Wrong Way Renee (27 page)

“What?
”

“With you.
”
A fire smoldered
inside her. It
had only gotten hotter in the short time she’d known him
.

H
e kissed her with a tenderness
that heated her to her core
. They lay back on the beach looking at the stars.

“They make you feel awfully tiny and insignificant, don't they?
”
He took
her hand.

“
They remind me how short life is.
”
She needed to move forward with Joe, which meant saying goodbye to Cleave. Despite all Cleave’s money and the fact he’d fit in better with what her family had in mind for her, she had to follow her heart.
“
Gotta grab it while you can.”

Joe rolled over to face her.
“I do?
”
He held his hand above her chest like a claw.

She slapped it away, giggling.
“I didn't say you could grab that.
”

“Yes you did. You said grab it while you can. So that's what I'm doing.
”
He
cupped
her left breast. She didn't
stop him
.
He
rolled on top of her and
pressed
hot
kisses on her neck, her shoulder.
Star
ing
up at the stars,
she realized
it had never been this
right
with anyone else. She was meant to be with him.

* * * * *

Renee was sitting in the kitchenette
of the salon two weeks later
drinking coffee when Becky walked in and
took the stool next to her. “It's set.” She wrung
her hands.

Renee set her mug down. “What is?”

“We're meeting my son on Monday.
”

“Okay. Where?
”

“A café in Daytona Beach. Neutral territory. The investigator set it all up. I'm really nervous.
”
H
er hands were shaking.

“It's a date. Everything will be fine.
”
She
patted her friend’s arm
.

Melissa came into the shop and sat at Renee's station.

“I’ve got a client.”
Renee
hugged Becky. “It’s all going to be good.” She
headed
to her
table
with a cup of coffee for
Melissa
. She
could already tell something was wrong from
her client
's face. Her eyes were swollen and red.
“How are you?”

“I lost the pregnancy.
”
Melissa turned her head
away
, obviously trying to gain control of her emotions
.

“I'm so sorry. When did it happen?
”
Sh
e squeezed her eyes shut and willed her tears back. That was the last thing Melissa needed.

“January tenth. At least it all came out so they d
idn't have to go in to get it.”

“Oh, M
elissa. How’s Rich taking it?”

“Better than
me
. He was pretty upset when it first happened, but he
seemed to get over it quickly.”

Her
heart broke for her client.
“So what now?
”
She began filing Melissa's nails.

“Now we do a new battery of tests to see what the problem was.
”

She finished the manicure mostly in silence, not knowing how to console her client.

Next was
Toy
, whom Renee always looked forward to seeing. While
sh
e gave
Toy
a manicure, she heard all about her friend's boyfriend, or man friend as
Toy
preferred to call him.

“He took me out on his yacht this weekend. It's beautiful. It has a cabin with a bed, shower and everything.
”
Toy
pushed a stray lock of hair away from her eye as she crossed her legs.

“Must be a pretty big one then.
”
Renee studied her friend's face. If she was as happy as she said, why didn't her eyes show it?

“Yeah, pre
tty big. And you know what? He’
s a fantastic lover. I guess it's all those years of experience he has. His top priority is my satisfaction
.”

“That's refreshing.”

“Really. So, have you slept with either of your men?
”

“No, not yet. Almost with Joe. That man turns me on like nobody's business.
”
Her
temperature spiked
just
from
thinking about him.
“We went to see a movie and we made out through the entire thing. I haven't done that in a movie theater since I was
six
teen. Then on New Years Eve, he took me to the beach to watch the fireworks over the ocean. It was so romantic,
Toy
.
”
She closed her eyes, wrapping herself in the memory.

“I can't believe you haven't done it with hi
m yet. What about your lawyer?”

“He and I have a more
…
cerebral connection.
”

Toy
rested her head on her hand.
“Yeah right
. I'm sure your feelings for him are more
cerebral
, as you put it. But rest assured that
just
like an
y man, he wants in your pants.”

Renee scowled as she massaged
Toy
's hand.
“He's not like that. The day he got back from Atlanta after Christmas, he wanted me to come over. He cooked me dinner. We kissed and cuddled a bit, but he never tried to move it further than that. I think he's an old fashioned gentleman.
But I'm going to have to end things with him.
In fact, I tried that night, but I chickened out.
I
just
hate to
hurt him. He's so good to me.”

“If you say so. What about the cop? Is he content to wait unti
l you decide to give him some?”

“No, not really. He keeps trying. But he doesn't pressure me or anything. He tries and I say I'm not ready yet. He
's been cool about it. So far.”

“Yeah, well he won'
t wait forever, you know. White or black, men are men.”

Sh
e knew she had to make a move, very soon. It wasn't fair to Joe or
Cleave
not to. She couldn't wait much longer to
take
things
further
with Joe. It was getting more and more difficult to stop
at just making out
. But she wouldn't sleep with
him
until she'd
officially
broken it off with
Cleave
. She
racked her brain to think of a gentle way to do it.

After
sh
e finished with
Toy
, she did a set of acrylics and a pedicure. Next, Pam came for her fill.

“Did you have a nice New Year,
”
Renee
asked her
.

“It was okay. Ate too much, drank too much, you know.
Pablo
had to work. But I go
t to see him the night before.”

Renee
sucked in a surprised breath
.
“R
eally? I thought you had
n't heard from him in a while.”

Pam nodded.
“That's his usual MO. He didn't return my calls for like two weeks. Then o
ne day he shows up at my door.”

“And?
”
Sh
e couldn't believe
Pablo
was still seeing
her
. What a jerk. He married another woman and didn't even break things off with her. The irony hit her like a wrecking ball. Wasn't that what she was doing, without the marriage part, of course?

“And he spent most of the night. We've seen each other two or thre
e times in the last two weeks.”

She wished she could somehow warn Pam away from the guy but nothing she’d said about him in the past months had made any impact. She couldn’t just blurt out that she knew
Pablo
had gotten married.
“Are you still planning your solo pregnancy?
”

“As a matter of fact, my period is a couple days late. I'm hoping that I've got a bun in the oven as we
speak.”

Renee tried to concentrate on her work. But she was disturbed by the possibility that Pam might bring a baby into the world
under the worst of conditions—
a father who was married to another woman and a
mother
who would surely turn bitter because of it.

How
unfair that Melissa, who had everything to give a child, including a father, should have so much trouble conceiving. But Pam, who had no business getting pregnant, merely had to have sex occasionally to achieve her goal.

Sh
e finished Pam's nails, then went to the kitchenette to have a snack. Becky was there eating a late lunch.

“How ya doing?
”
Renee asked her.

“Nervous as hell. I almost put Mrs.
Ferguson’s
color on Mrs. Connors, who only wanted a haircut.
”
She
bit a hangnail
.

“Whoa. You'd
better get a grip, girlfriend.”

“I know. I'm so terrified to meet Justin, I don't know where I am or
what I'm doing half the time.”

Chantelle
walked in
so
they stopped talking.
“Don't l
et me interrupt things, girls.”

Becky
narrowed her eyes at her
.
“
Chantelle
, your hair. It looks great. Did Antoine do it?
”

The shorter, contemporary style
made her look ten pounds thinner and five years younger.

“He just finished. Didn't you see me sitting in his chair?
”
She smoothed her hand over her dark locks.

Becky shook her head.
“No, sorry. I didn't notice.”

“Becky, you've been a space cadet for the last week. Are you all right?
”
Chantelle
asked.

“I'm fine. I have part-timers, I guess.
”
She smiled.

Chantelle
stared at her with a blank expression on her face.

Renee rolled her eyes.
“You know,
Chantelle
. Part-timers instead of Alzheimer's
.
”

Chantelle
scowled
.
“Are you ma
king fun of a serious disease?”

“Never mind,
Chantelle
.
”
Becky took a bite of her sandwich.

“Aaaahhhh. Help, help,
”
a high-pitched voice shrilled.

The three women went running out of the kitchenette. Antoine stood on his service chair, shrieking.

“What's wrong?
”
Becky yelled.

H
e pointed to the floor.
“
There. Get it out, get it out.”

“What is it
?
”
Chantelle
asked.

“A lizard. It was there, all green and slimy. I swear, it was there.
”

“I'm sure it's gone by now.
”
Renee
chuckled
.
“Probably
slithered under the backdoor
.
”

Slowly, he got down from his chair
,
search
ing all around his station for the creature.

Zoey
was laughing.
“Antoine, is there anything else you're afraid of like that?
”
Zoey asked.

He
bristled
.
“It's not funny. I hate them things.
”
He picked up each item on his counter, examining it carefully, then returning it.