’s almost six, darling. I’m sure you wouldn’t want little Aubrey to be late closing up. She might have plans for the evening.”
Vicki’s tone implied it was unlikely the other woman could have someone waiting for her.
He looked down at the woman he’d been dating for the past month. She had a jealous streak, he was well aware of that, but there seemed to be more going on just below the surface.
“What do you have there?” he asked Aubrey.
“Toy bank.” She pulled out an elephant shaped bank. “You put the coin on the tip of his trunk, he raises it and drops it into the slot on his back.”
“How exciting,” Vicki said.
Aubrey bit her lip and set the bank back in the box.
Jim was beginning to think the time to end his relationship with Vicki was close at hand.
He held out the book he’d received in the mail that morning. “I ordered this online just to learn a little more about scrimshaw. Look at the page I marked.”
Aubrey set the large hardcover book on the counter and turned to the spot he’d marked with an envelope. Jim leaned across the counter to point out a paragraph near the bottom of the page.
“Read what it says about the pirate’s doll.”
Vicki sighed.
“A doll made of whalebone, with a rose carved on its chest, was said to have belonged to a lady pirate. According to some legends the doll was cursed.” Aubrey looked up, green eyes bright with excitement. “You think this is our doll?”
“There can’t be too many cursed scrimshaw dolls with a rose carved on their chest.”
Vicki tugged at his arm. “Let’s go. You’ve shown Audra the book.” She stuck her bottom lip out in a pout that she must have thought was attractive. It wasn’t.
“I’m about to starve, darling.”
He handed her his key ring. “Go wait in the car. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Was he dealing with a grown woman or a child?
She snatched the keys from his hand and stomped to the door, pausing long enough to throw a warning glare over her shoulder at Aubrey.
What the hell was that all about?
He turned his attention back to Aubrey. “Is there something going on between the two of you that I—”
A piercing scream shattered the evening calm. Jim ran toward the door, aware of Aubrey just a few steps behind him.
They found Vicki standing on the sidewalk, bent at the waist. Her hands covered her face. Drops of crimson trickled between her fingers.
Chapter Five
Jim opened the front door as quietly as he could manage. It was almost eleven. His father usually went to bed about this time.
“The guest room’s the last one on the right,” he told Vicki, pointing to the hallway.
His father stepped out of the hallway dressed in baggy shorts and an old undershirt, his usual bedtime attire.
The look he gave his only son was one of disapproval. Obviously his father thought he was trying to sneak Vicki into his room for some late night R&R.
Jim motioned toward Vicki with the slightest inclination of his head. His father’s gaze followed, coming to rest on the two-by-two that covered her left cheekbone.
“What happened?”
“Ask him.” She pointed at Jim. Her pale blue eyes were dull from the pain pills she’d been given but her voice was as sharp as ever. “I’m going to sue that little freak that owns the toy store.”
“On what grounds?” Jim asked.
“It happened in front of her store. Thanks to that bitch, I’ve been disfigured. I’m going to have to have plastic surgery.”
“I understand that you’ve been hurt,” his father said, “but I’ll ask you not to use that language in my home.”
Vicky stared at him in disbelief.
“Why don’t you go to the guest room and lie down?” Jim suggested. He put his hands on her shoulders, giving her a little push in the right direction.
“You mind telling me what’s going on?” his father asked.
“It was a freak accident. I was trying to show Aubrey that paragraph about the pirate’s doll. Vicki was impatient. I gave her the keys to my car and told her to wait for me. A minute later I heard her scream. Aubrey and I ran out there.
“It was windy and I guess the wind had managed to pick up a small piece of metal. It looked like it had been torn off a corrugated roof. It sliced across her cheek. She needed stitches to close it.”
“Is she disfigured?”
Jim gave a hard laugh. “By her definition, yes. By mine, no. She has a two inch gash. I don’t know how bad it’s going to look when it heals. There wasn’t any nerve damage. That’s the most important thing.”
Deep furrows crossed his father’s forehead. “You told me things between the two of you weren’t going anywhere permanent. You’re not going to let her guilt you into something you don’t want, are you?”
****
Aubrey half-rolled out of the bed in the pre-dawn light. She staggered to the bathroom, making it just in time to lose the contents of her stomach.
When she was certain the worst of the nausea had passed she brushed her teeth.
She had barely slept last night. Restless leg syndrome, one of the many symptoms of End Stage Renal Disease, had kept her up most of the night. Still, despite feeling like she could fall asleep standing up, she doubted she’d be able to go back to sleep.
A quick, cool shower helped, followed by plenty of moisturizer and lotion to combat the dry skin. She dressed in sweats and thick socks.
She turned on the pole lamp in the corner of the living room and pulled the cover from Einstein’s cage. The parrot tipped his head to one side and opened his eyes, blinking at her as he tried to adjust to the light.
She should replace the newspaper beneath his stand, but couldn’t manage the energy required.
“I’ll have one of Tess’s boys clean up for you.” She stroked a finger over his soft head.
“Hey, dude.”
She smiled as he climbed onto her wrist and walked up her arm to her shoulder. He rubbed his cheek against hers.
“Mo
rning. Say morning.”
He squawked and ruffled his wings.
Aubrey prepared a small cup of tea in the microwave, sweetened it and sat on the couch with Einstein. The parrot climbed down her arm, perched on the arm of couch and regarded her with bright eyes.
“I refuse to sit around and feel sorry for myself,” she told the bird.
“Liar, Liar.”
****
Jim cast a cautious glance in Vicki’s direction as she stepped into the kitchen.
“Would you like some breakfast?” James asked. “I can fix you some bacon and eggs.”
She shook her head and walked to the coffee pot, took a cup off a hook and filled it.
Jim had spent the night at Vicki’s apartment a time or two, however, this was the first time she’d spent the night at the house. For a brief moment he wondered what she’d worn to bed. She slept naked when they spent the night together, but she’d slept in the guest room alone
“I called into work,” she said, “and told them I wouldn’t be in today.” She sat across from him at the table. “I need to find a good lawyer.”
“You’re not seriously thinking about suing her.”
“Someone has to pay for what happened to my face. It happened when I came out of Audra’s store.”
“Aubrey.”
“Whatever.”
“You can’t honestly believe that she is responsible for something the wind blew around.”
His father snorted. “Sounds to me like you have it out for this Aubrey.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Why are you so determined to blame Aubrey for what happened?” Jim asked.
Her chin quivered. “It’s because of that doll. I read the website. The doll’s cursed.
“Only to someone who betrays its owner.”
“You’re one of the owners.”
“Have you betrayed me?” he asked, his voice low. He wasn’t in love with Vicki, but he did insist on a monogamous relationship.
She shook her head, staring down at her hands.
“That leaves Aubrey,” James said.
Jim glanced at his father. He hadn’t considered that. Vicki barely knew Aubrey. How could she betray her?
“What did you do?” he asked, anger and concern rising on behalf on Aubrey.
“I…I…” she stammered, staring down at her hands. “I may have said some things to her.”
“You were always somewhat rude to her, but I never heard anything that could be considered a betrayal. For words to be a betrayal you would have to lie to her or about her.”
“Or reveal a confidence,” his father added.
Vicki shot him an irritated glance. “I barely know the woman. We don’t exchange secrets.”
Jim made a scrubbing motion with his hand. “You said you told Aubrey something. What?”
Vicki shrugged. “Nothing important.”
“That doesn’t make sense. If it wasn’t important, why do you think the doll would see it as a betrayal of Aubrey? You said yourself, you barely know her.”
Vicki kept her eyes on the table.
His father let out a low whistle. “I get it. You lied to her about something. You lied to her about Jim, didn’t you?”
Jim looked at his father, then at Vicki. She squirmed in her chair.
“What did you tell her?” Jim asked.
She slanted those cold blue eyes in his direction. “She’s got the hots for you. I just made sure she realized you weren’t interested in someone like her.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her you were embarrassed by her attention and wanted her to leave you alone.”
“What attention?”
“Calling you at home, panting after you every time she sees you.”
“You’re crazy.”
She stood up, her chair screeching across the tile. “You’re looking for an excuse to get out of our relationship, aren’t you? Mister hot shot photographer doesn’t want to be seen with a disfigured girlfriend.”
“A little scar’s not a relationship breaker. Lies are.”
“That’s what you want then? Out of this relationship?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. The hell of it was, no matter what the facts were, Vicki would continue to believe he was calling it quits because of a little scar. The truth went so much deeper.
“I want out.”
She grabbed the coffee cup and threw it at the splash guard behind the sink. It hit with crash, breaking into multiple pieces that dropped into the sink with an almost musical clatter.
Jim sprang to his feet. “What the hell was that all about?”
She stormed off to the spare room without a backward glance.
His father grabbed his arm. “Sit down and finish your coffee. We’ve had enough drama for one morning. Just let her go.”
“I didn’t have any intention of stopping her.”
“Your mother would never have done something like that. A lady doesn’t go around breaking the dishes—especially someone else’s dishes. Your mother, may the good Lord rest her soul, was a lady.”
Vicki emerged from the guest room, purse slung over her shoulder. She pulled the front door open, slamming it loudly as she made her exit.
Chapter Six
“Was there a stabbing, or something, I didn’t hear about?” Tess asked as she walked into the store.
Aubrey looked up from the Lawton Constitution she had spread across the counter. “Why do you ask?”
“There’s blood on the sidewalk. As least that’s what it looks like. Big, fat drops of dried blood.”
Aubrey sighed. “That’s what it is.”
“It’s not yours, is it?” Tess asked, setting a stack of yellow flyers on the newspaper. “I thought you were going straight upstairs when you closed. You said you were tired.”
Aubrey nodded, picked up the flyers—Tess’s church was having a bake sale—and moved them to the end of the counter.
“Okay, girlfriend, the nod’s not helping. Yes, you went upstairs, or yes, it’s your blood?”
“Not my blood. You remember me telling you about Jim’s girlfriend?”
Tess nodded, listening as Aubrey relayed what happened the night before.
“We’re getting into freaky territory here,” Tess said. “A kid tries to steal from you, then slips on the only bit of ice out there, and this woman gets cut with a piece of metal the wind was blowing?” She pointed at the scrimshaw doll, displayed in its black lacquered case. “Maybe that doll really is cursed.”
“I don’t believe in curses.”
“Hey, Dude!”
Tess shook her head. “I think that’s the only non-offensive thing he says.”
“Liar, liar.”
“Speaking of Einstein,” Aubrey folded her arms on the counter and leaned forward. “If anything happens to me, would you be willing to let the boys have him?”
Tess sat down on the other stool Aubrey kept behind the counter. “Don’t talk like this, Aubrey.”
She closed the paper, folded it, and set it under the counter to later be spread beneath Einstein’s stand.
“I have to be realistic. The doctor told me that if I didn’t get a kidney, I only had another year to live. That was four months ago.”
Tess’s eyes swelled with jewel bright tears. “I’d give you a kidney if I could.”
“I know you would.” She squeezed Tess’s hand, then let go. “I’ve been thinking about selling the store, or rather selling all the contents to another dealer. I have a couple in mind, one’s in Kansas, the other’s in Texas.”
“If you sell your business how are you going to live?”
“I’d have the money from the sale. This building’s paid off so I can rent out the downstairs. I should be able to make it ’til I get a kidney or die.” She attempted a smile to soften the sting of her words.
“Don’t,” Tess whispered. “Don’t talk like this. Miracles happen. They happen all the time.”
&n
bsp; “Of course they do,” Aubrey said.
Just not to her.
****
The next morning she seemed to have gotten her second wind. Dialysis the night before had left her drained as usual but for the first time in a long time she slept through the night and woke feeling ready for the day.
She’d walked down the stairs to the shop twenty minutes early, carrying a half-a-cup of coffee in one hand, while Einstein rode on her shoulder. With the radio playing country tunes, she’d started dusting, stopping only to open the front door at nine o’clock.
She was dusting her favorite piece, a three foot high rocking horse, that she had never been willing to sell, and singing along to an old Brooks and Dunn song, when Jim walked in the door.
He has a girlfriend, she reminded herself. A beautiful girlfriend. Even with that thought in mind her abdomen gave a pleasant little clench and her breath caught in her throat.
He handed her a cup of Starbuck’s coffee. “I took a chance. Vanilla cappuccino.”
She accepted the cup with a smile. She loved cappuccinos and vanilla was her favorite. It was still hot, not quite burning her tongue when she took a cautious sip. She closed her eyes. She hadn’t indulged in a cappuccino or latte in years. She’d really have to watch her fluid intake for the rest of the day.
“If you look that ecstatic over a cappuccino, I’d love to see how you look after an orgasm.”
Thank goodness her mouth was empty when he said that or cappuccino would have spewed out her nose. As it was she started coughing and couldn’t stop.
He was at her side immediately, thumping her back and laughing. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was the just the look on your face… I’d love to shoot you like that.”
“What?” she gasped.
“With a camera.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t remember anyone other than her parents and grandfather wanting to take pictures of her.
****
Jim watched the red fade from her cheeks. He wasn’t certain how much was from coughing and how much was the result of his orgasm comment.
There was an innocence about her that he found intriguing. He’d noticed her looks before, telling himself he was only interested in her as a photography subject. She seemed to change daily. Today her face was thinner than it had been just yesterday. In another woman he might have thought it the result of clever makeup, but he didn’t think she wore any makeup other than a bit of lip gloss and mascara.
Fading Rose Page 3