Brou puts his hand on top of mine. So romantic. “I couldn’t stop thinking about Lawrence. I jumped at the chance to see her again when I found out Stout was coming for a visit. I completely crashed on his business meeting in Macon.”
“So Lucas’s visit to Savannah is the real when, where, and how part of the story.” I still love how he walked into my shop and told me I had bewitched him. Best pickup line ever.
“Oh, I love it. What a great story. What did my son say when you told him?” Mom has no idea how deeply Ollie opposed my relationship with Brou. For her to know that, we’d have to tell her about Brou’s history with women. I don’t think I want to go there.
“Not super happy at first but he’s coming around.” Still working on that but it’s getting better.
“Well, we think it’s wonderful. Don’t worry. He will too eventually.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I don’t know if I ever told you this or not but your father and I had a long-distance relationship for two years before we married. I stayed here and went to Georgia. Your dad, being the brilliant man he is, got a full scholarship to Texas A&M.” I knew Dad had graduated from Texas and they married right after finishing school but I never put two and two together.
“How often did we see each other that year, Lib?”
“Twice? Maybe three times during the school year?” Good grief.
“We made it count when we were together,” my dad says. I know the feeling.
“Twice a month doesn’t seem so bad when you consider that.”
“It’s easier today with cell phones, Facetiming, email, skyping. We were limited to ten minute calls every few days.”
“And letters.”
“Lots of love letters, which have become obsolete in today’s world.” Such a shame.
“There’s something to be said for checking the mail every day, desperate for a perfume-scented letter from the woman you love.”
My father cups his hand over my mother’s and I can’t help but think how wonderful it must be to walk through life with someone special by your side. I’ve thought all this time I was fine alone, and I am, but I look at Brou and see a potentially different future. One that includes him holding my hand over breakfast, maybe telling our children about the time we shared a long-distance relationship and made it work.
* * *
Lights dim. Soft, seductive music. Warm oils. I’m all set to give Brou the best massage of his life.
“On my stomach?”
“No. Lie face up on the bed from side to side.” This rubdown isn’t going to be anything like what he’s expecting. I’m going to hit all his erogenous zones as well as the sexual trigger points.
“Close your eyes and completely relax.”
I begin at the top of his head, scratching his scalp with my nails, and he breaks into a smile. “You’re giving me goosebumps.”
“Good. You’re the one getting them for a change.”
I gently press the center of his forehead between his eyebrows and temples, the area known as the third eye. I gently hold pressure for a minute and then lightly rotate my fingers on his temples. It’s said this motion relieves tension and allows sexual excitement to flow. Guess we’ll see.
“Doing okay?”
“Mmm hmm.”
I pour a generous amount of oil on my hands and rub them together. “Ready for me to move on to something a little more fun.”
“Oh, yeah.”
I climb onto the bed and kneel beside Brou. My finger circles the rim of his belly button for a moment before I move lower and gently press the Gate of Origin. “This opens sexual energy for when I move on to the erogenous zones.”
“This feels pretty erogenous to me.”
“This is just the beginning. I’m not even close to getting you turned on yet.” I place the heel of my hand against the thick tendons in his groin, holding steady pressure. “So much more to come, baby.”
My phone vibrates on the nightstand, interrupting my concentration and the mood. “Dammit.”
I want to ignore it so badly. “It’s Wynter. I really need to take this.” She wouldn’t call unless it was something important.
“Of course.”
“Hello.”
“Hey, Law. I’m sorry to bother you but I’ve got a problem at the store. There’s a woman here who claims to be your mother and is demanding to see you. I can’t close the store because she won’t leave. Do you want me to call the police?”
Damn Christie. “No. I’ll be right there.”
I end the call and inhale deeply before yelling at the top of my lungs. “Fuck!”
Brou sits and rubs his hand down my arm. “What’s wrong?”
I push my hands into my hair and press my temples. I’m the one who needs a massage. “I can’t believe this. Christie is in my shop demanding to see me.”
“What the hell is wrong with that woman?”
“She’s nuts.”
“You took out the restraining order?”
“Yeah, but a lot of good it’s done.”
Brou moves off the bed and grabs his jeans from the floor. “I’m going with you.”
I pull my shirt over my head and yank on my shorts. “Poor Wynter. I hate for her to be dragged into this mess. And you.”
Brou wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head. “I’m not being dragged into anything. I’m voluntarily going in headfirst.”
We enter the store and I find Christie lounging in one of my new patchwork chairs. “That’s for sale. Not for you to wallow all over.”
“Hello, daughter. So good to see you.”
Christie’s eyes dart toward Brou. “He’s the reason.”
“No.”
“Did you know she’s choosing to have your babies over saving her own mother?” She could have said anything but that.
She looks back at me. “What kind of daughter chooses to let her mother die?”
Might as well find out what she wants. “Why are you here?”
“You won’t take my calls or answer the door when I come to your apartment. I had to do something to get your attention.”
“You aren’t supposed to come within three hundred yards of me. Yet, here you are again. Do you want me to call the police?”
“Call ’em. They won’t keep me; I’m a sick woman. All they have to do is find out I’m dying, and they’ll turn me loose in under an hour. No jail wants a terminally ill person in it. That means you can’t keep me away with a restraining order.”
“Please, leave me alone, Christie.”
“Never. Keep your damn kidney if you want but be prepared to pay dearly for it. I’m going to make your life hell. Just like mine.” Nothing she says makes sense. It’s as though she blames me for her condition but I didn’t cause this.
I point toward the door. “Get out. Now.”
“Make me.” Christie’s face takes on an expression I’ve seen a thousand times. Pure evil.
“Wynter, get the key for the front door.” Brou moves toward Christie and puts her in a bear hug from behind. “When I throw her ass out, you lock the door behind her.”
“Get your hands off me. I’m sick.”
I run to the front door as Brou drags her backward. “Yes, you are a very sick individual. And there’s a special place in hell for people like you.”
Christie slams the back of her head against Brou’s face and blood instantly pours from his nose. He grunts and shakes his head. “Open that door.”
Christie lifts her legs and kicks a shelf of oils causing them to crash to the floor. “This is assault. I’m filing charges.”
Brou shoves her out the door and I quickly slam it and turn the deadbolt. “Oh my God. She’s completely lost her mind.”
Brou wipes his nose and lifts it into the air as he holds pressure. “Damn.”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m mostly okay.” His voice is a groan. I know that had to hurt.
I take Brou’s fre
e hand and lead him to the bathroom. “I’m so sorry.”
Even in the back of the store, we can hear Christie’s assault against the door. “She’s pretty damn strong for a sick woman.”
“Should I call the police, Law?” Wynter asks.
Brou grabs my wrist as I inspect his nose. “You have to; this shit with her can’t slide anymore. That woman is mentally unstable and every incident needs to be documented. She could be capable of worse.”
I don’t like considering that possibility but he’s right. I’ve overlooked this for too long. “Call ’em, Wynter.”
Spending one of our few nights together at the police station making a report about Christie isn’t the way I envisioned our evening going. “I’m so sorry we lost hours of precious time dealing with that. But I’m glad you were here.”
Brou takes my hand in his and brings it to his mouth for a kiss. “I’m glad, too, so you didn’t have to face her alone.” With Brou, I never feel alone.
Brou waggles his brows and uses his eyes to gesture toward the handcuffs on the officer’s waist. “We need some of those.”