After Hours (21 page)

“I now understand your story about the two bakers,” he said with a tired sigh. “I just met a woman who told me something I’d never heard before.” He returned his gaze to the window. “I’m not the man I used to be, Em.”

Em!
He hadn’t called her that in days. Had his memory returned so quickly and without warning? “Are you feeling okay?” she asked cautious.

He kept his gaze focused outside. “You want to know if my memory’s back?”

She nodded.

“Yes, it is.”

“Completely?”

“Yes.”

She wrung her hands then let them fall, apprehension sweeping through her. “So you remember that night and the days afterwards?”

“Every moment.”

Her heart thudded in her chest, she’d been fearing this day. “You must have a lot of questions.”

“Right now, just one,” he said. He turned to her, his dark gaze capturing hers. “Will you marry me for real?”

She didn’t know how to respond. Wasn’t he supposed to be angry? Had he really changed so much?

“Em?”

“Are you sure your memory’s back?”

He nodded.

“When?”

He folded his arms. “You’re actually going to make me wait for an answer?”

She rubbed her head. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m asking you to marry me for real.”

She stared at him stunned. “For real?”

He grinned. “Yes, my little parrot. For real.”

“But I pretended to be your wife.”

“Yes, and talked to me about why I should keep Valdan open, and fund Peale House and helped me see my family for who they are.”

Amera licked her lip. “And you’re not angry?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m in love with you.”

Amera stared at him, torn by conflicting emotions. Joy and fear and sorrow. She had no right to feel this happy when little Maya was dying. She swallowed hard and bit back tears. “Why were you at Peale House?”

He glanced at Florence, then back at Amera. “I can’t tell you that right now.”

“I need to know.” She needed time to think, to digest the man he’d become.

“I found out some information I needed to verify.”

“What information?”

“Peale House has been defrauding people,” he said keeping his voice low so no one could overhear them. “That’s why I didn’t like their numbers. They’re fake.”

“You must be mistaken. Florence is--”

“I’m not mistaken. Vernon tried--” He bit his lip then started again. “I spoke to Vernon and he confirmed what I suspected. I want you to stay away from there.”

His words didn’t make sense. Florence was warm and caring and they shared the same hopes for Peale House. Didn’t they? “But I saw the proposal and--”

“Do you trust me?”

Amera hesitated, stunned by the iron in his tone. Curtis didn’t waste his time on things that didn’t matter to him. She sighed with weariness, feeling the sadness of losing a friendship. “Yes.”

“Then do as I say and stay away.”

“What about the families and the workers and--”

“I’m already looking into things.”

Amera briefly closed her eyes, feeling foolish. “How could I have been so blind?”

Curtis shoved his hands into his pockets and stared back out the window. “Are you really not going to answer me, Em?”

“Yes.”

His jaw twitched but he nodded. “Okay, I accept that.”

She playfully nudged him with her elbow. “I mean the answer is yes.”

He turned to her surprised. “Really?”

She grinned. “Yes my little parrot. Really.”

He continued to stare at her, dumbfounded.

She laughed at his expression, joy replacing some of the sadness in her heart. “Did you really expect me to say no?”

“I don’t know what I expected.” He grabbed her hand and held it against his heart. “If Maya survives, I want us to adopt her.”

Amera looked into his intense gaze, her heart fluttered wildly in her chest. At that moment she’d say yes to anything. “Okay.”

He gathered her into his arms and whispered. “I’ll make you happy, Em.”

Amera buried her face in his neck, for once believing in magic and that anything was possible.

***

“That’s not going to happen.”

Curtis tapped a finger against the foot of his father’s bed. “I didn’t come here to ask your permission,” he said, careful to keep his tone neutral. “I’ve made my choice.”

His father flashed a cruel smile. “You trying to grow a backbone or something?”

“I have never asked you for anything--”

“Why start now? Forget her. It’s not going to happen.”

“She--”

“She has no history, no background, no money. Nothing that will benefit us. Her bloodline could be tainted.”

“I don’t care--”

“Come here.”

Curtis gripped his hand into a fist. “Father.”

“Come here.”

He reluctantly did.

Bishop Senior grabbed his shirt and slapped him with the back of his hand. “Marry her and I’ll close Valdan for good within the month. I heard you’ve gotten attached to it.”

“Those people depend on their jobs and their families--”

“Have you given the rats names too?”

“They’re not rats.”

“They are whatever I say they are.” He shoved him away in disgust then smoothed out a wrinkle in his duvet. “I’m not an unreasonable man, but I’m not a generous one either. I don’t think it’s a hard choice.” He rested his head back and closed his eyes. “You either care for your rats or you don’t.”

Curtis stared at his father, knowing he’d been dismissed but unable to leave. He wanted to strike him. To make him see reason, but he knew he never would. He didn’t mind the slaps or the insults. He’d grown used to them, but he could no longer see others hurt because of him.

He left his father’s house and sat in his car, his mind searching for the right strategy. It was an impossible choice. Hundreds of people could lose their jobs because of his selfish desire to be with the woman he loved. But the thought of living without her was unbearable. He took out the bracelet he kept with him. Maya was still in a coma, but at times he imagined seeing her smiling at him or dancing. He imagined having a conversation with her and placed the bracelet on the seat where Amera usually sat.

“What should I do?” he asked.

“You should do good,” Maya replied with childlike innocence.

“Doing good is hard.”

“Why?” Maya asked.

“Because I never thought about it before.”

“Being a good person is better than being a bad person, right?”

Sometimes I wonder
, he muttered as the image of Maya disappeared. He thought of Jorge who’d pleaded for leniency for his sister; Maria’s finely woven shirts; her little boy who’d nearly lost his hand because his mother had taken him to work; Bill who had once saved Amera’s life and now faced joblessness. All of them had lives and families. He had nothing. He didn’t have anything to lose. “She never said she loved me,” he whispered to himself, ashamed at the tightening of his throat and the brief stinging of tears. If she had said those words, it would have been harder to let her go, but she hadn’t. His life would remain as it always had been--separate and distant from the rest.

He’d make her hate him, that would be the easiest way to let her go.

***

Amera looked at Miranda stunned. “I’m being what?”

“Transferred,” Miranda said, nervously toying with her necklace. “With a generous raise in pay I might add,” she said with a bright smile.

“Excuse me.” Amera marched into Curtis’ office unannounced. “You have to talk to HR,” she said walking up to his desk. “There’s been a mistake.”

Curtis kept his gaze on his computer screen. “There’s no mistake.”

“You’re having me transferred?”

“I believe it’s for the best.”

Amera shook her head, perplexed. “If you didn’t want me to work here after we get married you could have just told me.”

He rubbed his chin. “That was a mistake. I made a hasty decision.”

She stared at him confused. “You think the proposal was a mistake?”

“We were both over emotional at the hospital and--”

“I wasn’t. My answer was real.”

He lifted his gaze to hers. “My question wasn’t. It was a moment of brief desperation. I’m sorry I involved you.”

Amera leaned forward, resting her hands on his desk, anger surging through her. “I should have known it was too good to be true, that you would seek revenge somehow. When did you decide to get back at me?”

“This has nothing to do with--”

“Were your promises to Valdan and Bill lies too? Did you make up that story about Peale House just to hurt me?”

“No, those were real.”

“Am I supposed to believe that? Maybe I should go to Florence and find out for myself.”

Curtis surged to his feet. “I said stay away from there and I meant it.”

“Of course,” Amera scoffed. “I’m supposed to trust you.”

His eyes bore into hers. “Yes.”

“So only your feelings for me were fake. I see.” She spotted Maya’s bracelet on his desk and reached for it.

He grabbed her wrist. “Leave it.”

Tears sprung to her eyes, wounded by the strength of emotion behind his words. He felt more for this child than he had for her. He made her feel like an overlooked orphan again--bereft and desolate. She’d been foolish to think she’d have a home with him. She hated him for letting her taste the sweetness of having a dream come true before ripping it away. She yanked her wrist free and stepped back. “All right.”

“Keep the ring and forget about me. I’ll have all your clothes delivered to your place.” When she didn’t move he lifted a brow in derision. “Are you waiting to see my nosebleed? You’ll be disappointed.”

Amera snatched the bracelet before he could stop her and broke it in two, sending beads flying everywhere. She delighted in the pain that briefly swept crossed his face.
Now you know how it feels
you bastard,
her heart screamed. But she held his gaze, letting her tears dry and said in a cool voice. “I’ll send you a check.”

***

The moment she left, Curtis fell to his knees and gathered every last bead he could find. It was a frenzied effort that allowed him not to think. Not to think about how easily Amera had ripped his heart as she had the bracelet. He felt as scattered as the beads--lost, vulnerable, small and he hated the feeling. Not once had she said she loved him, even after he’d made his declaration plain. And that realization sent a fresh new anguish searing through his heart.

Has she gotten you on your knees now?
He could hear his father mocking him.
Look at how pathetic you’ve become
. But even with his father’s cruel words echoing in his mind, he couldn’t stop picking up the beads, thinking of how he would restring the bracelet. He’d gathered most of them when he heard a knock on the door.

“Come in,” he said.

Owen entered. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Curtis snapped, picking up another bead and putting it in his hand. “Watch your step.”

“Um...”

He looked up at him annoyed. “What?”

Owen pointed at him then gestured to his own face. Curtis sniffed then rubbed his nose and saw the blood. He swore. If Amera had waited a minute longer she would have seen his weakness, he was relieved she hadn’t. He grabbed a tissue then looked at the beads he’d been able to gather. He gazed at them with a sense of shame instead of triumph. What the hell had he been trying to do? How could he try to fix what was irrevocably broken? He’d been gathering up the tiny beads like a madman. But he had to be practical. Maya and Amera would no longer be part of his life. He’d made his choice and had to be man enough to stand by it. He dumped the beads in the trashcan and sat behind his desk.

“What do you want?”

“I got the information you wanted on Vernon, Florence and Peale House,” Owen said.

“Good. Now find someone to make sure Amera stays away from there.”

“I heard Amera’s being transferred. Are you still keeping your relationship a secret?”

“There is no relationship,” Curtis said, checking messages on his phone.

Owen squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t understand you two. You’re perfect together and she loves you and you love her.”

Curtis’ head shot up. “Did she say that?”

“Say what?”

“That she loves me?”

“No, but--”

Curtis returned his gaze to his phone and said in a velvet voice of warning, “Then shut up and never mention that again.”