Sugar Rush (4 page)

January’s brief heat
spell ended, and the mid-morning temperatures hovered in the upper forties.
Dark clouds hid the once-blue sky. It wasn’t ideal weather for moving or
traveling, but Lexi and Angie refused to postpone their hastily made plans. It
was just starting to drizzle, which made them move faster when transporting the
boxes from the apartment to the van they borrowed from Angie’s older brother.
Since the apartment came furnished, they didn’t have to worry about moving
furniture.

Most of the boxes would
be left at Angie’s parents, as the Havasu house was fully furnished and there
was limited space in the Volkswagen. Jeff silently watched the girls from his
apartment, peeking out through the blinds. He was certain they had no idea he
was spying on them.

“One reason I’ll be
glad to leave is that creepy new neighbor.” Lexi said as she shoved another box
into the back of the van.

“You mean the guy with
the beard?” Angie asked, as she glanced toward the apartment building.

“Yeah, what’s up with
that guy? He never seems to go anyplace. Doesn’t he have a job? And it’s creepy
how he has been watching us all morning.”

“I know what you mean. His
blinds are always closed, yet he leaves his windows open, even when it’s cold.
And he’s always peeking through his blinds, like we aren’t supposed to know
he’s there. He’s weird.”

An hour later, Jeff
watched as the landlord went into Angie’s apartment with her; Lexi waited in
the van. Less than fifteen minutes later, the two exited the apartment, and
Angie handed the landlord a set of keys. She walked to the van while the
landlord locked the door to the apartment.

“They’ve moved out,” Jeff
told his employer on the phone a few minutes later.

“Are they on their way
to Havasu?”

“From what I overheard,
they’re taking most of Angie’s things to her parents to store, and then the two
are heading to Havasu this afternoon. It’s barely sprinkling now, but according
to the weather reports, we’re in for a heavy storm tomorrow. I checked the
reports for Havasu, and it looks clear there. So, if they checked the weather
forecast, I imagine they’ll stick to their initial plans and leave today,
before they run into some nastier weather along the way.”

“When you check out of
the apartment, I want you to stop by my house and switch cars. I had a new one
brought over.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your car’s been parked
in front of my granddaughter’s apartment for over a week now. When you meet her
in Havasu, you don’t want her or her friend to recognize it. You’re sure she
hasn’t seen you, right?”

“No, she hasn’t seen
me. She won’t recognize me.” Jeff promised, hoping that was true. He hadn’t
considered his car might be an issue down the way, but now that Beaumont
mentioned it, he had to admit his employer had a point.

“After I get settled
here, I’ll go to my place and pack. I’ll just leave my car at home, and catch a
taxi over to your house to pick up the other vehicle.”

“Fine. I’ll see you
then.”

* * *

Lexi fell asleep within
an hour after leaving for Havasu. Angie listened to music as she drove from
Southern California to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The red VW bug was traveling east
on Highway 40 and had just passed the Needles off-ramp when it hit a bump in
the road, waking Lexi.

“Where are we?” Lexi
asked sleepily, looking out the window. It was dark outside.

“Just passed Needles.
We should be in Havasu within the hour. You’ve been sleeping for a couple of
hours.”

“I’m sorry, Angie. I
should have taken a turn driving, or at least kept you company.”

“Hey, don’t worry about
it. I figured you needed your rest. You’ve had a crazy few weeks.”

Lexi sat up straighter
in her seat and tried to stretch as best as she could in such a confined space.
Once again settling back in the seat, she looked out the front window.

“I wonder when
Grandfather will realize I left.”

“Do you think you’ll
eventually call him?”

“I don’t know. We’ve
never been close. I always felt so guilty, like I needed to be grateful to him
for taking me in, for paying for my education. But this thing about marrying
Jerome Peters, and if Grandfather really was sabotaging my efforts at finding a
job… Well, I just don’t know what to think. I don’t need someone in my life who
is trying to manipulate and control me. I just wish I understood why my parents
wanted me to live with him, especially considering Dad’s relationship with my
grandfather.”

“Maybe it wasn’t a
matter of your parents appointing him as your guardian; maybe they just never
had a will. They weren’t that old when they died. Perhaps they just hadn’t
gotten around to writing a will and making those types of plans.”

“No, there was a will.
Of course, I never saw it, but the subject of the will was brought up when I
asked my grandfather what happened to my parents’ money. The ironic thing is
that, when I was a kid, I knew about my grandfather. I mean, I knew he and my
father didn’t have a relationship. I remember once… we drove down my
grandfather’s street, and Dad pointed out the estate. I was so impressed. It
looked like this big old haunted mansion. Like something out of a movie. I
wanted so bad to meet him.”

“You mean, you hadn’t
met him back then?”

“No. I met Grandfather
after my parents died. But I always wanted to meet him. I used to fantasize
about it. I imagined he was this mysterious character who secretly missed me
and wanted me in his life. All my friends had grandparents, but I never had
one. Mom’s parents died long before I was born, and so did Dad’s mom.”

“Wow, I bet you were
disappointed when you finally met him. Not exactly what you pictured.”

“I didn’t understand
that right away. Grandfather is an imposing figure, and he has always been a
handsome man. I just never realized how ruthless he could be. Not until later. Later,
I experienced guilt.”

“Guilt? I don’t
understand, Lexi.”

“For as long as I can
recall, I had this secret fantasy about my mystery grandfather. After my
parents died, I met with the judge in his chambers. I remember he asked me who
I would rather live with, my grandfather or Joe and Carolyn Manning.”

“Your parents’ best
friends?”

“Yes. I assume they
probably came forward and asked to take me after my parents were killed.”

“What did you say?”

“At the time, I don’t
think I fully understood the finality of my parent’s death. But here the judge
was offering up my long time fantasy of getting to know my grandfather, so I
naturally said I wanted to live with him, even though I really didn’t know
him.”

“When did you realize
you picked the wrong guardian?”

“Not right away. I was
still dealing with the loss of my parents, and Grandfather wasn’t really around
much. He was always away on business, and I was left with various servants.
When he was home, I tried desperately to get his attention. I think I was about
twelve when I realized the grandfather of my fantasies was nothing like the
reality.”

“Well, even if you had
said you wanted to live with the Mannings, I bet the judge would have still
picked your grandfather. Courts like to keep kids with family, and considering
his money, that would probably influence the court.”

“True. Plus the fact
that, according to my grandfather, my parents selected him as guardian.”

“Then why would the
judge ask the question?”

“Oh, I figure the Mannings
offered to take me in, and since they’re old friends of my parents and I knew
them, and didn’t know my grandfather, the judge felt he needed to explore the
options.”

“Well, all that’s in
the past. If your grandfather thinks he can actually manipulate you into
marrying his partner by taking away your car and computer, then he has a lot to
learn about you!”

“Since I lost the
computer anyway, I wish I would have grabbed the boxes in my closet before
leaving my Grandfather’s house. I don’t think he could have really stopped me
from taking them. But I didn’t think about it until it was too late.”

“Didn’t you say it was
mostly pictures you’d scanned anyway?”

“Yes, but still, there
was some sentimental stuff I would have liked to have kept. But I’m grateful
for the scanner and the fact I saved all my files online. Speaking of which,
when sorting through my saved files, I came across something we need to try
out.”

“Try out?”

“I came across my dad’s
recipe for homemade hot fudge. It’s awesome.”

“Yum, hot fudge. You
know me and chocolate!”

“It’s Dad’s own recipe.
Mom once told me he took a fudge recipe from one of his grandmother’s
cookbooks, and with some tweaking, came up with homemade hot fudge for ice
cream. When I was growing up, Dad’s homemade hot fudge sundaes were a special
treat.”

“So, how come you’ve
never made them for me? You know how I love chocolate!”

“When we go grocery
shopping, I’ll buy the ingredients to make you one. Promise.”

“So, what makes it
different than the jars of hot fudge you can buy in the store?”

“Difference in flavor
and texture. The longer you cook it, the thicker it gets. If cooked too long,
it becomes caramel-like.  That was Mom’s favorite way to eat it. Sometimes she
would overcook it on purpose, and when she poured it on the ice cream it would
immediately harden, like chewy chocolate. Dad said she ruined it, but he always
ate it all!” Lexi laughed at the memory. “It’s important to stir it with a
wooden spoon, so it doesn’t sugar. It’s cooked to softball stage.”

“Softball?”

“That’s when you drop a
bit of the chocolate into a glass of cold water, and the drop stays together, yet
is still soft and flexible. If you remove it from the water, it flattens in
your fingers.”

“Sounds like a lot of
work.”

“My first year in the
dorm, my roommate had a little portable microwave. I figured out how to cook
hot fudge in it instead of on the stove. It actually worked out pretty well,
and once I figured out the cooking time, it was fairly easy to whip up a batch.
I could kick myself for not remembering how many minutes that was exactly.”

“Microwave hot fudge… That
sounds dangerous to me!”

“True. It’s not
terrific for the diet, that’s for sure. And it can make a mess in the
microwave. The stuff boils over if you try to nuke it in a bowl that’s too
small. I learned that mistake the hard way, and really pissed my roommate off.”

“Oh, there’s the
turnoff! We’re almost there. Maybe another ten or fifteen minutes.”

“Great. We’ll be in
Havasu before midnight.”

Focusing her attention
on the items in the baking section of the grocery store, Lexi failed to notice
the young man pushing the shopping cart down the aisle. When he stopped next to
her and spoke, she turned quickly in his direction. The first thing she noticed
was the intense pair of blue eyes, glancing from her face down to her shopping
cart and back to her eyes.

“Looks like a sugar
rush. I think I want what you’re having.” He flashed a friendly smile, showing
off straight white teeth. Lexi felt herself blushing, then glanced into her
shopping cart.  It contained a carton of French vanilla ice cream, Hersey’s
unsweetened baking cocoa, sugar, butter, milk, and a can of sweetened whipped
cream. 

“Hot fudge sundaes,” Lexi
blurted out, though she had no idea why she felt compelled to explain her
grocery list. It probably had something to do with the fact she was standing so
close to an attractive young man, who was obviously flirting with her. It had
been a while since someone this hot had cast a line in her direction.

He was about a half a
head taller than her, with broad shoulders and a husky, well-toned frame. Clean-shaven,
he looked like someone who’d just visited his hair stylist—not a barber—considering
the trendy way the ends of his shortly cropped brown hair spiked along the top
of his head.
Hunky
, was the word that popped into Lexi’s mind as she
looked at him.

“I love hot fudge
sundaes. My name is Jeff, by the way.” Jeff held out his right hand in
greeting. Without hesitation, Lexi reached out and accepted his gesture. He
gave her hand a brief squeeze before releasing it.

She glanced into his
cart. It contained a package of gourmet coffee, carton of whole milk, box of
Cheerios, bag of mixed green salad, bottle of ranch dressing, loaf of wheat
bread, jar of peanut butter, and a package containing three New York steaks.

“I’m rather partial to
steak,” Lexi countered.

“Then it’s settled.
I’ll make dinner and you bring dessert.”

Lexi laughed at his invitation,
yet immediately felt uncomfortable. The only times she’d ever engaged a
stranger in flirty banter had been on her college campus, with a fellow
student. In the next moment, another shopping cart rammed hers. Steering the
aggressive, grocery-laden cart was Angie.

“Did you get
everything?” Angie asked before glancing at Jeff and looking him up and down.
“Or are you picking up something a little extra?” She grinned mischievously.

“I’ve three steaks; you’re
welcome to join us.” He flashed Angie a cheerful grin before giving Lexi a
quick wink.

Angie and Lexi looked
at each other; their eyes locked for a moment. Without uttering a word, Angie’s
expression seemed to ask,
Who is he?

“Oh, he was just
teasing me about giving me one of his steaks in exchange for a hot fudge sundae,”
Lexi answered the silent question, sounding somewhat embarrassed.

“I wasn’t teasing.”
Jeff insisted. He looked at Angie and smiled. “Hi, I’m Jeff. I’m new to Lake Havasu.”

“Hi, I’m Angie. You’ve
obviously already met Lexi. We just arrived last night ourselves. You look a
little young for a snowbird.”

“So do you.” Jeff chuckled.

“I thought guys
normally picked up women in the produce section,” Angie teased.

“I’ve heard that, too.
But for some reason, a woman with ice cream, chocolate, and whipped cream in
her cart just seemed more interesting than one shopping for vegetables.”

Angie laughed before
asking, “So, what brings you to Havasu? Vacationing or have you moved here
fulltime?”

“A little vacation. How
about you?” He glanced from Angie to Lexi, who was silently listening to the
exchange.

“Not sure how long we
intend to stay. It all depends on if we can find work.”

“Really? What do you
do?” Jeff asked.

“I’m a freelance
photographer. Lexi is a graphic artist.”

“It was nice meeting
you, Jeff, but we should probably get going. The ice cream’s starting to melt.”
Lexi interrupted.

“Did you get
everything?” Angie asked.

“Oh, the vanilla!” Lexi
turned around and scanned the shelf until she found what she was looking for.
Snatching the package of vanilla extract, she tossed it in her cart.

“I still think dinner
and a dessert is a good idea,” Jeff told them.

“Wow, you’re ambitious,
picking up two women at once.” Angie laughed.

Jeff smiled and Lexi
shuffled nervously.

“Eating alone my first
night in Havasu didn’t sound appealing. And a hot fudge sundae for dessert sounded
good.” He gave Lexi a little wink. She studied his expression and couldn’t
decide if he was teasing or serious. The handsome stranger didn’t seem
threatening, but she knew looks could be deceiving.

“We’ll have to take a
rain check,” Lexi finally answered with a smile. “You finished, Angie?”

“I’m done,” Angie told
her.

“Then rain check it is.
It was nice to meet you ladies. Hope we run into each other again. Enjoy your
stay in Havasu.” Jeff gave them each a little nod and pushed his cart down the
aisle, until he turned the corner out of the baking section and out of their
sight.

“Wow, he was cute. He
was sure checking you out,” Angie told Lexi. They both looked down the aisle in
the direction he had walked.

“He was kinda hot. Shamefully
flirty.”  They both laughed at Lexi’s appraisal.

“We really should’ve
taken him up on that steak dinner.” Angie teased as they started walking down
the aisle, each pushing a shopping cart.

“With my luck he’d turn
out to be some serial killer.”

 “Nah, he looked
harmless. I have to say, Havasu has some great grocery stores!”

* * *

Jeff looked in his
grocery cart, trying to figure out what else he needed to buy. It was hard to
concentrate. He’d been watching Lexi and Angie for over a week, but until the
encounter in the baking aisle, he’d never looked in their eyes. It was what he
saw in Lexi’s eyes that surprised him. Angie was an attractive young woman, but
it was Lexi who gave him pause.

He had felt the same way
when he’d first seen her portrait hanging in her grandfather’s office, almost two
years earlier. Something about the girl in the painting drew him in. At first,
he fantasized about her, lingering by the portrait a few minutes each time he
entered the room. He began asking questions, curious about the real-life woman.
Unfortunately, the descriptions offered up by the grandfather shattered his
fantasy, and lust for a woman he’d never met turned into mild curiosity.

Initially, he regretted
asking about her. It was like having a favorite pinup girl and then watching
her interviewed on David Letterman, only to discover she severely lacked
intelligence. Maybe some men found physically attractive airheads hot, he
didn’t.

Since watching Angie
and Lexi, he’d begun to realize Beaumont had misrepresented the granddaughter. The
conversations Jeff had overheard didn’t match Beaumont’s assessment. He wondered
why his employer would depict Lexi in such a negative light.

Upon meeting Lexi in
person, Jeff realized the situation was now more complicated. This Lexi, the
one he’d met in the grocery store, was even more appealing than the girl in the
portrait. While he wasn’t in the position to start a relationship with any
woman, considering his current job situation, he couldn’t deny the attraction
he felt for Ethan Beaumont’s granddaughter.

A part of him resented
Beaumont for putting him in this situation.
There would be some poetic
justice if I got sexy Lexi in my bed on Beaumont’s dime,
Jeff told himself
.

Jeff checked out at the
register and pushed his cart, now filled with bags of groceries, out to the
borrowed car. While loading the sacks into the back of the vehicle, he noticed
the red Volkswagen on the other side of the parking lot. The girls were getting
into the car.

Smiling to himself, he
wondered what Angie and Lexi would think when they realized he was staying just
two doors away from their house. When Beaumont contacted the rental office requesting
a specific area, he was told there were no available rentals in that
neighborhood. After Beaumont explained what he was willing to pay, the real
estate agent contacted a homeowner on that street, who lived fulltime in
California and only used the house on weekends and during the summer.
Considering what Beaumont was willing to pay, the homeowner had agreed to rent
out the property.

Jeff hastily pushed his
empty grocery cart to the cart corral and hurried back to his car. If he timed
it right, he would get back to the house Beaumont had rented before Angie and Lexi
returned home.

* * *

“Angie, look. Is that
the guy from the grocery store?”

Driving down their
street, Angie slowed the car when Lexi pointed out the man in the driveway, two
doors down from their house. The back hatch to his vehicle was up, and it
appeared as if he was preparing to take something out of his car. She
recognized him. He was indeed the man from the grocery store, who’d flirted
with Lexi.

Without conscious
thought, she stopped the car in front of his driveway. Jeff turned in their
direction and smiled. He gave them a little wave, then started walking toward
the Volkswagen. Angie had thought there was something familiar about him when
they met in the grocery store, and wondered if this was why. Had she seen him
in the neighborhood before?

“Did you ladies change
your mind about the steak dinner, or are you just stalking me?”  Jeff asked
with a laugh when he reached the end of his driveway.

“We live over there,” Lexi
said quickly, feeling suddenly embarrassed at the idea he would think they were
following him.

“I was just teasing. I
recognize your car; I saw it in your driveway earlier this morning. I just
didn’t realize it belonged to you,” he lied. “So I guess this means we’re
neighbors.”

“Wow, small world,” Lexi
commented, though she thought it seemed peculiar.

“I wasn’t teasing about
the invitation for a barbeque. Since we’re neighbors, why don’t you two come
over tonight? There are three steaks in the package I bought. Of course, you’ll
have to bring dessert.”

Lexi and Angie
exchanged glances, as if silently eliciting the other’s opinion. Smiling at
each other, they both nodded before turning in Jeff’s direction.

“Sure. Why not? When do
you want us to come over?” Lexi asked.

“Around four-thirty.
I’ll get the barbecue started, and we can eat around five. But you have to
bring hot fudge sundaes, or you don’t make it past the door.” He grinned
mischievously. Both girls laughed.

“Deal, but I’ll need to
use your stove to make the hot fudge.” Lexi told him.

“I think that can be
arranged. See you at four-thirty.”

“Do you want us to
bring anything else?” Angie asked.

“No, I think I have
everything.”

“We’ll see you then.” Lexi
called out. Jeff gave them a nod and a flirty wink, then turned and walked back
to his car to unload his groceries. Angie pressed her foot against the gas
pedal and drove a short distance down the street before turning in their
driveway.

“Can you believe he
practically lives next door?” Lexi asked.

Angie reached up and
pushed the button on the remote control hanging on the visor. The garage door
rolled open. She drove into the garage a few seconds later, parked the car, and
turned off the engine, then closed the garage door behind her.

“Sort of strange. I
guess it really is a small world. But you know, there’s something familiar
about that guy. I must have seen him around this neighborhood before.”

“I doubt that, Angie.
Didn’t he say he was new to Havasu?”

“I know, but maybe that
was just some pickup line.”

“Funny thing, he seems
a little familiar to me, too.  But I can’t place him. And this is my first time
in Havasu.”