1929 (5 page)

They found Jonathan slowly walking toward an
older man, sitting on the ground, rocking a limp form and crying.
An inch of snow had accumulated on large boxes and wooden pallets
that had been strapped together to form a shelter, and a small fire
burned in an iron pot. When he stepped closer, he was horrified to
see that the woman the man mournfully embraced was dead. Her eyes
were still open and they stared through Jonathan. He took a step
back, shaken, and put his hands on his head. The man started
speaking in a foreign language and reached out to Jonathan with a
dirty, ragged hand, tears running down his wrinkled face. Jonathan
had no idea what else to do as he reached into his pocket and
pulled out a few dollars. He handed them to the man and simply
turned and walked away. Caleb and Aryl solemnly followed. Around
the corner, Jonathan leaned against the wall, needing deep breaths.
When the wave of nausea passed, he turned and began walking toward
Victor’s office.

“Let’s get this over with.”

∞∞∞

Faint noises coming from the guest room
pulled Ava from her trance-like state. She walked out to the hall
to see the guest bedroom door open. Arianna was sitting in a chair,
facing the window, staring at nothing.

“Arianna?” Ava whispered. She walked to the
side of her chair and placed a hand on her friend’s head, stroking
her hair. “I was getting worried,” she said. “I’ve never seen you
sleep so long. The guys are out signing papers right now. I guess
we’re going to live real close to each other still.” Arianna just
gave her a scarce nod.

Ava came around the chair, knelt in front of
her friend, and took Arianna’s hands in hers. “Arianna, you need to
be strong. Caleb needs you to be brave.”

“Caleb.” She gave a short, ugly laugh. “I’m
the last thing he needs.”

“That’s not true. He loves you so much, how
can you not see that?”

“I know he loves me,” she whispered. “He’s
proven that time and again. I said he didn’t need me. Did I ever
tell you about the last trip we took to Paris?”

“No.”

“That look Caleb gave me at the train
station. He gave the same look to me several times during that
trip. I was really a mess most of the time. Absinthe,” she offered.
“It was all Caleb could do to just put up with my antics and keep
me out of trouble.” She shook her head slowly, and Ava thought she
read regret on her face. “We were at a party, and things got a
little out of hand. I wasn’t in my right mind. Caleb stepped out to
call for the car to take me back to the hotel, and while he was
gone, someone dared me to kiss his wife.” She laughed aloud at the
memory. Ava waited with a curious expression. “So, I did.” Arianna
shrugged, her eyes cast down. “I gave them quite the show,
actually. Caleb walked in, and I don’t know who he wanted to pummel
more . . . me or the man who dared me to do it. But he had that
same look. Like I’d just stabbed him in the heart.” She looked down
and picked at the fibers of her cashmere sweater. “I hate that
look,” she whispered. “He forgave me for that, and for what I did
the next night. And the night after that . . . .” She trailed off
and leaned her head back on the chair. “I just don’t think I’m
strong enough to do this.”

“Yes, you are. You just don’t realize it
right now. Claire and I will help you.”

Arianna sighed with resignation. “I’m going
to drive him away. It’s only a matter of time,” she said and smiled
halfheartedly. “I wish I could be more like you. I’m just
self-absorbed and weak.”

“You are not weak, Arianna. And you’re not
quite as selfish as you’d like to think. You talk like it’s
impossible to change but it’s not.” She pushed the hair out of
Arianna’s face. “Now, come on. Brush yourself off and pick yourself
up. Claire will be over soon to make lists of what we need to pack.
We’ll all just take it one day at a time, all right?” Arianna
nodded slightly and stood in bare feet, following Ava downstairs to
wait for Claire.

∞∞∞

Caleb entered Victor’s office building first,
and a quick look around the room showed no sign of Victor. He asked
for the paperwork, and they set to writing as fast as they could.
They handed the papers to the receptionist.

“And none of you have children?”

“No,” Caleb replied impatiently. “You already
asked me that.”

“Just making sure,” she said. “Children are
extra, you know.” She handed keys to Caleb and Aryl and just as she
reached for Jonathan’s, the bell on the door chimed. All three men
visibly tensed when they heard the voice from behind.

“Well, who do we have here?”

Jonathan slowly turned to face Victor, and
his friends watched warily.

“Well, I just can’t believe my eyes,” Victor
said and smiled wide. “Are you renting from me, Jonathan?” He eyed
the keys the receptionist held out midair and sat down in one of
the waiting room chairs. He crossed his arms and tilted his head,
anticipating entertainment by Jonathan’s answer.

“Only for the lack of anything else in town,”
Jonathan said through his teeth. Victor put his hand over his heart
and made a pouting face.

“Why, Jonathan, I’m hurt. And after all we’ve
been through.” He grinned wider. “Lost it all, eh? The whole . . .
damn . . . mess?” There was outright glee in his voice as he
connected the dots. “How’s Ava?” he asked, dropping his voice and
his smile. His black eyes were narrow and locked on Jonathan.
Jonathan audibly ground his teeth. Caleb grabbed his arm, but
Jonathan shook him off.

“I’m fine,” he snapped. He held his voice
steady to Victor, “If you don’t mind, we have a lot to do
today.”

“Oh, far be it for me to hold you up. Maybe
I’ll stop by sometime. See how you’re settling in. Bring you a
housewarming gift.” His mocking smile returned. “A plant,
perhaps?”

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,”
Jonathan insisted.

“Well, it is my property,” Victor said slyly.
“I have a legal right to show up, check on my investment.” He
smiled with one last stab. “So, is Ava taking to poverty well? And
just think, she thought she was marrying the prince, but she ended
up with the pauper!” He laughed loudly. “Of course, I’m married
now, you remember Ruth.” He glared at Jonathan. “But I could make
an arrangement of sorts. I’d be willing to take her off your hands.
It’s not like you can take care of her properly anymore. I could
always use a maid.”

Caleb and Aryl had hold of Jonathan the
second his muscles twitched to lunge at Victor, who didn’t even
flinch.

“You stay away from her,” Jonathan
growled.

Victor smiled, walking toward him slowly.
“You can’t exactly hire armed guards to stand outside her house
anymore the way you did after you stole her from me, now, can you,
Jonathan?” he whispered.

“No. But I can beat you to a pulp like they
did every time you came near her. Remember that, Victor?”

Victor unconsciously touched a scar at his
hairline above the temple and then smoothed down his white blonde
hair above it. Jonathan was visibly shaking with rage.

The receptionist had been watching the whole
scene with baited breath and spoke timidly. “Mr. Drayton, will you
still be renting to these gentlemen? Or should I tear up the
paperwork?”

Victor thought for a moment and flashed
another evil smile. “Oh, yes, I’ll rent to them. What an
interesting twist of fate. Very entertaining.” Victor took the keys
from his receptionist, held them out to Jonathan, but just as he
reached for them, Victor dropped them to the floor. “Oops,” he
sneered. Jonathan looked at the keys on the floor and back up at
Victor with burning hatred. Aryl was quick to snatch them up off
the floor and hand them to Jonathan.

“Thanks, Aryl,” Jonathan breathed, never
breaking eye contact with Victor.

They were careful not to let go of Jonathan
until they were several paces from the office.

He was walking at a furious pace and turned
abruptly into an alleyway. He started cursing at the top of his
lungs and hurled a metal garbage can through the air. He grabbed a
two-by-four from the ground, chased the rolling can and proceeded
to destroy it. Caleb and Aryl waited patiently by the opening of
the alley for him to dispel his rage. Aryl listened intently to the
long stream of obscenities flowing from Jonathan’s mouth and made
occasional comments.

“Oh, boy, that’s colorful . . . What did he
just call your mother? . . . Now that would make a sailor blush . .
. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard that particular combination used
before,” he said, thoroughly entertained. Caleb glanced at him.

“You’re enjoying this too much.” Aryl
shrugged and then turned his attention to Caleb.

“I got us on down at the docks. We start
Monday.”

“That’s good, Aryl. What does it pay?”

“Shit.”

“I figured. What’s the job?”

“Manually unloading pallets as they come off
the ship, to start anyway,” Aryl replied. Caleb ducked as a
splinter of wood flew past them and then looked toward Jonathan. He
had flattened the metal can and had turned his attention to
another.

Two more whacks and what was left of the
two-by-four broke in half; Jonathan catapulted the remaining half
as far down the alley as he could. He paced the width of the alley
out of breath with his hands on his head. After a moment, Aryl
thought it was safe enough to move in closer. Caleb stayed a few
feet behind him.

“That was one hell of a show, Jon,” he said
cautiously moving toward him. Jonathan stopped and looked up at the
sky. Caleb sidled up to Aryl and hesitantly spoke up.

“Look, everything is gonna work out. It’s
gonna be okay,” Caleb offered.

“You’re such a damn girl scout, Caleb,”
Jonathan scowled.

“Excuse me?” Caleb asked as Aryl let out a
snicker. Jonathan leveled his head and glared at Caleb.

“It’s not all going to be okay, Caleb. It’s
not all going to work out! This isn’t some damn bookkeeping mistake
that will be fixed in a day or two. This is real. It’s all gone.
Everything is gone, and frankly, I don’t see how we’re ever gonna
get it back again.”

Caleb sighed. “Jon, I’m just trying to help.
I know this is real, and I know it’s bad, believe me, I’m not
trying to make light, I just− Say, would it make you feel better to
hit me?”

“What?” Caleb moved to stand in front of him
and patted his cheek.

“C’mon. Right here. Sock me a good one. It’ll
make you feel better.”

“I’m not going to hit you, Caleb.”

“No, trust me, I won’t feel a thing. I can’t
imagine you’ve got much left anyway,” Caleb said and grinned.

Jonathan looked at him as if he had lost his
mind and walked around him to lean against the brick wall. “I'm not
going to hit you.” He took a deep breath. “I might hit Aryl,
though.” Aryl’s head jerked up.

“What? What’d I do?”

“You haven’t even looked anxious throughout
all this. How is that even possible?” Jonathan asked.

Aryl shrugged. “Well, I'm upset, but I guess
I just look at things differently.”

“How can you look at this in any way other
than a complete disaster?” Caleb asked. Aryl thought about it for a
moment before he began.

“You know, if it weren’t for Claire, I
wouldn’t even be here right now. This fast-paced, cutthroat,
business world was never my dream. I only came here and joined you
so that her family would approve of the marriage. You remember as
kids, I was always the one running off for days at a time. I hated
staying still. I was always looking for adventure. When I met
Claire, she was vacationing at her family’s summer home on the
outskirts of town. That’s the only summer I stayed close to home. I
worked for my uncle part-time. We found this cove on the beach, and
we’d spend hours there, exploring the caves and tide pools.

“One time, we took off on bicycles and came
across a small farm where a bunch of field hands were working. So,
we stopped and joined them. They had interesting stories. When the
owners found us there, they couldn’t believe that we had stopped
just for fun, so they invited us to stay for dinner. We had a great
time getting to know that old couple and kept in touch with them
until they died a few years later.

“And we went to our favorite lake at least
once a week. She’d make a picnic basket, and we’d lay on the
floating dock for hours as I read to her. That’s where I proposed,
you know. I found this poem and changed the words at the end to ask
her to marry me. We used to go for walks up and down the coast,
too. Once we lost track of time and a fierce storm came up out of
nowhere. There wasn’t time to get home, so we spent the night in an
abandoned lighthouse. We found candles and wool blankets tucked in
the closet and watched the storm from the lantern room. That’s the
first time we, well, you know,” he said, pausing and smiling as
sensual memories flashed through his mind. “The very best memories
of my life happened when I was broke, had nothing, was nobody. We
came to the city and all that changed. We don’t talk much at all
anymore, or run off for the day together exploring, or spend time
together doing nothing all day. The only candles we light are for
formal dinner parties, and the only thing I’ve read to her in a few
years is my weekly schedule. I guess I’m hoping we can get back to
those things. The stuff that’s important. I’m looking forward to
that.”

“What about Claire? She’s pretty upset over
all this. Is she going to see things the same way?” Caleb asked
doubtfully.

“I’m going to do my best to help her adjust.
I think she’ll come around. Eventually.”

There was a long silence with Caleb and
Jonathan at a loss for words.

“That’s a really great way to look at things,
Aryl,” Caleb finally said.

Jonathan took a deep breath and pushed
himself off the brick wall. “I may need some pointers from you,
Aryl. I’ve never done anything for Ava that didn’t involve money,
staff, and planning. But what you described sounds really
nice.”