Maybe Baby (15 page)

Gina made the sound of the end of shift whistle like from the Flintstones and we clocked out. “My aunt is the greatest,” she said jingling car keys. “She let us have her car; said she would catch a ride home with someone. Let's go!"

Downtown Bristol was quaint and trendy. Bristol, Virginia bordered its twin city, Bristol, Tennessee. The state line between Virginia and Tennessee was on State Street. The cities shared a downtown district. Gina parked the car near the main drag.

“Anything in particular you're looking for?” I asked Gina.

“I need a swimsuit for sure,” she replied. “We need to take advantage of that Olympic-size pool back at the manor.”

I was a bit hesitant, remembering my last time in that pool.

“What?” Gina asked, catching my uneasiness.

“It’s just that the last time I was in the pool I was drunk and nearly drowned.”

“Oh dear God,” she said. “Well that isn’t happening as long as I’m around."

“Trey actually saved my life when that happened.”

“I bet he did; and he's probably owned you from that moment on,” she commented.

“What do you mean?”

“He just seems like the type that doesn’t stop with the saving your life part. He strikes me as one that would take permanent responsibility for the person he saved, you know, like moving you into the manor, wanting to keep tabs on you.”

“He doesn’t keep tabs on my
every
move,” I said, thinking back to the weekend of the horse race. I'd been practically home free on that one. “But you’re right Gina, he can be pretty intense.”

We found a beach boutique and Gina tried on five different bathing suits. She finally decided on a designer bikini by Salinas. Gina definitely had the body to pull it off. I tried on a really cute pair of red low-slung board shorts and a tank half-tee.

“What do you think?” I asked Gina as I came out of the dressing room.

“They are the bomb on you girlfriend, just need to accessorize a bit.”

I ended up buying several pairs along with some tank half-tees.

“Now,” she instructed once outside the store, “let’s accessorize. Follow me.”

We walked to a shop called, “Make Me Holey.”

“Body piercing?” I asked, aghast at what Gina had in mind as far as accessorizing.

“Yeah, I noticed you could use some ‘holiness,’” she mused.

“I’ve got double pierced ears,” I argued, pulling my hair back so that she could see for herself.

“Yeah nice,” she replied, “but I was thinking you may want to bring a little more focus to that flat, sexy tummy of yours.”

“My bellybutton?”

“Yeah, you have the perfect kind for a piercing.”

“Are you having yours pierced too?”

“Already did darlin’,” she answered.

I hadn’t recalled seeing a ring in it when she was modeling the swimsuits for me earlier.

“I don’t have my banana bell in right now,” she said, “but trust me, it’s pierced and we're both going to get something new pierced today. My treat!”

I didn't love the idea nearly as much as Gina, but what the hell? If I didn’t like it I could always take it out. It wasn’t like it was going to be anywhere that couldn’t be covered by clothing. We went inside and Gina picked up a price list and brought it over to me so that we could view it together.

“So what are you getting pierced today, Gina?”

She was perusing the list as if it was a menu, trying to figure out what she was going to order for lunch.

“I believe I’m going to go with the Vampire’s Kiss.”

“A what—?” I looked at the listing and saw that it went for $120.

“Here,” she said, opening up the pamphlet and locating a picture of it. “Right there,” she said, pointing.

Oh my God, it was a surface piercing on the neck, near the clavicle that had entrance and exit points. The jewelry was either a surface bar or curved bar bell that sported red ball dips to look like blood. It was to look as if a vampire had bitten her neck.

“Are you really getting that?” I exclaimed. “Shouldn’t you ask Ian about it first?”

“Yeah, right. I don’t need my man’s permission for what I do to my body,” she replied, laughing and shaking her head. She caught an attendant’s attention behind the counter, waving him over.

Forty-five minutes later, Gina and I walked back out on the street with four new holes in our bodies.

We got back to the manor at five. Gina dropped me off at the front door, saying she was going to return her aunt’s car and be back in a bit. Thatcher opened the front door before I got completely across the porch.

“Good afternoon, Tylar,” he greeted somewhat cheerily. “Will Mrs. Hatton be arriving soon?”

“Thanks Thatcher,” I said, “Yes, Gina will be back over shortly. We ate a really late lunch so please don’t go to any trouble with dinner. We'll probably just make a sandwich or something later if we're hungry.”

“Very well,” he replied.

I got to my room remembering I'd left my cell phone on the charger all day. I had a text message from Trey that came in around 4:30 this afternoon. It read:

“Why is your cell phone not with you?"

How did he know that? I checked my voicemail and there was a message from him as well.

“Tylar, its Trey. I've got about fifteen minutes before court resumes. I was worried when I lost the signal last night while you were sleeping. I called the house this morning and Thatcher said you'd already left for work and that your phone was in your room. Please keep your phone charged and with you, otherwise I'll worry. Be good.”

The rest of the week passed uneventfully for both Gina and me. We finished up with all of the corking, labeling, and packing of seventy cases of wine. Gina estimated we'd be finished by mid-next week. Then she'd head back to Atlanta. I was really going to miss her.

I heard from Trey a couple of more times during the week. He anticipated the case would go into the first day or two of the following week. I let him know that I had a surprise for him when he got back to Bristol for the weekend. He said that he would see me Friday night after his flight got in around nine. I felt the familiar butterflies again.

When Gina and I clocked out on Friday afternoon, Becky called us over. “Gina, Ian called and left a message earlier today.”

“Why didn’t he just call me?” she asked. “I’ve got my cell phone in my pocket.”

“Probably because you’re not going to like the content of his message. He can’t make it in from Atlanta this weekend. He’s really, really sorry but things came up with getting the auditions completed with the bands so they’ll run over into the weekend. He loves you and will make it up to you.” Becky rushed through the message, eager to have it all out and be done with it.

“That’s just great!” Gina fumed. “He knew damn well that he had way too many groups booked for auditions this week. There was no way in hell he was going to get through them all, I told him that. But it was ‘No, babe, we can handle it, no way this will keep me from seeing you this weekend, babe.’ Bullshit! I have half a mind to head downtown and get the ‘Ian’ I have tattooed on my ass removed!”

All in all, Gina was taking the news pretty well.

“Now don’t do anything rash. You and Tylar can hang out this weekend, host a pool party or something,” Becky suggested.

“Not likely,” Gina mumbled. “Trey’s coming in this weekend. The last thing he’ll want is me here as the third wheel.”

“I’m sure it will all work out,” Becky said, giving Gina a sympathetic couple of pats on her back. Gina and I collected our pay envelopes and left the office.

“Let’s walk back to the manor,” Gina suggested. “I need to burn off some energy.” She continued to rant and rave about Ian during most of the trek back. We ran into Clint of all people on the way back.

“Hey, how’s it going Tylar?” he asked, grinning.

“Doing great,” I replied.

“Have you met Gina Hatton?” I asked. Clint wiped his hand off on his shirt, extending it to her.

“I’ve seen you around,” he spoke, addressing Gina. “Clint Cavanaugh,” he finished my introduction for me. “You're Becky’s niece, right?”

“Yep,” Gina answered. “I'm just here helping out for another week and then heading back to Atlanta."

“You girls going to be at the quarter races tonight?”

“Doubtful,” I hissed, still a bit raw from last weekend’s humiliating experience.

“C’mon,” he coaxed. “No one thought badly about you for that. Everyone knew who was pulling the strings there.”

Gina looked back and forth at us quizzically.

“Long story,” I said. “I’ll fill you in later.”

I turned back to Clint. “Yeah, but you kind of played a part in that, Clint.”

He looked genuinely sheepish, absently kicking some loose straw around on the stable floor.

“Look, I’m
really
sorry, okay? You have to believe that I did it for your own safety. I damn sure wasn’t going to let anything happen to you again.”

“What the hell is it with all these guys wanting to protect you, Tylar? Must be that helpless female thing you got going on,” Gina teased.

“No hard feelings, Clint, and maybe we'll see you over at the track tonight.” I replied.

Gina and I continued on up to the manor. “Maybe it
would
be fun to go to the track tonight,” I commented.

“Yeah,” she agreed, smiling devilishly. “We might even meet some guys!”

I knew she was joking; she never stopped talking about Ian, divulging every intimate part of their life together while we worked. She said Ian grounded her. I couldn't imagine how Gina would be if ‘ungrounded.’ I knew she was disappointed, but going to the quarter races would get her mind off of the fact she wouldn’t be seeing Ian this weekend, plus it would kill time until Trey got in. My butterflies were restless today.

Once we returned to the manor, we went our separate ways. My cell phone was ringing when I got to my room. It was Trey.

“Hi,” I answered, sounding a bit overly excited.

“Hey there,” smooth and silky said. “What are you up to?”

“Just got in from work and ready to hop in the shower. Gina and I are going over to watch the quarter races this evening.”

“You’ll be careful, right?”

“Of course,” I answered, rolling my eyes.

“Good girl. So,” he continued, a bit hesitantly, it sounded as if he'd put his hand over his phone, muffling the sound of another conversation taking place at his end. I waited, tapping my foot, as I continued rooting through my closet. Finally, he was back on the phone.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of conversations going on here at the moment. I was starting to tell you I’m not going to be able to make it back to Bristol this weekend after all. Opposing counsel has filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration. The judge has agreed to hear oral arguments from both sides in chambers tomorrow. He'll rule on the motion Monday morning. So I'm going to be tied up late tonight prepping, and then presenting my argument tomorrow in chambers.”

My stomach butterflies crashed and burned.

I heard a female voice from Trey’s end, “Trey, we have reservations for dinner. We need to leave now.”

“Hey gotta run,” he said hastily. “Talk to you soon—” The call ended abruptly. I sat numbly, staring at my phone in confusion.

“What the fuck's wrong?” she demanded.

I didn’t answer her. It was hard to articulate exactly how I felt. I knew I couldn’t dictate who Trey hung out with, I mean seriously? I wasn't even sure we had the start of a relationship going on. I mean hell yeah, I wanted him, but for the moment he was simply all about keeping me safe with no strings attached, apparently.

Gina wanted answers. “Okayyyy, what’s Trey done now?”

“Why do you presume it has anything to do with Trey?” I asked her, my voice on edge. “I’ve told you again and again, Gina, we don’t have that kind of relationship.”

“Sorry, your grace,” she said a bit snippily.

“That was my mom on the phone. She’s hitting me up for money, again. No surprise there,” I lied. I just didn’t want her thinking Trey was the reason after I'd made such a big deal to her about our non-relationship.

“So, what’s up for tonight?” she asked.

I saw that Gina was in her bathrobe and had her bag of toiletries. “I’m gonna jump in the shower and change,” she said. “You let me know what you’re going to do when I get out.”

I was pissed but also determined not to let Trey spoil my weekend. He was working on something, but I wasn't altogether sure it was totally about the case. I needed to put it out of my mind for the moment.

I pulled a tight little jean skirt out of my closet and decided to wear my new black tank half-tee. My skin was lightly tanned, and the sun had brought out my new golden highlights. I jumped into Trey’s shower. Once finished, I slipped into my sexy outfit and a pair of skyscraping black platform sandals.

Gina was finished as well and she came to my room.

“Oh yeah, you look fantastic! You just need one little thing to accentuate your belly button ring. Be right back.”

Oh God, I couldn’t imagine what she had in mind. She returned a few moments later with a small dangly chain that had a way of hooking on to the barbell without having to take the barbell out. There was a lightning bolt dangling from the chain. She clipped it on.

“Perfect. Super sexy with that flat tummy of yours, girl.”

“Like yours isn’t,” I remarked.

Gina had on a short white spandex skirt that hugged every curve on her. It was low slung and she'd put her navel jewelry on, a chain with a black rose dangling from it. She wore a black and white geometric print halter-top, her ample breasts displayed.

“Look at you, I said laughing. “You be trolling for trouble!”

“We be ‘track tramps’ tonight girlfriend!”

Gina had arranged for Rodney to come by and take us to the track. Neither one of us had wanted to walk over in this heat. Rodney complied, but as soon as we got to the track, we were on our own. The track served beer and wine, so we bought a couple of plastic wine glasses filled with the Belle’s own Riesling. It was chilled and tasted refreshing.

“Are you betting?” I asked Gina as we took our seats in the grandstand section.