Authors: Cheryl Richards
“Mind if I take a shower?”
“Why would I mind? I only went in first, so I
could run downstairs and pick up the meal.”
“Oh. Well, I’ll just hop in then.”
“Just don’t sing too loud. I don’t want the
customers complaining downstairs.”
“Yeah, very funny.” I closed the shower curtain
on him and turned on the water. Still hot, so that was good.
It wasn’t the first time I showered here, and he
still had my shampoo, conditioner, and razor in the shower caddy. The fact that
it was still here was a good sign. Unless fat-ass Brandi was using it.
When I got out, I pulled a fresh towel from a
large, wicker basket on the floor next to his pedestal sink—something I had
seen in a magazine and suggested to him. I dried off, wrapped the towel around
me, and combed my hair into a ponytail. I added some mauve lipstick I had left
in his drawer on a previous visit.
Before I opened the door, I could smell the food.
Sam was just closing the front door and the cold breeze brought goose bumps
alive on my arms and legs.
I scampered into the living room and retrieved my
clothes. The curtains were drawn, so I dressed there. I took the towel back to
the bathroom and tossed it in his hamper.
“Did it get colder out?” I asked, walking to the
kitchen.
“Not much. Feels damp though, like it’ll snow
again.” He placed the aluminum trays on the stove and tossed the bag.
I opened the containers, took plates from his
cabinet, and pulled utensils from the drawers as though I were in my own home.
Sam watched me as I took charge in his kitchen.
“You look natural in my kitchen.”
“I’ve been here before. I know
my way around, since I’m used to serving myself.”
He managed a tight smile.
“Hey, I’m trying to change, give me a break. I’ll help.”
“I didn’t mean it that way. I
just meant I know where everything is. But if you really want to help, get some
glasses.”
He reached over me and pulled
out a couple of glasses. He felt the liter. “This bottle is warm but there’s
cold Coke in the fridge unless you want milk?”
“Milk, please.” I used a spatula to place a slice
of lasagna on each plate while he poured the milk.
He took the liter and put it
into the refrigerator when he was finished. I noticed it said diet, not
regular. Sam hated diet soda, but he knew I liked it.
“Want to eat here or in front
of the television. Sunday night, doubt there’s much on but sports.”
“Did you want to watch
football?”
“No. We can eat here.”
Sam had a small table with two
chairs in the kitchen. It had been Spring’s before she upgraded her dining room
set. Sam put the glasses of milk on the table and I carried the plates and put
them down.
“Dig in,” he said. “If you
need anything, let me know. There are some napkins on the counter.”
We sat across from each other
and we started eating immediately. It actually tasted better than it smelled.
“Sam?”
“Un huh?”
“Did Brandi spend time here?”
He looked up from his plate. “God no. I didn’t
want her to know where I lived.”
His phone rang. He made no
attempt to answer. The machine picked up on the fifth ring and no message was
left.
He swallowed the last of his
lasagna. “So, Sunny, where do we stand?”
I finished my garlic bread and
swallowed some milk. “You’re forgiven, Sam. It will be hard for me to forget
though. Living with Brandi will be a constant reminder.”
He nodded solemnly. His smile
lit up his eyes and he snapped his fingers. “I could kill her?”
I laughed. “I’ll let you
know.”
“You could move in with me.”
“I’m not ready for that.”
He shrugged his shoulders in
defeat. “Then where do we go from here?”
“Let’s start over. I care for
you Sam or I wouldn’t be here.”
“I know you love me,” he said, “even if you won’t
admit it.” He brushed his lips over mine and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Start over. How?” he asked.
“We need to go backwards to move forward. I guess
go back to a dating stage rather than a steady relationship stage.”
“That won’t be easy but I’m game. But I’m adding
a rule.”
“Oh, and what would that be?”
“No sex.”
He managed to shock me. “Are you serious?” I
laughed. “You’d never hold out.”
“After this afternoon, I need a long rest
sweetheart,” he laughed.
“I don’t doubt it. I know I won’t be forgetting
it anytime soon.”
“You better not. Not good for my ego.”
“You’re ego has never had a
problem.”
He smirked. “I’m making the
assumption that dating means we can see other people?”
“I didn’t—”
“Plan on it?” He frowned slightly. “Sunny, I love
you, but I’m not going to sit around while you date Lloyd on the side. As the
saying goes, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. That’s why the no sex
rule is needed. Even if I trust you, I don’t trust him.”
“You needn’t worry, Sam. This afternoon you took
home the championship trophy.”
“Even the champ can be defeated,” he stated
sadly.
“I thought you told me he got what he was after,
so he wouldn’t call me?”
His smile didn’t reach his
eyes. “The guy would be crazy to only want you once, Sunny. He’ll call as sure
as I’m sitting here. And when he does, I want you to remember I love you.”
“The rules apply to you too,
correct.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want you to date Brandi,” I said
selfishly.
“I don’t want you to date Lloyd but I know you’re
going to. No, Sunny, like you, I’ll date whomever I please. There is one way to
stop me though.”
“How?” I asked hopefully. I didn’t want to share
him with Brandi. Not after today.
“Accept my proposal,” he said flatly.
Chapter
31
The snow started falling shortly before midnight. The
streetlight illuminated the showy flakes as they fell softly. I watched from my
bed, through a gap from a turned pleat in the mini blinds. It was hopeless
trying to sleep.
Scenes from
Wuthering
Heights
flitted through my mind. I felt like Cathy, in love with
Heathcliff. I wanted to be the only one to possess Sam’s love but I wanted
Lloyd too. In the movie, Cathy’s selfishness ruined everyone’s life, including
her own. I didn’t want that to happen.
Perhaps I was worrying over nothing. Lloyd hadn’t
called and Sam could be wrong that he would. If I didn’t stop thinking about
this weekend, I’d drive myself crazy.
My cell phone rang. Who in the heck would be
calling at this time of night? I should have been charging my phone. Since I
was wide-awake anyway, I got the phone off my dresser and hopped back in bed,
pulling the covers up. If it was a wrong number, at least it was a reminder to
charge my battery.
“Hello,” I said quietly.
“Sunny, sorry to be calling so late but I
promised I’d call you back this weekend. I think I just made it with a minute
to spare.”
Lloyd’s voice and he wasn’t drunk. My heart
skipped a beat and for a second I stopped breathing. My life just got more
complicated.
“Hi.”
“There were a million things going on this
weekend. I didn’t want you to think I forgot about you.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” I replied
weakly. I was at a loss for words.
“Listen, if you’re tired, we
can talk tomorrow. I know you have to get up early for work.”
“No, no. That’s okay, really. We can talk now. I
wasn’t sleeping anyway.”
“I know the feeling. Too much going on. You can’t
turn your mind off.”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“So how’d your family get-together go?”
“Fun. Drank too much. We all had hangovers the
next day, Mom included.”
He laughed jovially. “I’d like to see my mother
with a hangover. Now she pretends she never drank when she was my age.”
“Parents are like that. They were all innocent
and had a much harder life than us.”
“So true. Make wedding plans?”
“What?” How the heck did he know about Sam’s
proposal?
“Isn’t your sister getting married?”
Oh, Spring. Scared me for a second. God I felt
jumpy. “Right. Yes, some. Spring is getting married in Vegas. We’re going there
a day early to celebrate my mom’s birthday, and then the wedding party will
arrive the next day. Hotel is still up in the air, but my mom is sure to select
the right one for the occasion. My guess is she’ll go for more subdued glitz.”
“Why Las Vegas? Isn’t that a little tacky?”
“Nino, Spring’s fiancé, loves to gamble. They
both love the nightlife and big cities. It’ll be perfect for them.”
“It wouldn’t suit you.”
His comment made me blush. “Why do you say that?”
“I see you more as the traditional bride, in
flowing white silk, holding loosely tied red roses with green ribbons that
match your eyes, in a church with stained glass windows.”
The image of him standing at my side in a black
tux with a red rose bud was so real I could almost touch him. Music played
gently in the background. Autumn held my long train and…
That’s it. I need to rest in a
sanitarium. First, I’m a nymphomaniac now a nutcase. How could men and women
cheat on their spouses? I’ll probably have a coronary in a week, just trying to
date two guys at once and I’m not even engaged.
I shook it off with a short
laugh and witticism. “I was raised Catholic, but I haven’t been to church in
eons. A lightning bolt would probably hit me if I crossed the threshold. So,” I
said changing the subject, “what kept you so busy this weekend?”
“Are you afraid of marriage?”
“What makes you ask that?”
“Your response. Your quick
subject change. I paid you a lovely compliment and you respond with typical
Catholic guilt. I think the very idea frightens you.”
“That’s silly. As a
matter-of-fact, Sam proposed to me this weekend.” Did I just say that aloud?
Please tell me I didn’t. Why didn’t I just let the phone ring?
“Is that so? He moves fast.
Smarter than I gave him credit for. And your response?”
“I told him no. We’re not ready. You know that, I
told you we just split up.”
“Which wasn’t his idea. So now, I’m guessing
you’ve agreed to date again. Start over to avoid addressing the marriage issue.
I’m right and you know it. You are afraid of marriage.”
If he was trying to start and argument, he was
pushing the right buttons.
“What’s all this about marriage? Are you trying
to tell me something? Like you’re married, newly divorced, or engaged?”
“Little late to ask isn’t it?”
“Well?” I held my ground.
“No, Sunny. I’m not married, previously married,
or engaged. However, I’m not opposed to the idea of getting married.”
“Well, I’m not either. I’m just not going to get
married to fill in a square. It has to be right. Feel right. Perfect in fact.”
“I’m glad to hear that. So can
I see you Tuesday night? I know a little restaurant in the neighborhood that
makes terrific enchilada’s every Tuesday from five to eight.”
The steam was still seeping
from my ears. “First tell me why you couldn’t call me earlier.” Not that I
would have been home to answer his call.
“I was in Illinois all day
helping my brother move into a new condo. I forgot to take my cell phone with
me and he didn’t have phone serviced hooked up yet. And, he doesn’t like cell
phones, so he didn’t have one I could borrow. Satisfied?”
“Hmm. What time?”
“Five thirty?”
“I’ll see you then.”
“Go to sleep, Sunny. Sweet dreams. And don’t let
the bed bugs bite.”
Sweet dreams indeed. I’d be lucky if I had any
dreams or sleep. I plugged my cell phone into the charger. Got up, fixed the
twisted blinds, and went back to bed.
When I opened my eyes next, it
was morning and the alarm was ringing.