Between Friends

by Kitt, Sandra

  “Why not?” Dallas asked.

  Megan got up from the floor and began pulling on a pair of jeans. She became distracted halfway through by a scab on her elbow, which she proceeded to pick. “I don’t know. She said he was rude and too … oh … ar … auda-cious,” Megan struggled. She turned to frown at Dallas. “What does that mean?”

  Dallas had a feeling it meant that Valerie couldn’t make him do what she wanted. “There’s a dictionary on my desk. Look it up,” Dallas told her goddaughter. Megan groaned. “What do you want for breakfast?”

  “Can we have pancakes?”

  “Okay,” Dallas said, leaving the office and heading back to her room. “But you’d better hurry up and get dressed if we’re going out to Coney Island. You still have to get back home tonight.”

  Megan skipped over to Dallas, wrapping her arms around her. “Aunt Dallas …” she started in a crooning little girl voice.

  “The answer is no. You can’t stay another night. You have school in the morning, and I have work.”

  Megan didn’t pursue the inevitable, although she sighed deeply, a martyr to youth and lack of power.

  But she continued to hug Dallas, walking with her to the other bedroom, and then releasing her to bounce down on the bed, sending her ponytail flying like a glorious silk rope.

  “I really love being with you. I’m glad you’re my godmother.”

  Dallas smiled to herself, enjoying the warm regard of the little girl, and feeling a poignant regret that she’d lost her own child. She was very careful to remember that Megan was not hers. And she didn’t know whether to be disturbed or pleased that the loss didn’t hurt as much anymore. She hadn’t been that far along in her pregnancy. Three months. She hadn’t begun to picture her child yet. A little boy or girl. Dallas remembered thinking she wanted a boy. But she would have wanted him to grow up to be like Hayden. He would be handsome and bright and funny, and combine the best of her father, Dean, and … and …

  She caught her breath at an unexpected thought and image, and turned quickly away from it. It made her nervous. She smiled teasingly at Megan Marie. “All in all, you’re not so bad, either. I think I’ll keep you.”

  Megan giggled.

  “There they are …” Megan shouted, and took off toward the area set up outside the New York Aquarium for the advertised exhibit.

  Dallas kept an eye on the twelve-year-old, watching as Megan Marie worked her way down the row of tables. She hung back, walking slowly, left with her godchild’s weekend tote. The exhibit was free for all to see, a promotional tease to encourage visitors to the indoor facility. But it was also to show a side of sea life that most people never think about. There were nearly a dozen tables and stands, tanks and canisters, displaying the unusual finds and treasures retrieved from the waterways around the city, along with the equipment used.

  Dallas spotted Alex first. From a distance of about a hundred feet, she stopped and stared at him. She frowned at the strong sense of knowing this man. But what did she really know about him? Bits and pieces. Impressions. Nothing that was tangible or concrete. And yet … she knew this man.

  She noticed Megan had finally reached another man. She saw the smiling surprise greeting he gave to Megan. He then turned to Alex and mouthed something, gaining Alex’s attention. Megan leaned across the table to kiss both men on the cheek. There was more exchange of conversation as Megan pointed in her direction, and Dallas watched as both men searched until they’d found her.

  Ross cheerfully waved at her, as if he knew her. Dallas had to laugh. But Alex stared in surprise for a second, until a smile curved his mouth. He looked like he was glad to see her. In truth, Dallas acknowledged to herself, she felt the same way. He beckoned to her. Dallas approached the table, waiting patiently until a group of eager children had passed.

  She noticed that Megan had ducked under the tables to stand next to the other man. Dallas frowned and held out her hand toward the child.

  “Megan, don’t! You can’t …”

  Alex reached for her hand. “It’s okay. This is pretty laid-back. A guy down at the end has his dog with him.” He squeezed her hand and tugged. “Come on. There’s another chair.”

  Dallas shook her head and gently tried to free her hand. “No. I …”

  Alex ignored her, shifting aside several large black nylon duffel bags to make room for her to step behind the table next to him. He pulled the chair out and indicated that she should sit down. Then Alex’s attention was diverted to another question, from a man and his son about an item on the table.

  Dallas found herself listening to Alex’s answers and grew more and more impressed. Whatever Alex did for a living was not limited just to collecting garbage.

  Alex said good-bye to the departing father and son and turned back to Dallas. He stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. He squinted against the light salty breeze off the Atlantic Ocean, just off to the right of where the tables were set up. Alex let his gaze wander over Dallas. He had a sensation that she had changed, and realized it was because she was not in the company of Valerie or Lillian. He’d been thinking about her, ever since driving her home that night and meeting her brother.

  “Baby-sitting?” he asked.

  Dallas grinned and nodded. Her eyes were bright. “Once a month. Bonding time.”

  “Megan talks a lot about you. She loves you.”

  Dallas averted her eyes briefly. He spent a lot of time with Valerie, she surmised. “The feeling’s mutual.”

  “Whose idea was this?”

  “Megan’s. She saw you and your friend on a news program this morning. So, here we are.”

  Alex grinned at her. “Good for Megan. I’m glad to see you again. I’ve been thinking about you.”

  She didn’t answer. Instead, what went through her mind was a silent “me, too.”

  “I’ve been reading some of your articles.”

  She was surprised. “You have?”

  He nodded and sat down next to her. “Soul of the City, right?”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  His gaze wandered over her face. “Lillian was right. You’re good.”

  “Lillian is biased. And I’m not sure if she’s ever read anything from the magazine. It’s not one you find at her local newsstand.”

  “I know it’s aimed at black readers, but I like it. I find out things,” he said slyly.

  Dallas laughed. “Like what?”

  “Like … about hair. And food. I always wondered what Hoppin’ John was. There was a piece about Farrakhan as a father and not just a political icon. I liked the one you wrote about …”

  Dallas sighed. “I know. Butts. That article is going to haunt me the rest of my life.”

  “It wasn’t about butts, was it? I read into it that it was about pride, in a way.”

  Dallas looked at him. He wasn’t teasing now. “That’s right … that’s part of it.”

  “Don’t be so surprised. I told you I wasn’t prejudiced. Besides, I grew up around a lot of different kinds of people. Black. White. Hispanic. When you’re poor, you don’t have a choice about where you’re going to live.”

  She didn’t know that, but Dallas had always suspected that he had an interesting history. She looked around at the setting, the things on the table. The man before her. Dallas shook her head.

  “You don’t just collect garbage, do you?”

  He shrugged. “No, not really.” She waited patiently. “I also own a dive shop with Ross …” He indicated him with a gesture of his head. “We keep one boat at the marina a little south of here. We teach search and recovery techniques to police rescue teams and use their craft at Eerie Basin. We do some commercial diving … the guy interviewing us this morning called it urban archaeology. It’s a fancy name for the junk we find.”

  “Where did you learn?” she asked.

  He shrugged nonchalantly, as if it wasn’t important. “The navy. Guys with money go to college. Guys like me …”

&n
bsp; “Go into the service,” Dallas finished. “Megan said you and your friend were in a war.”

  He nodded. “Kuwait. Desert Storm. We’re ex-SEALs.”

  She stared. Navy SEAL. She understood that was special. Alex and Ross had been more than just enlisted men. Dallas had a thousand questions to ask. So much she wanted to know.

  “Hey, Ross? Come here a minute,” Alex said over his shoulder, but without breaking eye contact with Dallas. “Ross Manning, this is Dallas Oliver.”

  Dallas stood up to face him and Megan. Megan lumbered toward her, wearing a diving mask that was much too big for her face. She had her hands in a pair of swim fins, all in all looking like an overgrown insect. Dallas laughed at her.

  Ross didn’t shake her hand, but stood grinning and appraising her quite thoroughly.

  “Hi, Dallas. Hey, that’s a great name. Born there?”

  “No,” she responded simply.

  “Another friend of Alex’s, right? Man, he has a lot of pretty women for friends.”

  “Me, too,” Megan voiced, and the men chuckled.

  Dallas could see that the TV camera that morning had not done him justice. Ross Manning was not nearly as heavy as the projected image had indicated. He was big and handsome, but hardly soft. He was staring at her rather intently, to the point of making Dallas feel uncomfortable.

  “You know … you and Megan could be mother and daughter,” Ross observed.

  Dallas blinked and her smile wavered. She’d been told that before many times. Dallas realized that Alex was staring at her, too, and she imagined she knew what he was thinking.

  “So, who came first? Alex or Valerie?” Ross asked.

  Dallas frowned, not understanding the question at first. “Oh, you mean who did I know first? Valerie. She and I have been best friends since we were kids.”

  Ross clapped a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Well, Alex and I don’t go back that far, but I’d do anything for him. Great guy.”

  Alex shifted, uncomfortable with the compliment. He grinned at Ross. “Sorry I can’t say the same.”

  Ross laughed heartily.

  Megan stood in front of the two men, looking from one to the other through the mask. “I don’t have a best friend.”

  Ross tugged at her ponytail. “Will I do for today?”

  Megan nodded. “Okay.”

  “Well, just part of the day. Megan has to get back home.”

  “Alex and I will be through here in about two hours. Why don’t you hang around? We’ll catch something to eat.”

  “Oooh, can we?” Megan asked excitedly.

  “We’d better call your mother and let her know,” Ross said.

  “I’ll call her,” Alex volunteered smoothly.

  Dallas smiled at the camaraderie, and appreciated that both men were, in their own way, attentive and protective of Megan’s young ego. She didn’t know yet what part Ross Manning played in the connection between Valerie, her daughter, and Alex. She glanced at Alex and found him watching her, and then he turned his attention to Megan, listening to a question.

  You could be mother and daughter … That’s what Ross had said. But it only just now occurred to Dallas, as she witnessed the interplay between Megan and Alex, that she might make a similar observation.

  Valerie heard the car pull up in front of the house and got up from the sofa, clicking off the TV with the remote. By the time she reached the front door, she could hear her daughter’s voice and laughter, and that of a man. She’d been feeling annoyed all afternoon, since she’d received the call from Alex about Megan’s adventure. But she was feeling a little more charitable now that Megan had been delivered safely home.

  When she opened the door, Megan was halfway up the walk toward the door, calling good-bye to the man standing at the curb, about to get back into his car.

  “Hi, Mom,” Megan said breezily, kissing her mother perfunctorily on the cheek.

  “Hi, sweetie. Did you have a good time?” Valerie responded, her voice trailing off as she looked at the idling car.

  “Yeah, it was great.”

  It wasn’t Alex. It was Ross Manning.

  Valerie stopped and gazed out at him. Ross leaned over the hood of his car and stared right back. Her stomach somersaulted, and her muscles became tense. Yet Ross showed no inclination to linger. He stood up and started to open his car door.

  This retreat made Valerie curious, and she continued to stare at him, waiting for Ross to give her an opening in which she could retaliate, set him in his place. But instead he smiled a slow considering smile. It was openly friendly, as if he’d never told her, in so many words, that Alex was not for her. As if she’d never told him to mind his own business.

  She wanted to whirl on him, cut him cold, and slam the door in his face. But Valerie knew now she wouldn’t do that. There was something she had to know.

  “I thought Alex was bringing Megan home. That’s what he said when he called.”

  “I know. I told him I’d drive her home. He took Dallas back to her place. Night …” he said.

  Valerie didn’t respond. She stood, dumbfounded, as Ross got back into his car and drove off. That he had no more to say Valerie found frustrating, and it angered her even more. But she didn’t know why. She returned to the house and slammed the door anyway.

  Chapter Ten

  “HELLO, DALLAS OLIVER …”

  “Hi. It’s me.”

  “Hey, Val. I’ve been thinking about you. I was going to call …”

  “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Is that how it goes?”

  “That’s right. But I wasn’t on the road to hell. What a thing to say. I was just real busy. As a matter of fact, I can’t stay on the phone—”

  “Yeah, I know. You have a deadline,” Valerie interrupted.

  “Are you okay? You sound angry about something.”

  “Why should I be angry?”

  “Megan. Is she getting on your nerves again? Wait a few years. Someone told me it gets worse. Teenagers are pretty obnoxious. Of course, we weren’t like that …” Dallas chuckled.

  “So what’s new? What have you been up to?”

  Dallas frowned. Valerie did sound formal and a bit cool. She used to do this whenever she got annoyed about something. Like when her parents wouldn’t let her go to a party or concert. When a man hadn’t called to ask her out.

  Dallas turned to gaze at the photographs on her desk. One of them was of Valerie and Megan and herself. They were all laughing and hugging one another, with Megan in the middle—a loving demonstration of the solid relationship between them.

  “Trying to keep my social calendar straight,” Dallas said wryly. “I have two functions to cover this week for Soul, my stepmother’s birthday is coming up, Maureen is getting married and I haven’t a thing to wear,” she teased.

  “How nice for Maureen. Tell her I said congratulations.”

  Dallas sighed and sat back in her chair. “I will. I’m in the wedding party, so I’ll probably have to buy some awful rack dress that—”

  “Who’s going to be your escort?” Valerie interrupted.

  “Burke,” Dallas murmured indifferently. “Unless Maureen’s fiancé needs to partner me with one of his friends. How’s Meg?” There was a slight pause that only made Dallas all the more curious about Valerie’s flat tone.

  “She’s good. She’s still talking about last weekend. Sounds like you guys had a good time.”

  “We did. I’m surprised that she still likes to come and visit every month. You know, she’s getting to the age when her friends—”

  “She told me you two went out to the aquarium to see Alex. Some exhibit or something?”

  Dallas was suddenly alert to the subtle question in her friend’s voice. Cautiously she responded. “Yeah, that’s right. It was fascinating. I guess you know that Alex is a professional diver? Ex-navy SEAL.”

  “I’m sure he told me at some point when we were together.”

  Dallas chuckled. “He
told me he collected garbage. It was fun. He had all this stuff that came from the river. Some of it very old. It was kind of interesting to see what sort of things people used and then got rid of years ago. Unfortunately by tossing a lot of it into the river.”

  “Did you meet his friend?” Valerie asked.

  “Ross? Yes. He was very nice. Charming and friendly. He and Megan get along great. Has Megan told you she wants to learn to scuba dive?”

  Valerie sighed. “She did. But she’s too young for that. Besides …”

  Dallas waited. “Besides, what?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure that I like Ross.”

  “Really? He seems so easygoing. He thinks the world of Alex.”

  “Well, if he did, then he wouldn’t … never mind.”

  Dallas became impatient. “Okay, Val. What’s going on? What’s the matter with you?”

  “I thought you were going to bring Megan back home on Sunday. I was really annoyed when I opened my door to find that Ross had brought my daughter home. I don’t know him all that well. When Megan called to say she was on her way and was getting a ride, I thought maybe Alex would be bringing you both. You and Alex are my friends. Ross isn’t.”

  Dallas detected a real note of possessiveness on Valerie’s part toward Alex. And yet, while she felt that perhaps Valerie was overreacting to the events of the previous weekend, she understood the legitimate concerns for Megan Marie.

  “Well … I’m sorry. I didn’t think that you’d object.”

  “If you were going to be spending the day at the aquarium with Alex and Ross, why didn’t I get invited along?”

  “Valerie … I don’t get this. You always look forward to Megan’s visits with me because it gives you a day to yourself to do what you want. Besides, going to see Alex and Ross was a split-second decision.”

  “That’s all I’ve been hearing about for two days.”

  Dallas grinned and tried to coax Valerie out of her mood with teasing. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous. Just because you missed a bunch of rusty junk from the ocean?”

  “Ross said that Alex drove you home.”

  “Only into Manhattan. I was meeting Burke for a late date.”