“Did you get out of bed on the wrong side this morning?” Margaret asked, following me.
I attempted to pour a cup of coffee and couldn’t. Setting the pot back on the burner, I turned to face my sister, certain I’d gone completely ashen.
“Lydia,” she whispered, looking shaken when she saw me. “What happened?”
I opened my mouth to speak but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, a low moan escaped and then my body was racked by gut-wrenching sobs. So much for regaining my composure.
Margaret’s arms were around me in a flash, and it was a good thing because I was on the verge of collapse.
“Lydia, Lydia, what happened?” She paused, staring at me. “Is it Brad? I saw him outside and he didn’t say a word to me.”
I couldn’t make myself speak. It felt as if this was the end of the world—my world, anyway. I’d been so happy, so excited. For the first time since I was a teenager, I felt truly alive and normal. I’d found love—only to discover how fleeting it can be.
“I…need to go upstairs,” I whispered after I’d pulled myself together enough to speak. “Can you handle the store for a while?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you.” I retrieved Whiskers from the front window and by chance looked out to see Brad sitting inside his truck. He had doubled over, his forehead pressed against the upper curve of the steering wheel.
Margaret came to stand behind me. She placed her hand on my shoulder and then glanced out the window.
“You and Brad?” she asked gently.
I nodded. “He’s going back to his ex-wife.”
Margaret turned me in her arms, and hugged me close and hard. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered and I’m sure she was but not nearly as sorry as me.
CHAPTER 15
ELISE BEAUMONT
Elise wasn’t in the best of moods when she returned from her knitting class. Her nonexistent class. She’d arrived at A Good Yarn to find that Lydia had fallen ill and the class had been cancelled. Margaret had tried to be helpful, but apparently she wasn’t much of a knitter and had never made socks. She did say Lydia would extend the class by one week, which was only fair. Elise, however, had made a considerable effort to get to the yarn store on time and was sorely disappointed.
By way of apology Margaret had offered Elise, Bethanne and Courtney a thirty percent discount on anything they wanted to buy that day. Elise wasn’t buying anything. She didn’t need yarn, she needed help with the socks and was annoyed that she’d have to wait until the following week to continue.
“You’re home early,” Aurora commented when Elise walked into the house. Her dour look must have conveyed her mood because her daughter frowned. “What happened, did the class get cancelled?”
“Yes, and I wanted to learn how to turn the heel.” She hadn’t mentioned that the socks were a gift for David. She wished now that she’d lingered downtown and perhaps visited a friend or gone to the library. Instead, she’d rushed back to the house as if she had nothing better to do.
That sudden desire to return home worried Elise; she was afraid she was succumbing to Maverick’s effect on her. She did everything she could to maintain the distance between them, but it wasn’t easy. After all, they slept across the hall from each other and shared one if not two meals a day.
Maverick didn’t lose an opportunity to sweet-talk her. Oh, Elise recognized it for what it was. This was simply a form of entertainment to him. She was a challenge, and he was determined to win her over, just to prove he could do it. He might view himself as an irresistible force, but Elise was equally determined to remain an immovable object. She absolutely would not fall under his spell—unlike her daughter and everyone else in the household.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Aurora said under her breath. “Dad volunteered to watch the boys for me while I run some errands, but I’m afraid they might be too much for him.”
“You want me to help?”
Aurora’s eyes softened with gratitude. “If you would, Mom, that’d be great.”
Elise longed to refuse, but didn’t feel she could. Maverick would surely welcome this as another chance to exercise his considerable charm. That man would try to talk his way into heaven, and was probably counting on doing exactly that.
“I’ll let Dad know you’re here,” Aurora said, hugging Elise. “Thanks, Mom.”
Elise went to her room, but kept the door open, which she often used to do before Maverick’s visit. Heaven only knew how long he intended to stay. He’d said two weeks; he’d been here one week already and hadn’t given any indication that he was ready to head out. Each day was agony. She wanted him gone so she could relax and not have to stay constantly on guard.
Sorting through her dirty clothes, Elise carried her whites to the laundry room off the kitchen. She loaded the washing machine and waited until she heard the water running before she left.
As she walked into the living room, she saw Maverick standing there, a boy under each arm. Luke and John squealed with delight and he growled playfully, but stopped abruptly when he saw her. “The boys want me to take them to the park.”
“Then I think you should,” she said formally.
“I will if you come along.”
An automatic protest rose. But before she could utter a word, Luke and John begged her to accompany them. She felt she had no choice, particularly since she’d promised Aurora she’d help out with the kids. “All right, I’ll grab my sweater.”
“It’s not cold,” Luke told her.
Today was unseasonably cold for the end of June, but perhaps to a child who raced and played it was pleasant enough. Elise, however, required a sweater.
Maverick and the children were waiting out front for her. Elise called Aurora, who had a cell phone, and explained that they were all walking to the park, which was two blocks away.
The park was little more than a playground with a few pieces of equipment, an abundance of dwarf cherry trees, several well-maintained flower beds and a few benches. The boys loved the swing set and the slides. As soon as they got close, Luke and John tore off across the freshly mowed lawn toward the play equipment.
Maverick followed Elise to a nearby bench. She planned to sit and wait quietly until the boys wore themselves out. She didn’t care what Maverick did and wanted to groan out loud when he settled down next to her. He watched the kids play, laughing aloud a couple of times and shouting encouragement. She had to acknowledge that he was an excellent grandfather. Although he’d had very little experience with children—as far as she knew—he seemed to have a natural affinity for them. Women too, she reminded herself.
“Don’t you envy all that energy?” he asked casually.
“Oh, yes.” She would answer his questions but had no intention of starting up a conversation.
Maverick didn’t say anything for a minute or so, which for him must be some kind of record. That man could talk more than anyone she’d ever known.
When he finally did speak, she wished he hadn’t. “I was surprised to find you living with Aurora.”
She frowned and gathered the sweater more tightly around her. He knew before he’d arrived that she was living with their daughter and her family. “What you really mean is that you’re wondering why an independent woman like me is pinching my pennies.” She hadn’t heard from the attorney in a couple of weeks now and was beginning to fear she’d never get her money back. Thinking about the situation made her feel angry and ill, so most of the time she tried to put it out of her mind.
“All right,” he agreed, “I am wondering. What happened?”
“I…I’m in the middle of a class-action lawsuit with a developer. I bought a piece of land and put money down on a house after touring the model home. Then the development company went belly-up.” The bile rose in her throat as she relayed the details of this disaster. “Trust me, dealing with attorneys and lawsuits isn’t how I thought I’d be spending my retirement.”
It was embarrassing to ad
mit how foolish she’d been in not investigating the project thoroughly before she wrote the check. If she had, she would’ve discovered that the developer was in a financial mess.
“You can’t get the money back?” Maverick asked.
“I’m trying, along with the other people he swindled,” she snapped, angry that he wouldn’t drop the subject. “What I didn’t lose on the house, the attorney’s fees are eating up. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not discuss this further.”
“Sorry.”
“Me, too.”
“Is he wanted by the police?”
She wished he was; then perhaps there’d be some recourse, but there wasn’t a damn thing she could do except join the others in a lawsuit. “No. It was incompetence, not outright fraud. In the end, I have no one to blame but myself.” Maverick didn’t need to tell her she’d been naive and trusting—Elise was well aware of that fact.
“Is there anything I can do?”
His offer touched her. She didn’t want his kindness or his understanding, and at the same time she craved both. “I should’ve brought my knitting,” she declared with such urgency that Maverick stood, seemingly ready to retrieve it on her behalf.
“Do you need it?”
She shook her head. “It helps calm my nerves, that’s all.”
He sat back down. “I’ll go get it if you want.”
“No, no, it’s all right. Just don’t be kind to me, Maverick. I don’t want you to, so please don’t.”
A scowl darkened his features, and then he seemed to go from anger to gentleness in one blink of his eyes. When he looked at her again, his expression was tender. “I love you, Elise.”
Now she was the one who vaulted to her feet. “Don’t you dare say that to me! Don’t you dare!”
“I mean it.”
“Don’t, Maverick, please don’t. Did you love me when you spent the rent check on a double or nothing bet? Did you love me when there wasn’t enough money to buy milk for the baby?”
He went very still, then whispered. “Yes, I did, but sweetheart, it was a good bet. I couldn’t lose. And I didn’t.”
Elise groaned inwardly. “You say you loved me but you loved gambling more.”
“I did.” He patted the bench, silently inviting her to sit down.
She waited a moment and then gave in. Maverick Beaumont had always been her weakness, but she was older and wiser now and not as easily swayed. Or so she told herself.
“Do you still love gambling as much?” she asked, curiosity forcing her to ask.
He hesitated. “I’m going to tell you something. You might not believe it, but I swear to you it’s true. I’ve given it up. I was good at it, Elise, really good. I made a name for myself but it means nothing to me now. What’s important is my family. I’m through with cards.”
She smiled and resisted the urge to remind him how often she’d heard that before. “You’re right. I don’t believe you.”
“That’s why I’m in Seattle.”
“There are plenty of casinos around here.”
“I won’t be in any of them. I’m looking for a place to buy close to Aurora so I can spend time with her and my grandsons. I missed out on so much while my daughter was growing up, and I feel that God’s given me a second chance with these boys. I’m different now, Elise. I swear to you I’m a changed man.”
“I’m sorry, Maverick. As much as I want to believe you, I can’t.”
It was as if he hadn’t heard her. “I’ve got my eye on a condo. I put down earnest money, but the unit won’t be available until August first. Aurora told me I could stay as long as I needed, and David agreed. Once everything’s been worked out with the title company and the place is vacant, I’ll move in.”
Elise wasn’t sure she should let herself trust him. She wanted to believe what he said, but he’d made so many promises before. His intentions always started out good, but after a week or two of staying away from the gaming tables, he’d find a poker game and be willing to wager their food money on a roll of the dice. She’d seen it far too many times.
“Grandma, Grandpa,” Luke cried, running toward the park bench at breakneck speed.
John followed a few paces behind. “We’re ready to go back to the house.”
This was a pleasant surprise. Generally, it took the boys an hour or more to wind down enough to even consider returning home.
“We want to play that game you taught us,” Luke said, grabbing hold of Maverick’s arm.
Elise’s suspicions rose. “What game?”
“It’s with cards,” Luke explained.
A fierce anger gripped her and her heart began to race.
“Excuse me?” she said to Maverick. “With cards?”
“It’s a Texas game,” John told her excitedly.
“Texas Hold ’em,” Maverick said, and had the decency to glance sheepishly in her direction. “Now, Elise, don’t go looking at me like that. It’s a harmless game.”
She placed both hands on her hips and glared at him. “Do you mean to tell me you’re teaching our grandsons how to gamble?”
He didn’t deny it.
She should have known…should have known.
CHAPTER 16
COURTNEY PULANSKI
After the evening’s inauspicious beginning, the Mariners’ game with Andrew and Annie Hamlin had turned out to be fun. Courtney had met five of Andrew’s friends, and they’d all seemed friendly. The one person who’d been standoffish and distant, not to mention rude, had been Annie. It was more than obvious that she didn’t want to be at the game and had somehow been thwarted by her mother and brother from doing something else. She’d ignored both Andrew and Courtney and had barely spoken a word the entire evening. Which was why Courtney was rather shocked when Annie phoned on Friday afternoon and invited her to a movie that night.
“Yeah, sure I guess,” Courtney said. It wasn’t like she had any other plans. And a movie was certainly preferable to her other option—playing bingo at the VFW Hall with her grandmother. “What did you want to see?”
Annie seemed unprepared for the question. “I don’t really care, do you? I just need to get out for a while.”
“No, anything is fine.” But a nice romantic comedy would suit her; Courtney was in the mood to laugh.
After some perfunctory chitchat, they arranged a time and place to meet. Precisely at seven, Courtney’s grandmother dropped her off at the entrance to Pacific Place, near the Pottery Barn, on her way to bingo, and Courtney waited outside until Annie arrived. Bethanne waved at Courtney as Annie jumped out of the car and slammed the passenger door.
The smile on Annie’s face faded as soon as her mother’s car was out of sight. “You can split now if you want.”
“Split?”
“I only needed you so Mom would think I was going to the movie.”
Courtney didn’t know whether to feel hurt or offended; what she didn’t feel was surprised. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m meeting friends.”
The message was clear: Courtney wasn’t one of those friends. Fine, but she had no intention of wandering around town all by herself. “Can I come?”
Annie gave her the once-over, then shrugged. “Okay, but not looking like that.”
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Courtney asked defensively.
Annie shrugged again. “Nothing, I guess, but you need more makeup.”
“Sure, fine.” Courtney had plenty in her purse.
“Follow me,” Bethanne’s daughter said, turning abruptly. She walked into Pacific Place.
Given no choice, Courtney followed her, weaving through the throng of Friday-evening shoppers. They passed a kiosk selling designer cosmetics, which Annie stopped to admire. “You’d look good with this lipstick,” she said, twisting open a display tube of bright purple. She checked the price, raised her eyebrows and put it back.
Courtney started to examine several little pots of eye glitter but didn’t get
a chance to see much. Annie had already walked away. Once again, she had to rush in order to catch up. Pacific Place was bright, noisy, crowded with shoppers jostling packages and bags.
Courtney realized Annie was headed for the ladies’ room. Once inside, Annie stepped into a stall while Courtney stood in front of the sink. She set her purse on the counter and pulled out her cosmetics bag. She was stroking on more eye shadow when Annie left the stall in what appeared to be a completely new outfit.
The other girl’s blouse had been replaced by a scanty halter top, with her breasts spilling out over the top. The jeans were now a thigh-high, skin-tight denim skirt.
“Shocked?” Annie asked and laughed. “Mom would be, too, if she saw me.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied Courtney. “You won’t tell her, will you?”
The question was accompanied by a glare that promised to make trouble for her if she refused. “I won’t tell.”
“Promise?”
Courtney nodded.
Annie’s face relaxed in a smile. “Good. Here’s a gift for you.” She tossed Courtney the tube of purple lipstick she’d been looking at only moments earlier.
Courtney caught it just before it hit the floor. She was stunned; she could’ve sworn she’d seen Annie return it.
“It’s a skill I have,” Annie explained.
Courtney hoped she wasn’t around when this little kleptomaniac got arrested. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, keep the lipstick herself. After her mother died, she’d been shoplifting at an expensive clothing store. Security had called the police and, worse, her father. Nothing was worth risking that humiliation again. Or the guilt…She’d never forget the sorrow and disappointment on her father’s face.
When Annie wasn’t looking, Courtney threw the tube in the garbage.
Staring into a mirror, Annie teased her hair, reapplied her makeup with an expert hand and moved toward the door. She sighed when Courtney didn’t immediately follow her. “Are you coming or not?”
Hurriedly, Courtney stuffed her cosmetics bag inside her purse and started after the other girl, wondering where Annie was going now. It didn’t matter. Courtney decided she had to go with her. She didn’t know what Annie was up to but felt responsible. Maybe because of Bethanne; she wasn’t sure. Or maybe it was simply because she recognized the signs—an unhappy, self-destructive girl intent on finding trouble.