STAY THE NIGHT (The Phillips Family Book 1)

by Vicki Keener

  He recognized her dismissal and rose. “Thank you for the delicious dinner. May I visit with you next Friday?”

  She nodded and moved across the room toward the bedroom.

  He took a cab home and when he got there he dialed Mona's number. She answered on the first ring and said, “How did it go?”

  “It's the hardest thing I ever did,” he said and choked up for a few moments before he could speak again. Mona waited until he composed himself.

  She said, “I'll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  He started to tell her she didn't need to come to him, but she'd disconnected.

  He changed into casual clothes and poured himself a stiff drink while he waited her arrival. He opened the door when she knocked and she flew to his arms. When they released each other, she said, “Pour me what you're having and talk to me.”

  He described verbatim the entire evening and their conversation. “Mona, this is killing me. I want to be with her, but not like this. She's afraid of me and what I want to do is hold her, protect her and promise her I'll keep her safe for the rest of her life.”

  “Cray, I view your time with her tonight as a breakthrough. It will still take time for her to be your wife, but she talked to you, advised you and asked you to call her. Deep down she realizes you'd never be a threat to her. She's not blind. She can see your love for her in your eyes. Please, don't despair.”

  “I couldn't get through this without your help and support. I'm your older brother. I'm the one who should be supporting you. Who does she let support her? It's not family no matter how hard we try. She talks to strangers if she even exposes her troubles, worries and fears to them. Her caregivers are marvelous at what they do, but they don't understand the vibrant person she used to be.”

  “We need to trust that with the medical people's help there will come a time when she turns to us because she no longer needs them. I believe that will happen.”

  “I pray you're right. Should I fly to Milwaukee next week?”

  “Yes. Angie is spot on and it makes me angry that I didn't think of it. You do exude charisma and confidence that neither Dirk nor I project. As the CEO it'll work.”

  “Mona, what gives with you and Dirk?”

  “If he gets to my place at a reasonable hour and I'm there, we share a meal and lots of alcohol. We get tipsy and fall into bed together. When we're sober, we sleep in separate rooms.”

  “Is that weird or is it just me?”

  “It's weird.”

  Chapter 21

  Cray boarded the private express elevator, carrying a medium-sized box with holes in it, inserted the key in the panel, withdrew it, and the elevator rose to the forty-seventh-floor penthouse. He checked his wristwatch and noted the time as six-fifty-five. Without calculating in his mind, he recognized this as the seventy-eighth time he took this weekly trip on a Friday evening to spend a few hours with his wife, dine with her and engage in idle chitchat before leaving to go to his condominium, his private hell.

  Never did he dream in his wildest imagination three years ago when he spotted the vivacious, ethereal Angelica Andersson across a room that their marriage would be reduced to this....a weekly dinner with her and nothing more. Besides her beauty and effervescent personality, her laugh, loud, bawdy and somehow lyrical captured him that first night and he decided he'd win her and make her his wife. He carried a deep and abiding ache in his gut from missing her.

  The elevator door slid open. He stepped to the large foyer and nodded to the ever-present two woman who provided around-the-clock security. He considered them unnecessary because entry to this floor was impossible without the proper credentials and tools, but their presence eased his wife's fears, and he paid for them willingly.

  He rapped softly on the door, and it opened immediately. “Good evening, Jackie,” Cray said to his wife's loyal companion.

  “Good evening, Cray. Angelica will be with you shortly.”

  “How is she, Jackie?” He asked the same question each Friday and every time he called during the week when Jackie answered the phone.

  “I sense a slight improvement.”

  “Tell me.” Hope clutched at his chest, squeezing the breath from him. He knew better than to expect too much, but that didn't stop his ardent wish to reunite with the woman he loved.

  “She seems more alert and interested in the outside world. She bought a new dress to wear for you tonight.”

  “She left the apartment?” Cray asked, his astonishment tripping his heart to a fast pace.

  Jackie looked at him with sorrowful eyes. “No, Cray. She bought it on line from Neiman Marcus and had it delivered.”

  “But that's good news, right? And a step in the right direction.” He grasped at any straw that would bring her back to him.

  Jackie smiled at the hope radiating in his face. “Yes, to my recollection she's bought nothing new to wear since we moved here.”

  Cray held a wiggling box in front of him. “I brought her a kitten. I didn't think of it before, but she loves puppies and kittens. Did I do wrong?” He didn't want to misstep.

  “It's an ideal gift, Cray.”

  “Hello, Cray,” Angelica said, entering from the hall that lead to her bedroom. Jackie departed.

  “Angel,” he said smiling. He'd called her that from their first meeting and nothing could make him change.

  She smiled, timid and unsure, as he walked toward her and brushed his lips against her cheek. It took him over a year of kissing her cheek for her to accept it without cringing and backing away from him with terror reflected in her eyes.

  He held the box to her. “I brought you a kitten, honey, to keep you company. If you don't want it, I'll take it back where I got it.” He set the box on the floor and opened it. A pure white head with a pink bow wrapped around her neck stuck its head above the rim of the box and looked at its eye-level surroundings and then looked up when Angelica cooed.

  The kitten climbed out of the box and rubbed against Angelica's ankles. Her eyes rose to meet Cray's, and she said, “Thank you, Cray. I'll take good care of her and keep her safe.”

  'Keep her safe,' Cray thought, the one sole purpose in her life; being safe. “I brought everything a pampered kitten needs. They're in the car. I didn't bring them upstairs because I didn't know if you'd want to be bothered with the care of a kitten.”

  Angelica's eyes rose to meet his, panic reflected there. “Cray, who will take her to the veterinarian?”

  “She had her baby shots and when she needs to be spayed and get booster shots, I'll take her.”

  “You'd take the time from your busy schedule to do that?”

  “I'd do anything for you, Angel. What will you name her?” He longed to embrace her, but such a move might set her back for weeks or months.

  Angelica bent to pick up and hold the kitten. The kitten purred and rubbed her head against Angelica's chin. She stroked the kitten, and Cray experienced a stab of jealousy. He missed Angel's hands on him. He missed it so much at times he couldn't sleep. “She's so soft. Snowball? Fluffy? Cotton? She feels as soft as the finest Pima cotton sheets.”

  He smiled and said, “Cotton. I like it, but it's your choice.”

  She raised the kitten to look in her eyes. “Cotton, that's your name now. You're going to live with me, but Cray comes to see us every week. You must be nice to him because he brought you to me.”

  Cray's chest filled with emotion and his eyes welled. He turned away from her. “I'll give a call to the driver and have him meet me in the lobby with Cotton's things. I'll be right back, Angel.”

  Cotton curled up in the kitten-sized bed Cray bought while Angelica and Cray sat across from each other and enjoyed the dinner Jackie prepared before leaving for a few hours. Cray said, “Angel, you're wearing my favorite color. I don't remember seeing it be
fore tonight.”

  She lowered her gaze and said, “It's new. I ordered it on line. When I saw the color of the blue sky, I knew you'd like it.”

  “Did I ever tell you that soft green used to be my favorite color until the first time I looked into your sky-blue eyes, and that became my favorite?”

  She smiled and said, “I don't believe you ever did. Thank you for telling me now.”

  “You're beautiful every time I see you, but tonight it's especially true.”

  “Cray, do you remember the first thing you said to me after introducing yourself?”

  “I asked you to marry me.”

  She smiled and said, “You have a good memory. What I never told you as I teased you that first evening and the next is that I decided I wanted to marry you, too.”

  He smiled. “Eight days later on Christmas Eve when I proposed to you and you chided me for not being on one knee, it scared me to think you might refuse.”

  “I did that because you proposed to me in front of your family, but they were strangers to me. You put me in a tenuous position if I'd wanted to refuse, so I needed to make you feel a bit uneasy. I had some fun at your expense.”

  She reached across the table and rested her hand on top of his. He struggled to keep his overwhelming emotions in check. It's the first time she'd touched him in the weeks and months he'd been visiting her and his heart soared with joy and love. “It did surprise me.”

  Her hand slid off of his, leaving him bereft. “Did you talk to your father or brothers this week?” she asked, a question that surprised him.

  “No, not this week.”

  “So you're not aware that I talked to them?”

  His surprise showed on his face and she said, “They've been so kind to me. They send notes to me. Nothing serious or personal, but their notes tell me they're thinking of me. I never respond, but this week I called each one and thanked them for their thoughtfulness.”

  “They never told me they wrote to you nor did you. I'm sure they appreciated your call.”

  “Bekka sends me emails with pictures of the children and she calls once a week. It's usually when she and Freddie have given the children a bath. Andy grabs the telephone and babbles to me. He's so sweet and their little girl is fair like Bekka. She's pregnant again. She says one more after this one and then they're finished. Freddie gets on the phone and tells me a funny story. They are as much in love as ever.”

  Cray found it hard to believe how much Angelica talked. The departure from her brief concise statements since the brutality astounded him and it raised his hopes further. “They are happy, they've made friends with the neighbors and visiting them is like entering a madhouse. I love it while I'm there, but I'm happy to leave, too.”

  “Your mother calls me often and Mona visits on a regular basis. My mamma and pappa's calls are disturbing to me. They mean well, but it's as though I'm letting them down because I stay here and don't go to visit them. They talk to me as though I fell and banged my knee and it's time to move forward.”

  “I guess that's what parents think they should do,” Cray said, not knowing how else to respond.

  “I'm trying to move on, Cray, and Dr. Weinstein says I'm making good progress.” They finished their dinner and she rose from the table. For the first year of his weekly visits, it was his cue to leave, but lately she asked him to stay and sit with her in the den. He let her make the suggestion.

  She said, “Cray, will you dance with me in the living room?”

  His heart thumped in his chest, but outwardly he remained calm. “I would be honored, Angel.”

  “I bought some new music. There's a lot of waltzes and the rest of it is slow dances, too.” She sauntered to the player and started the music. “Why don't you take off your tie and suit jacket?”

  He did as requested, astonished at the way the evening progressed. They moved a few of the pieces of furniture to give them a larger space on the hardwood floor. He stood and allowed her to come to him. He held her in a loose traditional hold and they waltzed. Even holding her so far from himself, but with her hand in his and his arm around her waist, he wanted to fall to his knees and thank God for this opportunity.

  As the third song began, a sensuous, slow tune, she said, “Will you hold me closer? I can follow you better that way.” She stepped closer to him and his arm tightened around her.

  For the next thirty minutes, they danced close together, not speaking, just moving to the music. Her nearness tortured him and thrilled him as he inhaled the familiar scent of her.

  She tipped her head back and said, “Cray, I miss you. There are times I miss you so much I can't breathe. Will you kiss me?”

  His lips lowered to hers in a long, lingering gentle and tender kiss. They released their kiss and she said, “Stay the night.”

  His arms dropped to his sides, he left her standing in the middle of the room as he walked to the bank of windows overlooking the city with his hands shoved in his pants pockets, his shoulders hunched and his head bowed. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't see the city lights or the rivulets of rain carving paths down the glass.

  She turned off the music and approached him, stood behind him with her hand resting on the middle of his back in a gentle touch with no pressure. “Cray, it's all right. It's been a long time. I understand that you found someone else.”

  Her words penetrated his muddled brain. He turned to face her, tears streaming down his face. “What? Someone else?”

  She lowered her eyes from his ravaged face and nodded.

  He didn't touch her. “Angel, there's no one else. There could never be anyone else. My love for you will never wane or diminish. You're the only woman I can ever love and that's been true since the first time I saw you.”

  “Why did you turn away from me?” she asked in a whisper.

  “I've spent these many months praying, beseeching, begging God that you'd come back to me.” Tears still streamed down his face and he had difficulty talking. “In the beginning I cried so often. I cried for your suffering and I cried for what we had together and might never have again. As the months went on I bottled my emotions, but I never stopped hoping. When you asked me to stay with you, I could no longer contain my emotions.”

  She walked into his arms and they held each other. They held each other until they tired of standing. They sat on the sofa and continued to hold each other. They both cried cathartic tears. Jackie unlocked the door and walked into the living room an hour later and found them still wrapped in each others' arms. She smiled at them. They rose as a couple and embraced her. Jackie said, “I'll leave you two alone.”

  “No, sit with us,” Angelica said and Cray agreed. Cray poured three glasses of wine for them and they sat. “Did you see this coming?”

  “I suspected a breakthrough, but I couldn't predict when.”

  “What do you suggest we do now?” Angelica asked.

  “It's entirely up to you, but I do have a suggestion. Angelica, this place has been your prison. Your family and friends will be so joyful that they'll inundate you. In my opinion, you and Cray need time away alone to reconnect and establish the bond you once had, renew your union. You've both experienced life-changing circumstances, so you're both changed. Take the opportunity to discover who you've become without family interference. In the darkest hours, your love never wavered, but it's bound to be a bit different. Rejoice in the difference and grow stronger together. Make new memories, find joy and delight in your happiness.”

  Cray said, “Honey if that meets with your approval, I can leave as soon as you say the word.”

  “What about Cotton?”

  He smiled. “Cotton goes with us whether we're driving or flying. I bet she'll be a great traveler.”

  “I'd love to go to Hawaii, but that's so far for her to be alone in the baggage compartment.”
/>
  “I'll charter a plane. She can ride with us and have the run of the place.”

  Angel said, “Let's go for a walk. We'll take Cotton with us.”

  Cray laughed. “It's dark outside and it's raining.”

  “You'll protect me and I'll carry Cotton in the zippered satchel with air holes you bought. Rain? Who cares? We won't melt.”

  As they left the elevator in the lobby and pushed through the glass doors, Angel said, “We won't walk far. We don't want to get too tired. As Jackie said, it's time to reconnect and that will start tonight.”

  Cray hugged her closer and said, “Where do we stash Cotton, so we have our privacy?”

  “She can stay in our room if she wants. She can't talk to tell anyone what she sees.”

  “She's so young to be exposed to adult activities.”

  “Since she's going to live with us, she's got to get used to adult activities and I suggest we break her in within the next hour.”

  “I adore you, Angel.”

  “I adore you more. This is a dumb idea walking in the rain. Let's go home and shed these damp clothes.”

  * * *