Memories (8 page)

 "Hello Dani."

 Dani jumped in her seat, then recognizing Miguel let out a sigh. "You scared me!" she said sharply. "I didn't hear you sit down."

 Michael gave her one of his smiles, the one that used to melt her heart but now only irritated her. It made her feel he was laughing at her. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you. I only thought it better to catch you first before you saw me. Otherwise you might run away again."

 Dani didn't say a word. She continued filing the papers in order and finally closed the Regal Coat folder on them. Her hands were visibly shaking and she hoped he wouldn't notice.

 Michael placed his hand lightly on her arm. "I'd like to talk with you, privately. Are you free tonight?"

 Looking straight at him she pulled her arm from his touch. "I'm busy tonight with another meeting."

 "Tomorrow, then. Afternoon, night, it doesn't matter. You name the time."

 "No. I'm busy tomorrow, too. And we're leaving the next day."

 Michael's eyes bore into hers. "Dani, please, we have to talk."

 "There's nothing to talk about," Dani told him. She tried to keep her composure, aware of the people surrounding them. But the more he stared at her, the harder she found it not to burst out in anger at him.

 "I think we have a lot to talk about," Michael persisted. "I want to know why you're so angry with me. When we met at Cathy's apartment, it was so blatant. Then, yesterday at the party, you seemed so much like the old Dani I remember that I thought everything was okay. Until you ran off. Now your eyes are burning at me again. Dani," his voice broke in obvious frustration. "Please, I need to talk with you. Maybe we can clear up whatever the problem is."

 "Why?" Dani hissed. Her eyes were burning as he had said and her face flushed with anger. "Why, after all this time do you care what I feel?"

 Michael straightened a bit, assessing Dani's behavior. His voice remained soft. "I've always cared. I'd like to be friends again."

 His words made Dani even angrier. Friends! How dare he even suggest such a thing? When she spoke, her voice was steady, but dripping with hatred. "It's too late for us to be friends. If you remember, we were past being 'friends' years ago. There's nothing you can do or say now to change my feelings. Just leave me alone. That's all I want."

 Michael opened his mouth to reply but Traycee appeared at the table with her plate of food. She looked from Dani's flushed face to Michael's shocked one and didn't know for a minute whether she should sit or leave. But Michael slid smoothly into the part of host and stood to help Traycee with her chair.

 "I'm happy to see you are indulging in our buffet," he told her, his face returning to its usual composure. "I hope you will help yourself, too, Dani. If you both will excuse me, I'd better get back to business."

 He turned to Dani, "I'm sorry we couldn't resolve our differences," he said. And with a nonchalant nod he was lost in the crowd of buyers.

 "Is everything okay?" Traycee asked Dani cautiously. She had no idea what had transpired between Dani and Michael DeCara, but by the look on Dani's face, Traycee could tell it was serious.

 Dani closed her eyes a moment and forced herself to be calm. Then she looked into Traycee's concerned face. "I'm okay," she assured her. "We just had a difference of opinion."

 Traycee nodded, although she suspected there was more to it than that. She began eating her food as Dani sat, staring off across the room.

 "Aren't you going to eat?" Traycee asked after a few moments of silence.

 Dani shook her head. "I'm not hungry after all," she said. All Dani wanted to do was get out of there and go home. She wanted to put as many miles as possible between her and Miguel DeCara.

Chapter Nine

 Dani sat at the patio table on the outdoor deck of Janette's suburban home as her friend brought out a tray with a pitcher of iced tea and chilled glasses. It was late August and a very hot day, but the breeze was refreshing as they sat in the shade of the overhead awning.

 "You really have a nice back yard," Dani commented as she gazed over the flower gardens and trees that outlined their acre lot. "I didn't know you were such a gardener."

 "Thanks," Janette said as she poured the tea. "Since I've been home with Darci this summer, I've had a little time to really work on it. Actually," she looked a bit sheepish to be admitting such a thing, "I've really enjoyed it."

 Dani looked over at her friend who not so long ago was intensely involved with her career yet now seemed to have slipped so easily into motherhood. She marveled at the transformation and wondered if it were that easy or if Janette just made it look that way.

 Dani took a sip of her iced tea. "I know I'll be happy to have you back at the office next month."

 "Has it been that much trouble?"

 "Not really," Dani replied honestly. "With Traycee's help it has gone smoothly. She really surprised me with how capable she is. I’d never have thought it when she first started working there."

 "I guess people aren't always as they first appear," Janette suggested.

 Dani shrugged. "I guess not. All the same, I'm looking forward to your return."

 Janette shifted a bit in her seat and Dani instantly became alert.

 "You are coming back?" Dani asked, staring hard at her friend.

 "Actually, that's part of the reason I asked you out here," Janette began. "I've already talked with Trindell and he's okay with everything. But I wanted to be the one to tell you."

 Dani continued looking steadily at Janette. "Tell me what?"

 "I'm extending my leave until the first of the year."

 Dani was dumbfounded. Janette had already taken off three months and now she wanted four more. "Why?" she asked in amazement.

 Janette shook her head. "It's so hard to explain. I don't even understand it myself. The whole time I was pregnant, I kept telling myself that after the baby came nothing would change. I'd go back to work and everything would go on as before. But now that Darci is here..." Janette paused a moment and took a breath. She looked close to tears. "I just can't stand the thought of leaving her with anyone else. My job has always come first, but now nothing else seems as important as Darci."

 Janette stopped again and stared out at the trees as if looking for an answer. Finally, she looked back at Dani. "I thought if I took a little more time off I could make a more rational decision. The trouble is you're the one who'll be stuck with my job until I do decide, and I feel awful about doing that to you."

 "You mean you might not come back, at all?" Dani was too stunned to believe she had heard right.

 "It's possible," Janette told her. "I just need some more time to decide."

 Dani sat in silence for a long while, staring at the droplets of water making trails down the outside of her tea glass. Never coming back? Janette had always been so dedicated to her work. And now she's made a complete turnaround.

 Janette broke the silence. "I'm sorry to drop this all on you, Dani. But I hope you understand. This is something I need to do."

 Dani looked up at her friend. "I can't say I do understand," she told her. "But then, I've never been a mother so I guess I wouldn't." She smiled then, making the worried frown on Janette's face disappear. "You take the time you need and don't worry. I'll take care of things until you do decide."

 Janette sighed with relief. "Thanks Dani. Thanks for being such a good friend."

 Dani only smiled, even though she didn't feel like smiling on the inside.

 Later, after leaving Janette's home, Dani decided to take a drive through the winding roads between Chaska and Apple Valley before returning to her own apartment. The drive past the river and through the small hills helped to ease the tension she was feeling and let her mind wander.

 She still couldn't believe Janette was considering staying home permanently. It was just so unexpected. But then, when Janette's husband had come out on the deck with Darci, and Janette's eyes lit up, Dani could see the bond between mother and child. Perhaps Janette was right in wanting to stay home. She just didn't know.

 Dani did know that by continuing in Janette's position as coat buyer she'd have to work on the spring line, and that meant once again working with Miguel. The thought upset her terribly. She'd been so successful at dodging his calls over the past month-and-a-half and she was sure he'd finally given up trying.

 She'd talked to Cathy several times, too, and had found out Miguel had been inquiring about her. But Dani had made it clear to Cathy; she was not interested in his concern. Now, just when she thought she might be home free from having to ever see Miguel again, she was going to have to continue with coats.

 As Dani turned her car northward toward her St. Louis Park apartment, she tried for the thousandth time to figure Miguel out. After all these years his sudden interest in her didn't seem real. After all, he'd been the one who left. Yet, ever since she'd been to New York, he'd tried several times to call and talk with her. She never returned his calls. She couldn't see any point in doing so. Dani figured he was just playing his old games again, trying to see how many women he could add to his list of conquests. And maybe adding her twice might be a new game for him.

 What scared her most was that for a few minutes at the party in Southampton, she'd seen the side of him that she'd once loved so much. And she was still drawn to him. But she'd just brushed it off as a pang of nostalgia, trying to re-create that old feeling because in reality, she knew he was incapable of feeling love for her. He didn't take that kind of love seriously.

 The sun was just fading into evening as Dani pulled her car into her apartment's garage. She hadn't resolved anything, she told herself. Only rehashed the same old thoughts she'd been fighting with for years. Fortunately, the spring buying season was still a couple of months away so there was still a chance she might get out of going on the actual buying trip. She clung to that thought as she took the elevator up to her apartment.

 There were two calls waiting for her on her answering machine and she listened to them as she changed into comfortable sweats. The first was her mother calling to say hello and telling her how happy they were that she was coming up for a visit Labor Day weekend. Dani had sent them a note last week telling of her plans to come. She hadn't had time to visit all summer and wanted to make it up there before the warm weather completely disappeared. They lived only four-and-a-half hours away on a quiet lake outside of Walker. She was looking forward to a peaceful weekend of sun, fishing and tranquility.

 The second message was from Cathy. She only wanted to say hi and said to call her if she had a chance. So Dani did.

 "Hi Cathy, I got your message. What's up?"

 On the other end of the line, Dani could hear music playing over the stereo speakers. As Cathy answered, she told someone to turn the stereo down. For a moment, Dani wondered if it might be Miguel.

 "Hi Dani. I'm glad you called. How have you been?"

 "Fine," Dani replied. "The same. Working too much, playing too little." She hesitated. "Did I interrupt something? It sounds like you have company."

 "It's only Gary," Cathy told her. "You remember, my accountant friend."

 Dani laughed. "That's right. You two must be hitting it off well, huh?"

 "Not too bad. So, tell me, what did you do all day?"

 Dani told Cathy about her visit with Janette. "She's changed so much I can hardly believe it. I always thought she'd make her career an important part of her life. It's such a surprise."

 "People change as life changes," Cathy said matter-of-factly. "Speaking of change, Michael was asking about you again the other day."

 Dani groaned. "I wouldn't use the words Michael and change in the same sentence. What did he want this time?"

 "Oh, he was just wondering if you were still in charge of coats at Chance's. I told him I didn't know." Cathy hesitated a moment. "You know, Dani, he still wants a chance to talk with you."

 Dani sighed. "Why doesn't he just give up? I've told him as plain as I can. I'm not interested."

 "You really should give him a chance to explain," Cathy told her softly. "You know, people do change."

 "So everyone keeps telling me," was all Dani said.

Chapter Ten

 Dani sat at her desk going over price cuts on various sportswear items. The office was quiet today; many of the buyers were down in their various departments preparing for the upcoming Labor Day Weekend sale. Traycee sat at Janette's desk going over coat prices Dani had given her to reduce. She'd taken over the desk for the time being until Janette made her decision. Dani was proud of the way Traycee handled her work. She really was a fast learner and competent assistant.

 As Dani studied the figures in front of her, Carl Trindell walked up to her desk. "Dani, could I see you privately a moment?"