TIS THE SEASON...FOR ROMANCE (WESTMORELAND/MASTERS/JEFFERIES)

by Jackson, Brenda

  Rick shrugged. “Yes, you could have. A person who feels betrayed can be pushed into doing a lot of things, which is why Melissa Langley was found not guilty in shooting your husband. A court of law was convinced losing her child and having him treat her the way he had was reason enough for her actions. Of course it helped that she had a jury of nine women and three men. I’m sure the females sympathized with her; especially with how your husband was portrayed by the defense.”

  Barbara nodded. “Yes, I’m sure that’s true.”

  She hadn’t attended any parts of the two-month trial, but Courtney and her sister Peggy had. Luckily for Melissa’s defense team, a few of Ron’s phone calls to her had been recorded by voicemail and had been replayed in the courtroom. Everyone – judge, jury and all present– had heard first hand some of the things Ron had said to Melissa. They had been mean and ugly statements while the woman was still mourning over the loss of the child she and Ron had made together. Proof had also been presented that the child Melissa had lost had been Ron’s, although he denied such fact. In the end the jury had decided, based on Ron’s behavior and Melissa’s state of mind, they could see how her mind had snapped.

  Although Ron had been upset with the not guilty verdict, Barbara had not begrudged the woman in any way. She of all people knew what Ron was capable of doing. Barbara had put up with all his affairs and betrayals because she loved him and was convinced he loved her and would do better. In the end she’d discovered Ron only loved himself. Melissa hadn’t been the first nor had she been the last.

  “I understand your husband is no longer with the university.”

  “That’s right,” she said. The university where he’d worked hadn’t had a choice in the matter when it came out during the trial just how many of his female students he’d impregnated.

  Deciding at that moment she needed to get her mind and thoughts off the subject of Ron and his issues, she leaned back in her chair and said, “I’m sure you came here for some reason other than to rehash an old case you worked months ago, Mr. Blair.” Although she hadn’t a clue what could have brought him to her office that wasn’t business related.

  “Yes, my visit has nothing to do with the case I handled regarding your ex-husband. The reason I’m here is strictly personal so I hope we can proceed on a first name basis.”

  She lifted a brow. “Personal?”

  “Yes. I’m here to ask you out on a date.”

  Two

  Rick thought the shocked look on Barbara’s face was priceless. He had caught her off guard and to him that was a good thing. She hadn’t expected him to ask her out and a part of him couldn’t understand why. She was definitely an attractive woman and she had gotten a divorce from a man who had not appreciated her value as a wife, and as a woman.

  “You want to take me out on a date?”

  “Yes.”

  “A date?”

  He chuckled. Such a thing seemed to be hard for her to grasp. “Yes, you know, take you to places like to dinner and the movies.”

  He watched as she nervously pushed her hair behind her ear. “Why?”

  His lips lifted into a smile. He would think his reason was obvious. But since she asked, he would give her several. “I’m attracted to you. I think you’re a nice person and I want to get to know you better.”

  He figured this was not the time to add that she was the first woman to draw his interest since losing his wife and that he’d thought of her often over the past few months.

  “You’re attracted to me?” she said as if to verify what he’d said…as if such a thing was next to impossible.

  “Yes, very.” And before she could ask, he said, “From the first, but I had to take care of business and put my personal interest aside. Besides, at the time you were a married woman.”

  What he didn’t have to say was that he now knew she was single. He had kept up with her since the investigation. He’d known when she’d filed for a divorce and when that divorce had become final. He had been tempted to call her as soon as she had become a free woman but had held back, knowing she needed time to adjust to the idea of being single again. During his investigation he’d discovered she had married Ronald Andrews while in college after becoming pregnant. Since then she had dedicated her life and given her love to a man who hadn’t been worthy of it for over thirty years. Putting the past behind her and moving on wouldn’t be easy. He of all people knew that. Gail had been so much a part of his life he could start a sentence and she could finish it for him. They’d shared a close relationship and when he’d lost her he thought his life had ended. The only reason he’d had to go on was to put the men responsible behind bars.

  After that it was his work that drove him from day to day. Working became an obsession. His son had worried about him. But it was either him working or him dying because each and every time he slowed down, the memories of Gail and how they were to spend their retirement years together nearly destroyed him.

  “I married Ron young and have never dated another man since,” she finally managed to get out.

  He held tight to her gaze. “But you’re no longer married to Ronald Andrews.” He hadn’t wanted to remind her but she’d given him no choice. “You are free to date.”

  “Yes,” she said, nibbling on her lips again as if such a thing hadn’t crossed her mind. “I don’t know what to say.”

  His mouth tilted into a smile. “If you can’t give me a yes, what you can say is that you will think about it. There’s a new Tyler Perry movie hitting the theaters this weekend. I prefer going the first night and would love for you to join me. We can do dinner first.”

  No matter how he tried, he couldn’t fight the sliver of desire he felt for her at that moment. He had dated other women since Gail’s death. Most had been blind dates his coworkers had fixed up or single ladies he’d met at church. But none had attracted him this intensely and a part of him knew it wasn’t just sexual. Barbara Andrews was a woman worthy of a man’s love and devotion. For some reason she had gotten short-changed.

  “Thanks for asking me out but I do need to think about it,” she said interrupting his thoughts.

  He nodded as he stood to his feet. At least she hadn’t turned him down flat. “All right. These are the numbers where I can be reached,” he said, and then waited while she grabbed a pen and paper before rattling off several numbers to her.

  “Once in a while I fly to Virginia to teach a class or two at the FBI Academy.”

  “Sounds interesting.”

  “It is. I’d like to tell you about it sometime,” he said holding her gaze. “I hope to hear from you soon.”

  She stood to her feet and gave him an assuring smile. “You will.”

  He returned her smile. “Good. I’ll look forward to it. I hope you have a nice week.”

  “I wish for you the same.”

  He nodded again before he turned and walked out of her office.

  * * *

  The moment her door closed behind Rick, Barbara covered her face with her hands. A handsome man wanted to take her out and she hadn’t had the nerve to say yes.

  She sank back in her chair. She wouldn’t know how to act on a date. It wasn’t as if she was a woman in her twenties or thirties. She would be celebrating her fifty-first birthday in the spring.

  Since her divorce a few men around the office had given her interested looks, but none had actually hit on her. Mainly because she was well aware behind her back many were taking bets that divorce or no divorce, she would be going back to her ex-husband. Hadn’t that been her routine? No matter what Ron had done to her in the past, even to the point where she had caught him in bed with another woman, she’d eventually taken him back. All he had to do was call and tell her how sorry he was, swear that he wouldn’t mess around with another woman again and ask for her forgiveness, and she would weaken and fall for his lie.

  But not anymore.

  He just couldn’t understand that the last time had been it. And because he didn’
t understand, he had tried anything and everything to get her to take him back. There were the “I’m thinking of you” flowers he would send. The little gifts he would have delivered to her. But no matter what, she hadn’t budged. And she didn’t intend to. She had moved on… at least she tried to.

  Needing to get away from the office for a while, she picked up the phone to call the one person she knew she could talk to about Rick’s visit, her sister.

  Peggy picked up her cell phone on the first ring. “Yes, Barb?”

  Barbara smiled. Even with the seven year difference in their ages, she and Peggy had always been close. “How about lunch?”

  “Sure. Will the Cheesecake Factory work for you?” Peggy asked.

  Barbara smiled. That was her sister’s favorite place to eat. “Yes, that will work for me.”

  Moments later she was hanging up the phone, looking forward to meeting her sister for lunch.

  * * *

  Peggy was already seated at a table when she saw Barbara walk in. She knew that the past eight months had been hard on her sister. Another blow of her husband’s infidelity and in the worse possible way. The only good thing was that Barbara had finally realized that men like Ron never got better, they only got worse. She of all people should know since she’d been married to an asshole herself.

  That was not the dream Lola Phelps had had for her girls. Wanting a better life for her daughters, Lola had sold family land close to fifty years ago to Disney, and had used the proceeds to educate Barbara and Peggy at some of the finest private schools and colleges. They had emerged as graceful, refined and stylish ladies who’d married well-educated men. Men who proved to be unfaithful and emotionally abusive.

  At least her and Barbara’s daughters hadn’t been permanently damaged by their fathers’ behaviors. Peggy’s own daughter, Sonya, had married last year and she and her husband Mike were doing just fine and Peggy felt they had a strong marriage. Barbara’s daughter, Courtney, would be getting married next month to a wonderful man who loved her.

  Peggy smiled. She herself was presently dating Willie Baker, a widower, who liked to travel and who didn’t mind coming to Orlando to see her. She liked the space that long distance dating provided and appreciated the time they spent together on occasion doing fun things they both enjoyed, like attending concerts and plays.

  “Sorry, I’m late. I had an important call to take at the last minute.” Barbara said, sliding into the booth across from Peggy.

  Peggy smiled over at her sister. “I’ve already ordered for you,” she said before leaning back in her seat. “Now I need for you to tell me why the last minute call for lunch.”

  Idly wishing her sister didn’t know her so well, Barbara took a sip of the iced tea a waitress had placed in front of her and fought hard not to flinch under Peggy’s curious gaze. “Rick Blair came to see me today,” she finally said.

  Peggy lifted a brow. “Detective Rick Blair?”

  “Yes, but he’s no longer a detective. He retired from the force.”

  Peggy nodded as she buttered a piece of bread and then popped it into her mouth. After washing it down with iced tea, she asked. “What was the reason for his visit? Don’t tell me your ex is in more trouble.”

  Barbara shook her head. “No, his visit had nothing to do with Ron. He dropped by the office to ask me out.”

  The smile that suddenly appeared on Peggy’s face was huge. “So where are the two of you going?”

  “He mentioned the movies but . . .”

  Peggy lifted a brow as she slid the basket of bread aside. “But what?”

  “But I didn’t give him an answer because I’m not sure I’m ready to get involved with anyone.”

  Peggy rolled her eyes. “I wish a man had shown interest in me after my divorce from Joe. Had that happened, maybe I would not have hit the bottle as hard and driven Sonya off the deep end with my behavior.”

  Barbara remembered those days. Joe had asked Peggy for a divorce to marry a much younger woman. A woman he’d been involved in a secret relationship with for more than a year. A woman thirty-four years his junior. A woman younger than his own daughter. A woman who Barbara thought should be crowned the bitch of all bitches.

  The one thing Barbara could say was that Peggy had finally moved on. It seemed she had gotten her ex out of her life and out of her system. It hadn’t even bothered Peggy when Joe’s child-bride had given birth to a son a few months ago. The jury was still out on that one since there were some who’d seen the baby and said there was nothing about the baby that looked like Joe. It would serve him right if his wife Suzette had gotten pregnant from someone else. What goes around, comes around.

  “It’s not easy for me, Peggy,” Barbara decided to say. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be comfortable going out with a man?”

  Peggy frowned. “Why? Because Ron had affairs with other women? Because you still love him? You took the first step and surprised us all by actually divorcing him. Are you now having regrets? Will you do what everyone expects you to do and go back to him; even after all he’s done?”

  Barbara paused from responding while the waitress placed their meals in front of them. There was no need to tell her about the calls she’d received over the past months from Ron begging her to take him back, promising her everything but the moon. As soon as the waitress walked away she met Peggy’s gaze. “Ron and I will never get back together and I’m not having regrets about divorcing him.”

  Peggy held her gaze. “But he has asked you to take him back, hasn’t he?”

  There was no way she could lie to her sister, so she said. “Yes. But he knows that won’t be happening.” And to make sure her sister understood she meant what she said, she added. “Now or never.”

  She paused as she fought back tears. “I gave that man thirty good years. I tried like hell to be the wife he wanted me to be. I even thought I’d step up my game a notch and compete with his whores by doing things in our bedroom I’d never done before.” She almost tinted with embarrassment when she thought about all those X-rated tapes she’d watched and that video she’d ordered titled, Improving Your Sex Performance.

  “In the end he still preferred them over me. And the last stunt he pulled by taking Ashira Wilson to Hawaii on a trip that was supposed to rebuild our marriage is unforgivable. I will never let another man treat me that way again. My relationship with Ron is over and the only thing between us is Courtney,” she finished by saying.

  Peggy reached across the table and placed her hand on hers. “Then what’s stopping you from going on a date with Detective Blair, Barbara? I would think you would want to get on with your life and the quickest way to do that is to start enjoying life. I wish I had met Willie sooner.”

  Willie was the man Peggy had begun seeing almost a year ago and Barbara had a feeling things were turning serious. “I lack confidence in myself as a woman,” Barbara said softly, knowing she wouldn’t admit that to anyone but her sister who she knew she could trust. “I guess what woman wouldn’t after going through what I went through over the years. And I have no one to blame but myself for taking Ron back all those times.”

  “And you have no one to blame if you believe what you just said. You’re an attractive woman, otherwise Detective Blair would not have come calling. What about all those counseling sessions you went through? I attended sessions with Dr. Banks myself so I know he’s good. What happened?”

  Barbara eased her hand from her sister’s hold to take a sip of her drink. “Yes, he’s good but I’d be the first to admit to carrying too much baggage. He’s encouraged me to get rid of it but so far I can’t.”

  “But the good thing is that one day you will. It takes time and going out with Detective Blair is a start. In the meantime, you do know who is the one person that’s really hurting in all of this, don’t you?”

  At Barbara’s confused look, Peggy said. “Courtney. She loves you and understandably, even after all that asshole has done, she still loves Ron. But she’s mo
re worried about you. She feels she’s deserting you by getting married and moving to Boston. Although she’ll come back and forth here periodically, it won’t be the same.”

  Peggy paused for a moment, studied her food and then glanced back up at Barbara. “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but maybe it’s something that you should know. Courtney shared with Sonya a few days ago that she’s going to approach Lake about letting her stay here in Orlando the majority of the time mainly because she doesn’t want to leave you alone. I’m sure you can just imagine how well that’s going to go over with Lake. He’ll want her with him in Boston, understandably so.”

  Barbara pulled in a deep breath. Remaining in Orlando was the last thing her daughter needed to do; especially if she was doing it for her sake.

  “I think it’s unfair to Courtney, Barbara,” Peggy said, twirling her glass of wine. “You and Ron haven’t had your shit together through most of your married lives, and for it to spill over into Courtney’s happiness is not only unfair but downright selfish. Even now while Ron is begging to get you back, he’s probably somewhere with his pecker buried inside of Ashira or one of his other sluts. Yet you’re willing to walk away from a man who might be the one who can turn your life around. If you want to continue to screw up your own life, with or without Ron in it, then go ahead. But I’d think you would want to show you’re getting on with your life so Courtney will feel free to get on with hers.”

  * * *

  Late that evening after coming in from work, Barbara took a long soak in the tub and then changed into a lounging outfit. She popped a dinner into the microwave and while waiting for it to finish, she thought about her conversation with Peggy at lunch.

  Her sister’s words had all but knocked her sideways. She hadn’t known of Courtney’s plans to ask Lake to make Orlando their primary home. Barbara could just imagine how well that would go over with her future son-in-law. He hadn’t been too thrilled with Courtney’s request that they wait until Christmas to marry. Considering Ron’s behavior and the reason he was incapacitated in the first place, Lake hadn’t cared a royal damn if her father walked her down the aisle or not. But in the end, he had pulled in his anger on Courtney’s behalf and agreed to wait.