AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s been hectic around here…unpacking and all.” No excuse could have sounded more lame.
“I was thinking we should get together soon.” Cliff left the invitation open-ended.
If he expected her to jump at the opportunity to spend time in his company, he was going to be disappointed. “Sure,” she agreed, without much enthusiasm.
“This weekend?”
Why not? she mused dejectedly. She wouldn’t be accomplishing anything by moping around the apartment, which was exactly what she and Nancy had been doing since their return. “That sounds good.”
“Let’s take in a movie Saturday night, then.”
“Fine.” There was that word again.
Five minutes later, Carla returned to the living room and her book.
“These arrived while you were on the phone.” A huge bouquet of three dozen red roses captured her attention. Philip. Her heart soared. That crazy, wonderful man was wooing her with expensive flowers. It was exactly like him. She’d phone him and chastise him for being so extravagant, and then she’d tell him how miserable the last week had been without him.
Nancy sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Eduardo sent them.”
“Eduardo?”
“He sent the flowers in hopes that I’ll forgive him for his behavior our last night in Mazatlán.”
Carla felt like crying, too, but not for the same reasons as her roommate was. “I’m really happy for you.” At least one of them would be lifted from the doldrums.
“You might still hear from Philip.”
“Sure,” Carla said with an indifferent shrug. If anyone did anything to improve the situation between her and Philip, it would have to be her. And she couldn’t, not when seeing him again would make it all the more difficult. As it was, he dominated her thoughts.
Fifteen minutes later the phone rang again. Carla’s immediate reaction was to jump up and answer it, but Nancy was sitting closer to the apartment telephone and for Carla to rush to it would be a dead giveaway. Although Carla pretended she was reading, her ears were finely tuned to the telephone conversation. When Nancy gave a small, happy cry, Carla’s interest piqued. Eduardo, it had to be, especially since Nancy was exclaiming how much she loved the roses. She told him how sorry she was about the mix-up and how everything had changed since Mexico.
When her friend started whispering into the receiver, Carla decided it was time to make her exit. “I think I’ll go visit Gramps,” she said, reaching for her bulky knit sweater and her purse.
Nancy smiled in appreciation and gave a friendly wave as Carla walked toward the door.
The sky was overcast, and Carla swung a sweater over her shoulder as she walked out the front door. Summer didn’t usually arrive in the Pacific Northwest until late July.
“See you later,” Nancy called with a happy lilt of her voice.
Carla’s Grandpa Benoit was her mother’s father. He lived in a retirement center in south Seattle, not far from Carla’s apartment. Whereas Carla had always felt distant from her mother, she shared a special closeness with Gramps. Grandpa Benoit loved cards and games of any kind. From the time Carla could count, he had taught her cribbage, checkers, and chess. The three essential C’s, Gramps called them. It was because of Gramps that Carla had won the checkers championship through the King County Parks and Recreation Department.
Carla pulled into the parking lot and sat in her car for several minutes. If she showed up again today, Gramps’s questions would only become more probing. From the day she’d returned to Seattle, he’d guessed something had happened in Mexico. At first he hadn’t pried; his questions had been general, as if her answers didn’t much concern him. But Carla knew her grandfather too well to be tricked by that. Yesterday, when she’d stopped by on her way to work, they’d played a quick game of checkers, and Carla had lost on a stupid error.
“I guess that young man from Mexico must still be on your mind?” His eyes hadn’t lifted from the playing board.
“What young man?”
“The one you haven’t mentioned.”
Carla ignored the comment. “Are you going to allow me a rematch or not?”
“Not.” Still, he didn’t lift his gaze to hers. “Don’t see much use in playing when your mind isn’t on the game.”
Carla bristled. She’d lost plenty of games to Gramps over the years, and it was unfair of him to comment on this one.
“Seems you should have lots of things you’d rather be doing than playing checkers with an old man, anyways.”
“Gramps!” Carla was shocked that he’d say something like that. “I love spending time with you. By now, I’d think you’d know that.”
