West Wind (12 page)

Jealousy consumed her as a young wife and she
detested the bright and beautiful Rose Windham. Fair haired, blue
eyed, educated and wealthy, Rose was everything Faye wasn't. She
even had a roly-poly son who gurgled and bounced on his daddy's
shoulders, while Faye delivered a premature, sickly and demanding
daughter. Faye thought Derek was disappointed; he wanted his first
born to be a son. Derek looked up to Don Windham and wanted
everything his older friend had.

That included Rose Windham, and it cost him
his life.

In reality, Margaret was a beautiful little
girl and Derek had been thrilled with his small family, but the
insecure Faye imagined intrigue and unhappiness where none existed.
And when it did exist, after more than ten years of accusations,
Faye's bitter anguish became vindication.

She detested Rose Windham still, blaming her
for Derek's death and for Margaret's. If the young girl had a
father around, she would not have turned to drugs and alcohol, Faye
reasoned. The girl wouldn't have gotten pregnant at the age of
seventeen, would have finished high school and made something of
herself.

Faye gazed despondently out her kitchen
window and waited for the telephone to ring. Waited for the only
person in the world she loved, and the only person who loved her,
to call. She stood in the kitchen unmoving for more than an hour
until the telephone rang. She smiled skeletally.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Jay took a break and
went upstairs to his apartment. Sabrina hadn't come back, and he
wanted to see if she'd left anything behind, a sign she may
return.

The apartment was silent and empty, shadowy.
Sabrina straightened the bed before she left and her scent lingered
in the bathroom. Jay stood in the bedroom for several minutes, his
eyes closed as he savored the memory of Sabrina's goodbye kiss.

Unbidden, his thoughts turned to Faye and he
flinched. He returned her call and agreed to have dinner with her
the following evening. He also promised to stop by on Saturday, mow
the lawn, and check her air conditioner. Normally, he didn't mind
Faye's demands, but now that Sabrina had materialized, he resented
having to choose. He also didn't look forward to keeping the two
women apart.

His apartment phone rang and he checked the
caller ID before picking up the received.

"Yeah, Brett?"

"Hey, Sabrina is on line one. She's at the
grocery store and doesn't remember how to get back here. You want I
should tell her to take a hike?"

"Nah, I'll talk to her. Put her through."

He waited as Brett cycled the telephone
system and soon he heard her breathy voice. "Hello, Jay?"

"Hey. I hear you're lost again," he
teased.

Sabrina shifted her cell phone to her
shoulder and reached into her purse for the Cadillac keys. "Not
really; I know where I am. I'm not sure where you are, though. I
was wondering if you'd like to have dinner this evening, maybe
someplace a bit more intimate than Maude's."

"Where were you thinking?"

"Well, what do you suggest?" She unlocked the
trunk of the car and placed shopping bags into the trunk.

Jay played the game. "Why don't you come here
and we'll have dinner at my place?"

Sabrina slid behind the wheel and started the
Cadillac's engine. "That could be arranged if you like steak with
red wine, salad, bisque soup and ice cream for dessert. Where do
you live?"

Jay gave her directions and, as soon as he
was convinced Sabrina was on the right track, he hung up and went
downstairs to the boat shop.

"Well, old buddy, you've worked hard enough
today," he said, slapping Brett on the back. "Take off. I'll see
you tomorrow."

Brett shook his head. "I can't go home now.
Shawna will think I've been fired."

"Go fishing, then."

Jay walked through the shop, turning off
lights and cutting switches to the table saw and other heavy
equipment.

"All right," Brett conceded. "I'm going. You
know, I could close up the shop if you want to take off."

Jay shook his head and pointedly opened the
front door. "No thanks."

He went to the street entrance and slid the
large, chain-link gate closed, securing it with a padlock. He set
the burglar alarm, and went to his loft apartment, taking the
stairs two at a time. Inside, he quickly stripped and jumped into
the shower. He was lathering his hair when he heard the apartment
door bang open, followed by a few more thumps. He was rinsing the
shampoo when the shower door slid open and a frisky hand slid up
his belly.

"Hey!" he yelped.

Sabrina's face appeared in the opening,
mischievously smiling, a dimple in her soft, round cheek. "You
could have helped me with the groceries, you know," she chided as
she pulled off her shirt. Her shoes and pants followed and within
seconds she was standing in the shower between Jay and the spray,
still clad in her underwear. She picked up the bar of soap and
rubbed it on his chest.

Jay kissed her gently, his hands resting on
her hips. "Thought I'd be finished by the time you got back."

"And deny me all this fun?"

"What about the ice cream?"

"I put it in the freezer. The rest can wait,"
she said, her bold hands sliding lower. "Mmmmm. You missed me."

"It's that obvious, huh?" Jay chucked and
slid her bra straps down her shoulders, planting kisses along the
tops of her round, wet breasts. He swiveled her so she was out of
the spray then sank to his knees, his arms wrapped around her hips.
His hot mouth seared her skin as he tongued her belly and thighs.
He pulled her panties down to her ankles and, as she stepped out of
them, he pressed his mouth against her. With her hands trembling in
his wet hair, Sabrina swooned and leaned against the tile wall. He
held her tight, cupping her bottom as he lick and bit and plunged
his tongue into her velvet softness. He relished her taste, reveled
in the feel of her as she hardened against his mouth.

Sabrina slung one leg over his shoulder
pulled him closer with her fisted hands. His fingers were free to
roam her wet body and caress her breasts. When he tweaked her
nipples, Sabrina whimpered and ground against his mouth. Soon she
was panting and begging for release.

"Let go, sweetheart," he whispered.

Sabrina moaned and erupted, pushing him away
as she sank slowly from heaven. The only thing holding her up was
her leg, wrapped around Jay's neck. She thought she would be
mortified as she looked down into his grinning face, but instead
she giggled.

"You're crazy, you know that?" She caressed
his face, her fingers sliding through his short beard and mustache.
"And, don't ever get rid of this," she commanded.

* * *

It was dark by the time they emerged from
Jay's bedroom, groggy and relaxed from their tantric lovemaking. He
considered falling asleep but when Sabrina whispered in his ear
that she was hungry, he followed her into the kitchen.

Dressed in one of his shirts, the sleeves
rolled up and the buttons off center, she opened the refrigerator
and pulled out the grocery bags.

Jay sat on a barstool and spooned ice cream
into his mouth while Sabrina broiled steaks and concocted a salad.
The soup was ready made, so she popped it in the microwave.

"You're pretty quick, aren't you?" he
noted.

"When you live alone, you get efficient. This
is one of my favorite meals, so I've streamlined the process. See,
while I broil the steaks for six minutes on each side, I pour salad
from a bag, sprinkle on the blue cheese crumbles and chopped
walnuts, then slice the pear and, voila, all it needs is salad
dressing. Dang; I forgot to buy dressing." She rummaged through his
refrigerator. "Do you have any dressing?"

Jay nodded, his mouth full of chocolate ice
cream. Sabrina, of course, couldn't hear anything except a mumbled
reply so she scavenged the refrigerator door until she found a
nearly empty bottle.

"Goody; it's Italian. My favorite," she said
and dumped the contents into the salad bowl.

Seven minutes later, sizzling steaks were
placed on plates and glasses filled with red wine. With a flourish,
Sabrina plunked two bowls of steaming red pepper bisque on the
counter beside the salad and tore chunks off a fresh loaf of
Italian bread.

Jay reached for a knife and fork then paused
while Sabrina bowed her head and moved her lips silently.

"Are you okay? What are you doing?"

She looked up and laughed. "Saying grace,
silly. Don't you pray?"

Jay scratched his head in jest, slightly
unnerved. "No, not really."

"Well, I'm a good Catholic girl, so I pray
all the time. Hopefully, it will make up for the premarital sex and
birth control," she quipped.

Jay's mouth dropped open and he was
speechless.

Sabrina laughed again and shoved his
shoulder. "Eat your dinner, Jay. I'll pray for you, too."

* * *

Later that night, back in the king-sized bed,
Sabrina spooned against Jay's back and stroked his hair. "Jay?" she
whispered. "Are you awake?"

He didn't reply and by the rhythmic rise and
fall of his shoulders, she could tell he slept deeply. Confident he
couldn't hear her, but needing to say something about how she felt,
Sabrina murmured in the dark. Nervous and shy, she spoke in her
mother's language, Portuguese, so even if Jay had been awake he
wouldn't have understood. In a soothing, soft voice she told his
sleeping back what she couldn't say to his face.

She held her breath when he stirred and
rolled over. He tossed an arm across her hips and tucked his head
to her breasts. His breath stirred against her chilled skin and she
shivered. It was easy to imagine being in his arms forever, wanting
to belong to him, wanting a family. She closed her eyes and
pictured a baby with chestnut curls and blue eyes and her heart
ached.

It also frightened her, this intense yearning
for someone she barely knew. Yet, she acknowledged, she did know
him. What she felt for him, and what he certainly must feel for
her, seemed light years from the crush she had on Robert Hall, or
the relationship with Jeremy Rice, her former fiancé.

But what if he doesn't want me? What if he
doesn't feel the way I do? What if he's not in love with me?

Sabrina stifled the urge to wake Jay, to prod
him to make love to her again because she knew the need was born of
fear and desperation. Intellectually, she knew that sex couldn't be
the only bond between them. She willed herself to relax, to breathe
and to stop worrying. Soon she slept, not waking until Jay's alarm
clock buzzed.

Chapter Six

The following morning, Jay and Sabrina sat at
the bar and drank coffee. Jay had scrambled eggs and toasted
bagels, but she was too nervous to eat.

"I have to leave tomorrow. I have to see my
grandmother," Sabrina said, twisting her long, dark hair into a
knot at the back of her head. "I should be there."

Jay sipped his coffee. "I thought you said
she was in the hospital."

"She is," Sabrina replied, picking up her own
coffee cup. "But I still need to be there. I'm the only family she
has."

"What about your parents?"

"They're still in Tibet. They won't return
for another two weeks. Besides, they don't count." She slammed her
cup on the counter.

"What do you mean, 'they don't count'?"

"They're not close to Grandmother Rose. They
never have been. My father went to boarding schools and then went
to college out of state."

"Like you did," he observed, sipping
coffee.

"Yes, but it was different with me. I spent
my summers with Grandmother Rose. Honestly, if you think about it,
I've probably spent more time with her than with mom and dad."

"You're not close to your parents?"

"It's their choice, not mine," she said
defensively. "Sometimes I think they would have preferred a dog. A
pet they could keep in a kennel."

Jay put his cup on the mahogany counter and
wrapped his arms around Sabrina. "Hey, it's all right, honey," he
said, kissing her tenderly. "Don't cry."

"I'm not," she said, sniffling. "It just
makes me mad, that's all. If I ever have a child, I'm never leaving
it behind." She swayed into his embrace, her eyes fiercely
closed.

He rocked her gently, waiting for her tears
to subside. When she sniffed and started to pull away, Jay took her
hands in his. "Would you like me to go with you?"

Sabrina recoiled. "You? Go to Pennsylvania
with me? You want to meet Grandmother?"

"Well, not if you don't want me to," he said,
reading her body language.

"No, it's not that. I just thought that,
well, that you…" her voice became a whisper. "…wouldn't want to
meet my family."

She lifted nervous eyes to his and pleaded
silently.

"I'll do whatever you want me to do, Sabrina.
Whatever will make you happy," he said.

"Say that again," she commanded.

"Whatever you want," he replied, cupping her
head and sliding his hand through her hair, loosening her ponytail.
He caught her trembling bottom lip between his own and rubbed it
gently. "If it makes you happy," he murmured against her open
mouth, his tongue teasing hers.

Sabrina's heart thumped heavily, tears beaded
her lashes and slid down her cheeks. Jay tasted the salt and
groaned. "Why are you still crying?"

"Because I'm happy."

* * *

"You sure you can trust me with the shop for
three days? Yesterday, you couldn't even rely on me to close it,"
Brett teased.

"Don't be a wiseass. I trust you. I just
didn't want you around. Besides, we're not open on Sunday, so it's
only two days."