“Who made what? You mean the biscuits? I did, of course. I wouldn’t think of buying a biscuit. Carson, I’m dying to know why you decided to visit me.”
He stopped eating, drank some lemonade, and looked hard at her. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Yes. I have to know, Carson.”
“I hit a low point, and I thought hard about myself. It wasn’t like me to feel that kind of aloneness. I realized that I needed you and that no one and nothing would lift my spirits except being with you.”
“You’re serious.”
“Yes, I am. I’m not surprised, either, because I’ve had these deep feelings for you all along, and I knew it. I just hadn’t thought I needed to do anything about them. I didn’t count on just plain needing you. I hadn’t felt anything like that in years.”
“You ... uh ... you really surprise me. I thought you liked me but that you were probably committed to someone else. Are you?”
“No. I’ve been divorced for five years, and you’re the only woman who’s gotten through the shell I erected when I knew my marriage was over.”
“You took me out to a wonderful dinner and then danced with me. You dressed to the nines, brought me flowers, had some more on our dinner table for me, and told me good night at the door without even kissing me on the cheek. I wanted a kiss.”
She’d thought he’d smile at that, but he looked at her solemnly and said, “I wanted it worse than you could have, but I’d spent the evening thinking things you don’t want me to repeat. You really had me besotted. Do you know how you look in that dress? I’ve never done myself a disservice with a woman, but if I’d gotten you in my arms alone in that dimly lit foyer of Gunther’s, I might have. And I knew it.”
“Thanks for explaining it. I would have invited you to stay here, but I didn’t think our relationship warranted that.”
“And you’re right. However, while I’m down here, I hope to make progress in that direction.” He resumed eating. “This is good stuff.”
Chapter Five
Did that mean he was going to take their relationship seriously and try to build it into something meaningful? She knew he wouldn’t lie about something that important. Deciding not to comment on it, she said, “Your hotel is right on the beach. I hope you get a room facing the ocean.”
She noticed that he either ate or talked and didn’t attempt them simultaneously. So she waited for his response. He cleaned his plate, leaned back, and looked at her. “That was wonderful. If you like to swim, I’d be delighted to do that. I don’t know when I was last in an ocean.”
“Oh, I forgot I made a raspberry strudel. Would you like some? I can warm it in a few seconds.”
“I’d love it.”
She warmed it and placed a big serving of it in front of him. He tasted it and stared at her. “If you tell me you made this, I may never leave here.”
Feigning modesty, she said, “I don’t know what to say, then.”
“Tell you what,” he said when he’d finished the dessert, “get your bathing suit and come with me while I check in at the hotel. We’ll change, swim, dress, see some of the town, and I’ll bring you home. I’ll make some plans for tomorrow. What do you say?”
“I’d like that. How will you dress after we swim?”
“How will I ... ? I get it. Jacket and open-collared shirt.”
She packed a shower cap, a bikini, and makeup in a small handbag and dressed in a pink on pink flowery voile dress. Claiming that he didn’t want her to chauffeur him around, he called for a taxi, and she went with him to The Ritz-Carlton. He waited while she changed into her swimsuit and slipped into one of the white terry-cloth robes that hung in his closet.
“Cheat,” he said when she came out of the bathroom with the robe wrapped tightly. “Well, at least you can’t swim in it.”
She sat down, crossed her legs, and waited for him to change. If he looks like I think he’s going to look, she thought, remembering how he’d slithered on his hips beneath her father’s desk, I’ll be in real trouble.
He emerged from the bathroom wearing a swimsuit one-quarter the size of a pair of Calvin Klein jockey shorts. She thought she’d prepared herself for it, but she hadn’t, because she was sure her lower jaw dropped.
“What’s wrong?” he asked with a straight face.
“Nothing,” she said, went to the closet, got the other white terry-cloth robe, and threw it at him. “Come on. Let’s go.”
He hooted for a full two minutes, but he put on the robe, sat down, slipped on a pair of flip-flops, took her hand, and walked over to the window. “What a view. The Atlantic rolling and tumbling for as far as the eye can see. Imagine seeing the sunset from this balcony.”
She thought he’d put his arm around her, but he didn’t. “The tide seems to be coming in,” she said, mostly to calm her nerves.
“Yeah. Let’s get that dip.”
Since moving to Fort Lauderdale, she’d become a good swimmer, and she’d discovered that she loved the water. What fun it would be to swim with Carson. They dropped their robes on the two lounge chairs that he rented. She looked up, caught him staring at her, and would have run, but immediately her embarrassment dissolved into pure lust. She swallowed heavily, unable to shift her gaze from his body. Her fingers itched to roam from his broad shoulders to his washboard middle and his tapered waist to his muscular thighs and perfectly shaped legs.
“You ... you’re downright sinful,” she said, then whirled around and raced to the water.
He caught her before she reached the edge of the ocean. “And I’d like to experience every centimeter of you,” he said, letting her know he was aware that she ogled him. “You’re all any man could want.”
She ran out and dove into the water. Seconds later, he grabbed her, picked her up, and waded to shore. “What? What are you doing, Carson?”
“That water is full of jellyfish, and they have a horrible sting. That’s why the swimmers are farther down the beach. Let’s go down there.”
Shock at the feel of his hands on her bare flesh reverberated throughout her body. I’d better get a grip on this madness, she said to herself.
They collected their robes and walked half a mile along the beach. “Don’t you post signs about those jellyfish?” he asked a guard.
“We posted them in the hotel. Sorry if you didn’t see the sign. It’s safe to swim here.”
After swimming for half an hour, Carson guided her to shore. “It’s getting cooler. Perhaps we ought to go back to the hotel.” He held her robe for her but didn’t try to touch her body.
If he thinks he’s teaching me to trust him, I wish he’d stop. I already trust him.
They dressed in his room, but she decided to take a sponge bath, for she saw no point in testing him by taking a shower. He showered and came out of the bathroom fully dressed. “Let’s sit on the balcony for a few minutes,” he said. “I want to watch the sunset with you. Would you like a glass of wine, a soft drink, anything?”
So he wasn’t interested in plying her with alcohol. “A glass of white wine would be nice.” She reached down, tightened the strap on her white three-inch-heeled sandals, then stood and accepted his outstretched hand. Sitting on the balcony, holding her hand, he pressed the button for room service and ordered wine and hors d’oeuvres.
She couldn’t help thinking that Carson showed his sophistication in so many ways that she’d be hard put to keep abreast of him socially. Within minutes, a kaleidoscope of colors decorated the sky, and in the midst of it, the sun inched toward its nightly resting place.
She squeezed his fingers. “This is so beautiful,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
When he didn’t respond, she wondered if he thought her melodramatic. “Wasn’t it wonderful?” she asked him after the sun dropped out of sight.
“I’ve watched many sunsets, Shirley, but I think this one was different because I watched it with you. It was wonderful.”
A
waiter brought wine and the snacks. “I forgot that swimming makes me hungry,” she said, sipping the wine and eating a shrimp.
“It makes me hungry and sleepy, too,” he said. “When we finish this, I suggest we leave. I made dinner reservations for a quarter of eight.”
After dinner, he signaled for a taxi, and as the cabbie drove along South Federal Highway, singing the praises of Fort Lauderdale, she didn’t listen to him but focused her thoughts on the man beside her. It amazed her that she had no anxiety about what would happen between them when she got home.
At her door, Carson held out his hand for her key; then he opened the door and stepped back until she asked if he’d like to come in. “For a few minutes. Yes.” He stopped in the foyer, and she flipped on the light, thinking that he didn’t want to walk into a dark place. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers in a way that pushed back his jacket. He tilted his head a little and looked her in the eye.
“From the minute you called my name in the airport until now has been the happiest time I’ve spent in many years. I feel something for you, and it’s no simple thing. It transcends what happens when I look at you in a bathing suit, a dress, or a pair of jeans. It’s in here.” He pointed to his heart. “Tell me right now whether I’m spitting against the wind. Can you care for me?”
Why didn’t he just dump a load of cement on her head? She couldn’t even accuse him of attempting to bamboozle her, because he’d put a distance of at least four feet between them. “How do I know?” she said, peeved. “You haven’t even bothered to kiss me.”
“Why does that matter? You don’t need proof of the chemistry between us, but if you want a sample, come closer.” As if he knew she was about to accuse him of being a chauvinist, he grinned. “Since we’re alone in your house, I don’t want to crowd you.”
He looks vulnerable, she thought, and pushed back the clever words that came to the tip of her tongue. “You won’t crowd me,” she said, and opened her arms to him. Maybe she moved. Maybe she didn’t. But she was in his arms at last. He stared down at her, and then his lips touched her, and she would willingly have been consumed by the fire in him as she parted her lips and took him into her mouth. She felt his tremors and wondered if he could feel the thumping of her heart and sense the storm that raged inside of her.
He released her and stepped back. “Are you involved with any other man?”
“No. There isn’t anyone. What about you?”
“Definitely not, and let me tell you this. My work takes me away from home frequently. If you’re the type who can’t be alone, I won’t take this one minute further.”
“Is that what happened in your marriage?”
“Yes. It hurt, and I swore never to care for another woman, but as you know, man proposes and God disposes.”
“Are you going to make me pay for what she did?”
“I’m not stupid. Besides, you two have nothing in common. Will you agree not to see other men and to let us find out what we can be to each other?”
“Yes, I’d like that,” she said. “You said you didn’t have any children.”
“That’s right. My wife didn’t want any, and it proved to be just as well; children need both parents all the time.”
“Yes, indeed. I wonder what my life would have been like if my mother had lived. Oh, well, I won’t get maudlin.”
He stepped closer and took her into his arms again. “From now on, you have me. No matter what happens or where it happens, I’ll be there for you. Do you understand that?”
She hugged him as tightly as she could. “Yes, and I’ll be there for you, too.” He kissed her quickly and left her.
She’d given him more than he’d dared to hope for, and he meant to treat the precious gift with care. Sitting with her on the balcony of his hotel room watching that awesome sunset, he had realized that he didn’t want to be without her, that he needed her as he needed fresh air and clean water. But he was no stranger to pain. If it didn’t work out, he’d shake the sand from his feet and move on.
He walked four blocks until he reached a convenience store that blazed with neon lighting. He walked in and asked the teenaged clerk to phone for a taxi. After tipping the boy, he was soon on his way to the hotel, where he obtained information about what to do and see in Fort Lauderdale; then he went to his room and made plans for the next day. Sitting on the balcony gazing out at the still, dark night, he asked himself why he’d abandoned his policy of not getting involved with a client. On the flight to Fort Lauderdale, he’d told himself that she wasn’t a client, but that was only partially true. He could be headed for trouble.
“But I need her,” he said aloud, “and I’m human.”
While Shirley waited for Carson the next morning, she telephoned Gunther. “Hi, how are you, and are things with Frieda still going well?”
“I can finally see some improvement in my energy and strength. I asked my doctor if I could let Frieda go, and he said no, so I didn’t tell him that I work at night while she’s asleep. She lets me work two hours a day, and I’ve designed a new game since I’ve been recovering.”
“Why do you need her?”
“She gives me exercises and massages, monitors my fluid intake, and has me on a regimen of vitamins and minerals. It’s too much for Mirna, though I know she’d try if need be. My doctor said it’s either hospitalization, a sanitarium, or a private nurse. The trouble is that Edgar got on Frieda’s nerves, and she’s got a fast, sharp tongue, so she told him off. Now I noticed that he’s snooping around her. I don’t like it.”
And he had reason not to like it, for Edgar had repeated to Frieda his claim that Gunther was enchanted with her.
“Don’t worry too much. Edgar can’t resist showing his hand, and he’ll do it sooner rather than later.”
“I certainly hope you’re right. He said he’d been trying for two days to reach Carson but can’t get through to him.”
“I guess not. Carson is here in Fort Lauderdale.”
“He what? What the hell is he doing down there?”
“He called me and asked me if he could visit me, and I said yes.”
“Is something serious going on between you and that guy?”
She was standing now, and her breath had begun to come in short pants. “I hope so. All of my adult life, I’ve been waiting to meet an intelligent, accomplished, courteous gentleman who respects me and himself. Carson fills the bill perfectly.”
“Well! I think you just told me to stay out of it. Where is he now?”
“At The Ritz-Carlton. He should be here any minute.”
“At his age, he should be married,” Gunther said, and she knew he was both fishing for information and warning her.
“So should you,” she told him. “The doorbell just rang. Gotta go.”
She opened the door and gazed at Carson. Getting used to his stunning looks would take some doing. He seemed unaware of them, and that was a good thing. If he’d been narcissistic, she wouldn’t have given him a second glance.
He leaned down, brushed her lips with his, and then ran his finger down the bridge of her nose. “I feel good. What about you? How’s my girl?”
His girl, huh? She hugged him, because she couldn’t resist it. “Great. You’ve been listening to James Brown’s recording.”
“Not me,” he said. “His music never got to me. Let’s get some breakfast and get started. I’ve planned the whole day.”
She’d known that he’d do that, because she’d noticed that he didn’t leave much to chance. “If you can digest cantaloupe, waffles, bacon, and coffee, we can have breakfast here in ten minutes.”
“I’d love it. Where do I wash my hands?”
“Right over there.” She pointed to the guest lavatory.
“Let’s see. If I remember right, you take two spoonfuls of sugar. That’s too much sugar.” She saw his eyebrows shoot up, but he’d have to get used to drinking coffee with less in it. She strolled to the kitchen as if what she’d sa
id wasn’t unusual, though she figured he wasn’t used to being crossed, lectured to, or confronted in any way.
“Yes, ma’am,” she heard him say in a tone of wonder.
They finished breakfast. He insisted on cleaning the kitchen, and later she discovered that he didn’t plan on riding around in her car. He seated her in the Buick LeSabre, and she concentrated on dealing with the excitement she felt being with Carson Montgomery on a new and different basis. During the day, he took her to places she hadn’t been, such as the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, where they enjoyed the huge collection of books, documents, and artifacts that reflected experiences of people of African descent.
He took her to the Buehler Planetarium and she hadn’t thought she’d enjoy it so much, but after seeing its introduction to space and the horizons, she vowed to get to New York to visit the great Hayden Planetarium. As they emerged into the bright sunlight, she tugged at his arm.
“Being with you is wonderful. You can’t imagine how much I enjoyed that.”
He gazed at her for a few seconds. “If I’ve done something that makes you happy, it’s more than worth the trip down here.” With her hand in his, he went back to the car, and they were soon headed to Seminole Paradise, where they explored the history and culture of the famous Native American tribe.
He took her next to River Walk, the social center of the city. “Weren’t you going to tell me that you’re hungry?” he asked her. “You must be, because I’m about starved.”
She smiled, because peace and contentment pervaded her. “Now that you mention it, my tummy is pinching me.”
His laughter was something she could enjoy hearing forever. “You make a guy feel like a giant.”
They sat at a table beside the river, and he handed her a bag. She stared at its contents. “When did you buy these? I didn’t see them. They’re so precious.”
“In the crafts shop, while you were examining baskets, I bought those Seminole dolls. I couldn’t decide between the boy and the girl, so I got both. I’m glad you like them.”
When the Sun Goes Down Page 9