Beauty and the Feast (30 page)

Eva opened a storage closet and assessed the ATAP uniforms. She searched until found one that appeared to be the correct size. Leaving the trousers and the polo shirt on the hangers, she walked out to her car and laid them on the passenger seat. She grabbed her own uniform and returned to the office, changing out of her jeans and tee shirt in the bathroom. She pulled her long hair back and arranged it into a neat ponytail. Eva slipped on her black tennis shoes. She opened the storage closet and removed a wheeled cart. She hoped it would fit into the back seat of her car, because the trunk was filled with her carry-on bag, six bottles of wine, caviar on ice, and the remainder of the food and supplies she’d purchased for the phony Jerry Harding. Finally, Eva retrieved her purse from the office, turned off the computer and the lights and left the office, checking to see that the door locked behind her. She climbed behind the wheel of her car and headed to the White’s house.

“What the hell is wrong with that woman?” asked Gabe for the hundredth time.

Quincy glanced at his brother seated next to him in First Class. He shrugged. “I don’t know much about women and how their minds work,” he said. “Maybe it’s like your man, Luis, said. Maybe she’s just exhausted.”

Gabe rolled his eyes. “You’re right. You don’t know much about women. Eva may have felt overwhelmed last night, but if that’s all it was, she would have called me. Luis told her how worried I’d been. It’s not like her.”

Quincy shrugged once more. “She’s probably pissed off.”

“That’s an understatement. She’s probably ready to kill Stephanie.”

“No,” said Quincy. “She’s probably pissed off at you.”

“Me? Why on earth would she be pissed off at me?”

“For getting involved with a woman like this Stephanie Lindstrom in the first place. Look what she dragged Eva into.”

Gabe sat silent for a moment, mulling that statement over. He turned to his brother. “I thought you said you didn’t know anything about women.”

“Well, I don’t, not really. But let me put it to you this way. Your girlfriend is probably wondering exactly what kind of man you are that you would be interested in a woman like that.”

For an instant, Gabe was tempted to punch his brother in the face. Quincy caught the look.

“Hey,” the young man said, “Don’t blame the messenger. You asked. I answered.”

The flight attendant came around with warm towels.

“You fly First Class all the time?” Quincy asked. “Because I could get used to this real quick.”

“These were the only two seats left,” replied Gabe absently.

“I’ve only flown once before and I didn’t like it.”

“Oh?” commented Gabe, his voice polite. “Why not?”

“A local organization paid for my mom and me to fly to Cleveland so she could get some special kind of chemotherapy at a hospital there. It didn’t work. She died two weeks after we flew home.”

Gabe turned toward Quincy. “I’m sorry,” he said, regretting his insensitivity. “I’m very, very sorry about your mother. I wish I’d known. I wish to God I’d known about the two of you.”

Quincy glanced at Gabe. “Do you think you could have made things turn out any differently? Do you think my mom would be alive today if you’d known about us?”

“I don’t know,” replied Gabe, “I don’t know. But at least you wouldn’t have been alone. At least your mother would have known that you had family to look out for you. Maybe that would have given her some peace of mind.”

“Yeah… maybe.” Quincy was silent for a few moments. “Gabe,” he said, “you ever think about our dad? You ever wonder where he is? If he’s left another kid somewhere? If he’s even alive?”

“I didn’t before,” answered Gabe. “Before I found out about you. I hated the son of a bitch and I tried my best to forget that he ever existed, that he was ever a part of my life. Now… I don’t know. I guess I’d better try to find him. Make sure he hasn’t screwed up anyone else’s life.”

“He ever do anything nice? I mean…you have any good memories of him?”

“He used to take me to Cubs games,” said Gabe. “He’d take me to Cubs games and buy me a hotdog and an ice cream.”

“Yeah? Me too.”

“What side you sit on?”

“First base side. Fifteen rows back.”

“You’re kidding,” replied Gabe. “That’s where we always sat.”

“Weird,” said Quincy. “Why’d he leave? I mean, why’d he leave you and Elise and your mom? Why’d he leave my mom?”

“We never knew,” Gabe answered him. “One day he was there, one day he was gone. We didn’t hear a word from him until the divorce papers showed up. At first, my mother thought he’d been the victim of foul play. She had the cops looking for him for months. He ever say anything at all about being married before?”

“Nothing,” replied Quincy. “You think he’s running from something?”

“I suppose it’s possible,” Gabe replied, considering the question. “I hadn’t really thought of that, but if he was, I think it’s unlikely he’d keep the same name.”

Quincy nodded. “Yeah, guess you’re right.”

The flight attendant brought their breakfast. Despite his anxiety about Eva, Gabe found it hard to suppress a grin as he watched Quincy dig into his food with relish. He wasn’t hungry himself. He passed his tray over to his brother. He glanced at his watch. Two and a half hours before they landed in San Francisco and then they had to catch a cab to his apartment, get his car and drive up to Napa before Eva did something stupid like leave him because he’d been a complete ass about Stephanie.

Gabe had never been in a situation like this before. He’d never given any serious thought as to what motivated a woman, to what a woman really wanted. Eva had changed him. His own feelings for her had changed him. No way was he going to lose her now. No fucking way.

* * * *

“Jason… Jason…wake up.”

The young man lay on his stomach, snoring lightly. Eva stood at the foot of his bed.

“Jason…wake up.”

“Whaaa…?”

“Jason, wake up. I need your help.”

“Huh?” Jason rolled over and pried his eyes open. He shot Eva an unfocused look. “I’m dreaming,” he announced, and he flopped back onto his stomach.

“No, Jason,” Eva knelt beside the head of his bed. “You’re not dreaming and I need your help with something.”

Jason raised himself up on his elbows. “You need my what? My help? What are you talking about? You need me to lift something? I’ll do it later.”

“No, Jason, this is serious. I want you to go into the city with me today. I already called your mom and got her permission. I need you to run an errand with me and then drive me to the airport.”

“Drive you to the airport? What the hell you talking about?”

“I’m leaving, Jason. I turned in my resignation. There’s just this one thing I need to do before I leave and I need your help.”

“What the shit? Leaving? Eva, you can’t leave. You’re crazy. Why would you leave?” Jason ran a distracted hand through his hair. It stood straight out from his head.

“Because I have to leave. Don’t ask why, just help me, please. Will you?” Eva shook her head. “You’re the only person I know who would be willing to do something really insane and I’m going to do something really insane today. C’mon, Jason, please.”

Jason grinned crookedly at her. “You had me at insane. For you, Eva. Anything insane for you.”

Despite the anxiety she felt, Eva couldn’t help but grin back. Thank God for Jason. Luis would never be a party to her plan and she wouldn’t risk involving him anyway. Eddie Jamison couldn’t be. If she knew Gabe, he’d insist upon paying for everything just to make it all go away. It wasn’t Gabe’s job to fix her lapse in judgment or to bail her out. This was something she had to take care of herself. Besides, if she didn’t bring this issue to a head now, it would rise again and again.

“Thanks, Jason. You’re a good friend. Here,” Eva handed him the ATAP uniform. “This should fit. I’ll make some breakfast while you shower and do whatever you need to do. And wear some running shoes. Something you can move in if you have to.”

“We’re not robbing a bank, are we?” asked Jason.

“No, we’re not doing anything illegal, but if I tell you to go, then you go. Got it?”

“Sounds interesting,” the young man said. “Uh, Eva?”

“Yeah?”

“You break up with Abbott?”

“Not yet.”

“You planning on it?”

“Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“Depends on how bad he wants me. Especially after what I’m about to do.”

“You want a fall-back guy? Because I’m it.”

“Jason, if I were five years younger, you would be it, I swear.”

“Thanks, Eva. That means a lot.”

Eva went down the stairs and quickly chopped up some potatoes and onions for hash. By the time Jason appeared, his hair neatly combed back, wearing the ATAP uniform and dark sneakers, the potatoes and onions had caramelized nicely. Eva fried three eggs and served them over easy on top of the potatoes. She sprinkled on some sea salt, black pepper and just a pinch of smoked paprika before she placed the plate in front of him. She poured Jason a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. She joined him at the table and sipped a cup of black coffee while he ate. Her stomach was no better this morning than it had been the night before.

“So what are we doing?” Jason asked, pointing his fork in Eva’s direction.

“Somebody owes me a lot of money and a big apology, and we’re going to get both.”

“So it’s a shake-down, huh?”

“Kind of. It’s more like a lesson to be learned,” Eva said.

“Like, don’t mess with you, or something like that?”

“Something like that. I’ll explain on the way. There’s just one really important thing you need to remember.”

“What’s that?”

“No matter what I say, no matter what I do or what happens to me, don’t interfere. Do you understand?”

“What if you’re getting killed? Am I allowed to interfere?”

Eva laughed. “Yes, Jason. If I’m getting killed, you have my permission to interfere.”

“Why isn’t Gabe going with you?” Jason asked.

“Because Gabe’s the reason I have to do this. If he went, it wouldn’t work anyway. It will work with you. All you have to do is play dumb and be my witness.”

“No problem,” replied Jason, his mouth full of potatoes. “One thing…why’d you quit your job?”

“Because after today, Tom and Marcus would have to fire me, so I’m saving them the trouble and sparing them any embarrassment my actions may cause. You don’t mind driving my car back to my house, do you? After you drop me off at SFO?”

“No, not at all. I can have one of my friends pick me up, or I can walk home. Where you going?”

“Iowa. Listen, I borrowed a dolly from ATAP, so I need you to return that too. When you get back to Napa, just drop it off at the office. Ruth should be there. You remember where the office is, right?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jason picked up his empty plate, rinsed it, and set it in the dishwasher. “Ready,” he said.

“All right. Let’s go.” Eva poured her coffee down the sink and followed the young man out the door.

Quincy whistled through his teeth. “Sweet.” He turned around, trying to take in Gabe’s entire apartment at once.

“Go look out the front windows,” Gabe said as he tossed Quincy’s suitcase into the guest room. “I’ve got a great view of Pac Bell… I mean AT&T Park, out the front.”

“No shit?” Quincy walked over to the windows and stared out. “So this is San Francisco, huh? Never thought I’d end up here.”

“This is the nicest part of San Francisco, at least in my opinion,” commented Gabe. “I like being near the water.”

Quincy’s eyes followed his brother as he headed toward his bedroom. “She pick up yet?” the young man called after him.

“No. It’s going straight to voicemail.”

“Then she’s not ready to talk to you,” said Quincy.

“Well,” called Gabe, “she goddamn better talk to me because I’m going to ask her to marry me. I picked out a ring when I was in Skokie.”

“Hey, let me see.” Quincy followed after Gabe. “Nice bedroom,” he commented as he entered Gabe’s room.

Gabe tossed his leather carry-on bag onto the bed and unzipped it. He opened an inner compartment and pulled out a small black velvet box. He passed it to Quincy. The boy cracked it open and stared.

“Jesus! How much you spend on this?”

“Enough so she’ll know I’m serious.”

Quincy closed the box and handed it back to Gabe. “Hey, big brother, you got some kind of internship job at that foundation of yours I could work for the summer? You know, make a little money? Put something away for the future?”

Gabe had been headed toward his chest of drawers and he stopped in his tracks.
Big brother
? He turned toward the boy.

“Yes, Quincy. I have several summer intern positions open and I’m sure one will work out just fine for you. Jennifer could get you started and Marsha can pick up where she leaves off as soon as she gets back.”