Touch Me and Tango (9 page)

The woman yelled, “I run the Good As New over in Riverhead.”

“That’s very nice. Bye.” Tanya lowered the curtain.

No sooner had she returned to her seat when they heard the
front doorbell.

“I’ve got it,” Eva said. “This is my battle, too.” She
snatched hold of her crutches and hopped into the main hall.

Seconds later Tanya heard the familiar voice of Joel
Greenberger talking to her mother while appeasing the restless hordes of
deal-hunting nomads behind him. “Relax, I’m not cutting in front of anybody.
I’m not even here to buy. Just helping with the sale.”

Eva greeted him as if she were surprised, but Tanya had told
her Joel was coming today. She knew it would prompt her mother into a little
makeup and hair action. In fact, the trousers and blouse she wore were a bit
dressy for a house sale.

“Holy crow, Eva. What did you do to yourself?”

“I look that bad, huh?”

“No. You look great. I just hate to see you on crutches.”

Tanya couldn’t help eavesdropping on her mother and Joel,
hoping for a sweet exchange. He’d always treated Eva special, his attraction to
her obvious, and right now she thought her mom could use a good dose of male
attention.

Joel wasn’t exactly a hunk, and the baggy Mets tee he wore
today didn’t do much to conceal his bulging middle. But Tanya loved his pale
blues eyes that seemed to twinkle when he smiled. And he was a born nurturer.
So different from Victor Gentilliano, who’d been handsome, charismatic—and
tyrannical. She wondered what he was like now. Had he changed in the last ten
years? Would she ever see her father again?

The three of them shared coffee and muffins before the sale
began, all agreeing that Joel’s help was needed out front at least for the
beginning. Tanya mentioned that he was here to look over the financial records
and see what could be done. She held her breath, catching her mother’s eye. A
tiny nod assured her Eva would keep silent on the plan to search for Uncle
Harry’s loot.

Throughout the day the three of them haggled with customers,
keeping one eye peeled for any unsavory guests with a tendency to lift without
paying. The action ebbed and flowed. Eva reigned from a comfy old chair next to
the cash box by the front door. They’d made roadblocks so folks couldn’t
venture beyond one section of the house, but the area was still large enough
for Tanya to work up a good sweat running from room to room.

“Homerun,” said Joel. “I just sold that lamp with the
curlicue base and antique glass fixture. I told them it came off the Titanic.”

“You didn’t.” Eva put her hand to her cheek.

“Hey, all is fair in love and house sales.” He shot a
playful wink at her. “Tanya, I saw you close out on that deal with the
revolving bookcase. Nice going. Triple in the right field corner. That it isn’t
to say selling books and small items doesn’t put runs on the board. You need
singles and doubles too.”

Eva rolled her eyes. “Watch out, Tannie, he’s in one of his
all-life-is-baseball moods.”

Joel clasped his hands together like a holy man imparting a
blessing. “May the forces of the universe bring the World Series to Flushing.”

By the afternoon, Tanya’s back ached. Her black zipper
hoodie sported dark blotches from the coffee a buyer had spilled on her. The
updo she’d fixed her hair in this morning had turned into a down-do. And her
dry, sleep-deprived eyes burned.

She’d told her mother it was the thunder and lightning that
had kept her awake last night. But it was thunder and lightning of the internal
kind. The kind that Parker Richardson had always sparked in her.

Damn him. One minute he acted like he wanted her, the next
it seemed he wanted nothing to do with her. Exactly the way she used to treat
him, ironically. Was that why he was acting this way? Was this a game to make
her pay?

Or was he fighting the fact that he still craved her the way
he used to?

A rush of heat flooded Tanya as she remembered those nights
when she’d steal away to meet Parker. How eager he’d be for her. The way his
mouth and hands and eyes would devour her. And how glorious it felt to have his
body pressed against hers, to feel him inside her, to hear his voice, deep and
tender, at her ear.

“Seventy-fived dollars?”

Tanya jerked out of her reverie to see an older woman in a
baggy Foxwoods Casino sweatshirt. She pointed to a maplewood table with
fold-down sides. It used to be in the sitting area of her mother’s huge
bedroom. After years of jamming wedges beneath its aging legs, Eva had finally
bought a new one, casting this baby to the underworld. But with a slathering of
Old English, it looked ready for prime time.

“Yours for eighty,” replied Tanya.

“Sold. As long as I can have help carrying it out.”

“Stepping up to the plate,” Joel said. “Want to take one
end, Tanya?”

She directed the woman to the checkout by the front door
where Eva sat elbow to cashbox. “Yo, Mom. Eighty for the maple table.” Then she
turned to Joel. “Don’t ask me what we would’ve done without you here today.”

After carrying the heavy table to a Land Rover parked out
front, Tanya stood rubbing the small of her back. Boy, would she need a hot
bath tonight. She was about to follow Joel back to the house when she noticed a
familiar truck parked at the edge of the yard. In the weeds, since SUVs filled
the U-shaped drive, leaving no room for a long 4X4.

Parker got out of the truck. Her pulse raced. He was without
a doubt the finest looking man she’d ever seen. She’d always melted at the
sight of his face, and now his rangy, muscled body had gotten bigger, stronger,
and even sexier. But it wasn’t only that. She could see that the shy, awkward,
not-too-confident Parker Richardson she’d known had transformed into a strong,
silent man who knew himself and was comfortable in his own skin.

A giddiness rose inside. She knew he didn’t give a fig about
buying furniture or collectibles.
He came
to see me
.

She stepped back behind a car and took a second to neaten
her hair. Pulled a stick of lip-gloss from her pocket and did a quick swipe.
Then, rehearsing a flirty greeting, she marched forward.

And stopped. He was helping a woman out of the passenger
seat. A sleek, stunning woman in a spring dress. The woman smiled up at him,
said something to make him laugh, and slipped her arm through his.

Wake up, Tanya. Maybe
your foolish ego pictured him pining away for you all these years, but you’re
the only one who’s still holding on to the past
.

***

After planting his peach trees this morning, Parker’s day
somehow flew out of control. He’d checked in at his mother’s place, thinking he
would make his usual run to the pharmacy and any other errands she wanted and
then get back home to turn some compost and prepare a bed for his next
vegetable garden. But apparently his mom had other plans for him. She had
somehow managed to maneuver him to the breakfast table at her B&B to share
a cup of coffee with Alix Nicole. And to inform Alix that he’d be driving
around some interesting parts of the North Fork today and could show her a
native’s view.

“That sounds great,” Alix said. “What time are you heading
out?”

“Well, uh, unfortunately, I came here in my 4X4. Had I known
ahead—”

“I don’t mind,” Alix said. “There’s nothing like seeing the
sights of a small rural town through the window of a real live pick-up.”

Oh this is a real live
pick-up all right
. “But I might be a while in the pharmacy.”

“I just love pharmacies.”

“Now that’s a real deal closer.”

They both laughed. Why was he trying to get away from a
woman most of his friends would do cartwheels to get close to? What was wrong
with him?

Tanya had come back, that’s what. Except it wasn’t him she
came back for. Sure, she’d kissed him, but she’d always played that kind of
game.

He looked down at Alix and noticed she had a really nice
mouth. “Meet me out front.”

After they hit the local pharmacy for his mother’
medication, it was Alix who directed their sightseeing, asking to go to an
organic farmer’s market she’d read about, to his sister Casey’s North Cove
Performing Arts Academy, to a famous Polish deli, a vineyard in Cutchogue, and
a walk in Bailie Beach Park.

On the return trip Parker chose the scenic route along the
Sound. At one corner they slowed to read a series of cardboard signs mounted on
small plywood stakes along the roadside.

Alix squealed. “Oooh. A house sale. I live and breathe for
house sales.”

Parker didn’t quite share her enthusiasm. Especially when he
saw the address.

He turned to his picturesque traveling companion ready to
tell her he had work to do at home. But then a devilish part of him
reconsidered the situation. He knew it would be a childish game, the kind he’d
normally never buy into. But when it came to Tanya Gentilliano he had trouble
resisting the urge for a little revenge.

As he drove his 4X4 through the open gate of the Gentilliano
residence, a part of him wanted to turn back. He hadn’t set foot on this
property since that night eleven years ago when Tanya had shredded his heart,
telling him he was the last person in the world she’d ever marry. The next day
he’d called her father and told him he could no longer work as his gardener.
Victor Gentilliano had been completely baffled when he quit, but no amount of
money he offered could make Parker stay on.

“Welcome to the jungle,” said, Alix. “Hope you brought your
machete?”

Parker could hardly believe it. The grounds he and his
father had kept so well with designer shrubs and flourishing gardens had become
an eyesore of knee-high weeds and bedraggled bushes and trees in dire need of
pruning. Tanya had told him Eva was broke. Hard to believe, since he’d grown up
seeing this family as near royalty. But the house sale and the neglected yard
were proof.

He knew some Mexican workers who were not landscape
gardeners, as he was, but who did darn good lawn work for a good price. He
hired them regularly to assist him on some of his bigger jobs. Time to get them
over here. It was the least he could do for Eva, who’d been so generous to him
when his family was on the fritz.

“They sure got a good turn-out,” Alix said. The paved drive
that fronted the house was filled with parked cars.

He pulled his truck onto the grass, positioning Alix’s door
to meet an odd narrow path cut through the tall weeds. “Hold on. I’ll help you
maneuver the grasslands.” He walked around to the passenger side.

Alix rested her hands on his shoulders as she climbed out of
the truck and got her footing. “Such a gentleman. You’ve been so great to me
all day. What can I do for you? I know. How about posing for a centerfold in
our next issue? In one of the vineyards. With just some foliage covering the
essentials.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Such a good boy. I’m gonna have to change that. You know, I’ll
be coming out here from the city regularly.”

Thanks for the warning
.

She slipped her arm through his, and they picked their way
down the narrow path to the paved drive.

Strange thing, but Parker had always been able to feel
Tanya’s presence before he saw her. He chalked it up to some kind of primitive
radar a male animal had for his chosen mate. And today it didn’t take him long
to locate her standing next to a Land Rover. She was so beautiful he could
weep. The sunlight broke across her high cheekbones as if staged by a Hollywood
director. She wore a snug-fitting hoodie with skinny jeans that showed off her
perfect legs and hips.

He could tell she’d seen him. And bang, there it was: the
classic check-out-the-other-woman glance. For the briefest moment he watched
her watching him and Alix. Then she turned as if to pretend she hadn’t seen
him.

“Hey, Tanya,” he called and strolled toward her.

“Parker. What a surprise.” A fake smile.

He introduced the two women and Alix said, “Don’t you just
love house sales? Although this place is so creepy, I almost wonder if the
people who live here are, you know, vampires or something.”

“Actually,” Tanya said, a chill in her tone. “I live here.”

“Eew.”

Tanya gave Alix a searing look. “But occasionally we do suck
some blood. So if you feel something on your neck, it’s just our little way of
saying thanks for dropping by.”

“Oh really?” Alix stepped closer to Tanya and said, “Well, you
do look like someone who just got out of a coffin.” With that, she yanked
Parker by the arm and guided him toward the front door.

Parker could kick himself. All he’d intended was a little
satisfaction for his ego. The last thing he wanted was a catfight. He felt like
stepping away from Alix, letting her walk off on her own while he whispered an
apology in Tanya’s ear.

But what could he say? Tell her it was just an act to get
her attention? She’d have a ball with that one, since he’d always accused her
of playing those kind of juvenile games.

As he and Alix scaled the broad porch steps, she said, “You
two obviously have a thing going on.”

“We used to. Now we’re strictly friends.”

“Take it from me, that never works. Especially when a woman
like her is still hooked on you.”

“She is?”

“Big time. Trust me. I can tell.”

Could she be right? If so, that bit of priceless information
had more than earned Alix his tourist services for the day.

It felt a shade too warm inside for his raw and rustic taste
these days. Central heating seemed almost suffocating compared to the
invigorating effects of living in a house with only a potbelly stove and a
space heater.

Eva sat just inside the door. She glanced up at him. “Hello,
Parker, you old treasure hunter, you.” Wink, wink.