This Winter Night Page 11
“Hi again,” Desiree said and came forward to offer a hug.
Colton hugged her back. “Desiree,” he said warmly. “My cousin sends his best.”
Desiree laughed. “You tell him I send mine right back.”
Amina was next. She had her natural hair braided and it fell to the middle of her back. She shook his hand. “Amina,” she said.
“Like the African warrior princess?” Colton said.
Amina was impressed. “You know about Aminatu, the Nigerian princess who built a fortress around the city of Zaria to protect her people in times of war?”
“I’m an African history buff,” Colton admitted.
This earned him points from Virginia, who was an educator.
She continued with the introductions. “And this is the baby of the family, Meghan.”
Meghan smiled up at him. “It’s a pleasure, Colton. I happen to be a history professor.”
Colton peered at her with a puzzled expression. “You can’t be more than twenty.”
“I’m twenty-four, the youngest professor at North Carolina State,” she told him matter-of-factly. She laughed, “I don’t really look twenty, do I?”
“I’m sorry, but you do,” said Colton.
Everyone laughed.
“All right, since the introductions have been made,” Virginia announced, “Colton, have a seat and enjoy the game. Girls, I know this is sexist, but let’s get the food on the table.”
Her daughters let out playful groans of protest as they followed her out of the room.
In the women’s absence, Fonzi turned to Colton, who had sat down beside him on the big brown leather couch in front of the widescreen TV. “That’s just an excuse to go talk about you behind your back.”
“Oh, I know,” said Colton. “That’s how they do it in my family, too.”
Fonzi chuckled and reached for the bowl of mixed nuts, but his father-in-law already had it in his hands and was picking out the pecans and putting them in his mouth.
“May I have the nuts, Ben?” asked Fonzi.
“You could stand to drop a few pounds,” Ben teased him. “I’m doing you a favor.”
“You’d be doing me a favor by passing me the nuts,” Fonzi insisted.
“Wait, there’s another pecan at the bottom,” Benjamin said.
“Ginny!” Fonzi yelled. “Would you tell your father to behave?”
“Behave, Daddy,” Virginia yelled back.
Benjamin handed over the bowl of nuts. “Big baby,” he muttered about his son-in-law.
Fonzi peered into the bowl, which had been totally depleted of his favorite nut, the pecan. “You don’t even like pecans,” he accused Benjamin.
“I suddenly get a taste for them when I’m around you,” Ben said with a smile.
Fonzi sighed and shook his head. “One of these days, old man, one of these days.”
“Let’s go,” said Benjamin as if he were ready to step outside. He said to Colton conspiratorially, “His bark is worse than his bite.”
Fonzi set the bowl of nuts on the coffee table. “Let me explain, Colton. Benjamin has never forgiven me for marrying his daughter and making her happy. He thought she should have stayed in the mountains with him and married some mountain man and stayed barefoot and pregnant instead of getting an education and traveling the world with me. And that, in a nutshell, is the reason for the antagonism between me and my father-in-law, the most stubborn man in creation.”
“That’s not all,” Benjamin said. “I also don’t like you because you didn’t give me a grandson. Every time my little Virginia got pregnant I would wish for a boy so that maybe then she could stop bringing your children into the world. But the more she tried for a boy the more girls kept coming. I love my granddaughters. But couldn’t you manage to shoot out one boy? It’s not up to the woman, you know. It’s all on the man.”
“Damn it, Ben, we get the children God sends us,” cried Fonzi. “Get off my back!”
Colton liked both of them. They reminded him of his dad and his uncle Tad who never got along. But after his father’s death his uncle Tad had been the one to give the eulogy and there hadn’t been a dry eye in the church when he was done.
During dinner, Colton sat between Lauren and Virginia. The dining room table was laden with Southern cuisine that Virginia had modified to make healthier for her family. She never fried anything, or used fatty pork to season her greens. She used smoked turkey instead. Her menu today included baked chicken, mustard greens, sweet potato soufflé, macaroni and cheese, acre peas with whole okra and corn muffins. For dessert she’d made a golden cake with chocolate icing, Fonzi’s favorite.
Everyone ate to their heart’s content. Benjamin, though a small man, put away a prodigious amount of food. After he’d finished eating, he burped loudly. “Excuse me,” he said sheepishly. “You know, in some cultures that’s a sign you enjoyed the meal, and I did, baby girl. Everything was delicious, but now I should be getting on the road. It’s a long drive back home.”
“Won’t you stay another night, Dad?” Virginia said in cajoling tones.
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Ben said regrettably.
His son-in-law was smiling happily. “Now, Ginny, he says he’s got to be back by tomorrow morning to welcome some new guests. Let him go.”
Ben ignored him. Instead, he turned his attention to Amina. “Mina, I know you’re feeling at loose ends after coming back home. I’d like you to consider coming to work with me. I don’t have anyone to leave the business to. Your mother, as you know, is my only child and you girls my only grandchildren. Your sisters have careers. Maybe owning a lodge would suit you. You never know. Want to give it a try?”
Mina was stunned because, number one, her grandfather hardly ever made grand gestures. He was too taciturn for long speeches. And number two, because he was always lamenting the fact that he didn’t have a grandson, someone he could leave the lodge to when he died.
She got up and went to hug him. “Grandpa, I’d love to give it a try. In fact, I’ll go throw a few things in my duffel bag and I’ll leave with you right now. I’ll do the driving.”
“You can drive a stick shift?”
“Grandpa, I can drive anything with wheels,” said Mina with a broad grin.
Her sisters, as excited as she was by their grandfather’s offer, got up and followed her out of the dining room to help her pack.
Lauren kissed Colton’s cheek before she joined her sisters, “Be back soon, sweetie.”
Colton was left at the table with her parents and grandfather. Virginia smiled at him. “Things happen quickly around here.”
Chapter 10
Lauren rarely phoned to make an appointment to inspect the building site of the children’s hospital. She liked to drop by unexpectedly, which served two purposes. It lessened the chance that she would run into Adam, and it also kept the construction crew on their toes.
It was a Friday in mid-February. The sun was shining brightly when Lauren arrived at the site at half past eleven. She was dressed in a dark gray pantsuit and comfortable heels. Because this was routine for her, she had brought her own hard hat that she had put on as soon as she got out of the car across the street from the site. The building’s substructure or foundation had been completed and the crew had begun on the ground level.
She was spotted by one of the construction workers as soon as she walked onto the site and heard him yell, “Hey, boss, the architect’s here.”
She smiled. They had a warning system. The foreman, whom she knew from her previous visits, was a short, burly red-faced man in his forties with huge biceps and a broad chest. He hurried toward her, smiling. “Miss Gaines. How are you today?”
“Hello, Mr. McPherson. Fine, thank you, and you?”
“Right as r
ain!” he said with a smile.
“I’m just going to do a quick walk-through if it’s all right with you,” Lauren said casually. Specifically, she was there to make certain the materials they were using were of the highest quality and the skill with which they applied them was up to par. “If you like, you’re free to join me,” she told him. She didn’t want to put anyone’s teeth on edge. She tried to make these inspections as painless for the crew as possible. If she saw shoddy materials being used, for example, she wouldn’t put the blame on them but on their employer.
Bobby McPherson nodded his agreement. “I’d be happy to.”
“This is on a spread foundation, am I right?” she asked Bobby.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Reinforced concrete isn’t as solid a foundation as a solid rock foundation but this baby will stand the test of time.”
She asked him for dimensions and he supplied them. She walked the length of the foundation while around her workers were bolting together steel beams, girders and columns which would form the superstructure. The bolting was temporary. Workers would weld the steel together permanently later on.
After half an hour Lauren was satisfied with her walk-through and shook Bobby’s hand as she prepared to leave.
“Looks good,” she said. “Thank you, Mr. McPherson.”
“Anytime, Miss Gaines,” Bobby said as he walked alongside her. He scrunched up his face. “Um, ma’am, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”
Lauren’s brows rose in surprise. Bobby McPherson had never tried to delay her leaving. On the contrary, he always seemed relieved when she exited the site. She couldn’t see any harm in him asking her a question, though, so she signaled for him to continue. “No, go ahead.”
“Is it true you used to be married to the boss?”
“Yes, it’s true,” Lauren said easily.
His face reddened further. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be nosy. It’s just that you go by the name Gaines.”
“I went back to using my maiden name after the divorce,” she said feeling a bit uncomfortable explaining this to Adam’s foreman. It was apparent, though, that Adam had told Bobby McPherson about their past relationship. The question was why had he taken the time to do that?
She got her answer when she started walking back across the street to her car. Adam was waiting next to it, smiling. Bobby McPherson must have phoned him or sent a text message before coming to meet her.
“Surprise inspection?” he asked, his light brown eyes alight with humor.
Lauren removed her hard hat and held it in front of her. “You know how it is. It’s my job to make sure the customer gets the building he’s paying for.”
“Is everything to your satisfaction?”
“So far, so good,” she said lightly.
“What are you doing for lunch?” he asked. “It’s practically noon. Want to go to that café we used to like near here?”
“No, Adam, I don’t want to share a meal with you,” she said bluntly. Her eyes met his. “Look into my eyes. Do I show any indication that I’m the least bit interested in having a personal relationship with you?”
“It’s a woman’s right to change her mind,” Adam said hopeful. “I can’t imagine that Riley’s giving you something I couldn’t give you if you let me.”
“I’m not going to discuss my relationship with Colton with you.”
Adam frowned. “Relationship,” he said dismissively. “You’ve only known him for six weeks.”
“How do you know how long I’ve known him?” she asked suspiciously.
“I’ve asked around,” he said hesitantly. “Okay, I hired a private detective to find out how you met. It was in the mountains during a snowstorm. I should never have given you that cabin.”
Lauren laughed. “You didn’t want it.”
“If I’d known you would turn it into a love nest for you and Riley, I never would have given it to you.”
Lauren wanted to go but he was standing right in front of the driver’s side door, blocking her from reaching for the door’s handle. “I’m really tired of your games,” she said with a long-suffering sigh. “You don’t want me. You just don’t want Colton to have me. Your possessions were always more important to you than I ever was.”
“I already admitted that,” Adam reminded her. “Okay, so you don’t want me back. I get it. My question is, did you ever love me? If you did, you would have loved me unconditionally. You would have had it in your heart to forgive my transgressions.”
“I’m not a saint,” Lauren said. “I don’t have it in me to keep forgiving someone for their transgressions, especially if those transgressions involve having sex with other women. Sex is supposed to be sacred. It doesn’t mean the same when you’re sharing your man.”
“Is the sex that good with Riley?” He sounded as though any minute now he was going to start yelling.
“Did you not hear me when I said I wasn’t going to discuss my relationship with Colton with you?” she asked incredulously.
“Of course I heard you, Lauren. I hear everything you say. I simply refuse to accept it. When we met you were totally innocent. I was your first.”
“What has that got to do with anything?”
“You saved yourself for your husband,” he said reasonably. “You believed that we would be together forever. I disappointed you and broke our bond. In some ways it broke you, too. Admit that, at least.”
“I admit it,” she readily said. “You broke my heart. That’s why I’m not letting you near it again.”
“I’m trying to restore your perfect dream,” he said, his voice soft and sincere. “Your mother and father have had a long marriage. Your grandfather had been married to your grandmother for over fifty years when he lost her. So what if we had a hiccup in our marriage? We could remarry and continue the family tradition. Riley can’t offer you that, he’s no better than I was. He’s a playboy. Eventually he’ll grow tired of you and move on to the next beautiful woman. Could his feelings for you be anything other than lust? Maybe he’s a little grateful to you for saving his life. The detective said he would have probably frozen to death if you hadn’t let him in. Lust and gratefulness are all your relationship is based on. Do you know what an orgasm is? It’s a chemical reaction in the body. Oxytocin, called the love hormone, is released when you climax. People mistake it for love and before you know it you’re in a relationship. Think about that. You and I have a history. He’s only a hormone releaser in a good-looking package,” he concluded.
“Wow,” said Lauren, shaking her head in awe. “You are such a silver-tongued devil I’m almost convinced you’re right, that Colton is just a handsome plaything. Fortunately, I’m immune to your lies and manipulation. Now get out of my way.”
She went to reach around him for the door’s handle and he pulled her into his arms and tried to kiss her. She dropped the hard hat and struggled against him. She hesitated using karate on him because at her present level of anger she might seriously injure him. So she gritted her teeth and pushed him hard in the chest, putting her weight into it, until he fell backward onto the pavement.
Adam laughed as he looked up at her from the ground. “I suppose I should be happy you didn’t kick me in the crotch.” He got to his feet and dusted himself off. “Sorry, darling. I was desperate to show you how I feel.”
Lauren stood with her hands on her hips, her legs spread in a defiant stance. “Stop calling me darling, and I don’t care if you’re sincere about wanting me back. I don’t want you. So I’m telling you, once and for all, leave me alone.”
Adam’s demeanor instantly changed. He’d been smiling ruefully. Now his eyes narrowed and his expression became mean and calculating. “You know I hate ultimatums. If you don’t want me then let’s see how long your lover boy will want you after he sees you in action.”
“You can’t be implying that you have compromising photos of me,” she said indignantly. “I never agreed to do that with you.”
“That doesn’t mean I didn’t film us together,” he said with a smirk. “Remember the night we christened our new house? We made love in front of the fire. Your body looks so good in firelight. That film makes very fine viewing.”
That was when she slugged him. It wasn’t a karate move, it was an old-fashioned right cross to the jaw and it took him by surprise. His head snapped to the side and there was a sharp cracking sound. Lauren thought she’d broken his jaw and for one fleeting moment, wished she had. But when he looked at her again, his eyes watering, his hand gingerly touching his face, she saw that his jaw was intact.
He blinked at her as though his vision might not be clear. “Damn, you put some power behind that punch. I used to think you were exaggerating when you said you took martial arts from a young age, but that really hurt.”
“Boss, boss, are you okay!” Bobby McPherson shouted as he came running across the street with two other men in tow.
“I’m fine, Bobby,” Adam said. “No need for your concern. Please go back to work.”
Bobby looked from him to Lauren. “Are you sure? She still looks mad to me.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Adam said decisively.
Bobby reluctantly backed away and gestured to the two men who’d arrived with him to head back across the street to the site.