He read the letter, once, twice, then a third time with disbelieving eyes. His fingers flew over the keypad on the telephone. A strange voice said, “Hello.”
“This is Parker Grayson. I'd like to speak to Annie please.”
“I'm sorry, Mr. Grayson, Annie isn't here. She left yesterday to make her rounds of the different Daisy Shops. She does that on an ongoing basis. No, she didn't tell me which stores she was going to first. I'm Jane Abbott, Annie's friend. Yes, it is nice to finally talk with you. I wish I could help you. If she checks in, I'll give her your message.”
There was no doubt in Parker's mind that Jane Abbott would give Annie the message. There was also no doubt in his mind that Annie wouldn't return his call. He sat down with a thump. Now what the hell was he supposed to do? He'd heard of men being left at the altar and had always wondered why something like that happened. Didn't people know when they were in love? Didn't they realize how precious love was? He needed to think, but his head felt clogged up. Damn, what was this going to do to his real coffee without the caffeine? Maybe a drink would help. Maybe several drinks would help. Maybe a whole lot of drinks would do a whole lot of good. He poured generously into a squat tumbler and took it neat. His throat burned, and his eyes watered.
While he slurped at the next glass, he ran the two-hour-long conversation he'd had with Annie over and over in his mind. They'd said so many things, all of them loving and wonderful. A frown built between his brows. He realized he'd done most of the talking, and Annie had listened. Why was that? And then, according to the letter just hours later, she'd had a change of heart. Why? Was he the only one who said loving, wonderful words? He tried to remember what she had said. He couldn't remember a thing. His glass full to the brim, he guzzled it as if it were mango juice.
Parker wondered if he was drunk. He peered at the contents of the bottle then and
kne
w he was drunk. He drained it. So what if he was drunk? No one cared. He didn't even have a housekeeper who could drag him to bed and cover him up. He needed to call somebody to find out why his love had dumped him so unceremoniously. Kiki might know. Tom might know. He had a right to know. Every damn right in the world. Damn it, now he was going to have to close down the laboratory.
Parker yanked at the drawer in his desk for his address book. He wondered why he didn't know his love's brother's phone number by heart. Maybe he needed to put on his glasses. It took him ten minutes to realize he didn't wear glasses, reading or otherwise. “Shit!” he said succinctly. His arm reached out to the small bar set against the wall. He snagged a fresh bottle of scotch just as Tom's voice came over the wire.
“I need to know why your sister dumped me, Tom, my good buddy. Don't give me any of that bullshit that you don't know. Everything was fine one minute, then not fine. I got a fucking Dear John letter by Federal Express. What do you have to say to that, Tom, my good buddy? Your sister doesn't want me but she wants my fucking coffee. Didja hear that, Tom, my good buddy. It don't work that way. If I'm not good enough for your sister, then neither is my coffee. You got that, Tom, my good buddy? Why aren't you saying something, Tom?”
“I was waiting for you to stop talking. I don't know what it's all about, Parker. You know I never interfere with my sister's decisions. She has a mind of her own. I thought everything was roses for you two. Look, if you want to cancel the contract, that's your decision. It has five months to run before we renew. Right now I think you're three sheets to the wind. I suggest you sleep it off and call me so we can talk intelligently.”
“Are you telling me you don't think I'm intelligent? Did your sister tell you to say that?”
“No, Parker, she didn't. She's on the road as we speak. I don't know anything about any of this. Sleep it off and call me back. You're drunk, Parker.”
“You'd be drunk, too, if someone left you standing at the altar with some shifty explanation that doesn't make sense. Never mind, I'm going swimming.”
“Parker, wait, don't do that. I don't think you're in any condition to go swimming. Parker, are you listening to me?”
“Why should I listen to you? You don't say anything. I'm sorry I bothered you. I won't call again. Tell your sister to have a good life.”
“Parker, wait . . .”
Parker staggered out of the house and down the path that would take him to the waterfalls. He fell twice but never lost his grip on the scotch bottle in his hand. Halfway to the falls he sat down on a rock to admire a perfect rainbow high in the sky. “That's Annie's Rainbow,” he said, taking a long pull from the bottle in his hand. He squinted to see how far he was from the falls. He lurched forward, looking over his shoulder every other minute to see if the rainbow was still in the sky. He knew that when it disappeared, there would be another one. Annie said she loved rainbows. She loved rainbows, but she didn't love him.
He was panting and perspiring profusely as he made the way up the incline that led to the chair behind the falls. When he looked down he noticed he'd lost one of his sandals. He kicked the other one off and laughed as it sailed through the air. That little feat certainly called for a drink. Maybe two. Feat. Feet. He laughed uproariously.
By the time he reached the thick shelf behind the falls that led to the stone chair, he was seeing double.
Maybe Tom was right, I am drunk. I deserve to be drunk. Maybe Tom was right about taking a nap, too. Hell no.
I've
come this far and I'm going to get to the chair
if it
kills me
. The chair where he and Annie had sat professing their love for one another.
Precariously, step by step, Parker teetered this way, then that way, his arms swinging outward for balance. Then he was in the chair behind the waterfall. Directly in his line of vision was the most gorgeous rainbow he'd ever seen. “I'll drink to that,” he muttered. “To Rainbow Falls! To this stone chair! To my coffee beans! To ... Shit to everything!” He gurgled from the bottle, his eyes crossing as the liquor seared his throat.
A long time later, in his drunken stupor, Parker heard his name being called over and over. Then he saw them, his sisters, Lela, Teke, Cassie, Mahala, Jana, and Kiki.
“Parker, are you in the chair?”
“Yeah. I'm not moving either. Are you going swimming?”
“No, we came to take you home.”
“My six sisters came to take me home,” Parker singsonged.
“Why is that? How did you know I was here? It doesn't matter. I'm staying here all day. All night, too.”
“Then so are we. This is stupid, Parker. You're so drunk I bet you can't even stand up,” Kiki said.
“That's true. That's why I'm sitting here, and that's why I'm not going home with you.”
“It's going to be pretty crowded in here,” Lela said, walking through the falls, her sisters behind her.
“Only two people are supposed to be here at a time. That's what the legend says,” Parker singsonged again.
“So we're screwing up the legend,” Kiki said. “Listen, girls, I have an idea. If two of us hold on to him, we can jump in and make sure he comes to the top. We'll never get him off the ledge. What do you think?”
“I think no more coffee to the Daisy Shops. She wants my coffee, but she doesn't want me. Do you hear me, Kiki? She isn't going to renew the contract.”
Kiki nodded. To her sisters she said, “Can we do it?”
“Sure, you take one arm and I'll take the other,” Mahala said.
Kiki reached down to grasp her brother under the arm while her sister took the other arm. “That's it, upsy daisy.”
“Do not say that to me,” Parker snarled drunkenly.
“Shut up, Parker, and jump!”
Kiki swung one leg backward to kick her brother in the bend of his knees. They sailed through the air and hit the water at the same moment..
“Let's do that again,” Parker said as his head bobbed above the water.
“Shut up, Parker. This is a three-hundred-dollar suit I'm wearing. Now it's ruined.”
“Did you ruin your Chanel purse, too?”
The sisters burst out laughing as they dragged their brother to the edge of the pool.
“I don't think I ever saw Parker drunk,” Jana said.
“He's just a social drinker,” Mahala said.
“What the hell happened?” Lela asked.
“Annie Clark dumped him. Via Federal Express,” Kiki volunteered.
“Stop talking about me like I'm not here,” Parker said.
“Your body is here, but your mind is pickled. One of us is going to stand you under the shower, and the rest of us are going to make you coffee. How much whiskey did you drink?”
“A lot.”
“What's a lot?” someone asked.
“How much was in the bottle at the chair?” Parker asked craftily.
Kiki shrugged helplessly. “I didn't look.”
“Well, there you go. How do you expect me to know if you don't know?”
“Just shut up, Parker, and get in the bathroom. Can you take your clothes off or should we help you?”
“You sounded just like Mama. I can do it. I said I can do it. Where's my shoes? Oops, that's right, I lost them.”
“Parker, it isn't the end of the world,” Kiki said.
“For me it is. I don't understand it. I'll have to close down the laboratory if she doesn't renew the contract.”
“When you're sober we'll talk about it. Maybe we can help.”
“Okay, Kiki. I'll buy you a new outfit.”
“I don't want a new outfit, Parker. I just want to help you. When you're sober you'll realize what a scary thing that was for all of us. You literally could have killed yourself.”
Parker sighed as he stepped into the shower, clothes and all.
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Annie stared at her room-service tray, debating if she wanted to eat the soggy french fries or not. She still couldn't figure out why she'd ordered the greasy food to begin with. She was a salad and broiled chicken person, not a burger and fries person. The wine was tasteless and felt like it had been watered down.
There was nothing on television, no in-room movies, and she'd forgotten to bring books with her. It was only eight-thirty. The night loomed ahead of her. She supposed she could take a shower and wash her hair and use up thirty or so minutes. Then what would she do? She wanted to cry so badly she bit down on her lower lip. Crying never solved anything. All crying did was give you a headache and red eyes.
Was she overreacting to Parker's announcement about his nephew? It wasn't the end of the world. What was it her father always said when they were children and things went wrong? Ah yes, we need to be thankful we have a roof over our heads, food on the table, and our health. For some reason, back then, those words had sounded important to her childish mind. Now they were just words even though they were true. She had all those things plus much more. She had her brother, two nephews and a niece she adored, two wonderful friends, and a godchild she loved dearly. And the money from the bank robberyâevery penny of it, plus interestâwas paid back, as of yesterday.
Annie was on her way to the bathroom when a knock sounded on her door. She frowned as she stood on her toes to look through the little glass hole. “Stella!” She couldn't open the door fast enough. “What are you doing here?”
“I don't know what I'm doing here. I had this feeling. Joe says he thinks I'm psychic sometimes. He could be right. I tune in to people. When I saw you this morning you looked like you did that night in Hawaii. I don't like it when my fairy godmother is miserable, and I know you're miserable. Why else would you pick this dump to stay in? You probably just stopped at the nearest hotel and hoped for the best. Right?”
“More or less.” Annie grinned.
“I don't know the area very well yet, but I do know where they have good pizza and the beer is cold. They have other stuff, too, if you don't like pizza. Joe is home with a stomachache. He ate six eclairs and a meatball sub. I don't feel the least bit sorry for him. Besides, it was his idea for me to come here. I would have come anyway, it just makes it more official when a married couple agrees,” Stella said breathlessly.
“Okay.”
“So are you going to tell me what's wrong? I swear to you, Annie, I will never tell a soul, not even Joe. I'd like to help you if there's anything I can do. We owe you so much. I still can't believe you picked us of all the people in the world, to come here and take over the Daisy Shops. Joe just loves it, and the best part is the college kids love him. Joe just loves to shoot the breeze. He's one of those guys who can talk about anything to anybody. I swear, I don't know how that happened. He's just so smart. I'm just average. He should have gone to college, but his parents wanted him in that damn garage. I'm ready if you are. Do you think I talk too much?”