Lucky Thirteen (29 page)

“I don’t like him,” admitted Dupree. “
He has no compassion in his soul. Let’s talk to your family.”

Lindsay thankfully knew all the other members of her new family would happily be complicit in any scheme she cooked up.

Consequently, Raif constantly badgered his brother to fight for Larkin while Chris nagged Larkin until Larkin finally told her that if she didn’t leave her alone, she would marry Robert to spite them. However, Larkin merely poured herself into putting together the Broadway review.

Thinking she had met the two most stubborn people alive, Lindsay enlisted the help of the sanest member of her new family, Dorothy Reynolds, her new grandmother
.

Mrs. Reynolds paid a visit to her son the first Friday in April, the morning of the Broadway review
. She and Ray’s father would be attending to show support for Larkin and Lindsay who was to sing a duet, “Somewhere” from
West Side Story,
with Dupree. Mrs. Reynolds marched into Ray’s office. He was genuinely surprised to see her.

“Mom, what are you doing here
?” He embraced her warmly.

“Dad and I are here to catch Larkin’s Broadway review
. He’s gone shopping with Raif to get some things for the house. The three of them can’t live in that townhouse much longer. I thought you needed your mother’s advice more.”

“Mom, don’t start.”

“Sit and listen,” she commanded

The son obeyed
. Dorothy sat across from him. “Ray, don’t be a fool. Don’t let your pride make you lose the perfect woman for you.” Mrs. Reynolds reached into her bag. “I’ve brought you something. I didn’t give it to you before because I knew you hadn’t found the right woman. I vowed to give it to you when you found Miss Right.” Ray’s mother handed him the small, but perfect, diamond his father had given her when they became engaged. “Larkin is Miss Right.

“Your father gave this to me
. We weren’t rich in the beginning, and I knew he sacrificed tremendously to purchase it. The one I wear now came on our thirteenth anniversary after we both had successful careers. I want you to give this to Larkin. Do whatever it takes to get that girl back. Start by showing up at her big shindig tonight.” Mrs. Reynolds stood. “Oh, and bring flowers.”

Ray breathed an exasperated sigh
. “Mom, she doesn’t want me.”

“Yes, she does
. You have to make her know it.”

As Dorothy spoke, Raif poked his head in
. “You had better listen, little brother. I saw LaFontaine buying a diamond while I was out. The gig starts at seven. Be there.”

Dorothy continued, “She’ll say
‘yes,’ Ray. And when she does, Dad and I’ll pay for any kind of wedding the two of you want.” She kissed her son’s cheek. “I’ll see you tonight,” Mrs. Reynolds prodded once more as she walked out the door with Raif.

Ray stared at the perfect stone in its black velvet box
. It sparkled like Larkin’s personality. It was only a quarter karat, but it was flawless.
Larkin’s hands are small. Something large would look gaudy on her.

He stood
, put on his jacket, and stuffed the ring into his pocket. He had some things to do before seven.

♣♣♣

Ray arrived barely twenty minutes before the program
. He glimpsed Larkin bustling around tending to last minute details. He wound his way to her and tapped her shoulder. She turned with a start.

“Ray
!” She smiled brightly.

He presented her with a multi
tude of fresh-cut daffodils, the last of the season, which he had gathered from the nearby shady and still cool swamp. “Good luck. Will you please give me five minutes after the show?”

Larkin held the daffodils to her face and inhaled the sweet fragrance
. “Yes, I’ll give you five minutes.”

Behind Ray, Robert LaFontaine cleared his throat and sniggered
. “Oh, Reynolds, don’t you know that roses are what you give the Prima Dona?”

“Larkin is not a Prima Dona
. She’s an angel. Take flight, my angel.”

Before Robert could say anything else, Larkin pointed her finger sharply
. “Not a word. Take a seat, both of you.”

She accepted the dozen crimson roses Rob
ert had brought and zipped backstage. She found a large container and placed the daffodils in water. Lindsay walked in as Larkin arranged the flowers.

She asked pertly, “Who brought you flowers?”

Larkin set the daffodils down with care and plopped the roses on a table. “Ray and Robert.”

“Let me guess
.” She made a little clucking sound. “Ray picked the daffodils while Robert spent a fortune on the roses.”

“Yep.”

“Which do you like better?”

“Mind your own business
. It’s show time.”

Ray found a seat with the rest of his family near the front of the auditorium
. He was pleased to see the show was crisp and lively and admitted in a whisper to his brother, “I’m astonished at Dupree’s talent.”

Back
stage after the show, rather than finding Larkin, Robert found the flowers, his roses half off the table and the daffodils resting in water. “Fuck this!” he raged. He flung the roses across the floor. Then, he got a wicked gleam in his eyes and gave a low sinister chuckle.

Ray pushed through the throng of patrons who were congratulating Larkin on another superb musical presentation
. Parents and educators alike were once again amazed at the success of this young woman. She had a knack for finding something for these children to do that matched their skills and abilities and gave them confidence that they could become somebody other than a thug or a welfare mother. Dupree Parks’s mother, Estelle Funchess, was among them. The joy in the woman’s face said everything in Ray’s mind.

Ray reached the two women and somewhat rudely interrupted them.
“My five minutes?”

Larkin wagged her head
. “Ray, stop being rude, and I’ll give you more than five minutes.”

“Sorry, but I need to say what I have to say now before the thorn in my flesh shows up.”

“Why do you hate Robert so much?”

“He’s a two-faced, back stabbing, social-climbing son
-of-a-bitch, but I don’t wanna talk about him. Please, just tell me you’re not in love with him.”

“We’re
friends
, Ray. I’ve told him that over and over.”

“That’s all I needed to hear
. I want you to know that the night I woke up in the hospital, I wasn’t talking to you. He was standing in the opening in the curtain behind you. I was talking to him. I came to your house to tell you when I got out, but he answered the door.”

Mouth gaped, eyes hooded as
Larkin recalled the
solicitor
who had supposedly come to her house. “How dare he lie to me? He told me it was a solicitor.”

“
Fooyay
! Forget him!” Ray snapped. “Larkin, I’m stubborn and short-tempered and sometimes arrogant and too proud. For these faults I apologize. But, damn it, woman, I love you. There. I said it.” He punched the air.

Larkin brushed
tears from her cheek. “Was it that hard?”

“For me
? Yes, because it means I have to let myself be vulnerable again. That takes more courage from me than facing a thousand Latrices. Seeing you with Robert tears my heart out. He was supposed to be my best friend.”

As the truth
sank in, Larkin whispered, “Oh, now I understand.”

Robert appeared in an unwelcome manner as he often did
. “What have you done to make her cry this time, Reynolds?” he demanded as he finally found Larkin.

Ray clenched his fists inside his pockets and brushed the velvet ring box
. A sly Mona Lisa smile crossed his face and his eyes glinted. Ignoring Robert completely, Ray dropped to one knee and pulled the ring out. “I’m asking her to marry me.”

LaFontaine guffawed
. “You’re proposing to this magnificent lady with that little chip? Oh, my God! That really shows the esteem you have for her.” He reached inside his coat and brought out a one karat solitaire with half a karat of chips on either side. “Please, Larkin, consider a much better offer.”

“Stop it!” she hissed
. “You’re causing a scene.”

“What do you expect from this buffoon
?” By this time, the crowd, including Ray’s family, had gathered. “Look. He even brought his joke of an entourage for back up. Oh, Ray, you are a pathetic loser. First, Mia. Now, Larkin.”

That does it
!
The seething rage inside Ray finally boiled over. He closed the ring box in his fist, and with the same fist, punched Robert so hard he fell into the crowd behind him.

“Larkin
!” Dr. Fairchild sounded authoritative as she pushed through the crowd. “What is going on?” The principal placed herself between the two men as if they were bickering children. “Backstage looks as if this fight started back there.”

“What do you mean?” asked Larkin.

“Your roses are strewn all over the floor, and now these two are acting like children.”

LaFontaine stood
, rubbing his jaw. It was broken, as were Ray’s knuckles, evidenced by immediate swelling. “What do you expect?” he said through clamped-together teeth. “Y’all see this man’s temper. Of course, he pitched the roses I bought Larkin. I
will
be pressing assault charges.” He added sarcastically, “
Detective
.”

“Go ahead,” said Ray
. “It was worth it to deck your sorry ass, but the only flowers I touched were the daffodils I picked for the woman I love. Roses might be the right thing socially, but daffodils are Larkin. They’re the first flowers to bloom in the spring, indicating old things are passed away and all things have become new. You might know some form of etiquette, but you don’t know Larkin.”

Bracing his jaw to keep it from hurting, Robert said, “Oh, I do know her
. She’s First Lady material, exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

“Is that all she is to you, Rob—a political pawn, a token on your arm
? Do you love her—the woman—at all? I doubt it.” Ray’s voice took on a tone he might have used ten years before to reason with a friend, a fraternity brother.

In the back of the crowd, Dupree, out of makeup and costume, poked Lindsay
. “What’s happening?”

“Oh boy
! What kind of family am I mixed up in?” Lindsay said jokingly.

“The best ever,” responded Dupree, not getting the joke
. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”

“Okay
. Ray proposed. Then, Robert proposed.” With each changing scenario, she dipped her head back and forth in a tick-tock motion. “Then, Robert said Ray was a loser and something about Ray’s former fiancée. Then, Ray hit Robert. Robert says he’s pressing charges. Dr. Fairchild said backstage was a mess. Robert said Ray destroyed the roses he had gotten for Larkin.”

“Whoa
! That’s a lie.” Dupree stepped up. “Miss Sloan, don’t you trust that liar. Detective Reynolds didn’t throw a fit back stage. Mr. LaFontaine did. I saw him. It scared me that you’ve been dating him ’cause he acted like my stepdaddy. I was afraid he might hurt you like Dwight used to hurt my momma. He’s a low-down dog. I bet he’s dirty, too. So what if Detective Reynolds hit him?” He gave a who-gives-a-damn shrug. “He probably deserved it. Detective Reynolds wouldn’t’ve done it if he didn’t deserve it. I remember Detective Reynolds now. He wudn’t a detective when I first saw him, but he saved my life and got shot doing it. He’s a hero, not a slime ball.”

Larkin wanted to scream, but
in spite of her frustration, she stayed calm. “Robert, I have told you many times I don’t love you. No, I will
not
marry you.” She turned her attention to the other man. “Ray…”

“Really?” said LaFontaine vindictively
. “Well, do you want that whacko twin brother of Ray’s to go to jail? The only reason I never charged him is because you refused to testify. I could subpoena you and hold you for contempt if you don’t comply.”

Oh! Dupree is so right about you.
If I weren’t a lady, I’d give you the bird just like Lindsay.
“How dare you?” Larkin spat. “Do you really think you can blackmail me into marrying you? No charge you bring against Raif would ever stand.
Nobody
would testify against him, and you know it.” She reared back, fists clenched as if she might also hit the man. “As a matter of fact, I don’t recall seeing Ray hit you either. I think I saw you slip on a rose petal and bust your ass!”

The crowd burst into applause.

“Yeah.” Ray nodded. “I saw that, too. In addition, I’m beginning to wonder how Latrice got out of those shackles she had on. The only person to see her that day was you. Did you slip her a key?”

“What
? Are you crazy? I would never,” protested LaFontaine. “You know they found a thin piece of wire.”