Key West

by Stella Cameron

  “How did you know I was here?” Sonnie asked.

  After a short silence Giacano said, “You don’t need to know that. I’m here; that’s what matters. There will be nothing for you to worry about anymore. Let me take you back to your family. I’ll stay tonight and we can leave in the morning.”

  “No. What are you saying? No.”

  The man’s sigh was loud and frustrated. “These are not the decisions for you to make. In Frank’s absence, I must decide what is best for you.”

  “You aren’t Frank,” Sonnie said, and Chris thought he heard the start of angry tears. “You aren’t my husband. I don’t even know if I’ve got a husband anymore.”

  He ought to feel uncomfortable, Chris thought, only the lady had come to him with a story about her life being in jeopardy. It was his duty to take her request for his services seriously—even if he hadn’t agreed to work for her.

  “I know I am not your husband.” Romano had taken a long time to respond. “But I am the head of the family. That means it is my responsibility to look after you. Sonnie…Sonnie, have you heard something about Frank? Did they contact you?” The man’s voice rose.

  “No, nothing.”

  “Please, my dear, don’t hold back anything about my dear brother. I cannot tell you how I have suffered thinking of what could be happening to him.”

  “I haven’t heard anything about Frank. Billy told you I was here, didn’t she?”

  “Billy loves you.”

  “She’s my half-sister and I ought to be able to trust her. She promised she wouldn’t tell anyone where I’d gone.”

  “Come back into the house, Sonnie. I need to be sure you’re all right. You are as much a part of my life as…You are very important to me.”

  Chris narrowed his eyes. Mr. Giacano was too smooth, and he wasn’t Sonnie’s type. And there was something about him that raised Chris’s antennae.

  “I will be staying in Key West,” Sonnie said, and Chris smiled with one side of his mouth.

  “Your family wants you to come home.”

  “Frank did his best to keep me as far from my family as possible. He didn’t want me to have them near me, and he didn’t want me to have friends.”

  Shrugging away from the wall, Chris went on alert. He hadn’t only imagined that Sonnie was covering up more than she had actually shared with him. A husband who cut her off from other people. Classic behavior for an abusive spouse. Not that he had any proof that Frank Giacano had been abusive—yet.

  “Let me hold you, Sonnie. I look at you and I just want to take you into my arms. You have suffered so much for one so gentle. Come, my dear.”

  Chris bowed his head and listened even harder. He studied his fingernails. Surely she was too smart to be taken in by lines like that.

  “You are confused,” Romano said. “You don’t even accept an offer of comfort from the one you trust the most.”

  Maybe Romano was trying as much to convince himself as Sonnie. Chris didn’t blame him for wanting to hold her, but he didn’t quite believe she trusted him the most, as Romano said; in fact, he’d put money on her wanting to get rid of him.

  There was a pause in conversation from the other side of the bougainvillea. Chris rubbed a hand over his mouth. Had she accepted Romano’s offer of “comfort”? “Well, baby,” he murmured softly, “if you buy that one, I’ve got a real nice bridge for sale.”

  He didn’t want to think of her in Giacano’s arms—or any man’s arms.

  Now there was a confusing admission. Ah, he’d flipped into protective mode; that was all. For a tough man, he’d always been weak when it came to letting women open doors for themselves, or carry their own bags. Too bad. He guessed he must be one of those Renaissance men people spoke about. There were definitely some who referred to him as a “throwback,” not that he thought they were complimenting him.

  “Very well,” Romano said. “Perhaps it will take time for you to remember the trust we have shared.”

  She hadn’t let him get his clammy paws on her.

  “I will stay here with you. If you are searching for some clue to Frank—not that I can understand why you would choose this place—but if you are, I will help you.”

  Sonnie didn’t answer.

  “You were never sure of yourself. It will be good for you to know there is a man in the house.”

  Chris held absolutely still.

  “I’m quite sure of myself,” Sonnie said. “I’ve had to learn to be.”

  In any other circumstance, Chris would have cheered.

  “I am glad you feel so,” Romano said. “I will help you become even more sure—while we try to help each other. But this decision of yours to come here is not, er, easy to understand. If, as you insist, you came here to be alone, and you are not involved with someone else, then we must examine what has happened in your mind.”

  Those words brought Chris to attention.

  “I have enough of my things to manage for some days. Then, if I can’t persuade you to leave with me, I must send for more. I will take the bedroom nearest to yours and Frank’s, just in case you need me in the night.”

  Damn the slimy little bastard, Chris thought, setting his teeth. In case she needed him in the night for what?

  “That wouldn’t be a good idea.” Sonnie was barely audible. “I have neighbors. People talk.”

  “But, my dear—”

  “No,” Sonnie said, with more force. “You can’t stay here. I suggest you go back to New York. We’ll stay in touch, and the moment I find out anything useful, I’ll call you.”

  “I will do as I have said and remain here.”

  “You will not stay in this house, Romano. It’s not that I wouldn’t love to have your company, but I can’t. If you insist on being in Key West for a while, you’ll have to find another place to stay.”

  “How can you say that?” Anger edged those sexy, reasonable Italian nuances. “You wound me, my dear. It is exactly as I feared. You are not yourself. Very well, I will stay at the club. At least until you stop being afraid of gossip. But I insist that we bring in a doctor to examine you.”

  “Examine me?”

  “You knοw you are not ready to be without medical supervision.”

  “Are you talking about bringing in a psychiatrist?”

  The man laughed. “Leave these matters to me. I will call the Sunset shortly and arrange for a room. A good thing we kept up our membership.”

  In other words, he did intend to try to make Sonnie submit to some psychiatric examination.

  “There will be no doctors brought here,” Sonnie said. “I’d like to be alone now.”

  “Alone is the last thing you should be. It’s obvious I must care for you. I will call your father and he will agree with me.”

  Making sure he made plenty of noise with his boots, Chris walked to the next corner of the house and stepped out. Sonnie sat halfway down a flight of steps from the veranda to a paved terrace with a pool beyond. Romano Giacano stood on the top step looking down at her, or he had been looking at her until he heard, then saw, Chris arrive.

  “Hey,” Chris said, his best grin in place. “Hey, Sonnie. Sorry I’m late. Don’t tell Roy or he’ll have plenty to say about it.”

  Romano stared at him blankly.

  Sonnie smiled with such pathetic gratitude that he wanted to laugh. He felt a whole lot more pleasure than he should feel over something so small.

  Romano moved to cut Chris off from Sonnie’s line of sight. “Who are you?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”

  “Chris Talon, at your service,” Chris said, leaning forward and extending a hand. “Friend of Sonnie’s.”

  Chris’s hand was ignored. “A friend? How could you possibly be a friend of our Sonnie’s?”

  “Friend,” Chris said slowly and distinctly. “You knοw. As in someone you like, and rely on sometimes.”

  The other man looked back at Sonnie. “Do you know this man?”

  “Yes,” she said,
and her delighted grin gave Chris a charge. “We knοw each other very well.”

  Chris almost shouted with laughter. The odd little bird wasn’t above her own brand of opportunistic torture.

  Romano’s hair waved tightly back from a broad forehead. His eyes were unexpectedly blue. Chris guessed that meant he was a northern Italian but wasn’t about to ask. As he’d suspected, the man appeared very fit. Chris guessed some women might find him attractive—if they were into males whose testosterone level had to be something they prized more than their IQ.

  “How could you possibly meet such a person?” Romano asked, not looking at Sonnie, but at Chris’s faded T-shirt inscribed, If All Assholes Could Fly, This Town Would Be An Airport, and jeans that were soft and faded, and thin enough to show skin in places. The boots were expensive, but Romano didn’t bother to get that far. “Sonnie? This is exactly what I’ve been afraid of. Frank would not approve, and neither do I.”

  She started tο get up but had evidently sat too long in an awkward position. Chris walked past Romano without a glance and held out his hands to Sonnie. She looked straight into his eyes and let him pull her to her feet.

  “You okay?” he asked quietly. “After Roy called, I decided to take a turn down here and make sure everything was okay with you.”

  “Thank you.” She held his hands so hard he was sure she was unaware of not having released him. “Roy’s a dear.”

  “He wanted me to check on you and see if you wanted a ride tonight.”

  “My God, what has happened to you, Sonnie?” Romano caught at Sonnie’s wrist and made to pull her hand away. “Let her go at once. She is a fragile woman in need of constant supervision.”

  Immediately, Chris released her hands. “Really,” he said. “I think you’re wrong about that, buddy.”

  There was no doubt that Romano weighed Chris and decided they were too unevenly matched to make any physical move on his part a good idea.

  “You can leave now,” Romano said. “Sonnie needs to be quiet. We have to call her family.”

  “And call in a shrink, too, maybe?”

  Romano sneered, but looked taken aback at the same time. “You make a habit of listening to the conversations of others? Despicable. But what else would one expect?”

  “Expect from whom?” Chris asked. “And the lady doesn’t need a shrink, by the way. She’s doing very nicely all on her own. My brother considers her the best employee he’s ever had.”

  He saw Sonnie bite her lower lip, but that wicked little smile was still there. She was actually enjoying parts of this.

  “Employee,” Romano said, managing to look more confused than Chris would have thought possible. “My sister-in-law doesn’t work. She doesn’t have to work.”

  “Careful now,” Chris said. “Υou wouldn’t want me to dream up any ideas about getting cozy with a wealthy, unattached woman.”

  Romano’s face reddened. “You listened a long time. My sister-in-law is not unattached.”

  “Is that right? Well, since we’re being honest, she’s right in not wanting you moving into her house, then, isn’t she?”

  “Get out,” Romano said.

  “When Sonnie tells me to go, I will,” Chris said. “She’s very good with the customers, y’know. They look out for her. Say she raises the tone of the place.”

  Romano turned to Sonnie and said, “You have never worked, my dear. There has never been any need. Giacano women look after their husbands and homes.”

  “My husband seems to be missing,” Sonnie said. “I would very much like to see him come back. We’ve got things to work out. But he isn’t here now and I choose to fend for myself. I work for Roy Talon and Bo Quick at the Rusty Nail.”

  Romano shook his head. “This is insupportable. Do you answer phones? Type letters? What? You have no training.”

  “That’s an error I intend to make good,” Sonnie said. “I’ve got time to go back to school. Meanwhile, I’m a barmaid at the Rusty Nail on Duval Street.”

  Six

  The phone was ringing as Sonnie let herself into the house. She dropped her keys on the wicker chest inside the front door and went into the parlor. Without turning on the light, she picked up the receiver and said, “Hello.”

  “At last you answer,” Romano said. “Where have you been?”

  Sonnie sat on the edge of the couch, then pushed to the back. She was so tired. “I told you earlier today. I’ve got a job. I work.”

  “Sonnie,” Romano said, dropping his voice, “I am beside myself. Let me come to you.”

  “This makes no sense. You have nothing to worry about—not about me. I’m fine.”

  “Υοur car was at the house all eνening.”

  Now he was watching her. “Υou have been the one I relied οn,” she told him. “I relied on you because you were on my side. Or I thοught you were. You supported me when I insisted I would get well faster if everyone stopped fussing over me and telling me what to do.”

  “I still support you. I am your champion. But you are not being yourself. I asked you about your car. How could you have gone to that place tonight without your car? Did that biker person take you?”

  Biker person. Sonnie grinned at the description, but she guessed that was fairly apt. Chris Talon was a biker person. “Chris didn’t take me. I walked.”

  Romano’s following silence made her edgy.

  “I cannot believe it,” he said at last. “Surely…It is a long way even in daylight. You don’t mean that you walked home in the darkness.”

  “It isn’t far, and yes, I walked home.”

  “Sonnie, please listen to me. I do not want to stay here at the club. I do not want to be in Key West at all. But I cannot leave you alone at such a time.”

  “Such a time?”

  “While you are not yourself, dear one.”

  She felt shivery. “Why do you keep talking about me not being myself, about bringing in doctors to examine me? You aren’t responsible for me. I don’t want you to be. I want you to go back to being the friend I can call on when I need him. I can’t understand why you’re so upset. We’ve spoken regularly and everything’s been okay. As okay as it can be until we know—until Frank comes back.” If Frank came back she would have to pray for the strength to do what must be done.

  “Frank will come back,” Romano said, but without conviction. “You have done so well since the accident. I thought you would continue to improve—as long as you didn’t do something foolish and possibly dangerous, as you have now.”

  Sonnie propped an elbow and buried her face in one hand. He was a good, kind man who had always done his best for her. When she’d been in the hospital, he’d rarely left her side. Her family loved him. In fact, they loved him as they had never seemed able to love Frank.

  “Are you still there?” he asked.

  Perhaps she should stop trying to fight alone, and with so little idea of what she hoped to find, to do. “I’m here,” she said. If she asked his help, he would give it. He might well tell her she was imagining things, but she was the one who heard the voices and saw, if only briefly, those vague impressions of faces and movements, of fire in the wind, of reaching hands.

  “Sonnie?”

  “Be patient with me, Romano. I came because I felt I must. I felt there were things here that I should know about. Or perhaps things that would lead to information I should know about. You knοw how important you are to me. I don’t want us to become enemies.”

  “Oh, my dear, we could never be enemies. No, no.” He expelled a long, uneven breath. “Tell me what you think you may find. Or what you want to find. Let me help you, please.”

  She smiled. He hadn’t changed. “You are the man you always were,” she told him. “Thank you for that. I don’t know what I hope to discover here. I only knοw that I…I just wanted to come here and think. There are decisions I need to make about my future.” This wasn’t the time to reveal exactly what had brought her back here, not when he was talking about getti
ng her reevaluated by a psychiatrist.

  “What decisions?” He sounded tense and worried.

  “I don’t work tomorrow evening. Come for dinner. Around seven?”

  “Let me come over now. Then we’ll spend the day together tomorrow and I’ll bring you to the club for dinner.”

  “Always the persistent one,” she said. “No, thank you. I need to be alone. That’s one of the reasons I decided to return to Key West—to be alone. You should play golf tomorrow. Or get on the courts—you will anyway.” Romano had been his brother’s coach and was a first-class tennis player in his own right.

  “Sonnie—”

  “Good night, Romano. I’ll see you tomorrow evening.” He was talking again when she hung up.

  Business at the Nail had been brisk all evening. She’d wanted to stay longer and help, but Bo insisted she go home. Roy wanted to drive her, but she talked him out of it with a small lie: her car was parked a block away, she’d said. She was used to the walk back and forth now and knew it was strengthening her leg.

  But she was exhausted. The day had been an emotional one, and the prospect of sleeping in what had been her bed with Frank made her jumpy. All of her clothes were hung in the closets. She’d changed the sheets and put a bowl of jasmine in the room. The rest of the house was far from back to normal, but she’d get it there within days.

  She left the light in the parlor off and made sure the windows were closed and locked. Then she toured the ground floor, checking all doors and windows before climbing the stairs.

  Milky blue light penetrated the sky dome over the two-story hallway. Clouds, shifted by the wind, dappled patterns on the shadowy pale walls inside. She didn’t fear darkness. When all was dark, the odds of seeing and being seen were even.

  It felt good to look around and see into rooms where the furniture was no longer draped. Part of the reason for her being here was to brush aside specters. Living in one room surrounded by closed doors wouldn’t help her reach her goal.

  Α quick shower, and then she slipped into a favorite pair of soft, satin pajamas. The sprigs of jasmine she’d used to fill a bowl scented the whole room. She left the window to the balcony open and slid between cool, white sheets.