Paradise (29 page)

“Maybe up here in Yokel-ville, but I’m more of a rock, jazz, classical kind of girl. Those country songs are too depressing. Someone’s always cheating on someone else. She turned the dial until a rich blues saxophone filled the air. “Now, that’s music.” Robbie sighed. “She’s going to ambush you right into that thirty-year mortgage.”

“Don’t start that again.” The last thing he wanted to think about was the next thirty years with anyone but Robbie. “What do you mean ambush me?”

“Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, how can you be so dense?”

He loved the way she giggled when she scolded him.

“You don’t think she just happened by McGraw Tours at…” Robbie looked at her watch, “two-seventeen on a Saturday afternoon. Your place is a bit off the beaten path, you know. She’s probably been there awhile, waiting for you. It’s a wonder she didn’t start banging on the door.” She chuckled. “It’s a shame she didn’t. That would have put a quick end to her husband hunting campaign.”

“You mean to tell me that she was down there while we were…?”

“Men, you are so naïve. So,” she asked conversationally, “has she been stalking you for long?”

“Stalking? You think she’s stalking me?”

“Don’t get your shorts in a bunch. Of course, she’s stalking you.” She put her hand on his thigh and gave it a squeeze. “For what it’s worth, I think she’s harmless. Just another one of the many fair damsels who succumbed to the spell of George of the Jungle.”

Chapter Fourteen

Robbie turned and stared out the side window. Somehow the thought of Eddie with Lou Ann bothered her more than she cared to admit. As they neared “downtown,” vacant lots gave way to small plots occupied by rusted trailers with too many cars and trucks parked out front, some older than her own. They were simply old cars. Hers was a classic.

Thoughts of Lou Ann disappeared as double-wides with neat yards and well-kept gardens came into view. How many times had she looked out the window of a car at the exact same scene?

At first when they drove into a town, her spirits were always high, hoping that at last, her mother would hold onto her job, that she would make friends, that they would stay.

It would start out good. Mama never failed to get a job at the local diner, the truck stop or greasy spoon. Like Robbie, her green eyes and long red hair caught the attention of most men, and they were glad to give the single mother a job waiting tables. But then, it always ended the same when the good women of the town learned the young mother served up more than meatloaf and biscuits.

Stately Southern homes with wide porches occupied by residents with even wider butts now lined the road.

“You’re awfully quiet over there. Talk to me.” The scenery melted away at Eddie’s voice.

She turned and smiled. “I’m just thinking about all the work I have ahead of me revising my presentation for Excelsior and the early flight.”

“Don’t think about that.” His harsh tone startled her. “Would it be so difficult to stay in the here and now and forget about your career for five minutes?”

Without looking at her, he reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “Soft as a baby chicken.” The unexpected kiss sent tremors through her. Even more, it brought a deep, sad longing to her heart, a wish that they could have met in a different time, a different place.

His lips lingered for a moment, then he placed her hand high on his thigh and covered it with his own. “Sorry, babe, I didn’t mean to sound mad.”

She stared at their hands, unable to respond to the quiet intimacy of his actions. The man had so many layers. It would take years to uncover them all.

“Welcome to downtown.”

Her head popped up. Oh, it was a regular metropolis. Brick and clapboard buildings lined both sides of the street. Professional and hand lettered signs advertising everything from bakery goods to livestock feed to hardware emblazoned each storefront. Eddie angle parked in front of a shop sporting a sign: “Live bait -- Ask about our night crawlers.”

“Eddie McGraw. Where’d you git them wheels?”

“Hey, JT. How they hanging?” He turned to her, red-faced. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be gross. Habit.”

“That’s okay,” she whispered. “I figured with five kids he probably had a set.”

He swung back and they exited the car. “How’s the new baby? Everything okay with Peggy Jean?”

JT ambled over and ran his hand across the Camaro’s trunk. “She’s doin’ fine. ‘Nother boy. Elijah Jeremiah. I figure we call him EJ.”

“Congratulations,” they both said at once.

“Thanks. I had ta git away, though. Her mama’s here helpin’ an’ that woman’s voice could peel varnish.” He blew a low, admiring whistle. “Sweet piece of machinery, ya got here. Okay I pop the hood an’ have a look-see?”

“This little cherry belongs to Robbie.”

Robbie gave him a warm smile.

“Sorry I couldn’t escort you last week. Even with all the frogs an’ gators, it woulda been a sight more quiet than my place.”

JT stared pointedly at her neck, and she raised her hand to cover the hickey Eddie had given her.

He turned to Eddie. “Guess you gave her a really good tour, seeing’s how you’re driving her mobile.” He bobbed his eyebrows.

She laughed and Eddie rolled his eyes. “Thanks for nothing,” he muttered.

The three bent over examining the 427 cubic inch engine. Within minutes four men and two women crowded around them, angling for a look and offering opinions and advice on maintenance. At Eddie’s introductions, she carefully noted each person’s name, wondering why since she would never see them after today.

He casually draped his arm around her shoulders while she discussed the merits of big block over small block engines with a couple in matching L.L. Bean shorts, plaid shirts and hiking boots. She snuggled into Eddie’s side, enjoying the possessive stance he assumed.

When her stomach growled loud enough for JT to hear it from under the car where he and another Crocodile Hunter were examining the chassis, they all retired to a nearby bar for wings and beers.

“You doing okay?” Eddie whispered in her ear when they placed their order. “We tend to be a bit overwhelming at first. As you figured out, everybody knows everybody around here.”

“I’m having a ball,” she told him truthfully. Only a few times in her life could she remember being welcomed so openly. It wasn’t lost on her that she was accepted because of who she was with, not who she was. For the moment, that was okay, but it would be so nice to be liked for herself.

Eddie flirted outrageously with her and made her laugh so hard, her Coke ran out her nose. Everyone seemed to find that particularly amusing, especially Eddie. She couldn’t help but notice that although he kept his hand on her chair, her arm or her knee, it didn’t stop him from flirting with the other women.

The rest of the meal was a pleasant blur. In the back of her mind, a niggling thought wouldn’t let go. She’d seen people like this all her life, had wanted to be friends with them. But she was never good enough, could never make it to the inner circle. If they knew about her past, how she was raised, even Eddie McGraw’s patronage wouldn’t be enough to keep them from shunning her.

After she and Eddie said their goodbyes, they walked along
Main Street
, hand in hand, window shopping. Long shadows slanted across the sidewalk as they made their way down the street.

“Now there’s something you won’t see in
New York City
.” He pointed to a fishing reel the size of her forearm.

“Probably not, but then nothing’s lived in the Hudson River since the forties, and I don’t imagine there’s much fishing in the middle of
Manhattan
.” She tugged on his arm. “Except maybe giant alligators flushed away by their disillusioned owners.”

They wandered down one side of the street then up the other. The Chamber of Commerce couldn’t have done a better job of pointing out the wonders of
Tiny
Town
. Eddie seemed intent on displaying all the “cutting edge sophistication” of the place.

As she gazed into the dress shop window, a suffocating hand gripped her throat. Memories of the day she’d tried to purchase a silk scarf for her mother’s birthday crowded out Eddie’s voice, his arm around her shoulder, her arm around his waist. She was eleven. She’d saved her money -- money she’d earned from busing tables at the diner after school. Honest money that she’d earned herself.

The woman in the dress shop wouldn’t take it. Said it was dirty. That everyone in town knew what her mother did to get it. “Don’t touch that scarf,” she’d said. “No one else will buy it if they know you touched it.” She’d run from the shop before the woman could throw her out.

Well, she’d shown them. She’d shown all of them. Her business was successful. All her money was earned honestly through her own sweat. She showed them. Her shoulders sagged. The shame was, they’d never know she’d made it. Worse, they wouldn’t care if they did.

“What’s the matter, Robbie?” His voice was gentle, close to her ear. “Talk to me. Did I say something wrong?”

She turned. His tender, concerned expression broke her heart. He was such a good man. Why? Why did he have to love
Smallville
,
USA
? How could he stand to live in this place?

For the second time that day, she wished things were different. That she and Eddie lived in his rent controlled apartment, that they went to trendy sushi bars, that they read the Sunday New York Times on a bench in
Central Park
. It would have been
Paradise
.

She did a mental head slap. Yeah, right. His idea of Paradise was
Jurassic
Park
: all reptiles all the time. No, their worlds were in different universes.

She took a deep breath and exhaled silently. “Don’t be silly. You couldn’t say anything wrong. Everything that comes out of your mouth is…wonderful.” His toothpaste smile sent a low heat to simmer in her belly.

“It’s nice to hear you say that because.” His eyes zeroed in on her mouth as his tongue wet his upper lip, “because I like what comes out of your mouth.” He leaned down and captured her mouth, coaxing her tongue into his.

She tasted, she explored, she committed every sensation he created to memory.

“Hey, y’all cut that out or go git a room!”

Robbie pulled away first, but Eddie held her tightly. “Good idea, JT. I believe we will!”

She flopped her head back, hoping she’d fall down a sewage drain.

“Just kidding.” He chuckled. Louder he called, “JT, isn’t that one of your kids I hear calling?”

Eddie released her and took her hand. “Come on. Time to get out of here.” They cut across the street, dodging the two cars on the road.

She hopped into her Camaro and was mildly surprised that Eddie aimed it away from his house. “Don’t you think we should head back? I still have a long drive ahead of me and those clouds don’t look too friendly.”

“I want to show you something. I think you’ll like it.”

“It’s not another chandelier and bathtub, is it?” She caught his sidelong glance and wrinkled her nose at him. “Not that I didn’t enjoy that bathtub.”

“So did I. Very much. This won’t take long.” At his husky tone, she glanced in his direction but his expression was unreadable.

The town disappeared behind them along with the double-wides, the dress shop, the impossible fantasy.

“Are you one?” asked Eddie, shifting into fourth gear and taking a curve on what seemed like two wheels. She held onto her seat but didn’t comment on his driving. The Camaro was fun and had the horsepower to back it up. She couldn’t deny him the pleasure of testing its limits.