We Interrupt This Date (20 page)

“Don’t worry.” Mama shook her fist so hard, Sweetpea
started to roll off her lap and had to scrabble to haul himself
back up the side of a cushion. “If Mr. Beauchamp comes within a
hundred feet of that child, I will rip his lungs out and wrap them
around his head.”

“Mama!” my sister and I said in unison. It was
definitely not ladylike to speak of ripping and wrapping lungs.

“He said he needed an answer from you,” I said. “What
was he talking about?”

“That is none of your business. I declare, Susan, you
have gotten entirely above yourself about asking personal
questions. Bless your heart, you just can’t seem to manage without
prying.”

“Me?” I screeched. “You’re a world class meddler. At
least I pass on messages when I’m asked to.”

This was Mama’s cue to close her eyes and plead pain
and exhaustion. I shrugged. There were ways of finding things out,
and for the sake of my family, I was going to get some answers. It
wasn’t just that Philip Beauchamp made me feel creepy, but
childhood memories of him and his selfishness ran deep, a part of
my psyche I hadn’t consciously thought about in years. I wasn’t
going to wait like a trapped animal for him to make his next
move.

At least I wouldn’t have to spend the evening
waiting hand and foot on Mama and DeLorean. Jack called to make
sure our bathroom inspection “date” for this evening was still on.
Maybe when he’d talked to Kelly The Girlfriend last night, she’d
pushed him to get his house finished so she wouldn’t have to wait
to move to Charleston.

I pictured myself meeting her. Jack would
arrange for us to have dinner together. I’d have to recruit someone
to play the part of my boyfriend. Maybe Patty would let me borrow
Kyle. I’d sit across the table and smile and smile until my face
muscles went sore. Then I’d leave with my pretend boyfriend while
Jack and Kelly The Girlfriend went back to his place for an evening
of...whatever.

What would Kelly be like? I pictured her
looking a lot like Maureen, his ex wife. Short and beautiful with a
tight little figure that showed she used to be a gymnast and still
worked out every day. Platinum hair, thanks to an expensive salon,
and makeup that made her face look airbrushed. Eyes as blue as
contact lenses could make them. The personality of a piranha.

I realized I was wallowing in bitchiness and
I shook my head, clearing it. Jack’s girlfriend was probably not
anything like Maureen. Hadn’t Jack said he’d learned from his
disastrous marriage? And even if Kelly were Maureen’s double, so
what? My role was to be Jack’s chemistry-lacking friend, a pal
whose only role was to advise him on decorating his bathroom. I
would be nice to Kelly if it killed me.

The rain had come and gone in an hour and the
sun reappeared to practically sizzle the remaining clouds out of
the sky. DeLorean advised me to wear a dress and a pair of heels.
She offered to loan me a gauzy blue number guaranteed to tantalize,
but I laughed. “Don’t be silly. Jack’s taking me to dinner and then
we’re going to look at his house—currently under renovation. I
can’t see myself stumbling around a construction site in heels and,
besides, Jack will probably show up wearing jeans--he always
does--and I’ll feel overdressed.”

“It’s Sunday. You can’t overdress on Sunday.
Jack will appreciate the effort and you look so pretty in dresses.
You have gorgeous legs, doesn’t she, Mama?”

Mama looked up from her magazine. “She
does--she got them from me. Although, she’s taller than I, of
course. I quite agree with you, DeLorean, there is no reason for
Susan to wear that common pair of slacks with a blouse that clearly
is not the right color for her.”

“Moss green?” I said, looking down at myself.
“You helped me pick it out.”

“You must have been wearing different make up
that day,” Mama said with a sniff.

“Jack and I are not going on a date, and it
wouldn’t matter if I wore a designer gown and a tiara. Jack has a
girlfriend. We are nothing more than buddies.”

The doorbell rang. I ran to answer it,
ignoring the dual “make the man wait” frowns from Mama and
DeLorean. In fact, I gave in to a moment of rudeness and slipped
out the door to meet Jack on the steps instead of asking him to
come inside.

“Come on,” I said. “Mama hurt her ankle and
she’s temporarily moved in. If she sees you, we won’t get out of
here before midnight, if at all.” I didn’t need a delay while
DeLorean gave him another backrub or Mama quizzed him about his
family and asked how they were doing since they’d moved out of
state.

“Sorry to hear about the ankle. I’ll go
inside and say hello.”

“It’s just a sprain, but she really couldn’t
manage on her own with her dogs and she refused to hire a home
health aide. You can come in when you bring me back.” I pushed past
him down the driveway and he had no choice but to follow. I climbed
into his Mercedes. I’d expected the pickup he’d been driving last
night. “Nice car.”

“Thanks. Had it in the shop for a tune up,”
he said, as though he knew I was wondering about his truck. “Do you
mind if we go straight to the house before dinner? I’m expecting
someone.”

My stomach dived toward my feet. “Fine.
Whatever works for you.” I stared straight ahead. Road. Lots of
cars. A couple of trucks.

So Kelly The Girlfriend was on her way. He
hadn’t said so, but that had to be it. Why hadn’t I taken Mama’s
and DeLorean’s advice and dressed up so I could show off my great
legs?

No, wrong. He was taken. I slapped my
forehead and stuck out my lips in an involuntary goldfish
imitation. Jack gave me an odd look.

I turned away so he wouldn’t see the next
expression that appeared on my face while I tried to sort myself
out. There was no reason in the world for me to try to look great
when I met Jack’s girlfriend. Except I didn’t want Kelly The
Girlfriend to be prettier and better dressed than I was. For some
stupid reason.

Jack headed into Charleston on narrow streets
lined with cars. I sat up straighter and peered from side to side.
So many of the houses in this area had fallen almost into ruin and
then been renovated and turned into apartments for students. Some
of them, though, had been bought by people with the money and the
know how to turn them back into the charming mansions they once
were. Pale yellows, blues, and greens were the predominant colors.
Even freshly painted, they looked as if they’d been here
forever.

We drove past Jack’s apartment and had to
stop for a light at the corner. I glanced out the window and saw
The Pie Plate where Jack and I had run across each other.

A white square on the window glass caught my
eye. I sat up straighter to get a closer look. “Hey, the sign’s
still in the window. They’re hiring.”

Jack slid a glance at me just as the light
changed. “You give up on the ghost tours?”

“No, of course not.” I fiddled with the strap
on my purse. “But I thought since ghost touring’s at night, I could
pick up something part-time in the morning. Christian wants to quit
his job so he’ll have more time to enjoy college.”

“And you think it’s a good idea to take on
twenty hours or so a week serving coffee and pie at the same time
that you have your injured mother and your sister and baby nephew
to take care of? Along with a new job? What are you, Charleston’s
candidate for superwoman of the year?”

“It’s not like that,” I shot back. Funny how
fast human nature steps in and makes people turn defensive.
“DeLorean is going to help with Mama. And Christian needs a social
life apart from his studies and his job. College is supposed to be
fun, at least part of the time. Hey, you had your share of good
times in college. I remember you telling me about parties and
football games and going to the beach.”

“True, but I worked, too.” He signaled for a
left. The car, its motor ticking over so smoothly I almost couldn’t
hear it, slid past more rows of pastel-colored homes, most of them
featuring Charleston style side porches.

When I didn’t respond with a further comment
on the merits of fun at college, Jack must have taken that for a
sign I was dropping the subject. He pointed out a couple of houses
under renovation that his company was working on. Safe topic for
both of us.

“You can’t beat these old places for quality
of materials and workmanship. That one on the corner has solid
mahogany paneling in every room. Can you believe the former owner
wanted to knock it down and build one of those angled modern homes
decorated with chrome and glass? I’ve got nothing against modern,
but what he had in mind would have looked like a parked space ship
on a street like this.”

“I agree.” I’d seen evidence in other cities
of people being seduced into replacing historic architecture with
rows of flimsy boxes that all looked alike. The house he pointed
out, unlike most of the others on the street, was brick and had a
small cobblestone driveway leading to a carriage house. I was
impressed. Off street parking. A way to keep one’s car off the
narrow Charleston streets originally built for horse drawn
carriages. Points on for the carriage house.

“What happened with the modern eyesore?”

“The city wouldn’t grant permission. He sold
the place and moved on.”

“Good for the city.”

Jack turned left at the next street and
pulled into the driveway of the most impressive house we’d seen
yet. This one was wood frame construction with side porches on both
main floors. At the very top of the house, dormer windows indicated
a sizeable attic, probably walk-up. An enormous oak stood next to a
carriage house in the courtyard out back.

“Is this another one you’re working on?” I
said.

“You might say that. This one’s mine.”

“Wow.” I climbed out of the car and turned to
face him. “I’m impressed, Jack. Your house is fabulous.”

He shrugged. “After the divorce, Maureen and
I sold our home and some other property we had in New Jersey. Even
split two ways we made a nice profit. And the widow who sold me
this place made me the deal of a lifetime because she knew I was
going to renovate and care for the house as much as she did.”

“You almost sound like you think you don’t deserve
something like this.” I slipped my arm through his. “You’re a hard
worker. And a nice person. Why shouldn’t you have success?”

“Don’t know. Maybe I’ve made too many mistakes in the
past.” He looked at me solemn-faced and I couldn’t see the
mischievous glint in his eye that usually told me when he was
kidding. But the skies were still murky after the earlier storm and
the branches from the oak were shading his face. So maybe I was
simply missing something.

“Here’s where I’m supposed to tell you how perfect
you are. After that, I profess my undying admiration and affection
and shower you with compliments until my voice gives out. Then you
shuffle your feet and stare at your toes and mumble, ‘Ah, shucks,
ma’am, that’s mighty nice of you.’ Well, don’t place bets on any of
that, mister. Don’t try fishing for compliments from me.” I grinned
to show I was kidding.

“Wasn’t going to. And besides the fact that I can’t
see my toes through my shoes, you know I’m not the ‘ah, shucks’
type. Gotten sassy in your old age, haven’t you?”

“Look who’s talking about old. In case you’ve
forgotten, you’re a good two months older than I am. Now show me
the rest of this gem before I get fed up with your insults and
leave.”

He gently brushed my hair away from my face, letting
his fingers glide against my cheek. Little tiny goosebumps--the
most delicate of goosebumps--chased each other down my back.

“You’ll have to look past the drop cloths and all the
other signs of ongoing renovation, but you’ll get the idea. I look
forward to your opinion.”

“And I look forward to giving it.” My arm still
linked in his, we went up the steps to the massive front door.

Jack unlocked the door, pushed it open, and waved me
inside. I stopped in the foyer, which was about the size of my
dining room and kitchen combined.

What could I say about a house that was perfect? Or
would be when the work was finished. Mahogany paneling. Ornate
moldings. Built in bookshelves and cupboards. A soaring curved
stairway that led to the upper floor. Lofty ceilings. Crystal
chandeliers. Fireplaces with exquisite hand carved mantles.

We climbed the stairs to see Jack’s bedroom. The room
was enormous. There were windows on two sides and a door that led
onto the side porch, which was shaded by a giant magnolia. I
pictured a table and chairs on the porch, perfect for morning
coffee.

“Over here’s the bathroom I was telling you about.”
Jack grabbed my arm and hauled me across the floor like I was a toy
on a string.

“Hey, what’s the rush?” I pulled my arm away from him
and rubbed my elbow.

“I told you, I’m expecting someone.”

There went my stomach again, trying to fall into my
shoes. I’d forgotten. Really.

I shook away thoughts of meeting Kelly and stood with
my hands on my hips, trying to visualize the finished product. Not
easy. The floor was still unfinished, just rough plywood. I could
see pipes where there were supposed to be a toilet, sinks, shower,
and a tub that would be situated under the huge stained glass
window.

Jack moved closer to stand beside me. He casually
draped an arm over my shoulder.

“Tell me, Nic, how would you decorate if this were
your home?”

I wondered how I’d feel if I were his girlfriend
Kelly and I knew that Jack had brought me here and put his arm
around me. Not only that, but he’d asked me to help him decorate
the house that she, presumably, was going to move into with him. I
told myself I wouldn’t mind at all if I were the girlfriend because
Susan Caraway was nothing more than Jack’s high school buddy, the
klutzy girl who fell off the couch the one and only time he kissed
me.