Raquel's Abel (24 page)

I felt like I’d melt. “It’s just that if I had to leave this house…”

His forehead wrinkled. “What?”

“Would I lose you too?”

He took a step back. “What do you take me for? A rake? A man that would leave the woman he loves just when she needs him most?”

Cheeriness filled me, dissolving my tears. “You wouldn’t abandon me, then?”

“Abandon you?” His eyes become round and his jaw dropped open. He looked at the floor. “Clearly I haven’t been forthright in stating my intentions.”

“But I didn’t know if…”

“Raquel Annalisa Blankenship, I have loved you ever since your mother brought you home from the hospital.” He reached for my hands and brought them to his lips. “I couldn’t abandon you any more than the sunshine can abandon the sun or the man in the moon can abandon the moon itself.”

Again I felt tears run down my cheeks. “You would actually be able to come with me if I left here?” My breath felt jagged in my lungs.

“I would live with you whether it were in a tent on a mountain top or in a hovel beside a garbage dump.”

“Sometimes I wonder how I ever existed without you.” Relief unburdened me and suddenly I could relax.

The next morning Regina showed up. She’d finally gotten over her latest fling and she had on part of her ‘get a new man’ wardrobe. Her heels were high and her burgundy tights clung to her showing every curve. Against the cold, she wore a black cape draped over one shoulder. Her face, however, didn’t match her outfit.

“What’s the matter?” I had to be the one to initiate the conversation. If I waited for her to inquire about my well-being, I’d die of old age in the meantime.

“It’s been at least three months now since I’ve had a date.”

“I’ve gone many months without dates.” Didn’t she realize who she was talking to?

She twisted in her place on the couch. “That’s different.”

I just looked at her hoping I could shame her into realizing she wasn’t the only living breathing thing on the planet.

“You know, Raquel, you’ve always had so much.”

I eyed her pointedly. “Had so much?” She’d gotten a very nice house out of her divorce, but I was about to lose mine. “I didn’t know I had so much.”

“You do too know.” She puffed her lips out and brought her feet up under her without kicking off her shoes.

“You were the one with boyfriends and held the title of miss popularity around here.”

“When I walked out that front door, I was everything, but inside this house, I was nothing.”

I forgot my frustration with her. With everything else going on, I’d forgotten I needed to find a way to tell Regina that Mother had committed suicide. Now wasn’t the time, she was way too down. I’d have to wait until she met her next love and when she was high on that roller coaster ride, I’d find a way to break it to her.

“Everything in here was,
Raquel this
and
Raquel’s so good at that.”

I took a deep breath. “Regina, I know you weren’t treated fairly when we were little, but your whole life can’t be going from man to man because of that.”

“And what do you want me to do?” She lobbed her arms out. “Write books? Teach at the college?” Her lips pinched together and her cheeks turned red. “Have you forgotten I dropped out of high school?”

“That doesn’t define you. The fact that you dropped out of school doesn’t have to guide the rest of your life.”

She looked away then back at me. “What do you want me to do? Just pick up and go back to school?” Her eyes looked glassy and for an instant I thought she’d cry.

“Actually, I think that’s a great idea.”

She pulled her lips to the side and began to chew the inside of her mouth. “You probably just want to see me fail.”

“Daddy might have made you feel that way, but I didn’t. I never believed you were dumb.”

The anger left her face. Her jaw dropped then closed quickly. “You didn’t?”

“No, I never believed that for an instant.”

Regina started at the floor for a moment. “I don’t know. I couldn’t imagine going back to high school.”

“You don’t have to do that. You probably just have to take a test or something. You might not even have to take any classes.”

Her eyes shot back and forth as if she were deep in thought. “Just take a test?”

“Listen, you have dedicated your life to always having a man, but you have talent. You’ve always had an incredible concept of design.” I pointed at her outfit. “Look, you put that outfit together and I bet you didn’t get any help doing that.”

She shook her head.

“You were good at art. You’ve been so busy going from man to man you haven’t looked at what’s inside Regina.”

“But you believe?” Her eyes crinkled up

I cocked my head wondering what she meant.

“I mean you actually believe I could get my high school diploma?”

“Believe you could get your diploma? Of course I do. In fact, I’m sure you could get a college degree.”

She couldn’t have looked more dazed if I’d smacked her in the head with a baseball bat. “Really?”

“Daddy should have told you he believed in you.” I refrained from telling her. Now wasn’t the time.

Regina put her feet back on the floor and looked around for her purse. “I’ve got to go.”

I stood up and touched her arm. “Think about what I’ve said.”

Regina’s face looked so calm as if she didn’t have to wear her armor any more. “I will. I’ll think about it.” She walked slowly toward the front door and this time her heels didn’t clack against the marble.

Later that day, I stepped out the front door to get the mail. Wind whipped around my shoulders, sending shudders down my spine. Normally I never wore a coat, even in the dead of winter and it was just the beginning of November. Then I remembered I hadn’t needed a coat before because I’d been shrouded in a coat of blubber. Now I was like everyone else. I actually needed to bundle up because of the cold.

I continued out to the mailbox, enjoying how my teeth chattered. Inside was a familiar looking envelope. I looked more closely. It was from the State of Virginia. A deeper chill ran through me. Slowly I walked back to the house, knowing it couldn’t be good news.

It wasn’t. The value of the house had gone up considerably, most likely since we had riverfront property. I now owed $50,000 in taxes for this year alone. It may as well be five million. Even the hefty advance I’d get for the Roosevelt biography wouldn’t be enough to pay all of the bills that were piling up.

I laid it aside and looked at the next envelope. It was from the Gretna Foundation. I opened the envelope, assuming they were asking for a donation. Fat chance they’d get money from me.

I read through the official-looking letter with gold-embossed letterhead. They were looking for a location for a new girl’s school. My home was large enough and centrally-located enough. I stared at the printed words. My house a school…

A feeling of contentment swept through me. Abel was behind me. This time I sensed him before seeing his angelic smiling face.

“And how is the loveliest woman in the world this morning?” He had on my father’s smoking jacket again.

“A company wants to turn this house into a school.” My eyes moved from the letter to Abel.

His usually alabaster skin turned pink with little spider veins running through his cheeks. “Let me see that.” His eyebrows curled. “A la-dee-dah private school,” he growled.

He didn’t have to explain. He’d wanted this to be an orphanage to help disadvantaged children, not rich ones.

“I oppose this,” he said indignantly.

“I may not have a choice. I also got a bill for the taxes. It’s much more than I can afford to pay.”

“Have faith, my dear.”

He had jutted his chin out to give him an air of invincibility, but I saw through his bravado.

“If we have to leave, we’ll just get something smaller.” My insides felt raw, worse than when I had the surgery. I’d never lived anywhere else except the college dorm, but that had been fine because I’d come home on the weekends. “It will be hard for Grandmother, but we’ll survive.” I looked at Abel. I still wasn’t convinced he could leave the house as he said.

He stepped toward me and I let my head fall onto the plush of his velvet jacket. “Do not worry. You will never leave this house unless you want to.”

I kept my head buried in the warmth of his chest, wanting to believe his comforting words.

In spite of Abel’s words, I moped around the house trying to get inspiration for my next book. There were so many great people to write about, but I couldn’t come up with one candidate.

I came out of my office and sat down in the room where Maria Elena usually watched television.