Faithful (26 page)

“You do know my family is Scottish, right?”

“You picked Ballbuster. I picked Viking, not Quasi, by the way. That’s a term Jess used for Dylan when she wasn’t sure about him. You’re definitely not Quasi. And how are things going on your end?”

“Good. I can see why Carson sent me, though. Some of these stores are high maintenance clients. Dylan and I visited a few accounts this morning, and they all have suggestions about our delivery schedules, so I’m taking notes and trying to be very understanding.”

“Oh, I bet you’re good at giving them all the right expressions to make them feel good.”

Cooper laughs. “I am good at this. Dylan’s approach is a little rough around the edges, but I guess they’re used to him. Carson sent me along to smooth out some of the dialogue and to keep Dylan centered on sales instead of dealing with shipping and delivery problems.”

“You are the seasoned actor.”

“I’m playing myself, Imogene, no acting any more. So did Lauren do a cheer when she got her flowers?”

“Lauren? We only got the flowers addressed to me.”

“Goddammit, Leo. I told him this morning to have flowers delivered to Lauren.”

“Oh, no, Leo must have forgotten, and his head is in the clouds with the wedding and baby stuff.”

“I know what I’m going to do with that guy’s head,” Cooper grumbles. “Okay, let me handle this. I’m going to call you tonight. Are you going to stay at my place? I put the extra house key in your bag this morning.”

“I think it’s better if I stay at my place. I …”

Cooper growls. “Okay, while you’re overthinking this again, I have to take care of Leo. I’ll call you tonight. Okay?”

“Okay.” I smile stupidly at the phone.

“And, Imogene?”

“Yeah?”

“Congratulations. This is a big day.”

I leave the back room feeling swoony, imagining I look a little delirious when I return to eat my sandwich with the women. Anita is back with scrumptious hand rolls for herself and lemon bars for the rest of us.

“How is your
boyfriend
?” Lauren shakes me from my dreamy state.

“He’s good. He’s working.”

“I think it’s great you’re dating Cooper,” Tracy says. “Sometimes he’d stop in the store and pick up gifts. He’s a doll.”

“You’d see him at the boutique in Woodstock?” I ask, imagining him in the fancy shop that caters to women with money.

Tracy nods as she nibbles on a carrot stick.

“What did he buy?”

“Imogene,” Lauren scolds.

“Well, I want to know who he was shopping for. That store only sells things for women, so he must have been buying gifts for … women. I’m curious.”

“They could have been gifts for his mother or his sister. If he had been serious with anyone, I would have known.”

Tracy nods again. “True.”

Anita looks at me with that exasperated expression older women get when they listen to younger women gripe about men. “Why don’t you ask him instead of guessing?”

“I will.” The old Imogene sticks her chin out defiantly, reminding herself that she’s dating a man this time and not another college jock or a week-kneed boy-man.

“Good. That’s what I do.” Anita picks up a sushi roll with her chopsticks. “I don’t waste time dallying around with wondering. If I want to know what Harvey has done in the past, I ask him.”

“You’re dating Harvey?” Lauren beats me to the question.

Harvey is the middle-aged owner of The General Store. He’s big and stocky, usually wearing a white apron, and looks like a butcher sans the cleaver. I’ve known him my whole life since his store predates my birth; however, the only thing I remember about his former wife were the lollipops she’d hand out to kids who came in to shop with their parents.

“Harvey and I have been seeing each other for six months. Best lover I’ve ever had,” Anita says, slapping her hand on the table as if that proves her point.

As Lauren’s wide eyes meet mine, I stifle a laugh. Anita, with her perfectly black-bobbed hair and sensible shoes, dresses rather conservatively in mom jeans and blouses with full-arm and chest coverage, so I’m surprised and delighted to hear her talk so casually about her sex life.

“We had no idea he was dating anyone,” I say. “I saw him at Lois’s party, I think.”

“Yep,” Anita adds. “I was sitting across the table from him. We went with a large group and left right after the couple said their vows, had to. Harvey works long hours practically every day at the store, so we like to spend as much time at home as possible. Sex at least twice a day. That’s how you keep the relationship fresh.”

I can’t help staring.

“You’re getting more action than me,” Lauren says in a shocked tone.

“And me,” Tracy says. “I’m not even in the ballpark.”

“Don’t look at me.” I shake my head. “I was celibate for a whole year.”

“Cooper looks like he’d be very accommodating.” Anita smiles.

“Oh, my gosh, I don’t even give Lauren details.”

“Still, Cooper is one sexy, fine man, right?”

“He is.” I blush, thinking about our sex romp that landed us on the floor.

Thankfully, we manage to put aside our gripping sex talk for the rest of the day, and I’m astounded at our productivity. We work well together, synchronizing a system that’s manageable for all of us. The flower delivery guy returns with a different yet equally beautiful display for Lauren, and she gushes over the card from Leo. I’ll have to thank Cooper for that when I speak to him tonight.

The whole afternoon, my mind wanders back to Cooper, and I try to imagine us twenty years from now at Anita’s age, still hot and heavy for each other. I put a stop to those thoughts immediately. That’s a whole other territory of the long term
what ifs
, and I’ve tried this type of imagery once before with Jeremy, only to be burned. I’ve decided to limit myself to only romantic thoughts about Cooper, moments that have occurred, nothing I speculate could happen in the future. It’s safer that way.

We’re about to close the windows when we see a gang of people, led by Archie, crunching across the gravel and dirt lot. Emma and Jess are carrying a sheet cake and Lois, Eleanor, Leo, Carson, my grandmother, and our parents are following.

“You can’t leave yet!” Archie says as he enters. How he can wear a three-piece suit in this heat is beyond me. “We have to celebrate with the big wig business women of Hera.”

“Sweet Jesus, those are lovely flowers!” Lois exclaims as she pushes past everyone to admire the vases we’ve put in the middle of the worktable. “From Cooper and Leo?”

Leo nods with relief.

“Cooper asked me what kind of flowers you like,” my mother adds, pleased with the flower arrangement.

“I’m here for cake,” Carson says bluntly. “Can someone cut the cake already?”

“Carson,” Jess snaps at him.

She and Emma set the cake down and Eleanor begins slicing and serving with the utensils she’s brought with her.

“Here,” Jess says, handing Carson a large piece of cake on a paper plate with a plastic fork.

Carson picks the cake up off the plate and eats it with his hand in three bites.

“Or you can eat it like that,” Jess mutters to him. He smiles with his mouth full of cake and leans down to give her a kiss.

I wish Cooper were here so I could feed cake to him and fawn over his superb boyfriend etiquette.

It’s a big chocolate cake with butter cream frosting, decorated with words of encouragement and congratulations, and it’s demolished in a matter of minutes as more people from the furniture factory walk down to get a slice. Even Harvey shows up to congratulate us, giving Anita a big smooch. I can’t help thinking of their extraordinary sex life. Then I study my parents and Lauren’s parents, wondering if they’re as active.

They are all fairly young, very attractive, and openly show affection. They’re still in love after all these years. I have parents who still act like high school sweethearts. Then again, I suppose I don’t want to know if they use handcuffs or roll off the bed during sex. No, thinking of my parents in that way makes Cooper and I sound unbelievably pedestrian and predictable. I prefer my Viking on the hunt for his damsel scenario better. It makes me smile, and I take note that I have not said one mean, sarcastic remark to anyone today.

“And how was your first day?” my grandmother asks gently. She puts a swollen, arthritic hand on my arm and gives me a little squeeze.

“Exciting. It feels too good to be true, and I’m starting to think I should worry more about everything we do: our product, our sales, our workday schedule. If I feel happy, it seems like I must be doing something wrong. It’s work; it’s supposed to be grueling.”

“That’s what it means to go into business for yourself, exciting and terrifying. You will go through bouts of happiness, fear, and guilt. It’s natural to be concerned … a lot. You aren’t only responsible for a business entity; you’re responsible for people’s livelihoods. The burden is great, but so are the rewards. I’m very happy for you, sweetheart.”

As my grandmother hugs me, I get a whiff of French fry grease and onions, which means she’s been sneaking into the kitchen to help with the cooking. A surge of guilt reminds me that, if I had opted in to the family diner business, I could help my parents keep my grandmother away from the physical labor that exasperates her arthritis and bad knees. This is the time in her life when she is supposed to take up yoga and water aerobics for seniors.

My defection is the first time I haven’t relied on my family for income and shelter. I’m a little proud of that and hope that, in the near future, I can report a certain degree of success which really does make my family extremely proud, more than the obligatory encouragement they always give me.

As soon as Carson and his crew of men from the factory polish off the rest of the cake, they help clean up the party mess, throwing everything in garbage bags and taking them back to the factory dumpster. That was rather thoughtful.

Then Lauren wizzes through the studio again, spraying down tables and sweeping the floor. Over the last few weeks, she’s become quite fanatical about cleaning and putting things back in place. I stay out of her way and refrain from cracking a joke about her similarities to The Roadrunner. I envy the way Leo watches her with concern, and it once again, like everything else, makes me miss Cooper.

Lauren and I stay at work late, rearranging storage cabinets and unpacking more supplies that were delivered that afternoon. We’re ridiculously happy, dancing around the studio, shouting out all of our wild ideas on how to market our jewelry line as well as the press packages and gifts we think we should send out to influential people.

We are a sweaty, tired pair when we arrive home at nine. Leo is furious and stands in the doorway with his arms folded, scolding Lauren for putting in such a long day. He expected us home at six; as a result, the salad he made is a soggy bowl of lettuce and the grilled chicken breasts are cold, stored in the fridge.

Too exhausted and hot to eat, I head upstairs, stripping my damp clothes off as I go. I turn on the giant box fan in my room and plop on the bed. Only wanting to hear Cooper’s voice, I place the call.

“Hey, beautiful.” I can hear the smile in his voice after he answers on the first ring.

“Hey, handsome. I survived my first day, and that crabby alter ego of mine was nowhere in sight.”

“You’ve found your calling. Imogene Walsh, business woman and jewelry designer.”

I love the way he says that. I’m not even sure I can give myself credit in that way because it doesn’t seem as though I’ve quite earned it yet.

“I’m exhausted, but I feel like I’ve accomplished something. If I have the energy, I’m going to take a cool bath. It’s crazy hot here.”

“Are you naked?”

“Not yet. In my undies.”

“Damn. That sounds good.”

I tell him about everyone showing up to celebrate, how the women gushed over his flowers, and I thank him for Lauren’s flowers and coaching Leo, reminding him that Leo is going to need to learn how to relax and enjoy the ride with Lauren.

“She’s started eating for two, and Leo is freaking out for two,” I say excitedly, still riding on a high from the whole day.

“I’ll be back soon. I’ll take him fly fishing or something to get his mind off babysitting his wife for a while.”

“It hasn’t even been a day, and I miss you already.”

“I missed you the minute Dylan and I drove out of the parking lot this morning. Our jobs are only separated by feet and our homes are only a couple of miles apart, so you never feel far away. But, coming into the city this morning, I felt the distance between us. It’s a lousy feeling, even if it’s temporary. I did have a funny moment today when a woman passed us on the street, saying the filthiest things to the guy with her. It made me think of you.”

“Gah!” I laugh. “You make me sound horrible.”

“No. I make you sound like someone I miss. We had lunch at Dylan’s favorite hole-in-the-wall joint, and when the waitress was giving some other customer attitude, all I could think was, shit, she doesn’t do it as well as Imogene.”

“Stop. You went from being romantic to making fun of me,” I laugh.

“You think I’m romantic?” His tone is serious.

“Yes. Definitely. I don’t know any man who would go out with me after the way I treated you,” I confide. “These weren’t little things. Rescuing me when I was a wandering drunk at Lois’s party … and you’ve invested quite a chunk of change into our business with the estate jewelry, at least getting us off to a great start. The giant bouquet of flowers …”

“Maybe I just did it to get into your pants.”

“No, you didn’t. There are other women who have much easier pants to get into, and you know it.”

“Yeah. I was only interested in you, and let me state for the record that I’m the first man you’ve gone out with, Imogene. Those tools you dated before me were boys.”

“Hmm. That reminds me. Tracy says she used to see you come into the store she worked at in Woodstock. You bought gifts for women.”

“Are you a little jealous? Wondering who I was shopping for?”

“Yes,” I reply emphatically. “Yes, I am. So there.”