Everything in Between (6 page)

“So Heather wanted to get serious.”

“I was serious. I wasn’t dating anyone else, I certainly wasn’t sleepin’ with anyone else. I thought we had a good thing going.”

“Every relationship has to evolve at some point,” Gian said. “Sounds like she was ready for the next step.”

“She accused me of not including her in my life.”

“Did you introduce her to any of your friends?”

“I hardly see my friends myself. My boss is a hardass who keeps me busy at work.”

“Point taken.” Gian chuckled. “Did she meet any of your family?”

“If I had to introduce every woman I date to my people, I’d be in Tennessee every other weekend.” Chip sighed. “Ashley—”

“Heather.”

“Whoever,” Chip almost snapped. “I never know what any of them want from me.”

“Your answer is right there in your complaint,” Gian told him.

“I don’t follow.”

“Chip, in the past six months, you’ve dated…what…about five girls?”

“Thereabouts,” Chip said.

“Maybe it’s my age talking, but I don’t see how you can get to know a woman when your attention is so divided. You meet them, you hop into the sack with them and then, when they want more, you send them packing.”

“They dump
me
, boss,” Chip said testily. He lowered his voice. “I’m the one who gets kicked to the curb, remember?”

“Because you won’t, or can’t, give them what they want,” Gian said.

“I give those ladies everything I got, and not one of them ever complained,” Chip said. “That’s what kept ’em comin’ back, if you wanna know the truth.”

Gian stared at Cinder, his smile as benevolent as that of a saint. “You’ll never find a woman who’ll stay with you until you’re willing to give her everything.”

“Everything like what?” Chip squawked in frustration. “What else is there?”

His eyes on his wife, Gian slowly stood. “Everything in here,” he said, thumping the center of Chip’s chest.

Chip watched Gian approach Cinder and Maj. Decker. He didn’t have to ask the major to turn loose his wife. Cinder went into Gian’s arms and fit her body into his. They held each other, swaying in rhythm to the Etta James rendition of “At Last.” The longer Chip stared at them, the more he felt like a voyeur, even though they were on a crowded dance floor.

Chip drained the last of his iced coffee and finished off Gian’s watery Scotch. Scooting his chair back as he stood, he straightened his jacket and left the wedding party table. With the reception officially becoming a party, he didn’t want to go home. But neither did he want to join the frivolity on the dance floor. He had only one reason to remain at the Piper Palm House, and he set about finding it.

* * *

Zae strolled the immaculately kept rose garden. She was having a much better time than she expected. Eating, drinking and dancing like the belle of the ball—she couldn’t remember the names of all soldiers and martial arts instructors she’d danced with. With two glasses of champagne in her, she felt as giddy as a schoolgirl thinking about Maj. Decker’s fruitless search for her. The warm June breeze cooling her brow, she wished this moment of contentment could last forever.

“I was hoping to catch you for another dance.”

Zae turned at the sound of Chip’s voice. She offered her hand. “I’m all yours, soldier.”

Chip took her in his arms just as he had inside earlier in the evening, but it was different this time. Not quite as formal. He pressed her body into his, tucking her hand close to his heart. Zae relaxed against him, allowing him to lead. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, and he lightly pressed his lips to her temple.

“Your hair smells so good,” he murmured.

“It’s not me. It’s the rose garden.”

Chip shook his head. “Nah, it’s you, professor.” He inhaled once more. “You smell better than roses.”

Zae smiled against his shoulder, enjoying the floating sensation his compliment produced. His fingertips lightly brushed over her bare shoulder blades, leaving goose bumps in their wake. She shivered despite the flush of heat his touch produced.

Dancing slowly to the faint music from inside, Chip gently nudged her head with his chin, urging her to lift her face. Zae had a sense of unreality, as though she were living a dream she hadn’t dared dream.

“Your toast surprised me,” she said.

“Why’s that?” he asked, his lips so close to hers, the words warmed her lips.

“The quote in your toast came from
As You Like It
. I didn’t know Marines were schooled in Shakespeare.”

“We’re not just a bunch of dumb lugs. Some of us have got some learnin’ in a lot of things. I was pretty good in literature in school.”

“Really?”

“ ‘If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever.’ ”

Zae’s lips slowly parted, her gaze never leaving Chip’s. She breathed hard and deep to stave off a rush of lightheadedness.

“I don’t remember the rest of it,” Chip grinned, “but that line always stuck with me. It was on one of my final exams my senior year of high school.”

An awkward laugh burst from Zae, breaking the spell cast by the quote. “Alfred, Lord Tennyson. I taught him when I first started teaching.”

Chip suddenly twirled her, then bent her over his thigh in a dramatic dip. “ ‘Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.’ How good are you, professor? Who’s that?”

Zae deftly slipped out of his hold. “Mark Twain.” She feigned a bored yawn. “Duh.”

“All right then.” Thoughtfully stroking his chin, Chip followed Zae deeper into the garden. “ ‘How delicious is the winning of a kiss at love’s beginning.’ ”

Panic flashed through Zae. She paused at a stand of white roses that seemed to glow in the moonlight.
I know this
, she thought.
But I can’t think of the author!
“Give me another quote,” she demanded. “I’ll get back to you on that one.”

Chip removed his jacket and laid it neatly over one of the stone benches edging a darkened koi pond. He mimed rolling up his sleeves. “ ‘She walks in beauty, Like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright—’ ”

“ ‘Meet in her aspect and her eyes,’ ” Zae finished with him. “That’s Byron. Don’t toss me cotton balls, soldier, gimme your heat.”

Something in Chip’s eyes and smile transformed. Again Zae found her heart beating too rapidly, her temperature rising.

“ ‘Love is like a friendship caught on fire: In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.’ ”

Thinking, Zae moved through the roses, the gossamer layers of her gown riding the breeze. “I have no idea,” she finally said. “That one isn’t familiar at all.”

“Bruce Lee,” Chip chuckled.

“Really? The karate man?”

“I read a lot a stuff to write my best man’s toast,” Chip said. “That one surprised me, too.”

“One more,” Zae said. “I have to redeem myself.”

Chip sat on the bench, his right ankle propped on his left knee. He reminded Zae of Rodin’s
Thinker
as he searched his memory for another quote. “Okay, I’ve got it,” he said, rising. “ ‘When you are in love, you can’t fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams.’ ”

Zae spun in a happy circle. “Thought you’d get me with that one, too, didn’t you, soldier?” Triumphant, she said, “Dr. Seuss.”

Chip laughed. “Well now, professor, I am impressed.”

“Your turn in the hot seat.” Zae giggled. “ ‘True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself,’ ” she started, stepping up to Chip. “ ‘It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and it is always young in the heart.’ ”

“Honore de Balzac,” Chip scoffed. “Too easy.”

Zae punched him in the arm. “How was I supposed to know you were a savant? Damn, Chip, I had no idea you were so well-read.”

“Snob.”

“When it comes to literature, you bet I am. Writers pour themselves into their work. I won’t have them quoted willy-nilly—”

“Willy who?”

“—by people who don’t appreciate them.”

“I appreciate them. I appreciate the work of anybody who can do something I can’t. I couldn’t write my own thoughts about Cinder and Gian, so I looked for words written by someone else. Figured it was the next best thing.”

A little disappointed, Zae asked, “Who wrote the rest of your toast?”

“I did. All but the Shakespeare quote.”

Zae’s buoyancy returned. “Then you
can
write, Chip. And well, at that.”

“That means a lot, comin’ from you, professor. Especially heading into MU’s summer interim.”

Peering around to make sure they were alone, Zae snapped off one of the roses. Sniffing it, she sat on the stone bench, carefully spreading the skirt of her dress to prevent wrinkles. “How many classes will you be taking at Missouri University this term?”

“Two. College Algebra and Composition I.” Chip joined her on the bench. “It’s gonna be weird walkin’ on campus, looking like somebody’s daddy.”

“There are lots of returning students at MU. You’ll blend.”

“Not all of us have the immortality gene. Unlike you, I didn’t stop aging at twenty-five.”

“Too bad you’re not in my Comp II class. I’d give you an automatic A for that comment alone.” Zae leaned forward and slipped off her heels. “I’ll pay for all this dancing tomorrow.”

Chip bent over and lifted her right foot. Resting it on his thigh, he massaged the ball of it, working the spaces between her toes as well. “This has been a great night. I’ve never seen Gian happier. They’re planning to shop for babies real soon.”

Zae lay on the bench, her left arm dangling over the side. Laughing, she said, “They’re going to an adoption center, not the mall.”

“Won’t they have all the babies sat up on display in glass cases?” Chip teased.

“Don’t make fun,” Zae scolded, jabbing the bare toes of her free foot into his side. “This is serious for them. Adoption can be a very long process. That’s why they’re starting now.”

“It’s a damn shame Cinder can’t have babies of her own. My mama says that having babies is what makes a real woman. Or a woman real, or something like that.”

“Your mama sounds like a troublemaker,” Zae remarked.

Chip increased the pressure on her foot. “Don’t criticize my mother.”

“I apologize,” Zae said, but only for fear that he would end her delicious massage.

“Apology accepted. Even though my mama really is the busiest body in Memphis. She stays in folks’ business.”

“Can I talk about her now?”

“No.”

Chip tickled her toes, and Zae snatched her foot from his grasp, stifling her giggles. She spread out more leisurely on the bench, resting both legs on Chip’s lap. “I could spend the night here. It’s such a pretty evening. They got miracle weather. Usually, it’s so hot and humid this time of year. Ordinarily, I’d have an afro right now.”

“Cinder deserves a miracle,” Chip said. “And her happily ever after.”

“Amen,” Zae murmured.

“Do you hear that?” Chip stood and moved a few steps away from the bench.

Zae listened. “It sounds like an animal. In pain.”

Quietly, Chip trotted about twenty yards away, to the low-hanging Japanese maples edging the rose garden. He bent at the waist to peer through the branches. Barefooted, Zae joined him. Through the dense canopies of dark red leaves, she spotted a pair of pale buttocks rising and falling in the shadows. Before she could laugh out loud, Chip clapped a hand over her mouth and half carried her back to the stone bench.

“Who is that?” she whispered loudly, smothering her laughter in her hand.

“Karl and his wife,” Chip grinned. “I guess their reconciliation took.”

Zae glanced about them and saw other couples. One strolled hand in hand, another made out openly on a far bench beneath the cover of a majestic weeping willow. “Must be something in the air,” Zae said.

“Maybe we should go in before we catch it,” Chip suggested. “Gotta be careful with airborne contagion.”

Chip knelt on the gravel path and took one of Zae’s shoes. He flipped her skirt up to her knees and held her shoe as she slipped her foot into it. He did the same for her other foot, giving her toe an affectionate wiggle before he stood and offered his hand and helped her to her feet.

“I’m going to go back to the Chouteau Mansion and give these ten piggies a good soak before I go to bed,” Zae said.

“Are the kids staying there, too?”

Still holding his hand, Zae said, “Cory and Eve took CJ home a little while ago. CJ’s got an Xbox all-nighter planned. Dawn left with Sionne. I think they were going for ice cream or something.”

“I’m at the mansion, too,” Chip said. “I’ll walk you back.”