“Well, Mom called the landlord to this place and gave up the lease. He’s got a waiting list and wants to jack up the rent so he’s pleased as punch.”
I turned and stared.
“What?”
“I’m moving in with Trixie,” Mom said.
“You can’t move in with Trixie!” I kinda yelled.
“Why not?” Mom asked.
I didn’t have an answer to that. She was getting around better all the time. Eddie was right, she didn’t need me as much as I thought she did.
I knew I couldn’t fight it and didn’t have the energy anyway.
I turned back to baking.
“Where am I going to live?” I asked.
“We found you a sweet one bedroom, in a big old Victorian house close to Eddie,” Lottie told me.
I closed my eyes.
I opened them.
“Where are you going to live?” I asked Lottie.
“I got some money stashed, I’m going to buy a place. I’m also going to pay for Mom’s OT, PT and medical stuff and give Trixie a little bit extra until Mom gets fully back on her feet. I’ll stay with them until I get my place. You’re off the hook.”
I turned to them.
“Who said I want to be off the hook?” I asked.
“No one, we’re just letting you off the hook,” Lottie replied.
I stared at them then turned back to baking.
“Whatever,” I mumbled.
“Listen, Missy…” Uh-oh, Mom used the m-word, “You’re all-fired determined not to live your own life, so we’re making you and you don’t have anything to say about it. Got me?”
I nodded. I knew better than to argue during a Missy Moment.
“Henrietta Louise…” Mom knew I wasn’t fully committed to the nod.
Dear Lord.
I turned and looked at Mom and said, definitely snippy, “What?”
“Don’t ‘what’ me. I don’t know what’s going on with you and that bag of yours being back in the house but I’m going to tell you now, you’re all kinds of fool if you don’t hold onto Eddie Chavez and hold on tight.”
“Mom…”
She gave me The Hand.
“You let go of Oscar for no good reason…” Mom informed me.
“He was possessive,” I said.
“So what?” Mom shot back, “Good trait in a man if you ask me. Anyway, he adored you, still does if you want the God’s honest truth.”
Yeesh.
I went back to measuring, Mom went back to lecturing.
“You let go of Luis after he asked to marry you.”
“He lived with his mother.”
“So? He would have moved out for you,” Mom shot back.
“Do we have to go through this?” I asked.
Mom started talking to the ceiling, “I don’t even know what was wrong with Alex, he was a nice boy.”
Guess we had to go through it.
It was then Ada came forward and wrapped her hand around my wrist. I stopped measuring and looked at her.
She stared into my eyes, smiled a small, kind of sad, smile, let go of my wrist and turned. “There’s a World’s Most Unbelievable Police Chases Caught on Video starting about now. Let’s watch it at my place.” she said to Mom and Lottie.
Both my mother and sister opened their mouths to argue but Ada must have given them a look. I didn’t know Ada was capable of giving a look, but whatever she did, it worked.
They left.
I watched the space they were in for a long time forcing, with a super human effort, my mind to go blank.
Then I baked.
I swung by the hospital to visit Dad.
They said it was good he made it through the night. They took him off the critical list and would move him out of ICU if things kept on as they were.
They told me he’d been awake for awhile but he was asleep when I went in to see him.
I sat, holding his hand and telling him about my day.
Then I told him about my decision.
He didn’t respond, he didn’t give me any judgements, attitude or advice and certainly not The Hand.
This, I thought was good even though I’d rather he didn’t do it because he didn’t have any judgements, attitude or advice, not that he was a couple of brain pathways shutting down away from a coma.
Then, I left.
I walked into Fortnum’s about half an hour before closing carrying bags filled with tins and boxes that were stuffed full with cookies, cakes and pies.
Everyone was there. Lee, Indy, Ally, Tex, Duke, Jane and Hank.
“Jet!” Indy yelled when she saw me and ran up to me, giving me a big hug.
I was about to tell her I was okay but she pulled away and shoved her hand in my face.
There was huge rock on her ring finger.
“Ohmigod!” I yelled, dumped the bags and hugged her, shaking her body from side to side and laughing. “You’re getting married,” I said when I pulled back a bit.
She nodded. “Lee asked me over a champagne breakfast.” Then she leaned in, “We just got out of bed, like, an hour ago,” she whispered.
She leaned back, eyes bright and happy, and I nodded the knowing girlfriend’s nod.
“Nice,” I said
“You better believe it,” she replied.
Everyone was in celebration mode and it was far, far better than desperation mode so I went with it. I’d tell Indy I was quitting later.
I handed out cookies, cakes and pies, giving Lee a big bag all to himself to take to the office. At first, I was glad I had Indy and Lee’s news to take attention off the gifts. It didn’t really work, considering the looks and hugs I got, but they knew me enough by now not to make a big deal of it.
We were locking up and going to Indy and Lee’s for a celebration drink when Daisy came storming up, carrying what looked like twenty magazines.
“Ally texted me. I got Bride, Modern Bride, Contemporary Bride, Today’s Bride, Denver Bride, Wedding, Martha Stewart Wedding and Vogue, really just for the pictures ‘cause who dresses like that? And People ‘cause some fancy-ass celebrity is probably gettin’ hitched and we can steal ideas.”
“Righteous,” Ally said.
“I think that covers it,” Indy said.
“Fucking hell,” Hank muttered, sounding horrified.
I shot him a grin.
He caught it, threw his arm around my neck and gave me a sideways hug, keeping me held against him in a modified, friendly Eddie’s Woman Hold.
My grin turned false and I ignored the painful crunch in my belly.
I was going to miss these guys.
* * * * *
Tod and Stevie showed up, Chowleena in tow, a half an hour after we all got to Indy and Lee’s. They were carrying, between them, what looked like a dozen bottles of chilled sparkling wine and a Yahtzee game.
“Since Lee moved in, we’ve been preparing. Now, we’ll have room in our fridge,” Stevie said.
He and Tod took in the female huddle sitting in Indy’s living room, pouring over wedding magazines.
The men, (Lee and Hank had been joined by Vance, Matt and Bobby), were upstairs watching a ballgame and drinking beer. Duke had gone home to Dolores, Tex had gone home to the cats and Jane just went home (she didn’t do crowds).
“Aiyeee!” Tod screamed, “Is that Modern Bride? I love Modern Bride. Move over,” he said, not exactly moving me over but shoving me off an armchair so I landed on my ass on the floor and he confiscated the magazine I was flipping through by ripping it out of my hands.
“I’m thinking wedding colors green and yellow,” Tod decided. “No, no, pale blush and burgundy,” he changed his mind. “No, sapphire and ice,” he changed his mind again.
I didn’t know “ice’ was a color.
Indy started giggling.
Stevie popped open a bottle of wine.
“Get the glasses!” he shouted, then looked around, “What the hell, we’re celebrating and we have enough so
that everyone can have their own.”
Then he took a swig straight out of the bottle.
* * * * *
We were all playing Yahtzee.
I was well into my personal bottle of wine, wedged between Hank and Vance at Indy’s dining room table. She’d opened it up so that it was huge but still, it was a crush with eleven people sitting around it. It was my turn in a few goes when the phone in my back pocket rang.
I pulled it out and saw the display said, “Eddie calling”.
“Damn,” I whispered.
Then I took a hearty tug on my bottle with both Hank and Vance watching. I was pretty sure they’d seen the display on my phone, which meant I couldn’t ignore it like I wanted to.
I flipped it open.
“Hey,” I said.
“Where are you?” Eddie asked.
I looked at the table, everyone had their eyes on me.
Wonderful.
I hated that.
“I’m at Indy and Lee’s, drinking sparkling wine and playing Yahtzee. Indy and Lee got engaged today and we’re celebrating,” I answered.
Silence.
“Eddie? Did you hear me? Indy and Lee got engaged.”
More silence.
Hmm.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“I’m standin’ in my bedroom lookin’ at the empty space where your bag used to be.”
Eek!
I gave a weak smile to the table, got up and started towards the kitchen.
“I meant to tell you,” I said as I was walking.
“When?”
I hadn’t actually meant to tell him. I had meant to avoid him until I had a chance to figure out what I meant to tell him. Which meant, figure out my life, sort out Fortnum’s and Smithie’s and then say good-bye. I got sidetracked by the informal engagement party, the sparkling wine and the Yahtzee.
I cursed wedding magazines, champagne and dice games and hit the kitchen.
“Maybe we can talk about this later,” I suggested.
“When?”
I figured Eddie was pretty good in an interrogation room.
“Eddie…”
“I’ll be there in ten.”
No.
No, no, no.
“I’m leaving in a few minutes,” I lied. I didn’t intend to leave, I had the bonus points all tied up in that game and I was cruising to a win (or, at least, one of the top three). I only had a full house and a chance left and Tod said full houses were easy to get.
“You’re not there when I get there, I’ll find you and it won’t be good when I do.”
Dear Lord.
“Eddie…”
But he’d disconnected.
Eddie showed up and, luckily, he was forced into the celebration by the very fact that it was a celebration. He gave Indy a hug and Lee a man-hug (one-armed, hearty slap on the back that would probably leave a bruise, all the while shaking hands).
Then his eyes locked on me.
They were glittery.
Not good.
I was back to being wedged between Vance and Hank. Hank slid his seat away from me, Lee found a chair and Eddie flipped it into a super-wedge in the space Hank left. He sat beside me, close beside me, his hand curled around my neck and he pulled me to him. His lips hit my cheek and moved to my ear.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said.
My stomach clutched and I was pretty sure I was having heart palpitations.
“Yahtzee!” Stevie shouted and I jumped.
Eddie let me go and sat in the next game drinking from my bottle of wine.
I kind of wanted to ask for another one, I was thinking drunk was definitely the way to go.
Once the game was over, Daisy got up and declared, “Marcus’ll be wonderin’ where I am.”
She said her good-byes with hugs and air kisses and left.
Tod and Stevie followed her and Bobby and Matt went home to their girlfriends (this was a surprise, I didn’t know they had girlfriends).
Vance took a call that changed the expression on his face, made him send a meaningful glance to Lee and he left.
“Let’s play strip poker,” Ally suggested when the door closed behind Vance.
“That’d be a good idea, Jet’s a shit poker player,” Hank said.
Dear Lord, save me.
“But I’m not playin’ strip poker with my sister,” Hank finished.
Thank you God for one small favor.
“Time to go home,” Eddie said, pushing his chair back to get up.
I looked at him. He may have been playing at being in the celebratory mood but one look at him told me he simply was not.
I looked at the table.
“Maybe we could play just poker, poker,” I tried.
His hand grabbed mine and he pulled me up.
“Indy and Lee probably want to be alone,” Eddie said.
He was probably right. The look on Lee’s face said he was definitely right.
Everyone disbursed, more hugs and kisses and Eddie and I went out the front.
“My car is at Fortnum’s,” I told him.
“I’ll take you to get it tomorrow morning,” Eddie replied, walking me to the truck. He bleeped its locks and I pulled hard on my hand in his. It didn’t work.
He stopped at the passenger side door.
“I’m going home,” I said.
“Already told you, I prefer my bed,” he returned.
“Okay, you sleep in your bed and I’ll sleep in my bed.”
Wrong answer.
He pushed me against the truck with a hand at my belly.
“You want to have this talk out here in the street or do you want to do it at my place?”
I didn’t want to have the talk at all. But I was willing to have the talk in a delayed-type fashion.
I went for it.
“I was thinking, maybe tomorrow.”
“You were thinkin’ wrong.”
Sweet Jesus.
“Eddie…”
He opened the truck door.
“Get in the truck, Jet.”
I pulled out the attitude. Certainly, the scaredy-cat gambit wasn’t getting me anywhere.
I gave him a glare. “You’re incredibly pushy!” I snapped.
“Get in the truck,” he repeated.
I turned to walk away.
“I’m going to my car,” I announced.
I was pulled back at the middle, his finger snagging the belt loop of my jeans.
He pushed me back against the side of the truck and got close.
“Remember what I said about no longer bein’ tolerant of your shit?”
He sounded pretty angry, so angry that words escaped me, so I nodded.
“I meant this shit too, now get in the truck.”
“I really don’t like you,” I told him, still trying to go with the attitude.
Again, it was the wrong choice.
His body got still for a beat and then he got even closer.
“Now,” he said quietly, “you just threw down. So, I’m gonna have to prove you wrong. After I do that, we’re gonna talk.”
Eek!
What could I say?
I’d walked right into that one.
Still, I gave him a glare before I got in the truck.
Just because.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Talk
I came up with a strategy on the silent ride to Eddie’s.
He parked in the garage and we went into the kitchen. I put my purse down on the counter and he walked into the living room. I took a deep breath and followed him.
He turned to me, planted his hands on his hips and stared at me.
“You wanna explain why I came home to find you’d moved out?”
The good news was, he’d given up on the idea of proving me wrong about not liking him.
The bad news was, we weren’t going to sit down and relax in front of a ballgame before our talk.
Oh well, it was now or never.
I walked up to him and slid my arms around his middle. I pressed my body to his. I tucked my face into his neck and, with my lips pressed against the side of his throat I said, “Not really.”
“Chiquita…”
I went up on tiptoe, my lips moved and I kissed him behind his ear.
I’d never had to seduce Eddie. Eddie was kind of a take-charge type of guy when it came to sex (well really, Eddie was kind of a take-charge type of guy all the time), as in, he wanted it, he took it.
I’d never actually had to seduce anyone and I didn’t exactly know what to do. I was hoping just to get the ball rolling and then Eddie could take over.
“Jet, I asked you a question,” he said.
My hands moved up his back. He had a nice back and I could feel the definition of the muscle under my fingers. I could also smell him and the combination of the two was pretty heady stuff.
“I heard you,” I said against his skin and then moved my mouth around the front and kissed his throat in the dent where it met his neck.
“You gonna answer me?” he asked and I got the feeling he wasn’t going to fall in line with my plan. The reason I thought this was because he still had his hands planted on my hips.
That was a bummer considering I was liking my plan more and more as the seconds ticked by.
I pulled my arms from his back and put them around his neck, my fingers went in his hair and I tilted my head back as I pressed his down.
“I’ll answer… later.”
Then I kissed him.
I should have tried that first.
In the beginning, he didn’t respond, but then I got going and touched the tip of my tongue to his closed lips. The second I did that, his arms went around me and he kissed me back. Then he took over the kiss, his mouth opening over mine, his tongue sliding inside.
My body melted and my stomach curled.
He lifted his head and I said, “Yum.”
I didn’t really mean to, it just came out.
I opened my eyes and his were liquid.
Then he started walking us toward the bedroom, arms still around me, I was moving back, he was moving forward, his hands were active and he kissed me again.
This was more like it.
It was awhile later (a long while), after he’d let me take over again (for a little while), then he took over (for a longer while), when he flipped me on my back, spread my legs and finally, slowly, slid inside me.
“Chiquita.”