More than a Maid (16 page)

Groaning, Marcy said, "So… you want me to do… what? Find his cell phone bill?"

"Yes." Victor nodded. "Or anything else that might help us. And he'll never know you did it, I swear."

"I don't know, Victor…"

"I know you've gotten close to him and this puts you in a bad spot. I'm really sorry to involve you, but I don't know what else to do." He scooted forward in his chair, his eyes full of pain, boring into hers. "Ramon's hiding something. I have no idea what it is, but I know my brother. I have a feeling he's not being malicious. He's not that kind of guy. But he's hiding something about Henry. Maybe he's ashamed of something. Or maybe he's just proud. Whatever it is, I just wanna know what he's hiding so I can help him."

"He asked me if I knew anything about you moving here." Her eyebrows went up. "Are you moving here to help him? Cara hasn't mentioned anything to me."

Victor winced. "Uh…"

"I won't say anything to Cara."

"I don't wanna put you in that position. Asking you to spy on Ramon's bad enough."

"He seemed excited that you might move here."

Victor grinned. "Good." He gave the front door a quick glance over his shoulder, then turned back to her. "Cara and I've loosely talked about it. I'm hoping to get her completely on board with the idea. It's not like we'd have to give up home altogether. We can go back and forth as often as we want. I just wanna be here for him. Ramon's suffering. I think we all see that."

Marcy said, "You'd have to be blind not to see that. He works
way
too much. Heck, he's working right now."

Frowning, Victor stared at the floor. "I know. I hate that. I've been here for weeks now and I've barely seen him." He exhaled a labored breath, then said, "Anyway, I just wanna know what Ramon's hiding. If I know that, then maybe it'll unlock the answers to everything else."

Marcy's stomach twisted. If Victor was right, and Ramon had gone to such lengths to hide something, then Ramon would certainly not approve of her supplying information to Victor. To make matters worse, she was torn between her loyalty to Victor, who paid her to be here, and Ramon, the man who had already left the most beautiful, indelible imprint on her life.

Victor said, "Marcy, I just wanna help my brother. I swear. He's hiding something he probably shouldn't be hiding. I can feel it." His eyes narrowed. "You heard what happened to Armando, didn't you? How he got left for dead when he was eighteen after he tried to run off and get married?"

"Yeah, I heard. It sounded terrible."

"It
was
terrible. And it had something to do with Henry. That's why we're trying to find him." He put his hand on Marcy's shoulder. "Please help us."

"Can't you find the bill yourself? You said you're going to Kernersville to help him later this week, right?"

Victor withdrew his hand. "We've waited too long already. Besides, knowing Ramon, he'll hide the bill before I get there. Have it sent to another address. Hell, maybe the bill doesn't even go there now and I'm getting you all stressed out for nothing."

A wave of relief passed through Marcy. All she'd have to do was lie to Victor and say she didn't find anything. But she instantly felt guilty about lying to him. "Please let me think about it."

On Monday morning, Marcy watched the clock in Ramon's truck roll to four-fifteen, and she yawned.

Ramon smirked at her. "Wanna drink of my coffee?"

"Yes." She took the enormous metallic container from his hand, reveling in the feel of the warm liquid streaming down her throat. Then she took another sip and handed it back to him, asking, "How the hell do you do this?"

He groaned. "Coffee. Lots of coffee." Yawning, he said, "You know, it used to not be so bad 'cause I'd go to bed early. But now I got this woman keepin' me up all hours of the night." Ramon glanced at her with a wink she could barely see in the dark.

She giggled. "You're the one who can't seem to stop when it's bedtime." Then she yawned again.

"Okay, seriously. Just close your eyes and go to sleep. Or climb over the seat. There's plenty of room back there." He thumbed over his shoulder at the truck's extended cab.

"No, no." She straightened her posture and blinked her eyes in an effort to clear her blurry vision. "That's only gonna make it worse. I'll never wake up."

Forty-five minutes later, long after the coffee mug was empty, Ramon pulled off at Mrs. Perry's house.

He turned off the radio and said, "Here we are."

Marcy gazed off at the house and its adjoining property when she felt his hands go around her back, then spin her around for a kiss.

He was rough and passionate at first, then he withdrew his tongue and his lips gentled. He left Marcy breathless when he pulled away.

"Sorry," he whispered as he trailed his thumb across her bottom lip. "We have to get to work."

She looked in his eyes, sighing. Then he nuzzled her nose with his and almost started in for her lips once again, but stopped himself, scooting further down in his seat.

Marcy took a deep breath and tried to keep her composure.

Ramon looked at the house. "Okay. Let me give you some history."

He paused for a long time as he thought of what to say. Marcy wondered why he waited until now to do this, when they had spent all weekend together.

He exhaled slowly and said, "You're gonna meet Edna Perry. This all used to belong to her and her husband, till he died. She's very sweet, but her health's bad. She got sick a few years ago and it really took a toll on her. Turned her into an elderly woman all of a sudden. A nurse's aide comes every afternoon to take care of her." He frowned. "She really needs to go to a nursing home but I haven't found one I'm happy with."

"You're looking for a nursing home for this lady? Do you pay for her medical care? Are you related to her or something?"

"Yeah, I pay for it. But no, I'm not related to her." Ramon glanced shyly out the window, his voice soft. "I've known her since high school. She was my English teacher, senior year."

"Oh." Marcy nodded, sensing he was somehow ashamed. "I think it's really sweet that you'd help her like this."

He shrugged, staring out the window harder than before. "She was sick and in foreclosure. Can't just let her lose everything and suffer like that." He quickly opened his door.

Maybe he's ashamed of having a big heart
, Marcy thought.

But she was quickly distracted by her next task: climbing out of the truck.

She took a deep breath and opened the door, then grabbed the silver handle inside the door.

"Wait!" Ramon said from the ground. "Let me help."

"No, I got it." Marcy lowered her foot, searching for the step, then gasped as her body slid down to the ground, landing on her boots with a
thud
. She stood still for a moment, scared that she'd hurt herself, but quickly realized she was fine.

He groaned and reached up to the cab to get her purse. "Next time, let me help you."

She ignored his admonition, pulling her T-shirt down, then taking her purse from his hand. "I still don't understand why you had to jack your truck up so high. Wasn't it high enough already?"

"No." He closed her door and started toward the house. "It's in case I gotta drive through water or mud or something. It protects the engine."

Marcy rolled her eyes and followed him silently to the front door.

Ramon rang the doorbell, then knocked loudly before inserting his key in the knob. "She likes it when I knock first. It scares her when I walk right in."

A petite, smiling woman with chin-length white hair slowly approached the door, pushing a walker in front of her. She wore thick, wide-rimmed glasses that magnified her bright blue eyes. "Good morning!" she said.

Ramon smiled, put his arms out, and brought her into a gentle embrace as though he was afraid he might break her. "Mornin', Mrs. Perry." When he released her, he kept one hand on her back and extended his other to Marcy. "This is Marcy, the girl I was telling you about."

Mrs. Perry's face lit up and she held out her hand. "Hi Marcy. I've heard such nice things about you."

Marcy blushed a little and took the woman's small, chilly hand in hers. "It's nice to meet you, too. I'm glad to be here."

Mrs. Perry welcomed them both into the house and chatted with Ramon as she slowly led them to the large bedroom that doubled as an office. After Marcy took a seat behind the desk, amidst piles of bills and documents, Mrs. Perry excused herself and said she'd have lunch ready at noon, after her nap.

Ramon waited until the door was closed, then he pulled up a chair next to Marcy. In a low voice, he said, "Don't let her make lunch. If you hear her get out of bed, call me. There's a bunch of pre-made casseroles in the deep freezer. I'm about to put one in the fridge to thaw." He sighed. "She's in denial about how sick she is. Seems to get along okay since she started using that walker, but I don't like her being here alone."

If Marcy didn't know better, she would think Mrs. Perry was Ramon's mother by the way he spoke with such sympathy. She asked, "Have you thought about moving her in with you so you can keep an eye on her?"

"Yeah." He picked up a document from the desk, examining it. "She didn't want that. This is her home. Says she feels close to her late husband here."

"Does she have any family members who can take care of her? Kids?"

"She's got a sister in Florida but they're not close. No kids." He got quiet as he shuffled a few of the piles around on the desk, then handed one to her. "These are unpaid invoices. Make sure you…"

Ramon proceeded to give her instructions about certain vendors who could easily overcharge him if Marcy didn't pay special attention to the details. He also showed her the payroll register and a detailed general ledger report of a few accounts that concerned him, asking her to make sure nothing was counted twice.

Marcy turned on the computer and made a list of his instructions. Her heart sank at the last thing he said.

His tone was urgent. "And if you come across the electric bill, cell phone bill, or anything that looks like a personal medical expense, stick it in this bin right here. I'll take care of it. She tries to be helpful and open all the bills for me. That's how everything ends up in that big pile. I didn't have time to sort 'em out last week. Sorry."

Marcy gulped, trying to hide her nerves. She had practically forgotten about Victor's request to find Ramon's cell phone bill. "It's okay."

"Good." His eyes darted around the room. "Hmm. I think that's about it for now. If you need help with something, give me a call. I'll have my phone on." He stood. "I'm gonna go check on the guys. First time I've gotten to do that first thing in the morning in a long time."

Marcy suddenly felt his lips on the top of her head, kissing her.

"Thanks for your help," he said. "I hope I haven't overwhelmed you."

"No, I can handle it," Marcy replied.

After he left, Marcy went to work on the giant stack of invoices. It only took a half hour for her to find the cell phone bill.

She breathed deeply and sank down in her chair. More than anything, she wanted to please Ramon.

But she thought of how desperate Victor looked, ready to uproot his life to help his brother.

Maybe Victor was right. Maybe Ramon was hiding something he didn't need to hide. Something his brother needed to know about, so he could help him.

She let out a pained whine as she made the decision to go against Ramon's orders. But it was only for his own good.

Marcy listened to make sure she was still alone, then she pulled her phone out of her purse and dialed Victor's number.

He answered on the third ring, sounding tired. "
Hello?
"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot how early it is."

"
No, it's okay. How's it going?
"

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "It's going well. I found the cell phone bill."

Victor gasped. "
Already? Great! Can you send it to me?
"

Marcy's heart pounded heavily. "Send it?"

"
Yeah. Does he have a scanner?
"

"Uh…" Marcy looked around. "He has one of those three-in-one scanner, copier, fax machine things."

"
That'll work.
"

"I don't know. What if I can't figure out how to use it and he sees I tried to scan it and—"

"
No, no, no. I had to use one of those at my office all the time to send confidential information without my assistant seeing it. I'll walk you through it…
"

And suddenly, Marcy wished she hadn't called Victor. But it was too late now.

Ten minutes later, she had scanned and sent the five-page bill to Victor. And she was sick at her stomach. She said, "You promise, you're only looking out for him, right? You're not just being nosy? Because he absolutely hates that."

Victor chuckled. "
I know he hates that. And yes, I'm trying to help him. Like I told you before, if I can figure out what he's hiding, it'll benefit all of us. I'm determined to help him whether he wants my help or not
."

"I understand." She gulped.

"
Have you met Mrs. Perry?
"

"Yeah. She's a really sweet lady. Ramon says she's failing, physically. Did you know he's paying for her health care?"

Victor paused, sighing. "
No, I didn't know that. I can't figure out their connection. We all had her for English in high school and she was a nice lady and all, but… damn.
"

"I guess they were close? I don't know."

"
They were a lot closer than I realized. She called me when Ramon was a senior to get me to talk him into going to college but he wasn't havin' it.
"

Marcy chuckled, her stomach twisting with pain from talking about Ramon behind his back. "I could see that."

"
All I can figure is maybe he got close to her because he'd lost Mama. Maybe Mrs. Perry kinda took her place. I don't know. It's all news to me."
Victor paused
. "Thanks for your help with this. If you have any other information, let me know. I promise, I just wanna be a good brother. Ramon's the kind of guy who'd rather suffer than let someone help. If Mrs. Perry's ranches are important to him, they're important to me. I'm gonna help him if I have to force my way in.
"

The pain in Marcy's stomach weakened. The conviction in Victor's voice made her feel a little better.

* * *

By the time they left work for the day, Ramon seemed almost as tired as he did that morning. Marcy watched him yawn several times, and each time he said, "Don't worry, I'll get a second wind by the time we get home."

She knew he was exhausted because he spent most of the afternoon doing physical work on the ranch. Before they left, he took a shower at Mrs. Perry's house and changed clothes.

Marcy was grateful he didn't want to talk on the way home. The comfortable silence as they listened to the radio gave her time to think. All afternoon, she had to force herself to concentrate on numbers when all she wanted to do was fantasize about him.

She knew she was getting ahead of herself. Maybe he didn't want a commitment. And heck, maybe she didn't either. But what was she doing back home in Newark that was so great? Trying to restart a failing business?

She smiled as she got a whiff of his freshly-showered scent. Mmm… aside from his boots, there was no sign he was even a rancher. He was just a hot guy driving her around in a gigantic pick-up truck.

Ramon sat up straight as he took a left turn toward Turnbrook. "See? Told you I'd wake up."

"Good. I was worried."

He turned the radio down then reached over and squeezed her hand.

A few minutes later as they neared the ranch, Ramon said, "Gotta take the back road today."

Marcy nodded, knowing the main driveway was getting paved. "I'm sure it'll be a relief not to hear everyone complain about the potholes anymore."

Ramon huffed. "You have no idea."