A Love So Deep (23 page)

Charlie Ford had seen Mary on several occasions and had never once made an attempt to speak to her or give her a sideways glance—except maybe to look at her backside. She always caught men looking at one of her best attributes, and truth be told, Mary liked it even though she was married to Jesus. But for now, she was going to play along with Mr. Ford—find out what he was up to. Maybe she could bring the sinner into the fold.

“What makes you think I want to go out on a date with you?”

“Now, Mary. Aren’t we having a wonderful lunch together?”

“But I was already here. I’m paying for my meal.”

“Let me pay for your meal, and let’s try this again. I really would like to get to know you better.”

Mary was still for a minute. Then she looked in Charlie’s eyes. “On one condition will I meet you again.”

“What’s that?” Charlie asked, sitting up in his seat now more attentive.

“That you go to church with me this Sunday.”

Charlie coughed and threw his head back. “I’ll go with you this Sunday.”

Mary was shocked and her expression portrayed as much. It must be serious if this man was willing to go to a place that he was least likely to frequent. Mary was going to enjoy this. A few free meals, maybe a nice ride down the coast, but she was not going to lose sight of her own goal which was winning Graham’s heart.

“It’s a date.”

Charlie smiled, and they ate their meal like two old friends who had been getting together for years.

Charlie hadn’t expected Mary to make going to church a condition by which he would see her again. He looked at Mary, who wore a slight smile on her face, and knew that if he didn’t accept her condition, she would walk away—a risk he wasn’t willing to take.

He was not going to let a minor oversight put a glitch in his plans. And he could come to like this woman; there was a freshness about her that he hadn’t noticed before—a rebirth.

R
ita
drove in silence reminiscing about the weekend’s events. Her time with Graham was most memorable for her; they had finally made love. There had been touch-and-go moments, but Rita attributed much of that to her mood, probably induced by her meeting with William and his acknowledging that he wanted to get back with her. Then seeing him at The Water Hole caused her to experience an undue amount of anxiety. It was almost as if he were following her.

Unable to admit it aloud, it was good seeing William again, although all the feelings Rita ever had for her former husband were like her virginity—gone forever. He had aged, but hadn’t she? It had been nearly fifteen years since she had seen him last. And he was still gambling; that’s why he needed the money. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

As Rita neared Hegenberger Road, the sky was illuminated from floodlights that hung over the Oakland Coliseum. Oakland was battling it out with the Texas Rangers trying to clinch first place in the American League West. The playoffs for the World Series were just days away.

Rita was close to the hotel. She didn’t have much to pack, and she planned on calling it an early night so she would be refreshed in the morning. She would be real busy upon her return to Seattle, especially if she was due to return in a few days.

Rita hopped out of the car, casually observing her surroundings. She quickly picked up her overnight and garment bags and headed toward the hotel entrance. It was quiet at the moment; no doubt many folks were glued to their TVs or out at the ballpark watching Oakland knock the Rangers back to Texas.

Just before entering the hotel, the sound of a car motor caused Rita to turn toward the street. She caught the back end of a slow-moving vehicle that seemed to be casing the hotel. Immediately, Rita remembered the car parked on Chester Street—the car she imagined had an occupant that might be watching her. She wasn’t sure of the make and model of the car, but there were some similarities.

Rita all but ran into the hotel, and after reaching her room, secured the security latch for added protection. Safe? She wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

The red light on the telephone blinked incessantly. Rita checked her voice messages and found she had four incoming calls. It couldn’t have been Graham since she had just left him, and he had her cell number. Maybe it was her mother confirming the time of her arrival at Sea-Tac Airport.

Message One—
Beep
. “Hi, Rita. This is William. I know you’re surprised to hear my voice. It was good seeing you today. Take care.”

“Damn,” Rita said, sucking her teeth. “Just what I need.”

Message Two—
Beep.
“Hi, Rita. William again. I’ve been thinking a lot about you. You tore the house down tonight. Girl, you still got it. I love you. Here’s my number if you decide to return my call, 555-4433.”

Message Three—
Beep.
“Rita, I want to see you again. I know there’s someone else in your life, but, if you give me a chance…We have history. I believe I know you better than anybody—your moods, your thoughts, the curve of your hips…”

Delete. “You don’t know anything about me, William,” Rita shouted out loud. “You were never there for me. You didn’t have a clue what my likes and dislikes were then and you sure as hell don’t have a clue now. Shit, you didn’t even know what made me feel good—what it really took to please me, you son-of-a-bitch.”

Message Four—
Beep.
“Rita…”

Delete. “Leave me alone, William. Leave me alone.”

Rita hung up the phone and sat on the side of the bed. She needed to tell Graham that William was now living in Oakland and there might be reason to be concerned for her safety. But she couldn’t just now—it would make the whole weekend seem like a farce, especially since she had kept the reason for her visit to Oakland a secret. Finding the right time to tell Graham was high on her priority list.

Rita picked up her purse. It might be a good idea to record William’s number in the event she would need it. She had no plans of getting in touch with him, and she was definitely not giving him any more money. Still, there might be an occasion that having William’s number would prove valuable.

She pulled out the piece of paper that was stuck under her windshield and wrote William’s number on it. Rita unfolded the paper for the first time and gasped when she saw the words scrawled in large letters across the paper by a black magic marker:
I’VE BEEN WATCHING YOU!

Rita grabbed her chest, her heart palpitating fast. Who left this message? Did it have anything to do with the strange feelings she’d had lately—that someone was watching her? Now, she wasn’t sure if she had been imagining things or not. And there was the car parked down the street from Graham’s house. Had someone followed her to the hotel?

Rita reached for the phone. She turned the paper over and dialed William’s number. She had no idea why she decided to call him, but calling Graham would just cause her more undue stress. He would want a lot of answers to questions she was not ready to answer.

“Hello,” said the gruff voice at the other end.

“This is Rita.”

“Rita. I will say I’m surprised to hear your voice,” William said, with a certain smugness.

“This is not a social call,” Rita cut William off, getting right to the point. “I want you to stop following me and putting messages on my car windshield. Stop being a coward…”

“Whoa, whoa, slow your roll. What in the hell are you talking about?”

“You know very well what I’m talking about, William. Do I have to itemize it for you? The hand-printed message left on my rental vehicle. You had to have been following me in order to know where my car was parked.”

“Rita, I’m telling you, it wasn’t me. I did not write anything nor did I put anything on your car. Why would I go to the trouble of leaving you phone messages, if I was going to go through all the hassle of following you and leaving you a ridiculous note? That would be a little too obvious, don’t you think?”

“How did you know where I was staying?”

“I see you’ve forgotten that you let that little tidbit slip before your arrival in Oakland.”

Rita let out a sigh. She let what William said sink in. It made some sense, but Rita just wasn’t sure. Who else would have put the note there? Was it meant for someone else?

“I’ve been having some strange vibes. I believe someone is following me,” she said. “And after seeing you in the club last night, I thought for sure it must have been you.”

“Look, Rita, I’m not going to lie to you. You sparked something in me when I saw you yesterday. Maybe I’m intrigued because after all these years and seeing you again up close, I finally saw what I really lost. I was a no-good-for-nothing loser who didn’t realize God had already blessed me with something special in my life. And yes, I can admit that now.” William paused. “Even when the basketball failed me, I had a precious gem that loved me and would have stood by me through the thick and thin, if I had only been the man I should have been. I have regretted the bad decisions I’ve made—the women, the booze.” William hesitated, then continued. “And it didn’t help that your old boyfriend was hanging all over you.”

Ignoring his confession of guilt twenty years too late, the question that had lingered in Rita’s mind sat on the edge of her tongue ready to jump—and it took a leap. “You’re still gambling, aren’t you?”

“My life has been one disappointment after another, Rita. I could lie and say that’s all behind me, but there’s no point to it. Before I came to Oakland, I was living with a woman who cared for all my needs for several years. She had had enough, left me, and came to Oakland. I followed when I was able, but I was not able to persuade her to take me back. I’ve been staying with Troy Kemp. Remember him?”

“Yeah, Troy. How is he doing?”

“Troy is fine. He spends a lot of his time with a lawyer friend of his—I think it’s serious. Troy didn’t suffer any backlash from being axed from the NBA. He’s got his life together and doing quite well. I’m the one with the problems.”

“You never answered my question.”

“Sometimes it’s hard to break old habits, Rita. Yes, I’m still gambling, but I want to get my life on track. I know you have sacrificed for my selfishness, and I’ve never really done anything for you.”

“Don’t worry about it, William. I hope you can get control of your life. I remember the person you were once, and while a lot of time has passed, it’s never too late to get help, if you need it, and start over. As long as you can accept the fact that your basketball career is over—has been over—and can let it go, then will you move on.”

William sighed. He knew Rita was right. Not being able to play basketball, not becoming the star he had always envisioned, killed him as a person. But that was all in the past. He was brooding about what had happened over twenty years ago. Many people during William’s twenty-year hiatus had suffered the loss of a dream but were able to move on to something else and become successful.

“I miss your wisdom, Rita. If I had just listened…”

He was getting sentimental on her, and Rita didn’t need that.

“I’m sorry to have bothered you. I guess I feel better knowing that you had nothing to do with this note.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Rita.”

I’m not going to let you
, Rita thought.

“Well, I guess I better go.”

“Are you all right?”

“I will be. My doors are bolted.”

And then he surprised Rita. “Would you like me to come over?” William said carefully. “It would put your mind at ease, and I won’t bother you.”

“No, William. That won’t be necessary.”

“Rita, it’s no trouble. We were husband and wife once.”

“Yes, William, we
were
husband and wife. I love Graham Peters, now.”

“Well, why didn’t you call him to let him know that you’re all in a tizzy, because you believe someone is following you and leaving you messages that’s got you shaking in your boots?”

“That’s enough, William,” Rita hissed. “I called you because I wanted to know if you were the pervert who left the note on my car. And that was the only reason.”

“No need to call me names.”

“I didn’t want to worry him.”

“And you thought I wouldn’t be worried? No, because you thought I was the cause of your concern, and you planned on telling me off.”

They laughed. This was the first time Rita felt at ease talking with William, realizing she’d made a mistake thinking William was the culprit.

“It’s still not a good idea, William.”

“I’m coming over. The least I can do is make you feel at ease until you have to catch your plane.”

Rita paused for several minutes. “I can’t. We can’t put back the pieces of our lives that took only a short time to unravel. I’ve made peace with myself—had even vowed to not let anyone else in my life…until now. I’m sorry I called you, William, but I do appreciate you listening.”

“Are you afraid that if I’m in the same room with you…that you might want to get closer than close? Are you afraid that after all these years, there’s still an ember burning inside of you for your ex?”

“Don’t be so presumptuous, William. You’re certainly not all that, otherwise our lives would have been different. And, it’s too late for that now. I have someone in my life.”

“Have it your way, Rita. I’ll wait. You’ll come. I’ve got nothing but time.”

“Suit yourself. I’ve got to pack.”

“I know you. I hear it in your voice. But you’d rather take your chances by yourself than trust me to protect you.”

“We’ve already gone through this, William. Good night.”

“If that’s the way you want it, good night, Rita.”
It’s just a matter of time before you’ll be mine again. I’ve got plans for us, and you and your beautiful voice are going to take us there
.

And the line was dead. Rita crossed the room to the window pulling back the gold, rustic-looking curtain to get a view of the street. No stray cars hung about like thieves in the night, but a steady stream of late-night winged birds flew in and out of the Oakland Airport—Rita silently waiting her turn.