Whispers (20 page)

Teri nodded.

“Then it’s like I saw Claire for the first time. I wanted you to know that I wasn’t going out behind your back or anything. I know we didn’t have any kind of commitment to each other, but I think we both wanted to wait and see what would happen.”

“You’re right,” Teri said. “I don’t know why some relationships only last for a season.”

“That doesn’t make them any less real or any less important. You taught me to lighten up, Teri. You saw the joy in every situation, and I’m the better for having cared about you.”

“You’ll always hold a little corner of my heart too, Mark. Thanks for telling me all this.”

Mark reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. She squeezed his back, and the two friends exchanged smiles.

“Teri,” Scott called from down the street. He put his two fingers between his teeth and gave a shrill whistle.

“I guess our table is ready,” Teri said. “God bless you, Mark.”

“He has,” Mark said, giving her a quick hug. “And God bless you, Teri.”

She turned and gave a friendly wave to Claire, who was nonchalantly watching from inside the store. Claire blushed at being caught and returned the wave.

Edging her way through the crowds, Teri hurried to the restaurant. Inside she glowed.
What a man of integrity. How funny that he said I taught him to lighten up. I must have changed
.
Now I’m the one who’s always uptight. Is it me? Or is it the way I act around Scott, like Annie says? I’d say it’s time I started to find the joy in every situation again
.

“Come on,” Scott grasped her by the elbow. “Our table is ready.”

“That was the best five minutes I could ever have spent, Scott,” Teri said, trying to convey her joy as the hostess led them to their window table. “I feel so good about everything now.”

Scott pulled out her chair, and the hostess handed her a menu. “Thank you,” Teri said. “I was really unsettled about how everything sort of ended up with Mark, and now it’s clear and open. I’m so happy!”

Scott reached over and tipped down the top of her menu. “What are you telling me? Did you date that guy?”

“Last summer. Didn’t I tell you?”

Scott did not look pleased. “You’re saying you and that guy had something going last summer?”

“Something going?” Teri repeated with a laugh. “I guess, if that’s what you want to call it. We spent some time together. Exchanged a few letters over the year. A few phone calls.”

“And have you been seeing him this summer? Going out with him the same time you’ve been going out with me?”

“No, of course not. Well,” Teri quickly caught herself, “we did meet for breakfast one morning, but that was just to talk and figure out where our relationship was going.”

Scott raised his eyebrows with a critical glare, indicating for her to continue. “It’s going nowhere, Scott. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. You’re acting like I’ve been two-timing you or something!” Now Teri was frustrated. “I should never have said anything. The whole point was that when we met for breakfast I did all the talking. I said I didn’t want to pursue the relationship. He didn’t say anything then, but he told me tonight that
he agreed. He’s with Claire. Didn’t you see how happy they looked together? You’re not getting this, are you?”

Scott lifted his menu and didn’t say anything. Teri tried not to let the joy she had felt slip away. Maybe Scott was jealous, the way she had felt jealous of Julie. But there was nothing for him to be jealous of, just as there had been nothing for her to be jealous of with Julie. She tried to tell him.

He lowered his menu and said, “Let’s forget the whole thing and start over.” He smiled, and she felt a little better.

“The fish sounds good,” Scott said, scanning the menu. “Do you know what you’d like?”

They both were barricaded behind their menus when the waiter arrived at the table. A voice with a definite Australian accent said “Good evening. Would you like to hear about our specials?”

G
ordon? When did you start working here?” Teri asked, laying down her menu and smiling at their waiter.

“Well, Teri and Scott,” he said. “This is great! My first night on the job, and I get to practice on friends. Let’s see now,” Gordon began to read the specials off the pad in his hand. “We have fresh ahi grilled with a lemon butter sauce …”

Teri glanced at Scott. He didn’t look too thrilled.
What makes Scott feel such animosity toward Gordon?

Gordon finished his list and looked to Teri for a response. “I’ll have the mahimahi,” she said. “It’s my favorite.”

“Mine too,” Gordon replied, writing down the order. “And for you, Scott?”

“Prime rib. End cut. Butter and sour cream on the potato.”

“Great! I’ll be back in a bit with your salads.” Gordon took their menus, and looking at Teri, he said, “You look gorgeous tonight.”

She smiled her thanks, watching him until he was gone,
and then turned her attention to Scott. He had that jealous frown on his face again.

A woman in a tight wraparound dress sauntered past their table with a basket of corsages and leis. “Flowers?” she asked softly.

Teri could smell the heady, sweet fragrance and looked over the assortment. “They’re beautiful,” she said, anticipating that Scott would take the hint. “What are those little white ones?” She pointed to a lei strung with slender, white buds.

“Tuberose,” she answered.

Teri waited for Scott to respond and buy the lei for her. He didn’t. His dark mood seemed to engulf him. Without acknowledging the saleswoman, he said to Teri, “What are you tonight? A man-magnet?”

“What are you talking about?”

The flower girl discreetly slipped away.

“First Mark out on the street and now Gordon looking at you as if you’re the only woman in the place.”

“What is with this jealousy thing with you, Scott? You didn’t mind my being around Gordon in the crater. In fact, you left me with him for hours.”

“Only because you wanted to lag behind and hear all his stupid stories.”

“His stories are not stupid. Gordon knows a lot about the environment. I was trying to learn something.” Teri felt her temper flare and didn’t notice the flower vendor returning to their table.

“Excuse me,” she said. “This is for you.” She placed the tuberose lei over Teri’s head. “Compliments of your waiter.”

Scott immediately reached for his wallet. “How much is it? I’ll pay for it,” he said.

“It’s already paid for,” she said and strolled over to the next table, tilting her basket in their direction.

Teri drew in the intense, sweet fragrance.

Scott looked as if he were about to say something when Gordon stepped up to the table and set their salads before them. “Ground pepper?” he asked, holding the mill above Teri’s plate.

“Just a little. Thanks for the flowers. They’re beautiful. And so fragrant!”

“Glad you like them,” Gordon said, giving the pepper mill a twist. “Pepper for you, Scott?”

He still looked mad. “Sure,” he mumbled, without looking at Gordon.

Gordon lifted the pepper mill over Scott’s salad. Before he could give it a twist, the metal plate on the bottom fell off, landing in Scott’s salad along with a mound of black pepper.

“Whoa!” Gordon quickly tilted the mill, sprinkling pepper in Scott’s face as Gordon tried to stop the flow. “So sorry, there. My mistake.” He scooped up the plate and said, “I’ll be right back with another salad for you.”

Scott swatted at his lap and the table with his cloth napkin. “Jerk,” he muttered.

“It was an accident,” Teri said softly. “It wasn’t his fault.”

“Yeah, well he tends to attract accidents, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I know,” Teri said, suppressing a giggle. “He took me with him into the ocean a couple of weeks ago when he tripped off the rocks.”

“When was this? You never told me.”

Teri relayed the incident, explaining that she had gone to the beach to think and had run into Gordon. “He called it a divine appointment,” she said with a laugh.

“You sure you two didn’t plan to meet there? You weren’t arranging a talk with him like your breakfast with that other guy?”

“Of course not!”

“It sounds to me like you were pretty busy meeting other men these past few weeks. Here I thought I was giving you your space, time to think through our relationship.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying these things, Scott!”

Gordon stepped up with a fresh salad.

“No pepper this time,” Scott said curtly.

Gordon, appearing undaunted, nodded his head and went on to the next table.

“You didn’t have to be so rude,” Teri said.

“I wasn’t rude.” Scott jabbed his fork into his salad and took a bite. “I don’t know why you’re so determined to start a fight tonight.”

“Me? I’m not trying to start a fight!”

Scott took another bite of salad and said, “Why aren’t you eating?”

“I usually pray before I eat.” Then softening her tone, she said, “Scott, could you pray for us? I think we could use it right now.”

Scott lowered his fork and swallowed. “You go ahead,” he said, respectfully waiting for her to pray.

“I’d like it if you would,” she said. “I feel a man should take the lead, especially in spiritual matters.”

“You’re stuck in your childhood again,” Scott said. “Men and women are equal. They should approach a relationship, spiritually and otherwise, on an equal level.”

“Never mind,” Teri said. “We don’t have to pray.”

“No, you go ahead,” Scott said. “It doesn’t bother me.”

“That’s the problem, Scott. It doesn’t bother you a bit.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Never mind. Let’s eat in peace, okay?”

Scott picked up his fork and went at his salad with gusto, not saying a word. Teri squeezed her eyes shut and silently
prayed.
Oh, Father, what am I doing? Scott is not the right man for me. How did I ever talk myself into this? Show me what you want for me. Set things straight
.

She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Gordon’s hand delivering a basket of fresh rolls. “How are your salads?” he asked.

“Fine,” Teri said, trying to act as if nothing were wrong.

“Great. I’ll go check on your dinners.”

“Scott,” Teri began a few moments later, “I’m not sure things are working out for us.”

“Come on, babe,” he said, his smooth, confident tone returning. “All couples have their disagreements. Just let it go, all right?”

Teri shook her head. “Scott, we’re too different.”

“Are you getting hung up about the racial thing again?”

“No, I mean different in here,” she tapped her heart. “I think we should be equal, like you said. I guess I just realized we don’t have an equal embrace between our hearts. I mean, we’ve both tried. I know you have, and I know I have. It’s just that it seems so forced. If we’re seriously planning on getting married—”

“Getting married?” Scott said and started to laugh.

Gordon was suddenly standing beside the table, holding their dinners.

“Where did you get the idea I was thinking of us getting married?”

Teri felt embarrassed that Gordon was hearing this. She scooted her salad plate to the side and made room for the steaming mahimahi Gordon placed before her.

“And prime rib, end cut,” he said, delivering the platter to Scott.

“I need some horseradish,” Scott said, without acknowledging Gordon’s presence. “And some more sour cream.”

“Right,” Gordon said. “Anything else for you, Teri?”

She didn’t look up but said, “Could you please bring me a glass of iced tea?”

He vanished, and Scott reached across the table and grasped Teri’s hand. “Hey, I don’t know what’s been going on in that head of yours, but these past few weeks, I’ve been talking about us getting together. You know, taking it step by step. I didn’t plan for you to move here so we could get married. Decisions like that take a lot of time. It’s a huge commitment. We’re not there yet.”

Teri started to feel the fog of confusion float in and cloud her reasoning as it had many times during the past few weeks. Scott was right. They needed to take things slowly. Isn’t that what she had said from the beginning? Why did she ever think he wanted to marry her?

Scott let go of her hand and a bit of his magic dust left her. “While you’re packing up your things next week I’ll be looking for a place for us. It’ll be different once you’re back here for good and we’re together all the time.”

“A place for us?” Teri said. “You mean, like move in together?”

“Of course. You can’t make the tamales in your sister’s house. She said she couldn’t stand the smell.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Teri saw Gordon carrying a tray toward them. In a low voice she said, “Scott, I can’t move in with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I … I …”

“If we’re going to give our relationship a fair try,” Scott said, “we have to go all the way.”

His choice of words caused Teri to feel panic rise up inside.

“The only way we’ll know if it’s going to work is if we move in together.”

Gordon heard that. She knew he did. Teri didn’t want to look at him. He placed the ramekin of horseradish on the table. She shyly peeked up as he removed the ramekin of sour cream from the tray in his hand. Teri noticed her glass of iced tea begin to slide off the tray, but before she could say anything, the iced tea hit the edge of the tray, tipped and poured its icy waterfall into Scott’s lap.