Cursed by Love

by Jacie Floyd

  “You go.”

  He kept his version of the two family’s ownership short and to the point. Just the facts. She added embellishments she hoped would intrigue her mother.

  Mom’s eyes glistened with excitement. “Elegant Bella was the natural source for the piece, wasn’t she? Well-known in her time, well-traveled, and she moved in well-to-do circles. I vaguely remember stories about an infamous fiancé, but not the details. I’ll hop on the Internet later and see what else I can discover.”

  “Gosh, Mom, not you and the Internet, too.” Molly clapped a hand to her forehead and groaned, although pleased to see her mother’s interest piqued.

  “Sure, why not? You two have learned a lot, but I’m not sure what you’ve uncovered is rock-solid provenance. You still don’t know who gave the Sleeping Lotus to Jebediah and Bella. Isn’t that important?”

  “That piece of the puzzle just might hold the key to our fortune.” Gabe said to Molly.

  The bloody fortune again. Did he have to mention it constantly? “Right, if we were planning on selling the Sleeping Lotus.” Crossing her arms, Molly muttered to herself darkly. “Which we’re not.”

  “Not today.” Gabe stretched his arm farther along the back of the couch, letting his fingers graze Molly’s shoulder and trace the fabric at the neck of her shirt. “And not tomorrow, but who knows about the future?” He arched an eyebrow at Molly. “Unless you’ve got a crystal ball tucked away in that cavernous bag you carry.”

  “She might.” Mom twinkled again. “She’s always been more influenced by superstition and the supernatural than anyone else in the family. I always wondered where that interest came from, but the more I hear about the Sleeping Lotus, the more I’m persuaded Molly has a recessive Bella-gene somewhere.”

  “All that woo-woo stuff, huh?” Gabe nodded. “I recognize the signs.”

  “What signs?” Their comments about her beliefs made Molly twitch. She automatically fingered the charms on her bracelet for comfort.

  “The crystal pendant you wear, the good luck charms on your bracelet,” He smiled when she blushed and halted the survey of the charms. “The unicorn earrings.” He set one of the creatures swinging with a flick of his finger. “The dragon tattoo.”

  Darn, she couldn’t believe he’d been paying such close attention to her. When had he gotten a look at her lady dragon? “I’m not really superstitious.” She knocked on the wooden end table as she made the denial. “I just like to keep all the bases covered.”

  “What base are you covering with your fascination about—” He crooked his fingers into airy quotation marks as he intoned “—The Curse.”

  “What curse?” Mom’s ears perked up again.

  “The Curse of the Sleeping Lotus,” Molly hastened to answer, overriding potentially derogatory comments from Gabe.

  Mom issued a put-upon sigh. “Right. Since you’re involved, I should have known there’d be a curse.”

  “I didn’t fabricate it. There really is one. That’s one of the things I came here tonight to warn—” she stopped and corrected herself before Mom or Gabe objected to the more dramatic verb “—to tell you about.”

  While Gabe rolled his eyes, his fingers had moved from the edge of her shirt to graze the back of her neck. Warming under the contact, Molly quickly poured out the whole tale, beginning with the doomed affairs of the heart through the generations of accidental deaths all the way up to and including her own broken engagement and her parents’ separation.

  “Don’t you see?” She all but implored her mother to agree. “After you brought home Nonna’s half of the Sleeping Lotus, you and Dad separated. That’s what went wrong with your marriage.”

  “Was that it?” Mother pursed her lips as if mulling the possibility. “And all this time, I’d been blaming Rhonda Fellini, your father’s bimbo secretary.”

  “Mom!” Molly’s gaze darted to Gabe, measuring his reaction to her mother’s pronouncement. He abruptly stopped the circular pattern he’d been drawing on her neck, but otherwise, he exhibited no outward reaction. Unless his sudden fascination with his shoes could be construed as one. “Dad is not having an affair with Rhonda.”

  Chapter Six

  Gabe jumped up, tapping Molly on her knee as he headed for the door. Just a gentle almost absent gesture that managed to calmed her. “Excuse me. I left my cell phone outside, and I’m expecting a call. Be right back.”

  Remaining silent, she knew he had his phone in his pocket. Her eyes followed him until the door closed behind him, then she rounded on her mother. “I can’t believe you said that about Dad in front of Gabe. You know it’s not true.”

  “So your father says.” Mom crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “And maybe it’s not, but the fascination is there. I can see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice when he talks about her. In ways that have been absent for a long time when he talks about me. Ways that I miss.”

  “But none of that is because of Rhonda,” Molly insisted. “It’s the curse of the Sleeping Lotus.”

  “I doubt if either Rhonda or the curse is to blame.” Regret shadowed Mom’s eyes. She turned her head and wiped a tear away. “Really, the breakup was the result of middle-aged boredom more than anything else. At our age, it’s hard to maintain the passion that came so easily at twenty-two.”

  “I don’t believe the kind of love you two shared just disappears. It might take some work, but you can get that spark back.” Molly’s heart broke a little over her mother’s pain, but she remembered The Ten Ways to Save a Marriage. “A book I read suggested that you each try remembering the things you first noticed about the other. What were some of the things about Dad that originally caught your attention?”

  Mom tilted her head to the side, looking thoughtful. “Oh, the usual. His looks, of course. His sense of humor, his sense of responsibility, and the way he—” She cut off the memory, pressing her lips in a thin line. She waved her hand in front of her, as if erasing her thoughts along with her words. “Never mind all that. We had a good run, a great marriage for a long time, but we’ve agreed to move on. Separately.” She dropped her chin and pleated the fabric of her tweed skirt between her fingers, avoiding Molly’s look of disbelief. “It’s probably for the best.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  When Mom looked up, she’d donned a forced smile, one that bore no resemblance to the dreamy one that had softened her face when she’d remembered her first impressions of her husband. “Ever since our talk yesterday, I’ve been trying to look on the bright side. Your father always resisted traveling, and now, his opinion doesn’t count. He never wanted to go dancing, so I’m signing up for salsa lessons. I’ll have more time for my garden, too.”

  “When are you going to do these things? Just yesterday you were moping around the house in your pajamas.”

  “As soon as school’s out in June.” Mother pressed her lips together for a long moment, then spoke with more resolution. “I’ve spent too many years catering to your father and his schedule. Now, I’ll do whatever I want, whenever I want.” She stretched out her arms as if embracing the luxury. “I’ll start sleeping late, and join a bridge club. I’ll have pizza every night for supper. Or hot fudge sundaes for breakfast. Whatever I want.” Her huge smile only quivered a little around the edges as she repeated the words.

  “When he came in tonight, I was so pleased to see him. But all he came for was his precious golf clubs. I realized how right you were last night. I should stop waiting for your father to come back. The separation’s the best thing for both of us. Really, it is.”

  The feeble declaration rang hollow in Molly’s ears. She didn’t believe her mother bought into it either. Yesterday, Molly had been encouraging her mother to take a stronger stance, but she hadn’t known about the curse then. Now that she did, her mother’s recent melancholy, her detachment, and the tears in her eyes made more sense.

  Molly would never forgive herself if she was even remotely responsible for causing a fraction of
that pain. She summoned up the courage to ask. “Mom, you’re not just being diplomatic, are you? It wasn’t my fault, was it?”

  “Your fault that your father and I separated? Why would you think that?” Mom’s surprise should have reassured her, but it didn’t.

  “Just being silly, I guess. Fulfilling one of the biggest clichés of every child in the world, young or old, the worry and fear that it’s somehow my fault that my parents have split up.”

  “Oh, honey, no, you should never think that.”

  Gabe tapped on the door he’d exited and stepped into the foyer with a show of reluctance. His gaze darted from her mother to Molly, as if waiting for an “all-clear” signal. Molly’s heart rate bumped up at the sight of him.

  Her mother donned her happy-hostess persona. “Let me just freshen our drinks.”

  As she escaped, Gabe dropped into a chair across from Molly. She swallowed her disappointment that he hadn’t claimed a seat near her on the couch. With her mother out of the room, Penny moved over and rested her head on Molly’s knee.

  Gabe absently picked up a crystal paperweight from the end table, shifting it from palm to palm before setting it back down. He gave her a sympathetic shrug. “Family! What are you going to do with them, right?”

  She was surprised he understood. Even though he seemed to have plenty of family and was obviously close to his grandfather, he’d never mentioned anything about his parents. Even when they’d followed the trail of the Sleeping Lotus through his family history. He’d leap-frogged from his grandfather’s generation to the current one, no mention of a father or mother at all.

  “Sorry about that.” She grimaced. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into our little drama.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t drag me. I insisted on tagging along, and I understand all about family drama. We have it for breakfast at my house.”

  “I’ve been thinking, Molly.” Mother returned with a fresh pitcher of tea in her hand and a more chipper expression on her face. “I seem to remember Mama having some Bella Simone scrapbooks. Did you find anything like that when you went through her things last night?”

  “Oh, Nonna’s things!” Sitting up straighter, Molly clapped her hands as she remembered the letters. Penny lifted her head and yawned, a little reminder that she found her humans exhausting. Molly dug around in her tote and pulled out the packet of letters. “How could I have forgotten the most important part?”

  “About the Sleeping Lotus?” Gabe perked up like Penny with a new chew toy.

  “No, sorry. The most important part for Mom, I should have said. It’s the false trail I was on when you called last night. They’re letters.” She pulled the stack of correspondence out of her bag and offered it to her mother on the palms of her hands. “From your father.”

  “My father?” Mom’s eyes widened to saucer-size. “When were they written?”

  “Right after you were born, when he shipped out overseas.”

  Mom reached out quickly then drew her hands back, before gingerly taking the letters, as if she feared they were too delicate to handle. “I had no idea. Why didn’t Mother ever show them to me? Did he mention me? Oh, Molly! Now, this is a real treasure, worth more to me than all the money in the world. Thank you, darling.” She hugged them to her chest, her fingers stroking the wrinkled onionskin. “Have you read them?”

  “I started to. They were beautiful, but pretty personal. I thought I should let you have first crack at them. There may be revelations you don’t want anyone else to know.”

  “There may be revelations he wouldn’t have wanted his daughter to know,” Mother countered, wryly. “I’m sure the censors would have redacted any military or government secrets out of them before they reached Mother.”

  Molly glanced over at Gabe to see if he had resumed his study of his shoes. Nope, his gaze seemed to have moved from his feet to hers. But that couldn’t be right. Why would he stare at her feet? Self-consciously, her toes curled inside her sandals, and she crossed her ankles.

  After a moment, he turned and picked up an antique abacus her dad had given her mom one Christmas. He flicked the beads up and down in the columns as if tallying s complicated sum.

  “But you’re going to read them, right?” Molly asked.

  “Oh, definitely.” Mother pulled an envelope out of the packet, lifted the flap, and peered inside. After a moment’s hesitation, she removed the delicate sheet of paper and unfolded it. “My goodness, my heart’s fluttering like a schoolgirl, and my palms are damp. I feel like I’m about to meet my father.” She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. “At last.”

  Molly’s eyes welled up, imagining how she would feel if she had never known her father. She might be angry with him now, but her life would be incomplete without him and all the things he’d taught her. Without all the special moments they’d shared.

  “I should go.” Gabe turned to her mother. “So you can take your time and have some privacy during the introduction.”

  “Good idea.” Molly jumped up. “I’ll go, too. And knowing that Nonna had a couple of Bella scrapbooks gives me some added incentive to finish going through those boxes. I’ll take a couple more home with me tonight.”

  Gabe got to his feet. “I could lend a hand.”

  Molly’s heart shimmied as she pictured Gabe in her doll-sized house, taking up space next to her on the living room floor, and breathing her air.

  “That would be great.” She swept her eyelashes down to hide her fizzy reaction. “Call me later if you want to talk, Mom.” She turned to give her mother a quick hug before hooking his arm with her hand. “Come help me fetch and carry. We’ll grab some cartons from the basement, then head out.”

  “Pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Webber,” Gabe said.

  “The pleasure was mine.” She fingered the edges of her father’s letters. “Come back any time. Bring the Sleeping Lotus.”

  “Will do.” He winked as he trailed Molly from the room.

  “Should I follow you again?” he asked, after they’d lugged Molly’s choice of boxes from the house and deposited them in her car trunk. He peered at her from the shadows cast by the corner streetlight. “I’m starting to feel like a stalker.”

  “I’ll give you the address and directions to my house. It’s not far.” A hint of his cologne drifted to her. She inhaled, fixing the clean, musky scent in her memory. “Are you familiar with Hyde Park?” He pulled out his phone to plug in the information she provided.

  “Is that off Observatory?”

  Groping inside her tote for her keys, Molly nodded. He stepped up to open the door for her. She passed close by him, before slipping behind the wheel. Shaking off the awkwardness of her constant reaction to him, she smiled. He leaned in toward her.

  Their gazes locked.

  They were close enough for their breaths to meet and mingle.

  In the illumination of the dome light, she noticed the dark scruff on his jaw, a slightly crooked tooth. Ridiculously long eyelashes created shadows across his cheek. The moment stretched from simple awareness to something more.

  Was he going to kiss her? If she held a Crazy Eight Ball in her hands, she felt certain all signs would point to “yes.” Her screaming hormones all pointed to “yes.” She turned to meet him halfway. More than halfway.

  A familiar metallic tune interrupted the silence.

  “Damn.” Gabe pulled his phone out and swiped to answer it. “Sorry, I have to take this.”

  His long legs blocked Molly from closing the door. Her eyes leveled out at about belt height. Oh, great, nothing like a bug’s eye view of a man’s jean-covered crotch to stir the imagination.

  She tore her gaze away and opened her bag, searching for something, anything to occupy her hands and thoughts, while she waited. Thankfully, he paced away from the car and she closed the door. Within seconds, she overheard his raised voice through the closed window.

  Yelling at someone. Again.

  Chilling her overactiv
e hormones from their now! take-me-now eagerness to not-in-this-lifetime dread. Definitely, not. Luckily, timely phone calls kept averting her from disaster.

  “He did what? When?” he bellowed. “You need me to come back to the office now? Right now?” Gabe closed his eyes and shook his head as if he couldn’t bear the thought.

  Disappointed in him, and in herself, Molly wrapped her arms around her torso, aware of a sudden plunge in temperature. This tone didn’t fit the personality of the man she was coming to know, the one who’d been so sweet to her mom, but she’d heard it for herself now, twice.

  Starting the engine, she nudged up the heat, anxious to get home, to get away from Gabe. She jumped when he tapped on the window, then lowered the glass halfway.

  “Sorry.” His lips moved into a resistance-melting smile. “I’m going back to work for a while, so you’ll have to mine the mother lode of memorabilia on your own again.”

  “I’ll manage,” she said, dizzy from keeping up with his chameleon-like changes.

  “I’ll call if I get finished soon.”

  “No! I, mean, no, don’t bother. It’s been a long day. I’ll probably turn in early.”

  “Okay, then.” He reached out and stroked his fingertips across her cheek, ever so lightly. “I’ll call you tomorrow to see if you uncovered anything new. Be careful on your way home. And call me immediately if you see anything suspicious.”

  Molly watched him turn and settle his broad shoulders into a posture of steely determination as he went. Always so tense. Her fingers covered her cheek, caressing the spot where his touch lingered. Reeling in a surge of desire, she glanced away and waited while Gabe clamped on his helmet and climbed onto his Harley.

  His headlight, as he backed down the drive, picked up the glint of something shiny at the edge of the yard. Hopping out of the car, she imagined the implication of finding a new lucky coin at this moment.

  “Everything all right?” Gabe stopped the Harley and called out before pulling into the street.

  “Sure, fine.” She ducked her head, feeling a little foolish at being caught down on her knees, combing the grass. “Just looking for a little luck.”