Read Disillusioned Online

Authors: Cari Moore

Tags: #fiction, #romance, #love, #fear, #hope, #affair, #kidnapped, #confused, #deceived, #boredom, #betrayed, #reconcile, #disillusionment, #tempted, #disillusioned, #seduced

Disillusioned (3 page)

BOOK: Disillusioned
5.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Yet another reason to like
her
, Tessa thought, and smiled. Tessa
wandered into the kitchen and began one of their daily
conversations as Liset fixed lunch.


How was class last night?”
Tessa asked.


It was fine,” responded
Liset, “My advisor says that I only need twelve more hours to
graduate.”


That’s wonderful!” Tessa
exclaimed, though she suppressed an expression of disappointment.
“You thought you had at least a year and a half left. That’s only
one semester!”


Yeah, but now I have to
decide what to do after that.”


Well, you can work here as
long as you like!” Tessa offered sheepishly. “I mean until you
figure out what to do. I don’t know what I will do when you leave!”
Tessa could not deceive herself that someone as educated and
competent as Liset would want a career as domestic help.


Thanks,” she smiled. “I
plan to help out as long as I'm needed.”

Falling into their normal easy banter,
Tessa adopted a conspiratorial expression. “Oh, I almost forgot.
You have to hear what happened this morning. It's been so strange.”
Tessa reached out to take the first plate that Liset offered for
Sophie. “First, we got a call at 6:30 this morning from a French
lady.”

Tessa received Michael's plate, just gripping
it as Liset's hand seemed to tremble from the weight. Smiling,
Tessa reassured Liset. “I was about your age when my hands started
to weaken. It's just hormones.” Liset shot Tessa an appreciative
look.

“Anyway,” Tessa continued, “then, two cars
crashed right beside my house. One driver drove off in his car, and
no one was in the other car. I mean, by the time I got there, no
one was inside.”

Liset gave a slight start, suddenly setting
down the plate of neatly-diced food she had prepared for Alex. “How
unusual!” she replied, her jaw slightly tensed. Tessa watched in
confusion as Liset's eyes locked briefly on some unseen object,
perhaps visible only in her mind. An odd flexing of muscles in
Liset's face resembled a smile before she picked up the
conversation in a calm, disinterested tone. “You called the police,
of course?”

“Or course,” Tessa replied weakly.

Liset's facial expressions had changed only
subtly. Most people wouldn’t have even noticed them, but Tessa had
always been a good judge of character, and very observant when it
came to people. She would not have won any competitions in
communication, but she could peg very accurately the character of
the people with whom she communicated; their verbal and nonverbal
clues gave them away during conversation. Unlike most other of her
brain functions, this ability had been sharpened rather than
diminished by motherhood. Telling the difference between a child’s
mindless but unfortunate accident and his willful destruction of
property required a high degree of discernment. Since Tessa already
possessed this quality, dealings with her children had refined her
natural skill.

For this reason, Liset's impalpable
expressions did not escape the notice of Tessa’s highly sensitive
eye. Tessa felt an uneasiness creep over her – in conjunction with
Merritt's odd reaction to the phone call, Liset's became more
suspect. Reticent to appear dramatic, Tessa had prepared herself to
dismiss her uneasiness from the morning, and she had all but
accomplished her intention. Liset's suspicious reactions, though,
stirred a burning in the pit of Tessa's stomach; her anxiety had
once again reared up unbidden. Unwilling to acknowledge her
uneasiness, Tessa excused herself and walked into the living room,
hiding her agitation behind her computer. As she exited the room,
Tessa thought she heard an almost silent sigh escaping Liset’s
lips. Perhaps Tessa would stay home today rather than run errands;
for the moment, she could not countenance the thought of leaving
her children with Liset.

By the time Merritt arrived
home that afternoon, Liset had lost any sign of any unfamiliar
sentiment, causing Tessa to doubt her initial assessment. Tessa had
given up all scenarios that could explain Liset’s reaction to the
car wreck. Nothing made sense. Tessa decided that she must have
mistaken Liset’s expressions. Maybe it was cultural - maybe the
Spanish reacted differently, more dramatically when a friend tells
a story. Maybe Liset's behavior had merely expressed interest. The
thought eased Tessa’s mind to such an extent that
by the time Merritt greeted her with a kiss,
Tessa had almost forgotten about Liset's odd behavior. She
definitely didn’t want to broach the subject with Merritt unless
she had something concrete to tell him; if she did, Merritt would
accuse her of being overly dramatic and emotional.
“Everything will be fine,” he would say. “Your
feelings don't necessarily line up with reality.” The thought
created a dull pit in her stomach – she hated that she wished he
would stay at work, that he would stay away except when he took her
on dates. Yet she did wish him away, even as she missed him.
How have I gotten here?
she wondered.

“Oh, Tessa,” Merritt's
address interrupted her musings. “I wandered into a shop on
Melrose, because I had to get a gift for Elaine – I think I
offended her last year when I told her to order herself whatever
she wanted for Administrative Assistant's Day.” Merritt paused and
grinned at himself before beginning his usual focused stride across
the room to stand beside Tessa. “Anyway, I saw this, and I just
thought of you. I remember how you like earthy jewelry.”

Reaching into his pocket, Merritt
casually pulled up a strand of iridescent freshwater pearls, and
Tessa felt her breath catch at the shock of the unexpected gift.
True, judging by his offhand attitude, he hadn't put much thought
into the gift, but Tessa always appreciated the spontaneous acts of
kindness even more than the contemplated ones. When Merritt thought
too much about his consideration, he tended to follow through out
of a sense of obligation. Spontaneity equaled sincerity in Tessa's
experience with Merritt.

She took the necklace from him,
fingering the smooth shimmer of the beads with appreciation. The
various orbs of grey and blue lay on a circle, each bead separated
from its neighbor by a delicate silver filigree link. Where the
center came together above her breastbone, a silver emblem anchored
another link of chain which dropped a couple of inches to a small
cluster of the beautiful little pearls at its lowest point. Despite
her earlier irritation, the sweetness of the thought and the
accuracy of his knowledge of her softened Tessa immensely. She
reached her hand to his arm in a tender thanks.

“It's beautiful,” she
smiled, trying to portray all her gratitude without pouring too
much intimacy into the room with her children and nanny. “It's
exactly what I like.”

Merritt wrapped his arm around Tessa's
waist, never too concerned about making the others in the room
uncomfortable, and grinned at her with every ounce of his usual
enthusiasm. “Glad I got it right,” he smirked before planting a
solid kiss on her lips. Even though his demonstrative tendencies
embarrassed her, she couldn't help but laugh at his impetuous
tone.

A knock on the front door arrested the
moment, and Merritt pecked her on the cheek before dropping her to
the floor. After regaining her balance, Tessa crossed over and
opened the door to the hulking figure of her brother, Mike, his
characteristic grin affixed to his mischievous face. Adding to the
humor of the previous few minutes, Tessa's baby brother lit up her
heart with his grin. All six-foot-four lanky inches of him intruded
upon her doorway, and he picked her up in a big, brotherly
bear-hug. “Hey, sis!” He still grinned as his eyes searched Tessa's
living room and fixed themselves on Liset.

“Well, it would be nice if
my little brother actually came to my house to see
me
,” Tessa murmured.
“She has a boyfriend, you know.”

“Things can change, Tess,” Mike smirked,
again casting an appreciative glance Liset's way.

With Mike's entrance, Tessa purposely set
aside her uneasiness and dedicated her energy to fixing dinner.
Mike always seemed to supply levity to Tessa's intensity, a good
combination for companionship. Fortunately, Merritt liked Mike, as
well, and never complained of the brother-in-law's presence.
Wandering toward the middle of the room, Mike took up post on the
living room chair which sat nearest to the dinner table. Liset and
Merritt had seated themselves at the dining table and had begun a
conversation in Spanish. Feigning casual interest, Mike hovered at
the edges of politeness near where Merritt and Liset spoke. He
tried, using his two years of high school Spanish, to comprehend
what they said, but seemed to have limited success.

Merritt could speak
fluently. Many Spanish speakers had married into his extended
family, so he had heard Spanish spoken since he was a child. Add in
several years’ study in school, and Merritt could almost pass as a
native speaker. Merritt had yet to hear about the car wreck, so he
talked for several minutes to Liset. Of course, he would assume
that Tessa had nothing of real interest to tell him before Liset
left for the day.
How exciting could
another day of taking care of kids be?
Tessa
posed a bit
resentfully.

After a moment of stewing,
Tessa found herself drawn into the conversation between her au pair
and her husband. Although she had a limited vocabulary, Tessa had a
patchy understanding of Spanish. As she listened to the exchange,
words that Tessa knew floated through the doorway to the dining
room. She
could only extrapolate a few phrases of Liset's
request.

“Give Tessa a rest…” Tessa heard, “…kids to
their grandma’s…a month…” A month? Tessa couldn't help but wonder
if Merritt had decided to “gift” her something, completely
separated from anything she actually wanted, of course. Liset
seemed to expect an positive answer to her scheme, as if the two of
them had discussed the situation without Tessa.

Perhaps, Tessa speculated, Liset's request
had something to do with the car wreck. Liset had looked almost
afraid when Tessa told her about the crash, and despite Tessa's
earlier rationales, she now suspected the younger woman of
something, though of what, Tessa did not know.

Not that she would say anything to Merritt;
the crazier the scenario, the more likely Merritt would dismiss it
without consideration. An idea presented itself to Tessa's mind,
and though at first she dismissed it, she grew more attached to it
as she considered what she would need to do. In order to present
her suspicions to Merritt, Tessa would need to investigate things
more thoroughly, especially since Merritt lived his life assuming
nothing too tragic would ever reach his circle. In his mind, the
worse the situation, the less likely it would happen. Tessa needed
proof of more than suspect behavior on Liset's part before she
offered any protest to Merritt.

Add to his natural practicality the fact that
Merritt really liked Liset, and Tessa knew she would face a tough
battle to convince Merritt of any sinister behavior on the nanny's
part. He had found Liset, and he had insisted from the beginning
that she would be great for Tessa. For the most part, Tessa
allowed, he had proved right.

When Tessa finally brought dinner to the
table, Merritt confirmed her deduction about his conversation with
Liset. He said plainly, “Liset thinks you need some time off.”

Or Liset needs some time
off,
she corrected silently.
“Why would you say that?” Tessa asked, turning to
Liset.

“Well, I see how hard you work,” Liset
replied, “and I think it would be nice for you to have a break
where you didn’t have to worry about the kids at all. Plus, I have
friends coming unexpectedly into town this week, and it would be
the perfect time for me to take some time off.”

“Oh,” Tessa answered meekly. Liset's frank
admission of selfish interest seemed to speak honesty, and some of
the steam escaped the storm of Tessa's thoughts. “Well, we could
definitely arrange for you to have a few days off. I can handle
things here.”

“Actually, Tessa,” Merritt
interrupted, “I've been talking about doing this for a while, but I
never nailed anything down. And as it turns out, Walt requested
just today that as many people take vacation in the next two months
as possible. I think it would prove incredibly convenient for me to
take a couple of weeks off now.” Merritt hedged.
Did she imagine the brief look exchanged between
her husband and Liset? And what of the inexplicable tension in
Merritt's jaw as he spoke on such a supposedly innocuous subject?
Tessa felt Liset's eyes boring into her as Merritt continued his
explanation.
“Walt's encouraging
management to take any long breaks now so that he doesn't run short
during the Christmas season. Considering Liset's request, I think
we should take advantage of the timing.”

“But,” Tessa protested, “I heard you say you
wanted to send the kids to my mom and dad for a month.” Again
Merritt's eyes darted toward Liset. No doubt he felt shock that
Tessa had understood so much. “Surely the kids can come back when
your vacation is over in two weeks.”

Merritt glanced down at the
notepad under his hand, tracing geometric patterns with the pen he
had picked up at some point in the conversation. “Wouldn't you like
some time off for yourself, a few days when you don't even have to
babysit me?” Seeming to gather himself, he turned his twinkling
smile on Tessa. As if he had heard her earlier thoughts wishing him
away. Guilt melted her protests as she recognized his apparent
solicitousness. Tessa had planned to resist, to press her point and
insist that Merritt give her more notice of changed plans, but when
he reached his hand to take hers, when she felt the reassuring
familiarity of his touch, her stubborn suspicions evaporated
instantly. Amazing that the connection between them could still
wreak so much havoc on her resolve.
Ever
since we were kids,
she sighed internally.
Despite her daily irritations with him, Tessa still adored the
young man that Merritt had been, and when that man peeked out from
beneath the smooth exterior that had since overtaken him, Tessa
could refuse him nothing.

BOOK: Disillusioned
5.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Concentric Circles by Aithne Jarretta
Una misma noche by Leopoldo Brizuela
Greeley's Spyce by Aliyah Burke
Playing with Fire by Michele Hauf
Stuart, Elizabeth by Without Honor
Sway's Demise by Jess Harpley