The Wedding Wager (28 page)

Once at the door, she couldn’t get to her keys so she leaned on the doorbell.

The door opened promptly. “Hi, Jameson.” She felt a measure of comfort, seeing half the husband and wife team that’d been in her employ since shortly after Frankie’s birth.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Roxanne,” Jameson said in a well-educated accent. “Shall I take him?”

“Yes, please.” She passed Frankie off to him. “Have Rose put him to bed,” she said of Jameson’s wife.

“Ms. Candy is out by the pool.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a smile, then darted through the house and out into the backyard.

Candy was bikini-clad and laid out on a poolside lounge chair, soaking up the sun. The tropical heat washed over Roxanne in a thick wave of sweltering moisture as she dropped into a nearby chair. She’d nearly forgotten how uncomfortable Florida’s humidity could be. She wondered if Candy was asleep and cleared her throat.

Candy’s eyes opened behind her Sun Clouds. After a moment, she asked, “How’d the interview go?”

An unpleasant feeling devoured Roxanne. Reluctantly, she admitted, “Not well.”

“So what happened?”

“All she wanted to talk about was Garrett-Hollander.” Roxanne tried to show as little emotion as possible, even to Candy.

Candy tipped up her sunglasses and propped them her forehead. “That was the subject?”

In the background, one of Garrett-Hollander’s songs poured from the radio sitting on the ground at Candy’s side. Since Roxanne’s unexplained disappearance from Frank’s life five years ago, he’d written many songs about her. Some indicated his hatred for her, while others simply begged her to come back. There were also songs alleging that she’d been a hooker. It was one of those songs that played on Candy’s radio now.

…I played the fool

I trusted her

But she let me down

Cause while I was away

Roxanne was out selling herself

All over town…

“I’m surprised she didn’t ask me about that damn song.” Roxanne hated that song and she cursed Frank for writing it. To hear him tell it, she’d been out prostituting herself just because she could. It hadn’t been that way at all and it pissed her off that Frank would suggest as much.

“So tell me what happened?” Candy flashed Roxanne an eager smile. She loved gossip. Especially when it involved the two of them.

“Well, to make a long story short—” Roxanne hesitated. “She asked me point blank if Frank Garrett was the father of my son.”

“No...” Candy’s disbelief lit in her emerald eyes, brightening them. “What’d you say?”

“Well, I denied it of course. But the bitch wouldn’t give up.” She paused, long enough to get a hold on her frustration. “She even conned me into bringing Frankie out on the set.”

“During taping?” Candy’s voice shook.

“Oh, yes. And she commented on the resemblance too.” Roxanne reacted like an injured puppy. “And she wasn’t talking about me and Frankie.”

“Oh, wow.”

“If he sees that show…” Roxanne’s voice trailed off as she thought about Frank. Quickly though, she regained her composure and added, “I hate to think of the consequences.”

“Frank’s in his own little world,” Candy said. “The last thing he’s got time for is to keep up with you.”

“Yeah, right.” Roxanne’s disbelief escaped in her laughter.

Candy didn’t speak right away. The silence was deafening. “Did you know their first album was a flop?” she asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “When their second album came out, it did so well that people went out and bought the first one too.”

“They have two albums?” Roxanne asked innocently.

Candy raked an admonishing glare over Roxanne. “They have three, which is my point exactly.” It was like she knew Roxanne had chosen to play dumb. Uh oh. That meant the lecture was coming. “It hasn’t been your concern to keep up with him, so why should he have gone to so much trouble to keep up with you?”

“Okay, so maybe you’re right.” Roxanne wasn’t quite ready to give up the fight. “But if what you say is true…then why do you know so much about them?”

Candy ignored her question. “You do have reason to be concerned though.”

“How so?”

“If Frank does see that show...you’re dead meat.” She slid her sunglasses down over her eyes and sank back into the lounge chair.

“That’s very comforting Can…” Roxanne’s voice trailed off. She didn’t want to think about what might happen. Nothing good could come from that.

“Face the facts,” Candy said, “Frankie is a walking, talking replica of Frank.” Her undesirable words surrounded Roxanne like a fine mist. “I know you had your reasons for running away from him.” Compassion filled her tone, yet if offered little comfort. “But you better realize…it might be time to pay the piper.”

R
oxanne went upstairs to take a long, hot bubble bath. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, she poured bath oil into the stream of running water. She sat there almost in a trance, watching the tub fill and the bubbles grow. Satisfied with the water level she turned it off, got undressed and stepped in. She slid down through the bubbles, into the comfort of the water, feeling confident it would soothe her soul and make her troubles disappear.

Why? Why was this happening now? Especially after all this time. Everything had been going so well too. But now the bottom was about to fall out.

Why did it always come back to Frank Garrett? Roxanne tried to put him out of her mind, just as she’d tried to do so many times before. But somehow he always managed to keep sneaking back into her thoughts. A long time ago, she thought running away would solve her problems. She thought running away would set her free. Free from Frank. Now she realized she’d been mistaken.

Her past was about to come back to haunt her. She knew she wasn’t up to facing Frank. She didn’t know if she’d ever be ready for that. In Roxanne’s mind she had done nothing but love Frank. She’d only tried to help him, and in return he’d let her down. Once again, he’d doubted her before giving her the opportunity to explain. And he’d promised he would never do that again.

Roxanne wanted desperately to be able to go back. Back to the beginning. Back when things were fine. Back before the hatred. Back when there was only love.

As the water rocked back and forth, time rocked back and forth as well, until Roxanne had no concept of time at all. And once again, she had no idea what was the past and what was the present….

*I hope you enjoyed this excerpt of
Crazy For You
by Sandra Edwards. If you’d like to read the book in its entirety, please visit Sandra’s website at
www.SandraWrites.com
for purchase info.*

Other Books by Regina Duke

Calin's Cowboy
(sweet romance & cozy mystery)

North Rim Delight (
romantic suspense
)

The Woof in the Wedding Plans
(novella, mystery & romance)

Trickster and Other Stories (
SF and horror
)

Get Regina's Books on
Kindle
and Nook.

* * *

If you love dogs and enjoy reading about them, check out:

Linda White’s
Loving the Sensitive Dog
on
Kindle
.

Linda White’s
Sir Darby: Another Sensitive Dog
on
Kindle
.

Find out more about dogs at
www.LindaLouWrites.com

About the Author

Regina Duke has walked the beaches of Spain, shared a Mexican shower with a four-inch-long cockroach, and heated her 10th floor British walk-up hotel room by running hot water in the bath! Back home in northern Nevada, she writes fiction from romance to cozy mystery to quiet horror and soft science fiction. Regina's alter-ego Linda White sometimes writes dog books about her talented papillons. They're earning titles in rally, obedience, agility, and tricks.

For fiction, please visit her at
www.ReginaDuke.com
. And for non-fiction,
www.LindaLouWrites.com
.