Her Daughter's Dream (17 page)

“No. A child shouldn’t be cooped up in an office all afternoon. She should be outside playing with friends.”

Stung, Carolyn asked for a few days to work things out. She called her grandmother. “Oma, I don’t know what to do.”

“Of course you do. Ask your mother to babysit.”

“I’d be handing May Flower Dawn back to her.”

“No. You’d be sharing her.”

Carolyn wanted to weep. Sharing? Over the past five years, how much time had Mom allowed with her daughter? “You don’t understand.”

“I understand better than you do, Carolyn.” She sounded sad and tired. “Don’t make it a tug-of-war.”

When Carolyn hung up, she put her head in her hands and wept. Gulping down sobs, she looked up and saw May Flower Dawn standing in the doorway, frightened and upset. Carolyn wiped her face. “It’s okay. You’re going to get what you want.”

Running up the white flag, Carolyn called her mother. She could hear Mom’s relief and pleasure. “Of course! I can pick her up after school. She can stay here until you’re off work. You can drop her off anytime you need to show houses. I’d love to have her!”

She hadn’t had May Flower Dawn back for a month before she lost her again.

Life went more smoothly after that. At least Mom and Dawn were happy.

20

1977

It had been seven years since Carolyn left San Francisco and came home. Seven years of demolishing the old and constructing her new life. She’d hoped it would become easier with time. She hoped people would forget her past and allow her to raise her head without feeling censorious eyes upon her.

With only one bank in town, Carolyn often saw someone who knew her past. Today, that person just happened to be Thelma Martin. She came in shortly after Carolyn got in line to wait for a teller. She could feel Thelma’s eyes boring into the back of her head. They hadn’t spoken since Carolyn left the dentist’s office. Carolyn’s muscles clenched tight as she focused on not turning around. The woman had spread more poison in Paxtown than anyone, and she still seemed to delight in dredging up Carolyn’s history for anyone curious enough to listen.

A teller opened up, and Carolyn made a beeline to her window to make her deposit. “Can I do anything else for you, Miss Arundel?”

Carolyn said no thank you, stuffed her checkbook into her shoulder bag, and headed quickly for the door. She barreled right into someone standing just outside. The man steadied her.

“I’m so sorry.” She stepped back from his touch, face hot. “Excuse me.”

“Carolyn?”

Flustered, she looked up. She hadn’t seen this tall, broad-shouldered, red-haired stranger around town, but he looked familiar. In the split second she looked into his green eyes, her pulse shot up. She tried to place him. Had she slept with him in Haight-Ashbury? She hoped not, but the memories of those awful days came fresh to mind every time she saw Thelma Martin’s condemning glare.

“Mitch Hastings.” He smiled at her. “Remember me now? Your brother and I rode bikes together, until he got a red Impala.”

She had driven the Impala until Dad had said it wasn’t safe to drive anymore. She hated seeing it towed away, hated even more the payments for another used car.

When she didn’t say anything, he went on. “We played football together in high school. I played offensive lineman so he could score all those touchdowns.”

His smile made Carolyn’s insides quiver strangely. That alone made her want to run. She glanced away and saw Thelma Martin heading straight for the door. “Nice to see you again, Mitch.” She didn’t even extend her hand. “I have to run.” She stepped around him and walked quickly toward her car.

“Wait a minute.” He caught up with her easily and fell into step beside her. “What’s your hurry?”

“I have to get back to work.”

“Can I call you?”

“Sorry.” She got into her car. If he kept standing where he was, she’d run over his toes. She glanced at him as she backed out. Cranking the wheel, she shot out of the parking lot. She glanced in her rearview mirror. Mitch stood, hands on his hips, looking bemused. He turned his attention to Thelma Martin when she came up to him and extended her hand. No doubt Thelma Martin would feel it her civic duty to warn Mitch off having anything to do with the town slut.

The telephone rang within minutes of her return to Ross Harper’s agency. His wife, Candace, answered. “Yes, she is. She just walked in the door. One moment please.” She smiled at Carolyn. “Call on line two. He has a nice voice.”

“Carolyn Arundel. How can I help you?”

“You can go with me to my class reunion tonight.” Mitch Hastings didn’t waste time.

She couldn’t imagine anything worse than a Paxtown class reunion—it didn’t matter what year. “No, thank you.”

“I know it’s short notice. If I’d known you were back in town, I would’ve gotten in touch sooner.” He chuckled. “It was providential we ran into one another.”

Clearly, Thelma had given him an earful about her past. He wasn’t the first eager beaver wanting to go out with her and see how far he could get on a first date. Hence, she never went out. “I wasn’t in your class.”

“We’re out of high school. The age difference doesn’t matter anymore.”

Meaning what? She’d been jailbait when she had a crush on him? “Try someone else.” She hung up.

When she picked up May Flower Dawn that afternoon, her mother told her Mitch Hastings had been there for a visit. “He was a sight for sore eyes. I haven’t seen him in years.” She looked pleased and speculative. “He said he saw you in town.”

“We bumped into one another.”

“Did he tell you he’s a certified financial planner now?”

“We had about two seconds to exchange greetings, Mom. I had to get back to work.”

“He told Dawn stories about Charlie and had us all laughing. He has a place up north of Healdsburg; Alexander Valley, I think he said. He’s in town for the class reunion. He said he asked you to go with him, but you said no. If you’d like to change your mind, he left his number. He’s staying at the Paxtown Hotel. We can keep Dawn for the night. . . .”

“No, thanks.”

“I always liked Mitch. He’s a solid young man, Carolyn. Why don’t you go? All you do is work. It wouldn’t hurt to have some fun once in a while.”

Carolyn had to bite her tongue to keep from telling her mother Thelma Martin had gotten to him first and poisoned the water. And how did anyone know what Mitch Hastings was? Mom just said she hadn’t seen him in years. Carolyn didn’t feel safe with what he’d stirred in her in less than a minute. “I don’t need any more complications in my life.” She preferred loneliness to feeling used. Several of her brother’s friends still lived in the valley. When they called her out of the blue, she knew why. She could hear it in the seductive tones they used, the way they promised her a good time. Saying no hadn’t changed her reputation. What man wants to admit he’s been shot down? Better to smile and let people believe things went exactly as people like Thelma Martin expected. She didn’t go out with anyone. She didn’t trust herself where men were concerned. All she had to do was look back. Why open the door to more hurt?

Mitch called the office again on Monday. “How about lunch?”

“I thought you just came for the reunion.”

“I decided to stay a few extra days.”

Carolyn’s body responded to the warmth in his voice, which made her more wary. “Well, enjoy yourself. I’m busy.”

“You have to eat sometime.”

“I brought a sandwich.”

Ross turned and looked at her, brows raised. Thankfully, another line rang, distracting him. Candace had gone on break and wasn’t around to answer.

Mitch cleared his throat softly. “Did I do or say something to offend you, Carolyn?”

“No. It isn’t that.” When another line started ringing, Ross glanced at her. “Sorry, but I have another line coming in. Can’t talk.” She hung up and hoped he’d take the hint and leave her alone.

Someone wanted to see a house in Paxtown Heights. “I can show you the property now, if you’d like.” She jotted down the prospective buyer’s address, grabbed her keys, and headed for the door. She didn’t return until midafternoon.

Ross nodded toward her desk. “Mitch Hastings called you back. He wants to see one of your properties out on Foothill Road.”

She threw her shoulder bag into the bottom drawer of her desk and kicked it shut. “Why don’t you take him?”

He grinned all too knowingly. “He didn’t ask for me.”

“He isn’t interested in buying that house, Ross. He already has a place up in Sonoma County somewhere.”

He leaned back in his swivel chair. “So?”

Candace decided to join the conversation. “People have been known to buy more than one house.”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Ross smiled. “Go talk to him.”

Fuming, Carolyn got her purse out of the drawer and left again. On the way to the hotel, she tried to rehearse what to say. Heart pounding, she waited while the clerk called and told him, “A lady is in the lobby, Mr. Hastings.” He listened and hung up. “He said he’ll be right down.”

When Mitch appeared, she opened her mouth, but he put his hand at the small of her back and guided her toward the dining room, not the front door. She dug in her heels. “I was told you wanted to see a house out in the foothills.”

“Ross said you hadn’t had a chance to eat before you went out to show the other place.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Yes, you are. Your stomach just growled.”

The host looked as though he expected them. “Right this way.” He led them to a small private table overlooking the gardens.

Mitch held her chair. “We can talk over lunch.”

She couldn’t refuse without making a scene. Accepting the proffered menu, she pretended to read it. “So what would you like to know about the house?”

“Give it a rest.”

Too nervous to eat, she ordered a small salad. Mitch ordered a steak. Her palms sweated when he looked at her over the table, green eyes glowing. She figured it was time to lay out the ground rules. “I don’t go out with clients.”

“No problem.”

“And I don’t like games.”

“No game intended. I couldn’t think of any other way to get you to go out with me.”

“You might not be so interested if you knew the facts.”

“So tell me.”

Okay. Better now than later, when it would hurt more. “While Charlie was being a hero in Vietnam, I was burning my bra, smoking pot, and protesting the war in Berkeley, not that it did any good. The day my parents got the news Charlie had been killed, I took off for Haight-Ashbury. Everything you’ve heard goes on there? I did it all. I don’t even remember how many guys I slept with. I was too stoned to care. When my best friend died of a heroin overdose, I left the commune and lived in Golden Gate Park. I slept in public restrooms, on park benches, and under bushes. I ate out of garbage cans. You met my daughter, May Flower Dawn. How’d I get her? I was cold one night. A stranger offered to share his sleeping bag. My baby is the only thing about my life I
don’t
regret.”

She tossed her napkin on the table.

Mitch caught her wrist before she could get up. “Past history, Carolyn. We all have regrets.”

“Regrets? That’s what you call it? Let go!”

“Not unless you give me equal time.”

She held her breath, afraid he could feel the pulse in her wrist. “Please let go of me.” His fingers loosened enough for her to slip free.

His mouth curved tenderly. “Please don’t run.” He managed to sum up his life in less than two minutes. After a minor football injury put him on the bench, he quit college and joined the Marine Corps. “Maybe Charlie got the idea from me. Neither one of us knew what we wanted out of life other than
more
. I got tired of drinking beer, chasing girls, and playing football.” He thought joining a cause would give his life purpose. It did, for a while. “I was in the jungle when Charlie was killed in Hue. I did two tours of duty before getting out, then went back to college. I finished at Ohio State with a business degree, then found a good job in Miami.” When his father and stepmother were killed in a car accident in Key West, he inherited their home in Vero Beach. “I sold in a seller’s market, invested the money, and took off on my motorcycle to see America.”

Carolyn relaxed enough to eat. “What brought you back to California?”

He studied her for a long moment as though debating with himself before answering. “I’m a Californian at heart. Every place else seemed a little too tame. Healdsburg reminded me of Paxtown twenty years ago. I bought a ranch house on twenty acres in Alexander Valley, planted a vineyard, and went to work for a wealth management firm.” He laughed. “They were impressed with my portfolio.” The day he came to Paxtown, he went to visit Charlie’s grave. He talked about Charlie after that, the fun they’d had riding bikes, hiking the foothills, playing football, cruising Main, and honking at girls. He made Carolyn laugh, something she hadn’t done in a long time.

His gaze caressed her face. She tried to ignore the strong attraction. He smiled as though he knew exactly what she was feeling. Heart hammering, she glanced at her wristwatch. Gasping, she pushed her chair back. “I have an appointment.” She grabbed her purse. “I’m sorry to eat and run, Mitch. Thank you for the lunch and for the journey back in time to more innocent days.”

“Wait.” He signed the check hastily and rose. “I’ll walk you to your car.” He took her hand as they went out the door. “How about dinner and a movie this evening?”

She pulled her hand free. “I can’t.”

“May Flower Dawn is welcome to come along.”

She fumbled the key into her car door. “It’s been nice, Mitch, but . . .”

Mitch turned her around. “Look at me, Carolyn.” She saw the strength in his face, the confident man he had become. Again, she felt the jolt of attraction between them.

“You asked what brought me back to California.
You
did. I’ve been in love with you since I was fifteen.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “You were eleven. Charlie didn’t know then. He figured it out when you were in ninth grade. I dropped a class just so I could be in a study hall with you.”

“Mitch . . .”

He slid his fingers into her hair, his eyes never leaving hers. “The thing is, I never got over you. I left for Ohio figuring that was it, I’d never see you again. And then I decided to come back and find out what happened to you.” When he leaned down, she thought he meant to kiss her. She caught her breath. He stopped just short. “Just dinner. Okay? That’s all I’m asking for right now.” His breath caressed her face. “Say yes.”

“Yes.”

“Thank God.” His hand slid down her neck, across her shoulder, and away. When he smiled, his eyes lit up and glowed with warmth. “Let’s go someplace quiet where we can talk.”

“Why don’t you come to my place, and I’ll fix dinner?” The moment the words escaped her lips, she couldn’t believe she’d suggested it. What was she thinking? Worse, what might he think?

“Perfect. What time?”

Short of withdrawing the invitation, what could she say now? “Six thirty?”

He opened her car door. “I’ll be there.”

She made it to her appointment on time. When she drove out to pick up May Flower Dawn, Mom asked if she wanted a cup of tea before going home. Her mother looked surprised and pleased when she said yes. Carolyn had always had trouble talking with her mother, but today she felt like giving it a try. They sat in the living room while May Flower Dawn picked up her Barbies and put them back in her room. She never touched the dolls Carolyn bought.