A Seal Upon Your Heart (46 page)

“I love you.”

Martier wiped her face after they had hung up and then she got her bible. She stared at the cover and then kissed it before opening it, eyes quickly scanning the passage at Song of Solomon 8:6.

Set me as a seal upon your heart,
As a seal upon your arm;
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy as cruel as the grave;
Its flames are flames of fire,
A most vehement flame.
Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor can the floods drown it.
If a man would give for love
All the wealth of his house,
It would be utterly despised.

Martier sighed and closed the bible. She wanted to occupy a place in Tim’s heart that no one else occupied—not even Corrine. She wanted his love, not his wealth and she wanted him to proudly claim it to the world.

Was it wrong that she wanted that guarantee of love that was above all others? Is that something a woman asked for?

Chapter 38

The next morning, Linda
showed up at Martier’s desk as she was preparing the morning coffee. Martier hoped that she hid the look of surprise that popped up on her face.

Linda was smiling proudly and bouncing up and down on her feet. Long, silky strands of black hair hung down her back. As Linda was obviously not Asian, the silky black hair was at odds with her dark skin and heritage.

She was wearing cheap lipstick that she had probably purchased from the dollar store because it just left a matted orange film across her lips. She wore one of Corinne’s outfits; a wispy dress that should NOT be worn in the dead of winter. Worst of all is that her feet were adorned in plastic, faux leather go-go boots.

I am the most horrible mentor ever,
Martier thought as she considered what Claudette would do right now.  She’d been so wrapped up in her own problems that she had failed to take this girl by hand and show her how to fit in instead of heaping items and expectations on her.

Martier placed her hands on her hips and gave Linda a severe look. “First, your hair is too long. We’re going to fix that make-up so that your pretty face is the focus instead of orange lips.” She smiled when Linda chewed her lip with a look of doubt on her face. “And then you’ll be…perfect.”

Linda smiled in relief. Martier said a silent prayer for forgiveness for telling the small white lie. Then she pulled out her earth tone make-up and set about fixing the damage to Linda’s pretty face. She found a clip and pinned up the weaved-on hair until it wasn’t so obvious, allowing a few strands to fall about the girl’s shoulders. After work, she vowed to take Linda shopping for shoes, underwear and her own make-up. Wow, being a mentor was becoming expensive. But Martier didn’t truly mind.

When she finally got home that night she was surprised to see the light on in Tim’s house. He’d been working at the office until nearly 10 pm every night for nearly a week. She parked his Cadillac into the garage and then eyed the truck before entering the house.

“Tim?”

“In here Martier.”

She headed for his office where he gave her a tired look.

“This is insane honey. You need to delegate or leave some of this work until the new year.”

He gave her a kiss, his eyes hooded, but his lips still bore a slight smile. “Some things I can’t leave. A man wants a court date before Christmas so that he can spend the Holidays with his family. And then there’s that adoption that needs to be finalized and I want Miss Reid to get that child support that she deserves. These are all Christmas presents that I want to give to my clients.”

She hugged him and sighed. “When we get to Hawaii will you promise to leave behind all of your work?”

“Well…”

“Tim, please.”

He smiled. “I promise. I’ll leave a message that I will not be available until after the first of the year. How’s that?”

“Perfect.”

They kissed and he pulled back slightly to look into her dark yes. “No period yet?”

Her pretty lips drew down. “No.”

“Do you think you’re pregnant?” His voice was quiet but she didn’t get a sense of what he was thinking.

“And…what if I am?”

“Well, honey, when you’re a responsible adult you take care of situations like this and you deal with them. So…if that is the case then, we’ll deal with it.”

She blinked not very happy with that response. Deal with it? She quickly changed the subject so that she wouldn’t just blurt out everything that was nagging her. “Have you eaten?”

“I had a bowl of soup at the office and I’m not very hungry. I’m more tired. I’ll finish these last few things up and then turn in. I have a court date at 10 and another at 2 so just take the Cadillac and I’ll drive the truck in.” She nodded.

“Do you know what I want, honey?” Her arms went around his body and she rested her chin lightly on his chest as she looked up into his face. “I want to hop into the shower with you, wash your back and then climb into bed and sleep in your arms.”

“Mmmm, that sounds wonderful. Let me grab a change of clothes and we can do that.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. We can shower here and I’ll stay the night.”

He gave her a confused look. “But you don’t have any clothes over here. And all of your bath items are at your place.”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Soap is soap…and uh, I plan to be sleeping in the nude.”

He paused and then with a frown shook his head. “No, it will be easier for me to just take a change of clothes and meet you at your place.”

She watched as he headed out of the room. “Tim. Do you realize that we’ve made love in the cottage, in the swimming pool, on the lawn furniture, in the garage, but we’ve never made love in this house.”

“What?” he looked at her in confusion.

She crossed her arms before her, a frown plain on her face. “I’ve never slept here in YOUR bed. You sleep in mine but I’ve never slept in yours.”

Tim scratched his head and his expression quickly changed. “Oh honey, we can sleep here if you like. I wasn’t…I didn’t…I’m sorry. Let’s just sleep here.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I knew you’d say that. It wasn’t your idea but mine, so now it doesn’t mean the same.”

He approached her and pulled her into his arms. “It’s a good idea. I guess that I’m just a control freak. If it doesn’t come from me then I tend to reject it until I restate it in my own words.” He tried to joke but she wouldn’t hug him and her expression remained unyielding.

“Tim…are—have you moved on from Corinne?”

“What do you mean?”

Have you set me as a seal upon your heart?
She couldn’t ask those words. If she had to ask.

“Martier, I promise that I don’t have a problem with you sleeping here. I mean, we can move your things in here…I just thought you really loved the cottage. You’ve turned it into your own with the African paintings and…”

Martier just stared at him in stunned disbelief. Did he really just ask her to move in with him all mixed in with other statements? Not as if co-habitating wasn’t the biggest step of ones life?! “You want me to live with you in this house?”

He seemed at a loss for words as he watched the hurt and angry expression cross her face. “If you wanted to…”

“Tim! I’m really just trying to figure out what it is that you want. Not what you
think
I want but what you want.”

His eyes grew large. “What are we talking about, Martier? I just wanted to shower and hold you in my arms while we slept…” She was angry and he didn’t know what he’d done wrong. “Martier, I love you. You know that, right?”

She sighed and nodded. “I know that, Tim.”

“Look, if I’m being too pushy or bossy then let me know. I’m used to things a certain way…so, if you want something a certain way then let me know.” He rubbed her shoulders and she stared up into his face. After a moment she nodded and the tension left her body.

“Yes. I will. I’m sorry.” She hugged him and he held her in his arms.

“Nothing for you to be sorry for. What do you want to do?”

“Let’s just go back to my place.”

He kissed her forehead. “Okay, let me get a change of clothes and we’ll drive there.”

Later that night she lay in his arms wide awake as he snored softly.
I’m a crazy woman
, she thought.
What am I doing?

~
*
**~

Linda stopped at Martier’s desk the next morning and did a quick model pose while Martier laughed and then clapped in approval.

“Beautiful!” She exclaimed. The younger woman had cut her weave down to a more reasonable length and then curled it so that the texture wasn’t quite so obviously fake. She wore tweed slacks and a light blue sweater along with black leather ankle boots. Her makeup was very subtle but striking.

“Thank you, Sis.” Linda exclaimed. “Your suggestions really made a big difference. And I promise to begin paying you back as soon as I get my first check.”

Martier didn’t care about the money but knew that paying her back would instill a sense of responsibility and so she just told her to take her time with the repayment. Since Tim wouldn’t be in the office she asked Linda if she would like to go out for lunch and the younger woman readily agreed.

Martier ran into Aaron Rangbo on her way to the credit union for some extra cash. She rarely saw him these days as he stayed cooped up in his office for the most part. So she was shocked to see that he appeared to have aged ten years—and he really couldn’t afford to do that since he already appeared older than Martier could imagine. His silver hair was too long and his face was pulled into an unhappy scowl.

“Hello Aaron.” She said politely.

“Oh, hello Martier,” he responded distractedly. “How are you these days?”

“I’m fine. How are you Aaron?”

“Uh…I’m good.” He looked down at his feet, knowing that the lie was completely unbelievable. Anyone could look at him and see that he was doing badly. He moved down the corridor without further comment and when Martier returned to her desk she decided to call Claudette to see how she was doing. They’d exchanged letters but she had yet to call.

“Hi Sugar!” The older woman said happily. Martier couldn’t help the happy grin that crossed her lips.

“Hi yourself. You sound perky.”

“I am. Being back in Alabama is like returning home after an extended trip to another Country. It feels…so right.”

“What are you doing? Did you get another job? The last time I talked to you, you were still looking for a place to live.”

“Oh I found a nice condo right outside of the city. I even got a little puppy.” She chuckled. “I haven’t had a pet since I was a kid. I was always ripping and running with Aaron so it just seemed inconvenient to have one and to always leave it alone.” Claudia was quiet for moment. “I found a part time job at a flower shop—not for the money. I have a ton of cash, but just because I like the pace and the flowers and the manager lets me mess around with some arrangements. Martier, I’m loving my life in Alabama.”

“It sounds like you’re happy Claudette.”

“I am. What about you? How are things with you and Tim?”