Coffee Sonata (13 page)

“They’re downstairs.” Mike took Vivian’s hand. “Just hold on.”

Vivian allowed Mike to guide her and was met with enthusiastic woofs and licks. “Hello, boys, did you miss me? I didn’t think so. Mike’s treated you like princes.” She grinned when the dogs lay back down on the rug by the TV. “I see they’ve made themselves at home.”

As Perry and Mason yawned and rested their big heads on crossed paws, Vivian glanced around the large room and said, “This is a remarkable room, Mike. Honestly, I’d expected it to feel claustrophobic and closed in…but it feels like a safe haven.”

“That’s exactly what it is to me.” Mike looked surprised and happy at Vivian’s comment as she settled on the couch and motioned for Vivian to join her. “Long day, huh?”

“
And
night. We had quite an evening.” Vivian sat down next to Mike. “Eryn was attacked while on assignment.”

“What? Is she all right?”

“She’ll be okay,” Vivian said quickly. “She hurt her head and her shoulder.”

“Where is she? Is she in the hospital?”

“No, at Manon’s. She’s spending the night there.”

“That’s terrible.” Mike regarded Vivian with concern. “You and Manon must have been pretty upset too.”

“We certainly were, but it helped that Eryn’s such a trooper.” Vivian laughed with apparent kindness. “All she could think about was her story.”

“You admire her.”

“I do. She’s bright and insightful, with a gift for writing.”

“Like you.” Mike cupped Vivian’s cheek. “But your gift is the music.”

The touch on her face was tender, but disturbing too. Vivian’s pulse quickened. “Mike?”

“Yes?”

Vivian swallowed hard, not taking her eyes off Mike. Her eyes, black in the muted light, studied Vivian intently. “What are you thinking? I have to—”

“How I worried about you today and thought about you after the other morning and…hoped you were feeling better.” Mike lowered her hand to Vivian’s shoulder.

“You’re so sweet,” Vivian whispered. “Somehow I think you’re not used to opening up like you do to me. Am I right?”

“Yes. More than you know.” Mike blinked, as if surprised at her own candor. “You make it easy, somehow. To…share things that matter to me. It’s just that life is short and…I guess I found that out the hard way. And I’m not trying to be mysterious. Life’s also too short for riddles.” Mike shrugged and her expression hardened. “This life is all I have, and these days, I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. It wasn’t always that way.”

Vivian heard more hurt and depth behind the words than Mike might have realized. “I like what I see, Mike. And I mean
you
, not just what you’ve accomplished.”

“And I see Vivian. Not the famous diva adored by millions of opera fans. I look at you and I see…you.”

Vivian refused to shed the tears that Mike’s gentle admission stirred. Silently, she nodded.

Mike brushed a thumb across Vivian’s forehead. “Don’t frown. You’re safe.”

“I…what do you mean?” It was hard to breathe.

“Yes. It’s just me.”

There was nothing “just” about how Mike looked at her. Prompted by the trust and caring in Mike’s eyes, Vivian put her arms around her. “I know. I’m glad.” In that instant. Vivian couldn’t explain how, but something in Mike’s eyes prompted her to act. She surprised herself when she reached out and pulled Mike into a firm hug.

A muted whimper escaped Mike. Vivian felt it against her cheek and turned her head to whisper a word of comfort.

“Don’t…talk,” Mike said. Her lips were close enough for Vivian to feel them move against her skin.

“You’re trembling,” Vivian murmured after a moment of silence. “Why is that?”

Mike tensed in her arms. “You know why. Surely you must know?”

“I think so.” Vivian tightened her embrace at the naked darkness in Mike’s voice. “Are you attracted to me, Mike?”

“Oh, yes.” Mike buried her face in Vivian’s neck.

“There’s no hurry. I don’t have to go anywhere. Oddly calm, Vivian leaned back, her arms still around Mike. “We can just stay like this.”

Mike rested her head on Vivian’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

Vivian laughed. “My pleasure.” She placed two fingers underneath Mike’s chin and tipped her head back. Mike’s eyes shimmered with restrained emotions. “What is it, Mike?”

Vivian was unprepared for the intensity when Mike’s mouth closed gently over hers. The tenderness of the kiss spoke more to Vivian than if Mike had actually deepened it, demanded more. Vivian kept her arms around Mike, somehow knowing that the fragile bond between them would shatter if she let go.

Mike’s heart thrashed like a trapped animal. Vivian still held her close, their lips pressed together in a caress that stole her breath. She trembled as Vivian stroked her back in languid movements.

She simply wasn’t used to this. It had been ages, years, since anyone touched her this way. She’d fallen for Brenda’s caresses too, and gotten so scorched by life she ought to be smoking around the edges. Until now, she’d kept her distance. But this was different. This was Vivian. And all she could think was this amazing woman was returning her kiss and, more than that, holding her so tenderly.

This amazing, supposedly
straight
woman…
Mike stiffened. It hurt to break contact, but she was already steeling her resistance, rationalizing as she retreated.
She’s just being kind and understanding. She’s grateful and perhaps lonely. Or even worse, she pities me.

“Mike?” Vivian murmured, reaching for Mike, who quickly pulled back even more.

“I…I should apologize.”

Vivian regarded her silently for a long moment. “Why?”

Taken aback by the simple question, Mike tried to think of what to say. Vivian had been nothing but kind to her. “Friends should never cross some boundaries.”

Another pause. “Do you regret kissing me?”

“No! I mean, no, not from my perspective. But it wasn’t right.” Mike tugged a small pillow close and dug her fingertips into the dark brown velvet. “It won’t happen again.” She hated how desolate her words sounded.

Vivian angled her body sideways and stretched out her arm, but never averted her eyes. “Why did you kiss me?”

Mike flinched.
Nothing like going in for the kill right away.
“I think I lost my head.”

Vivian smiled. Not the condescending, taunting smile that Brenda had flashed at her when Mike had tried to voice her thoughts. Instead, Vivian’s smile was encouraging, lacking any malice. How could it disturb her more than anything Brenda had ever said or done?

“I think I did too.” Vivian didn’t reach for Mike again. Instead she leaned her head against her palm, briefly closing her eyes. “I’ve never kissed another woman.”

“I said I was sor—”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Vivian shook her head. “Quite a few men
and
women have propositioned me during my career. I’m not inexperienced. My affairs with men were short bursts of…some type of theatrical passion. The women never interested me, at least not the ones I met at the time, and I’ve always been more committed to my work than to any special person. Singing, to me, is more than a profession. Singing is what I am.”

The clear blue eyes clouded over, and Mike forgot her own bewilderment and grasped Vivian’s free hand.

“Or what I
was
,” Vivian continued in a matter-of-fact voice. Mike guessed her comment was meant to cover a deep hurt, but for her, Vivian’s pain was obvious.

“Are you really retiring?”

“God, Mike. I…I don’t know.” Vivian shuddered. “I haven’t been able to say it. I’ve hardly dared think about it. I’ve always been booked years in advance, always known exactly what I was doing and when. But this upcoming concert is the last I have planned for a long time.” She closed her eyes. “I feel lost.”

Mike suddenly knew. Tenderly, she asked, “It’s your eye condition, isn’t it, Vivian?”

Vivian dragged an unsteady hand through her hair, disheveling it thoroughly. Mike held her breath when the golden locks tumbled around Vivian’s shoulders, glowing in the muted light of her living room.

“Yes.” Vivian’s voice was strangled.

Mike couldn’t stand the pain in Vivian’s face. She pulled Vivian close and, thankfully, Vivian let her hold her, her curves melded with Mike’s leaner frame.

“How bad?”

“Bad.” Vivian sighed against Mike’s skin. “
Cara
, I’m going blind.”

*

Manon tugged at the belt of her terry cloth robe as she left her elaborate bathroom. When the building was restored, Manon had fought the National Historical Registry about only this concession, convinced that a Jacuzzi wouldn’t destroy the protected structure.

She tiptoed over to the couch to check on Eryn. The bruise on her face was darker now, and Manon was ready to string Rex up for what he’d done, even if it was an accident. If it wasn’t, then she imagined a direr fate.

“No.”

Manon jerked when Eryn muttered in her sleep and shifted restlessly. She leaned over and barely touched her uninjured arm. “Eryn?”

“Not fair.”

Eryn was obviously dreaming, and from the sound of her voice, even if she didn’t thrash around, Manon guessed the dream was unpleasant. Her lips quivered, and tears formed at the outer corners of her closed eyes, darkening her eyelashes.

“Eryn. You’re dreaming.” Manon knelt next to the couch. “Wake up! Come on—”

“No, no.” Eryn’s eyes opened slowly, unfocused and wary. “What—”

“Just a dream. You’re fine.”

“Dream. Yes.” Eryn was obviously not quite awake.

“Here. Roll over on your right side so I can rub your back.” Immediately regretting her spontaneous suggestion, Manon waited a few seconds. “If you want.”

“Mmm, yeah. Thanks.” Eryn struggled to turn, but only when Manon helped her did she manage to move. “God, I feel helpless,” she whispered. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Two hours. I was just on my way to bed.” Manon slid up to sit next to Eryn and placed her arm around her back. She stroked her back gently, up and down, outside the large nightshirt. “How’s that?”

“Wonderful. My shoulder’s throbbing, but it’s probably too early to take any more of those dynamite pills.”

“Yes. You should wait at least another four hours.”

Eryn frowned and Manon stopped, keeping her hand at the small of Eryn’s back. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, I…the dream just flashed by. How strange. I rarely remember dreams.”

“Want to talk about it?” Manon resumed her massage. “You don’t have to.”

“It was weird. I kept seeing faces. Mom, Dad, my sisters. They were shouting at me and then ignoring me, and then shouting again. Nothing I said mattered.”

Eryn’s voice was raw, and deep with emotions.

“No wonder you were upset.” Manon instinctively moved closer. She slowed her caresses, trying to make her movements more soothing.

“Just plain silly, huh?”

“Nothing silly about it at all.” Manon shook her head.
I know what nightmares can do to a person. I also know how crying through sleepless nights can eat away at your soul.
Nights of tearstained pillowcases were over for her, but the thought of Eryn suffering alone through forgotten nightmares bothered her.

“Manon. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”
Or maybe not?

“How do you do it? Be so poised and together all the time?”

“What?” Manon stared at Eryn and forgot to move her hand. Obviously Eryn wasn’t kidding. “Well, it takes a bit of training, which I’ve had plenty of. My grandfather and father sent me to a boarding school in Vermont when I was fourteen. You learn how to take care of yourself when you’re on your own.”

“They sent you away?” Eryn rolled over on her back, trapping Manon’s hand. “Why?”

Manon felt heat flood her cheeks. Her close proximity to Eryn was making her dizzy, and all she could see were Eryn’s sensuous lips curving as she spoke. Manon’s breath caught in her chest, and she had to clear her throat twice before she could slowly free her arm and answer.

“They didn’t send me away, exactly. My family thought I’d be better off, but I just stayed for three semesters, until I persuaded Granddad that my place was at Belmont Manor with him and Father.”

“Did they agree?” Eryn asked with concern.

“Yes. I studied with tutors over the next two years until I graduated from high school.”

“Homeschooled, huh? Wasn’t that lonely?”

Manon considered her reply and tried to control her reactions. “Not really,” she said, and was rather surprised at how true her response was. “I went with my granddad to the foundation office almost every day and did my schoolwork in one of the conference rooms. My tutors joined me there. I not only studied but learned about the company from the inside out. I became friends with some of the younger office staff, at least in the beginning.”

“And you never missed going to regular school?”