Tattooed Hearts (5 page)

“I’m not saying it’s
going to be easy being so far away from each other,” he continued, his brows
knitted. “But we are worth it.” Thrusting a hand in her hair, he exhaled and a
muscle in his jaw ticked. “Forever, Claire. I’ll wait for you forever.” He kiss
ed her
neck
,
a wave of pure pleasure ran through her entire body. “I
have to go. I’ll be waiting for you tonight.”

"Your parents are
home."

He shrugged. “They’re
on the other side of the house. They won’t hear us. Call my cell when you get
to the farm and
I’ll let you in.” He leaned in for
one last kiss before jumping into his Jeep. “I brought a shitload of condoms in
case you want to get off the pill.”

“I liked how you
felt,” she whispered, feeling just a little bit shy.

“I love how you
felt.”
 
He stuck hi
s head out of the car window and brushed his lips over her
forehead. “When should I expect you over?”

 
“One hour.”

“See you then. I love
you.”

She reached into the
car and kissed him once more.
“Forever.”

With a final wave, he
was gone. She didn’t move unt
il the soft rumble of
the Jeep faded. Smiling, Claire practically skipped her way to the house, happy
as a dog in a dinosaur dig. Her steps slowed when her mother’s and Victoria’s
voices echoed from the kitchen.

“I’m just saying
Rosa,
you need to talk to C
laire.”

Victoria’s voice,
while calm, carried a level of warning. Claire stopped dead, her stomach
shifted uneasily. This had to be about her sneaking out. Shit. She promised
Forrest she’d be over. Hell, she wanted nothing more than to be with him again
to
night. She caught a fleeting stiffening of her
mother’s shoulders and quickly withdrew out of sight. In the shadow, back
pressed against the wall, she inched a little closer.

“Talk
to her about what exactly, Victoria?”

Claire held her
breath.

“You can’t l
et Claire believe there’s a future between her and Forrest.
I mean, he’s a…” Victoria paused. “His parents are millionaires.”

The sound of dishes
being dropped in the dishwasher was deafening in the tense silence.

“Your point?” her
mother asked.

“In the V
ineyard, we have the
haves
and the
have
nots
,” Victoria answered.

A sharp stabbing
sensation ran through Claire. “So you’re saying Claire falls in the have nots?”

Claire stood knee-deep
in silence
,
hoping this was all a dream.
Water
dripped from the faucet
into the sink, reverberating
around the room like a cymbal, yet no one moved to stop it.

“I never thought you
saw Claire that way. Me perhaps, but never my daughter,” her mother
continued,
her voice tight and controlled.

“Oh, I don’t. But the
reality is t
his is how things are. When Forrest is
ready to settle down, it will be with someone of similar background, not with a
sub-par singer.”

Victoria’s words flew
from her mouth like vapor but landed in Claire’s guts as shrapnel, tearing her
insides.

She absen
tly stroked the tattoo on the inside of her wrist. The
memory of the needles moving in and out, up and down, pushing the ink below the
surface of the skin made her wince. Unlike earlier, when it brought life to her
soul, and gave her a sense of longing and
hope, it
now stung like a hot razor blade carving her skin.

A pair of heels
clicked across the room. Her mother said in a tight voice, “I see.”

“Rosa, he’s going to
medical school. When Claire goes to New York, she’ll drown among all the big
fish.”

“Why a
re you so invested in what Forrest does?”

“He and Jason are
basically brothers,” Victoria said in a matter-of-fact voice, “and no matter
how close we are, or how we put it, Claire is the daughter of a housekeeper.
That will never be good enough for any of
the boys.
Forrest will realize that one day and turn to someone within his circle.”

Victoria’s words
slashed Claire with betrayal.

“That’s enough,
Victoria,” Charles ordered in a stern tone.

“Darling…”

Claire heard the
surprise in Victoria’s voice and crin
ged. Charles,
while approachable and giving, was not one to fuck with. Born with a silver
spoon in his mouth, he was accustomed to have things done his way and could be
ruthless when crossed. In the world of lawyers, business negotiations, he was
known as
shrewd and callous.

“I was just telling
Rosa…”

“I heard what you told
Rosa,” Charles
interjected,
his voice carefully quiet, but edged
with steel. “You should apologize.”

“Her daughter sneaks
out of the house whenever he’s here to be with him.”
Frustration
evident
in Victoria’s voice.
“We all thought it would end, but now
they are probably having sex.”

“How do you know they
are sexually active?” her mother asked.

Victoria laughed. “She
didn’t come home until what time this morning?” She paused, waiting for
an answer. When none came, she continued. “I doubt they are
even using protection. Heaven! She might end up pregnant.”

“Victoria,” Charles
warned again.

“I’m just warning Rosa
what will become of Claire if she thinks Forrest will marry her,” she
continued,
ignoring Charles' cautioning tone. “As her
mother, it’s your job to save her from being heartbroken or worse.” She huffed.
“Would you rather hear the warning from Forrest’s parents themselves? I’m the
one they discuss this with.”

Anguish swelled in
Claire
’s chest, tears clogged her eyes and filled her
vision. She slapped a hand over her mouth to keep in a bitter cry. The
distorted view she had of the people who became the bedrock of her life slowly
came into focus, killing her self-esteem and trust. She sh
ould walk away, run to Forrest, but she sucked in a breath
and held it. If only for a moment, she willed herself to be strong and continue
seeking shelter in the shadow.

“Victoria, I said
that’s enough.” Charles
heavy
footsteps
ran out
in
the
stillness
.
“Rosa, I
apologize for Victoria’s behavior tonight. Please disregard her words and do
not mention this conversation to Claire.” He exhaled deeply. “I’m sorry you had
to be the recipient of…this.”

The apology from
Charles made Claire’s heart squeeze. All he
r life,
he’d been the father figure she never had. He never made her feel any less than
Jason. At times, she had forgotten she wasn’t his biological daughter. He
taught her to swim, drive, and even attended all of her father-daughter dances.
She loved him
and in her heart of hearts believed his
apology was sincere, still she couldn’t help wondering if he’d be as accepting
had she been dating Jason. No matter what, she was the daughter of the
housekeeper.
The charity case.

She listened to
partnered steps unt
il they left the room. Her mind
started to fail, like an engine that turned over and over, never kicking into
action.
She
glanced at the door. Her eyes went to
the walls, then back to the door.

Life had suddenly
become a roller coaster
.
E
verything
too fast
to comprehend.
Her stomach lurched in her throat,
choking her and making a huge tangle of devastation.

Claire’s head pounded,
every cell in her body screamed for oxygen. She had to take a breath. She had
to get out. Leave this house, the island, Forrest.
Her
mother would be frantic, but she’d call her in a day or two. Grabbing her purse
and key to the Cabriolet, she pulled the doorknob and embraced the night.

Outside was nothing
but moon speckled darkness. She inhaled, but her lungs were filled with betray
al and hurt, leaving less space for air. She sucked in the
cool night air as if it were the remedy to her heartache. It failed to lessen
the pain. She was still dizzy and worse, all her nerves were alive as ever and
her senses heightened. She needed clothe
s, but that
meant returning to the house, and she couldn’t do that, couldn’t face them.

Thankful for Charles’
regular allowances, she had enough to get her started with the basics. She
wouldn’t need much
—
two shirts, two pants, intimates,
toiletries, and en
ough to pay rent for a month or
two. Everything else could wait until she found a job.

She
rushed into the car, started the engine, and drove onto
Main Street. Her mind screamed out as pain pierced through her heart.
Confusion, hatred, hurt, and agony stif
led her
throat. Tears made wet tracks down her face and dripped to her wobbling chin.
She swiped them away, but they stubbornly continued to flow until she
surrendered and let the sadness surge through her veins and deaden her mind.

On Main Street, she
steered the Cabriolet and made a left turn, away from
Edgartown, toward Oak Bluffs, to catch the last ferry leaving the island.

About twenty minutes
later, the captain’s voice shrieked in the night.
“All aboard!”

Heart in shreds, she
sat in the car and lis
tened to the engine of the
ferry as it sailed away from the place she called home. Her phone buzzed in her
purse.

Forrest.

Her heart skipped.

She patted the hobo
bag until she located the vibration and quickly retrieved her cell. She flipped
it open and st
udied the text message.

You’re
not here. What’s going on? It’s been one hour. I’m waiting.

Her heart contracted
in pain. Forrest was out of her league, the son of millionaires, on his way to
one of the best medical schools in the country.
Long distance
relationships
never worked out anyway
. He’d be tempted by other girls and the flesh was weak.
But more importantly, he deserved to marry his equal, one of those perfect
college girls. Not the daughter of a housekeeper.

Nausea swirled
unrestrained in her st
omach. Her head swam with
half-formed regrets. Air, love, life, and warmth sucked out of her inner core
and left her empty. She shut off her phone and dropped it in her purse, leaving
the text unanswered.

Claire stepped out of
the parked car and made her w
ay up the stairs to the
deck. The night breeze whisked her ebony hair and she let out a little quiver.
Stretching out in front of her like a map, the unknown studied her fears, her
courage and her knowledge. Blackness engulfed her thoughts. She glanced bac
k at the island where she grew up. There was no life here,
at least not for her. Not anymore.

Her eyes settled on
the narrow and elegant infinity symbol inside her wrist. Her love for Forrest
permanently etched on her flesh. A part of him—of them—would nev
er come
off,
imprinted on her skin until the day she
died to remind her of how beautiful he was and how clueless she’d been for
allowing herself to fall in love with him.

The
African-American, Japanese daughter of the housekeeper shacking up with the son
o
f millionaires.
What was she thinking?