Book Boyfriends Cafe Summer Lovin' Anthology 2015

by Melinda Curtis

  “Of course!”

  “Of course what?”

  “The eco-aficionado girl and the one Bernadette saw you with are one in the same.”

  “Mother, I’m going to ask you to do something for me.”

  “What?”

  “Hold up your left hand.”

  “Are you on drugs?”

  “Do it…please.”

  “Oh, this is stupid. Okay, my left hand is up.”

  “Now bring your index finger and thumb close together.” He could almost see her shaking her head. “Did you do it?”

  “Yes.”

  “How big is the gap?”

  “Really, Rann, I don’t have time for this.”

  “Make time, goddamn it.”

  “The gap is about one inch, give or take.”

  “Closer. Bring them so close, they’re almost touching.”

  “Done.”

  “Take a good look.”

  “I’m looking, I’m looking. Is this finger game almost done?”

  “Yes. If you don’t call your lapdog back to Chicago and retreat from the Pine Bay project, that’s how close you are to losing me. Forever, Charlotte, I’ll close that gap, walk away and never look back. Tell me you understand.”

  “Good heavens, I think you mean it.”

  “More than I’ve ever meant anything in my life.”

  So much time passed, he wondered if she’d ended the call. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Very well. I’ll ask Martin to return.”

  “Good. And you’ll back off on Pine Bay?”

  “I-I….”

  “Mother.”

  “Very well, yes. Everything I’ve ever done in my life was for you, all for you.”

  “I’m going to hang up now. I’ll be in Monday morning. Maybe we can have a normal conversation for once.”

  He turned his phone off, let Rook outside and hustled up the stairs.

  Season was lying on her side with tears streaming down her cheeks. Crawling into bed beside her, he cradled her in his arms. “Don’t cry, please don’t cry.”

  “I’m sorry, so sorry.” She hiccoughed. “I’ve made such a mess of things.”

  “No you haven’t. I would have thought the same if the situation was reversed.”

  “Do you forgive me then?”

  “Maybe.”

  She rolled over and faced him. “Maybe?”

  “I have terms.”

  A thousand questions swept through her turbulent eyes. "Who said you were entitled to terms?"

  “Stop thinking. Shut your brain down for once and listen.”

  Her child-like voice cut him in two. “Okay.”

  “Term number one: You never look at me again like you’d love to pick up the nearest bat and shin-cap me.”

  She gasped.

  “Term number two: We tear down all fences between us. You have to trust me. If we don’t have trust, we have nothing.”

  “What’s three?”

  “That’s it. For now.”

  “You mean there might be more in the future?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t predict if renegotiation will arise in the future, but can we just commit to the two I outlined and start anew?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes we can start anew or yes we have terms?”

  “Both.”

  He kissed her and she kissed him back, without anger, without reservation. The physical desperation and emotional battering that took place earlier had walked from the room. This time, he would love her with infinite patience and tenderness. This time he would make sure she never doubted his love again.

  Chapter 14

  I have two masters -- God and the devil; I work for the devil until lunch then I follow the Lord.

  It rained Sunday morning. Dark, mournful clouds hung heavy in the sky and in Season’s heart. Rann made breakfast again—omelets, sausage and buttery toast—but maneuvered around the kitchen as if the soles of his sneakers were molded from heavy lead.

  “Aren’t you going to eat?”

  “Yeah, be right there. Just grabbing a cup of coffee.” He slumped into the chair opposite hers, took a sip of coffee and caught her eyes. “I have a minor confession to make.”

  “Minor, I like that. You’re getting really good at stopping my mind from running wild when we talk.”

  He scrunched his lips.

  “What is it?”

  “You know that little wrestling match we had on the floor yesterday?”

  She drew the word out. “Yeah.”

  “I wasn’t wearing a condom.”

  “Oh-oh.” With a shoulder lift, she added, “It’s as much my fault as yours. I should have reminded you.”

  He looked down at his plate. “Don’t think I could have stopped even if you had.”

  “Rann, it’s all right. I’m not ovulating right now. I mean, what are the odds?”

  “Good for our side.” His chin jerked up. “You would tell me, though, if….”

  “Yes, I would tell you. Now, please, eat your breakfast. It’s not as if we won’t be together again soon.”

  He attempted a decent smile. “I’m meeting with my mother tomorrow morning and putting in for an extended leave.”

  “You are? Please, pretty please come to Minnesota and stay with us. It’s beautiful in the fall.”

  “What do you think Duna would say to that?”

  “Are you kidding me? He’d love some male company for a change, and I can’t arm-wrestle with him.”

  He rubbed his forearm. “Oh, hell, no. If that’s part of the bargain I’m staying put.”

  She giggled. “Is it settled then?”

  “Yes.”

  “When will you come? Next week?”

  “I think I can wrap everything up by Friday, so how about Saturday?”

  Jumping up from the chair, she danced a short jig and then scooted into his lap. “I’m so happy…so happy.”

  “Me too.” A somber expression dissolved his grin when their eyes met. He kissed her forehead and next her nose. “Where do you think the cute, pert nose came from…mom or dad?”

  “Duna says my mom, but the eyes are mirror images of Dad’s.”

  “You never told me their names.”

  “Vincent, Viney for short, and Madeline.”

  “Ah, Vincent and Madeline. They sound like lovers from a medieval novel.”

  “I don’t know about the medieval part but they were madly in love.”

  “You recognized that, even at age ten?”

  “Oh, yeah, whenever they were in the same room, the subtle glances, discreet touches were hard to miss. Nothing overt but constant. I didn’t understand the concept of love between two people but I knew they liked one another…a lot.”

  “How about Duna? Is that a nickname?”

  “Short for Baduna, which I couldn’t pronounce as a toddler.” Her shoulders came up. “Poor man, guess it stuck.”

  Their foreheads met and he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m gonna miss you. Wish it was next Saturday.”

  “Duna says we shouldn’t wish our life away. Death comes soon enough.” She kissed his cheek and pulled back to look in his eyes again. “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t object to missing someone though.” She delivered a light kiss to his lips. “Like I’m gonna miss you.”

  “Let’s go upstairs.”

  “Rein it in, lover-boy. I still have to pack and take a shower before I leave, and it’s a long drive.”

  “All right. Guess I’ll have to settle for ogling you then.”

  She slid from his lap and grabbed his hand. “Come on, I need you to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything.”

  ~*~

  Two hours later, he carried her bag to the Denali, plunked it into the backseat and shut the car door. Through the open window on the driver’s side, she drank in his beauty. If she didn’t start the engine right now and put the car in reverse, she’d be a goner.

  “Wait,” he said. “One more thing.”

&
nbsp; “We went over the map ten times, you filled the gas tank this morning, and no, I won’t talk to strangers when I stop to pee.”

  “Okay. I’m just prolonging the inevitable, huh?”

  “Yes, and you’re making it really hard for me to stay in this seat.”

  “As opposed to what?”

  “Jumping your bones in the driveway.”

  She hit the lock button the second his hand moved toward the door handle, and then she started the engine, rolled the window up and waved to him as she backed out.

  If she lived to be two hundred, she’d always remember this moment. Barefoot now, his hands stuffed into his cargo pants, he looked sadder than a coonhound.

  I’ll make it up to you next weekend, Rann Brogan. Boy, will I make it up to you.

  ~*~

  An hour from Chicago, Season’s cell rang. Reaching over to the passenger seat she answered on the second ring. “Hello my sexy lover. What can I do for you?”

  “The truth?”

  “Nothing but.”

  “Turn around, come back.”

  “Man, you’re like a dog with a bone.”

  “Grrrrr.”

  “Cute. You know I promised Duna I’d be back Sunday night. We use the land line for emergencies only so I didn’t call him even once this weekend.”

  “I know.” She imagined him scrunching his lips, his little boy expression, and so adorable, a wave of nostalgia washed over her. “The house is so forlorn without you, I think it’s weeping. I been hearing all these strange noises.”

  “Foul! I gotta cry foul on that one."

  “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

  “How’s Rook the Mighty doing?”

  “Right now, good, but when the moon comes out, I expect him to start howling over your absence. Pull yourself together, Rann. Okay, I’m better now but I miss you so much already.”

  “Miss you too.”

  “So how’s the trip so far? Where are you?”

  “Ah, an hour out of Chicago heading for Rockville.”

  “Soon after that, you’ll be leaving Illinois and entering Wisconsin.”

  “Yep, got the map on the front seat, within easy reach.”

  “Something I wanted to ask you this weekend and it completely slipped my mind.”

  “Major or minor?”

  “Very minor.”

  “Shoot.”

  “That day we met in the woods, where were you headed?”

  “Oh, that is minor. I had it in my head to find the bald eagle’s nest at the end of the forest. He kept soaring over the house and Duna said they live at the top of a tall tree and most likely by water.”

  “That’s right, the bay there once you get out of the woods.”

  “An environmental lake, which means no hunting or fishing. That it for now Little Boy Blue?”

  “Told you it was minor.”

  “I have one for you.”

  “Good, I love to hear your come-hither voice. Ask away.”

  “Same day in the woods, same location. When you jumped over my head with that branch in your hand, why did you grasp it in the middle? Why not the end?”

  “Easy. I took years of martial arts as a child. My dad, when he still lived with us, took me every week for lessons.”

  She tried to stifle the laugh but it rolled forth anyway.

  “Oh, you find that amusing, huh?”

  “Sorry, so sorry,” she said, her words garbled by laughter.

  “ Which part…that I took martial arts or that I held the stick like a Ninja fighter?”

  “The latter,” she said the chuckles still erupting. “A tree branch wouldn’t have fazed him. One swipe from his mammoth paws and we’re talking kindling. Then he would have gone for your throat.”

  “Damn." He breathed the word. "Glad I didn’t know it at the time.”

  “It’s okay, Rann, you’re still my hero.”

  “I wanna be your everything but hero will do for now. Gotta run, someone is beeping in. I’ll call you again in an hour or so.”

  Season returned the cell to the passenger seat and decided to stop in Janesville to relieve her bladder. Ninja fighter? Beaming, she kept on trucking for Janesville.

  Chapter 15

  One madman makes many madmen, and many madmen make madness.

  The green sign appeared on her right Welcome to Janesville, Population 63,820. Her bladder screaming for mercy, she exited the Interstate and pulled onto the off-ramp. At the end, a 7-Eleven came into view. Bingo!

  Season scuttled from the seat with keys in hand, clicked the lock button and entered the store. She spied the restroom sign to her left and thanked her lucky stars it wasn’t occupied. While washing her hands, she looked in the mirror, surprised that after everything that had happened in the last several weeks, she still looked the same. You’re still you, Season, on the outside anyway, but wow, girl, have you changed on the inside.

  Feeling guilty about using the restroom without making a purchase, she decided to buy a Coke. She paid the clerk, and still clutching her keys, returned to the car and pushed unlock.

  Her thoughts wandered to the weekend, the incredible, magnificent weekend with Rann. She’d found the enchilada, the whole freakin’ enchilada. Duna would be happy for her, and no doubt a little proud of himself. She couldn’t recall a time he’d ever been wrong about a person. Hmm, maybe that’s where I get this black and white thing Rann talked about, the radar for honing in on auras.

  Looking at the road she traveled, a sense of the unfamiliar hit her. Holy crap! This isn’t right. Don’t panic, take a deep breath. You’re not on Mars, at least I don’t think they have red barns and silos on Mars.

  Cows grazed in the pastures, a black crow or two crossed the sky. She realized she must have made a wrong turn leaving the 7-Eleven. Was she supposed to go right to get back onto the Interstate or left? She’d have to backtrack and that shouldn’t be a problem since she couldn’t have traveled more than four miles. The gravel road didn’t want to cooperate with her plan. The straight path she’d been on had now turned into a bend, an elongated curve with no end in sight. Still no reason to panic. Hey, if it is a never-ending bend I’ll end up back at the little store.

  About to reach for her cell in the passenger seat, she checked her rearview mirror first. A cloud of dust had formed behind her car, a whirling dervish that screeched fast and furious. If it didn’t slow down, and there wasn’t a lane on either side to pass her, how would it navigate around her?

  Kaboom! The car slammed into her tailgate. Her neck whipped forward and then back again. Full-blown terror snaked down her spine. The car hadn’t stopped; it was still swerving and swaying behind her. She didn’t dare pull over. This was no accident but an intentional act. She wracked her brain. Had she pulled out in front of someone unknowingly? What about the clerk at the store? God, she couldn’t even remember what he looked like. Had he followed her?

  Kaboom! A scream seized her throat. The Denali veered to the right. Tires squealed, hers or the other vehicle’s she didn’t know. Curve eternal still loomed ahead with no driveways or turnarounds in sight. Frantic now, she searched the seat for her phone. Her hand met flat leather. It must have fallen during the last ram.

  With one eye on the gravel road, one in the rearview mirror, a beam of sunlight illuminated the maniac’s car. Spiders crawled over her skin. Silver SUV? No, it can’t be! An engine roared and then brakes squealed. She clung to the steering wheel and prayed.

  Bam! The Denali screamed its outrage or was it the sound of broken glass? A steep bank ahead flashed in her line of vision. Dear God, help me! Oh no, oh, no. Like a spinning top, the Denali flipped, ass over tea kettle. Immense pain shot through her body. Something warm and sticky ran down her face. Why hadn’t the air bag deployed? Her vision faded in and out, and she couldn’t form a rational thought. Oh, Pearl, we’re dying. Duna! Oh, my God, Duna, I-I shouldn’t have listened to you this time, should have followed my aura meter.

  Lying snake.r />
  Complete, utter darkness closed in on her.

  ~*~

  After pulling the car onto the grass off the gravel road, he stepped from the vehicle and looked in all directions. A dog barked, so faint and distant, he breathed a sigh of relief. Erratic, deep skid marks led him to the steep bank and to his destination.

  Below, a twisted tangle of black metal smoked and hissed. In his haste to get to the crash, his feet flew out from under him. Hard ground met his ass. “Shit!”

  He pushed himself upright using his shaky legs and pebble-embedded hands. Approaching the upside down Denali with one ear cocked to the road above, a satisfied sense of victory thumped his chest.

  Knees bent, he peered through the shattered window on the driver’s side. “Eww.”

  Roof and dashboard were now separated by six inches and what once served as the windshield was now open sky. A seatbelt covered her torso, thick with shards of glass and blood. Deep gashes littered her face and arms, and he couldn’t be sure but the downward angle of her right shoulder smacked of a broken collarbone. For a brief moment, he wondered what other bones had been crushed during the violent crash.

  He studied her for a minute, maybe longer, but she hadn’t moved a muscle or uttered a sound. Hell, not even Earnhardt, Jr. in his souped-up Chevy SS could have survived this mess.

  “Not so pretty now, gypsy slut, are ya?”

  As if in the last throes of death, the Denali spewed a belch or two. Worried the damn thing would explode and blow his ass into next week he reached through the rear window and grabbed her luggage…which looked more like a large canvas bag to him. “Now, sweetheart, where is your phone?”

  The most likely place would be her purse in the front seat. He walked around the car, squinted through the open window and spied it lying on the floor, or the proper term would be roof now. He yanked it out and rifled through it for the phone, then cursed when he turned up empty-handed. He searched the ground around the Denali. Nada…zilch. He looked at the sky. “Why me, God?”

  With his eyes on the terrain in front of him, searching left-to-right, his foot made contact with a solid object, a pink, solid object. The cell had apparently flown out the window during the downward spiral.