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“It’s the only way to shut her down,” Ross said, his eyes not leaving Tina. “Angel, babygirl, would you go check if there’s a car at the bottom of the drive?”
He released Angel from his embrace with a deliberate pat on her ass. She paused, considering rushing Tina, but Ross wouldn’t want that.
Angel did as she was asked. She peeked out the door, staring down the long picturesque drive. “Yup,” she said. “A Mercedes Coupe. That’s her? She left her lights on.”
“You’re damned lucky you didn’t end up in some ditch!” Ross said to Tina.
“I came here to see your new toy,” Tina flung back at him. “Quinton said you had a new toy fromManny.Where did you get her? Is she even eighteen?”
“You better call her a cab or something,” Angel said, struggling with her temper.
“There aren’t any,” said Ross. “This is Virginia, not Brooklyn. I’ll just have to drive her home.” He saw Angel’s face. “I don’t have a choice. Either that or she sleeps it off here,” he said bluntly.
“In your room?”
“No,” said Ross. He met her eye. “That’s where you sleep.”
“Enjoy it while it lasts,” said Tina sweetly.
Angel turned and went to Ross’s room before he could reply or she could swing on Miss Tina again. Ross would just have to explain himself later.You don’t have a choice but to forgive him!She didn’t want to sleep with a married man, but in the end she was still trapped here with him. What choice did she really have?
She heard him getting the woman settled down in the guest room. He was back in about five minutes.
“That was fast,” she said dully.
“She’ll sober up by morning. I took care of the car.” Ross rubbed his eyes. “Well, I definitely wasn’t expecting this turnabout.”
“She’s married. I saw her ring.”
“Did you? Cost a fortune, thankfully not mine.”
“Married…Not to you?”
Ross shrugged. “She fucked my friend Charlie while we were together, hence why we aren’t together anymore. They were married this year.”
“Y’all used to go together, then.”
Ross said, “Where are the damned cigarettes?”
He found the cigarettes. Angel followed him into the closet, confused until a doorway sprang out of nowhere and led to a crawl-space. They now stood on a small balcony overlooking the mountains and the deep chasm of the valley.
Angel looked over her shoulder with the paranoid thought that the drunk woman in the house would come bursting through and push her over the edge.
“Don’t worry about Tina,” Ross said, sensing the reason behind her frown. “She just needs to sleep it off.”
He smoked, calming himself down.
“You’re just leaving her in there by herself?” Angel said doubtfully.
“The door on the guest room locks. Remember?”
“Right.” Angel winced. “Don’t throw me back in there, please.”
“I won’t,” he said quietly. “Promise.”
They stared out at the black shapes of the mountains. In the deep shadows glowed the faint stars of electricity. Ross’s cigarette smelled like cloves and orange peel.
It was nice. The stars, the mountains, the sweet summer breeze.
