So Many Men... (9 page)

“That’s so sad.”

“I know. I couldn’t believe it when the DCWC wasn’t going to help him.”

“The DCWC?”

“The Dade County Women’s Club. I mentioned them the other day.”

“No you didn’t.”

“I thought I did when I told you and Thomas about the fund-raiser. Mason had broken off his engagement to the president and she was none too happy about it. She—”

“The point, Tess, get to the point. I’m on a tight schedule here.”

“The DCWC is helping him organize a big fund-raiser to drum up money for a youth center where they can have regular programs for these kids. We’re holding a gala, the event of Miami’s—”

“Yeah, I think I’ve heard about that— Wait a minute. Back up. What do you mean
we’re
holding a gala?”

“That’s what I was saying. The DCWC is helping Project Mentor with the fund-raiser.”

“You mean to tell me you’re part of this women’s group?” Erin’s eyebrows arched.

“That’s right.” Tess straightened, lifting her head high as irritation grated through her. “I am the newest member of the Dade County Women’s Club and I—”

“You?” The corners of Erin’s mouth twitched. “You joined a women’s club?”

“Yes, and I—”

“That’s where you met this guy? At this women’s club?”

“He was there making a plea for help and they weren’t going to help him, because—”

“Wait. I don’t get it. What were you doing joining a women’s club in the first place?”

“Don’t look so amused. I’m a woman. Why can’t I join a woman’s club? There’s no law against it. Why are you grinning? I fail to see what’s so funny.”

“I’m sorry.” Erin made a feeble attempt to hide her amusement. “It’s just hard to picture. Do you all wear little white gloves and drink tea with your pinkies out?”

“No. Don’t be silly, Erin. All I wanted was to get involved in some charitable activities and make some new friends.”

For some reason this information tickled her sister all the more. She laughed. “Wait. Are you telling me you found this group so you could make friends with some of the women and you stole the president’s fiancé?”

“Ex-fiancé. And I did not steal him.”

“Same difference. You scooped him up right from under their noses.” She shook her head. “Probably not the best way to make new friends. You are your own worst enemy.”

Tess rolled her eyes in frustration. “It isn’t like I did it on purpose.”

“I’m sorry, Tess. I know you didn’t. I’m a little jealous of the way men flock to you. I can’t help it that I find some satisfaction in your charms backfiring on you. I can’t wait to tell Nikki.”

“She already knows and she did
not
think it was funny. She yelled at me.”

“Yelled at you? What for?”

Tess shrugged, embarrassed by her initial response to Mason’s request for help. “Well, I figured they must have had a good reason not to help with the fund-raiser.
And like I just said, I needed to
do
something and to find some girlfriends to hang with. You and Nikki are all so wrapped up in your own stuff and I was on testosterone overload. I was dying for female companionship and if I spoke up—I wasn’t even an official member at the time—I knew I’d be blowing whatever shot I had at connecting with those women.”

Erin stared at her, frowning, all signs of her good humor gone. “Why didn’t you say something? You would rather join a bunch of strangers in a women’s group than tell me or Nikki that you wanted some girl time?”

“I never said I preferred it. Nikki is wrapped up in her new life with Dylan and you…”

Erin’s lips thinned. “And I what?”

“You’re so hard to talk to these days. See, look at how you’re getting angry—”

“That’s rich. You do something silly like join some women’s club and it’s my fault because you can’t do something as simple as talk to me?”

“I never said anything was your fault and they are nice women—”

“And how many friends have you made since you stole the president’s fiancé? That is so like you. There’s a man around and you can’t wait to get your hands on him.”

“Ex-fiancé and that is so wrong, Erin. How can you say that?”

“Because it’s true. It’s exactly what Maggie would have done. I can’t believe you did this, Tess. What could you have been thinking?”

Anger flashed through Tess. “Why do you always have to be so down on her—so down on me? What is wrong with me wanting some new friends? You should
be thrilled that I’m spending a little time away from all my guys.”

“You practically ignore me, because you’re so caught up in all your men. I tolerate having them underfoot all the time, but when you want a little female companionship, do you ask me if
I’m
available?”

“You haven’t exactly been available lately.”

“Maybe I would have made myself available. Did you ever think of that?”

Tess stared at her. “No.”

“Right. So, how many new friends did you say you’ve made with this group?”

Anger and hurt warred in Tess, but she’d be damned if she let Erin see how upset she was. “I’ve made one acquaintance. She’s helping with the ball, which I convinced them to support after all.”

“One acquaintance. Good for you, Tess. Give yourself some brownie points.”

Tess raised her chin. Why had she thought Erin would want to help? She must have been hallucinating when she dreamed that one up. “I didn’t join just for that. I wanted to be involved in something…important. I’m sorry I got you all riled up. I asked Josh to call you.”

“Fine. Thanks.”

With a shake of her head, Tess left. She certainly hadn’t expected that kind of response from her sister. She punched in her mother’s number on her cell phone, but the call went into voice mail and she hung up.

Maggie was probably neck-deep into a good time right now. Why bother her? Maybe it would be better to talk to someone who would have some good sound advice. Who better than Aunt Sophie?

“I
DON’T KNOW
, A
UNT
S
OPHIE
,
it’s like the world has gone mad.”

“Here, hon, have some tea.” Her aunt handed her a cup of the warm brew she’d poured from a tray set on the table in her sunroom.

“Thanks.” Tess took a tentative sip. One never knew exactly what Sophie might be serving, but she always had exactly the blend to soothe whatever ailment one brought to her doorstep.

“That’s nice.” Tess took a longer sip. “What is that? Peach?”

“With a little something extra.”

“There’s always something extra.”

“It’s all these simple pleasures that make life worth living.”

“That’s something you always do so well.”

Sophie’s eyebrows rose in question. “Make tea?”

“Enjoy the simple pleasures. Exactly how is it you do that? Everything I do seems to get so…complicated.”

“Let me see…first, you have to make time for the simple things, like taking a long soak in the tub, or having tea with your favorite aunt.”

“You’re my only aunt and, yes, this is nice, but I see
you’re probably right about taking the time. Seems like I don’t do much of that.”

“No, you don’t. You’re all caught up in the big things—this new love affair, the fund-raiser, your relationship with Erin. You need time every day to put all that aside and have a quiet moment. It can be a nice cup of tea, or a walk on the beach, or just watching the sunset. You can do these things alone or with someone else, but the key is to revere the experience.”

Tess nodded. “You make it sound so easy.”

“It is easy, dear. That’s why they’re the simple pleasures.”

“So what do I do about Erin? And I’m not so sure I like this whole…whatever is going on with my guys, and what if Mason really is different like everyone seems to think? What does that mean, exactly?”

Sophie chuckled softly. “One at a time. You don’t need to do anything about Erin. These things work themselves out.” She shrugged. “You could give her a little time to cool off, then invite her to dinner or to see a movie. She’s just gotten her feelings hurt. It hasn’t been easy for her being your younger sister, you know. You’ve always had this whirlwind of activity going on around you. It isn’t a bad thing, though you do tend to get too caught up in some of the drama. I’m sure she feels a little lost in the shuffle is all.”

“Really? I guess I never thought of things that way.”

“It’s easier to see from the outside and it’s wonderful entertainment for the rest of us.”

“Thanks. I never realized I was providing the show.”

“Just part of it.”

Tess took a long sip, relaxing into the soft cushions.
“Okay, so what about all my guys? I know I was getting frustrated, but if I go home tonight to an empty apartment again I’m going to feel a little depressed.”

“Won’t Erin be there?”

“She’ll be working late again. And you think she’ll be talking to me, anyway?”

“Could be.”

“I think I may have set myself up for this when I started the whole needing-more-in-my-life thing, but I never meant for my guys not to want to hang around.”

“It’s possible you’re experiencing some kind of shift in your gift.”

“Shift? What kind of shift?”

“I’m not sure. Like I’ve said before, you girls are a new breed. The gift tends to manifest a little differently in each of us, and I think with your generation it seems to have evolved.”

“And this shift, you think it’s changing…like I’ve lost my touch or something and so my guys are drifting away?”

“I don’t think you can just lose your abilities. That healing energy must remain, but changes somehow.”

“How? A week ago I couldn’t turn around without bumping into one of my guys. Today I’m feeling a little deserted.” She pulled out her cell phone. “Look, no messages. No calls. That never happens.”

“Maybe.”

Tess sat forward. “It’s more than that.” A bluebird glided past the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking her aunt’s garden. “I can’t feel them anymore.”

“What do you mean, dear?”

She turned her gaze to her aunt. “It’s kind of like it suddenly got quiet, but I hadn’t noticed that it was loud
before. Like there was this underlying sound in the background that I didn’t hear, but now it’s gone.”

“You’re speaking of your empathic abilities?”

“That’s right. I can’t explain it, but I have this feeling that they’re gone.” She took a deep breath to stem the anxiety rising in her. Until she’d admitted her fears aloud, they hadn’t seemed real. “I tried to scan Josh earlier when we were on the phone—I’ve always been able to do that. Sometimes even remotely with a current lover, nothing really strong, but there was that connection. But today…nothing.”

“And with your new man, this doctor, is it the same?”

“The same as what? It’s been different with him from the start. He makes me feel so…I don’t know…alive. It’s like I’ve always sensed emotions with the others, but it’s different with him. It’s more like I really
feel
what he’s feeling. Do you ever get that? When we make love it’s the most fantastic experience.”

“Like double the pleasure?”

“Yes, and because I enjoy it so much more, he seems to enjoy it more and it’s this incredible circuit of feeling. The high is really high, like nothing I’ve ever experienced.”

She leaned closer to her aunt. “I don’t know exactly how, but somehow it is different than with the others. What does that mean? That my gift is changing?”

Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “Could be it’s all concentrating around this one man as opposed to spreading out over all your men. I don’t know that I’ve heard of anything like this happening before, but I do believe that Nikki will stay with Dylan and that will be a first.”

“But she loves him like none of the others. And she’s given up her gift, hasn’t she?”

“I’m not so sure, but this is uncharted territory. How would she tell she’s lost her gift if she’s only with a man she has already healed? She’s not exactly putting it to the test, so to speak. Could it be that her gift has also evolved?”

“Whatever’s going on, she’s happy. I saw her last week and she was practically glowing.”

“Kind of the way you do when you talk about your new young man?”

“See? You’re not the first to say that. What does that mean? Does it mean I’ll stay with Mason the way Nikki stayed with Dylan and that I’ll risk losing my gift, too?” As much as Tess cared for Mason, the thought brought a wave of anxiety crashing over her.

“I don’t know, dear, but I’m sure it’s nothing to be concerned about. The best you can do is to be clear on what you’re feeling and act accordingly. You’ll know when the time is right if you need to move on or not. It certainly isn’t something you have to decide right now.”

The sense of foreboding in Tess heightened, twisting in her stomach. “But you do see it as a possibility, then—that I might stay with him, for always, that I might lose my gift and all my other men?”

Sophie nodded toward Tess’s forgotten cup. “Drink. It’ll calm you. I’m saying I don’t know. You’ll know when the time is right. Have you ever questioned when it was time to move on in the past?”

“No.”

“There. So there’s no reason to believe you’ll have trouble now. This could just be a case where you’ve met
a man who needs more healing, so he’s drawing these extra-intense emotions from you.”

“You think so?”

“It could be. Maybe you’ll just be with him that much longer while all these feelings level out, or maybe you’re experiencing a condensed version of your earlier encounters and it will all wind up in a couple of months as usual.”

“So maybe these feelings will ease eventually and I’ll be back to my old self?”

“It isn’t for me to say.” Sophie lifted the teapot from the tray. “We’ve sucked all this down. I’ll go make some more.”

The musical notes of Tess’s cell phone sounded as Sophie left the room. “Hello?”

“Tess, this is Victoria.”

“Victoria, is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine. I just got here a little while ago, but Evan is still here. I’m calling to let you know you have a visitor. Evan thought you’d be back by now and I wasn’t sure if I should have him wait.”

Tess’s heart quickened. “What kind of visitor? Who is it?”

“His name is Mason Davies. He said you weren’t expecting him. Should I ask him to come back? Evan’s talking to him. He seemed really interested in meeting him. Is he a customer?”

“No, he’s not a customer. Well…I guess he could be.” Anticipation rippled through Tess. Mason had come to see her.

“Tell him I’ll be there in about twenty minutes and ask him if he can wait.” She hung up and slung her
purse over her shoulder. “Aunt Sophie,” she called, walking toward the kitchen.

Sophie turned, teapot in hand, a knowing smile on her face. “Go on, sweetheart. Enjoy your young man.”

Tess drew up. “How did you know?”

“Oh, it’s obvious, sweetheart. You’re as lit up as a Christmas tree.” She nodded thoughtfully. “No doubt about it, this one’s special.”

Excitement and uncertainty swirled through Tess. “Yes, I guess he is.”

She hugged her aunt, then hurried out the door. Traffic had already slowed with the onset of the evening rush hour, but she maneuvered the best she could, slipping onto back roads at her first opportunity. A traffic light ahead of her turned red and she stopped, drumming her fingers impatiently.

Could Sophie be right? Could it be that her gift was evolving? A chill ran through her. “Oh, God, please don’t let me be losing my gift.”

The light changed and she moved ahead, only to be stopped a block later. The knot of unease that had settled in her stomach earlier tightened. She couldn’t lose her gift. She was a healer. If she lost her gift, then who would she be?

Okay, she should try to read Mason. If she could do a remote reading and it came in clearer than in the past, then perhaps Sophie’s theory was right. At the next light she closed her eyes and filled her mind with thoughts of him, letting her heart take in whatever emotions came to her.

A sense of curiosity, mixed with excitement came over her. She opened her eyes, breathing deeply as she
sorted through the feelings. All right, she was a little excited herself about seeing him, but this didn’t seem to be coming from her. Did that mean he was excited at the prospect of seeing her?

What was he curious about?

With another deep breath, she focused again on Mason. Her stomach tightened with a deep sense of unease.

She bit her lip and made the final turn on her way to the nursery, a nervous shiver running up her spine. He was alone at the nursery with Evan. Depressing the accelerator, she sped along the last mile to the shop.

What could the two of them be talking about?

M
ASON SHIFTED BESIDE
Tess’s assistant, Evan, whom she’d mentioned on several occasions. They’d apparently known each other for quite some time. What a disappointment that she hadn’t been there for him to surprise her.

Hopefully she’d be along shortly, though. Mason brightened. In the meanwhile, Evan would be a fount of information on her.

Gesturing to a low structure along the back of the property, Evan completed his tour. “This building was the original greenhouse. We use it mostly as storage and for special-order items.”

“It’s a great setup, and Tess has owned this for how long?”

“Let’s see, her great-aunt Emma passed maybe two or three years ago. She left a nice little nest egg for each of the girls.” He gestured to the complex. “This is what Tess did with hers. We’ve fixed it up a good bit. Added
that front greenhouse. The place was pretty run-down, but it’s a good location. It turns a nice profit.”

“It suits her. She definitely has a nurturing side.”

Evan’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, she’s a nurturer, all right. I suppose they all are—the McClellan women—but I think our girl may be the most nurturing of them all.”

Our girl?
So, were they sharing her, then? Surely not in any intimate sense. Tess had been very specific about that each-in-his-own-time thing and this was Mason’s time, damn it. “And how long have you known Tess?”

“Four, maybe five years.”

“And how did you meet?”

“It was amazing. I used to hate elevators. Couldn’t get in one for anything. Used to get claustrophobic.” He shook his head. “It was horrible. Anyway, I came home one night—I live in this high-rise, but on the fourth floor—and I always took the stairs—but this one night the stairs were blocked off. They were painting. Can you believe it? I was outraged. What if they had a fire? You can’t close down the stairs.

“Anyway, they did have another stairwell way on the other side of the building and I was whipped. Been hauling trusses all day. So I start to drag my butt to the other side of the building and there stands Tess, holding the elevator for me. I’m thinking no way, then she smiles, and, I don’t know about you, but there is no way I can deny that woman when she gets that look—you know the look that says she has a plan and she’s going to take care of everything and you might as well come along and enjoy yourself.”

Yeah, he knew that look. “So, you got on the elevator.”

“It was a ride to heaven, if you know what I mean. I
have never had issues with small places ever since. The woman cured me. She’s a miracle worker, I’m telling you. She had to be to get me on that elevator in the first place.”

Mason gritted his teeth. She’d had sex with a total stranger in an elevator. His stomach tightened. “So, how long were you with her?” His face warmed. “Assuming the two of you are no longer…seeing each other…in that way.”

“Oh, no, I’ve got myself a real honey. We’re getting married next spring.”

“Good for you.” And good for him as well, one less blast from her past to contend with. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks. Tess and I were together just a couple months. Some of the best days of my life. She changed me in so many ways. Made me better, stronger. All I know is that I could never have gotten a woman like Jaida without Tess having healed me.”

Mason laughed. “Healed you?”

“Oh, yeah.” The serious look in Evan’s eyes had Mason frowning. “Healed me. No doubt about it. I was a mess before Tess. It wasn’t just the claustrophobia. I screwed up every relationship I’d ever been in. That woman has some kind of magic. I know you’ve felt it.”