A Captivating Conundrum (13 page)

Standing up, squinting from the pain, I ran to her side. "I am SO sorry." 

"It's okay." She offered a smile framed by the red lips that, I swear, were as luscious as the strawberries piled on the counter. "It's okay, really. I'm clumsy."

"No, I startled you like a jerk." Picking up the pieces, I felt a sudden twinge in my gut. "Please tell me this wasn't like an heirloom, or something."

Beth began to laugh. "Actually, it
was
an heirloom from long ago that we found while antiquing in this amazing store in New York State."

"Shit," I mumbled.

Placing her finger under my chin, she lifted my gaze to hers. "It was called Wal-Mart."

I sighed. "Very funny."

"Ha!"

"Thanks a lot," I said, heading back to the table. "You scared me."

She winked. "Right back at ya,' babe." 

All I wanted was to pick her up, wrap those long legs around me, and use the next forty-eight hours to make her pay for her little joke.

Her smile stayed firmly planted on her face, as she grabbed a mug and brought me a cup of coffee.

"I could have gotten it."

She grinned. "I don't want to take the chance. Some of these mugs came all the way from the Dollar Store a while back. They're very important to me."

I shot her a glare, as she sat down across from me.

"Bed okay?" She took a sip of her coffee.

God how I wish that sentence meant something else. "It was great. Thank you. The room is absolutely beautiful."

"Glad you're comfortable." She kept staring at me, as if studying every feature of my face. Figuring 'what's fair is fair,' I kept my eyes fixed on her.

"You just get up?"

She nodded.

I smiled. "Don't you
ever
look bad?"

The blush crept slowly into her cheeks and the chocolate brown gaze immediately fell to the cup before her. She took a deep breath and a long sip of coffee, as if searching for a quick change of subject. It was completely endearing.

"You should see me after I type for a few days straight. The hair makes Freud's look like George Clooney's, and the eyes are so bugged out on caffeine, I could easily fit in with the audience at Woodstock." 

I started to laugh.

"And I won't even mention the Ben-Gay."

"Ben-Gay?"

She sat back in her chair. "Hell, yeah. When my pinched nerve erupts after all that typing, I bathe in the stuff. This whole lavender thing is just a cove; I can make your eyes water. Sit in the same room with me for five minutes and you'll feel like you're going through the menthol DT's…shakin' like a squirrel staring into the open jaws of a really pissed-off bobcat." She set her elbows on the table and leaned in closer. "And just like that squirrel, you'll drop your nuts in a heartbeat."

The coffee spewed from my lips as I bellowed with laughter, providing a coffee bath to the exquisite being sitting across from me.

Beth laughed so hard she fell off her chair, as I tried to apologize through my tears.

"Don't worry about it," she gasped. "Better than a coffee enema. At least, I would think so."

She stood up. "Your pancakes will have to wait a sec. I need a shower." Patting me on the shoulder and wiping coffee from her eyes, she disappeared from the room.

I'd never wanted to follow someone so much in my entire life.

~***~

Beth's fun laughter continued upstairs, yet another quality I really wanted to have in my life on a daily basis. I loved that laugh. Most women, let's face it, would've had a heart attack and stomped out the door if I'd showered them with java.  

The large man appearing around the corner almost created my third accident of the morning.

"What's all the noise down here?" Bobby sent me a nod, as he headed to the coffee pot. 

"Your girl is funny."

He smiled. "Yeah, she can come up with them. Must be the writer in her." Sitting down across from me, he grinned. "Or, it could just be that she's a sarcastic pain in the butt. What do you think?"

I stared into a face that looked like a father who'd just started the dreaded 'third degree.' 

"I think she's hysterical and sweet. I think her heart must be huge to allow us to stay here. And the piece she wrote, as well as her books lining the shelves across the country, tell me she's highly intelligent and has an amazing imagination.
And
she can sing.

"Caught her in one, did ya'?"

"When I came down this morning she was into a lullaby."

Bobby grinned. "Maybe you can sing a duet?"

"That would be up to her."

Sitting back in the chair, Bobby's face grew a bit serious. "Everything is."

"What?"

"Up to her."

I raised my eyebrows. "You saying she orders you about? Bad boss, is she?"

Bobby sighed; looking up at the ceiling as if searching for the words he needed to make his point. I had a feeling Bobby wanted to make sure I knew, no matter what he personally thought of Chris and I, that Beth was the main thought on his mind. "She's tough."

I nodded.

"She had to be," Bobby added.

I wanted to start screaming questions, needing to know what made the woman who seemed to be buried under my skin. "Rough past?"

He pursed his lips. "Nah, nothing like that. I mean, not what you're thinking. Beth had a great family."

"Had?"

"Well, her sister lives out West but other than that, Beth's alone. I mean, she's got me and Nicole, and an entire town that counts on her for just about everything from advice to friendship to hot soup when they're sick."

I felt warm inside.

"And Amber," he continued. "Amber's a young lady who kind of took over Beth's life. She loves her to death and that's why this show is so important to her."

"I know," I stated. "I liked Amber. Sounds like a future diva, in fact."

Bobby laughed. "Oh, yeah…and with Nicole being so close to her all the time in New York she certainly has the right coach for eventual 'diva-dom.'" 

"How'd Amber meet Beth?" My need to know kept the questions coming.

"Actually it was kind of funny," Bobby replied. "Beth was in her one and only NYPL Rose Main Reading Room and a group of children were coming in for some program, or something. The group was from the orphanage and Amber was one of them. When she walked by Beth's table she became enthralled by a book Beth had laid out in front of her."

"What book?"

Bobby smiled. "It was a huge book of the galaxies, planets, stars…things like that. That was the day Beth was studying Plato and the 'hidden' messages in his writings. I think she was trying to tie him in with Cleopatra's mines that archaeologists had unearthed."

I snorted, "So just a little light reading."

"Exactly. You wouldn't believe the amount of information stored in that brain of hers." 

"I bet it would take me the next fifty years to even scratch the surface."
And I hope I get that chance
.

Bobby nodded, studying my face as if seeing something for the first time. "Anyway, Amber sat down right beside her and started talking about the huge book. Beth always said it was hysterical because it was like being grilled by a professor." A smile lit his face. "I think it was love at first sight between the two of them; ever since that day Beth has been working really hard to get that little girl a family."

"Too bad Beth just doesn't adopt her," I suggested.

Bobby sighed. "Beth wants Amber to have the two-parent, white picket fence, perfect life." 

"Oh," I replied, seeing that image in my head of my own dream. "Gotcha."

"She
should
be a mom," Bobby added. "She'll be a great one someday."

I cleared my throat. "Actually, I'm kind of surprised eight million men haven't tried to drug her if they had to just to get her down the aisle." 

A high-pitched groan came from behind the wall, as Chris appeared around the corner. Dragging himself into the kitchen, he headed to the coffee pot. For a young guy he certainly could evoke the drama of a put-upon slave.

"What time is it?" Chris moaned.

I laughed. "It's past nine."

Throwing himself into the chair beside me as if he was a body being lifted from the icy cold Atlantic after the Titanic sank, he practically cried, "Are you
kidding
?
What
are we all doing up so early?" 

I shot a glance at Bobby, noticing the soft gaze he sent to Chris. 

"Actors need beauty sleep." Chris glared at me. "It's a proven fact."

I patted him on the shoulder. "I think you can suffer through. Besides, don't you always tell me you're cute enough already?"

He shrugged. "This is true. The day I was created the man, woman, or whatever was responsible, knew
exactly
what it was doing."

Sometimes I wanted to tell Chris his ego was too large, but it wasn't. I knew inside he was simply a young man loving life, and erased anything bad or even the slightest bit dismal from his world by being as vibrant as possible.

Chris looked around. "So where's the Lovely? Or, is she the
only
smart one in this house who stays in bed?"

I stood up and went to the counter. "She's taking a shower."

"Hmmm…"

I looked over at him. "What?"

He raised his cup in the air like Oliver Twist. "Nothing. More please."

Beth appeared; her hair was a bit damp and she was dressed in old, faded denim and a black t-shirt. I swear, she could head straight to the Oscars in that outfit and still be the most stunning one there.

Kissing Bobby on the cheek, she sent a smile to Chris. "Good morning, my lovely."

She stared across the counter at me. "So what kind of man are you?"

The coffee I was swallowing didn't quite go down. Beth picked up a towel and put it quickly in front of her face.

She peeked around the side. "You okay?"

I nodded, trying to ignore the scalding trail down my throat.

"Let me rephrase." She turned to Chris. "Blueberry, Banana, Strawberry? What kind of man are you? What's your flavor?"

Chris's eyes grew wide as a small line of drool began to form at the corner of his mouth. "Are you talking pancakes?"

Beth laughed. "Yeah."

"You're—" he cleared his throat. "You cook?"

Bobby spoke first. "My favorite's chocolate chip."

Chris's gaze flew to Bobby, as he began twitching in his seat. "You make chocolate chip pancakes?"

Beth shrugged. "I figured only Bobby would like those."