Good Woman Blues (24 page)

“Good evening, everybody,” Kelvin said, in a
hearty tone.

“Hi, Kelvin. I’m so glad you could make it.”
Darlene gave a relieved sigh. She brushed back a stray lock of her
hair. “Our new project ideas are wonderful, but I’m just drained.
My mind is spinning with all the details.”

Kelvin gave a good-natured deep laugh and
patted her shoulder. “Now don’t you worry. We’re all in this thing
together.”

“Of course you’re right. Thanks.” She smiled
at him in gratitude. When her secretary came to the door and
beckoned, Darlene left him reluctantly.

Erikka wanted to puke. His down-home charm
covered the heart of a snake. No wonder his wife was such a
barracuda. Years of dealing with him could turn a saint into a
bitch. When he turned his smarmy grin on her, Erikka ignored
him.

“How are you, Miss Erikka?” Kelvin strolled
over to stand next to her.

“Okay. You’re in a chipper mood. Wonder why?”
Erikka clenched her back teeth to keep from saying more. She
figured getting his freak on with two women had a little something
to do with it.

“No need in complaining I always say. Not
that I have anything to complain about.” Kelvin rubbed his hands
together as though satisfied with himself.

“Hmmph.” Erikka squinted at him.

“You’re doing a fine job. Everyone is
praising you for how much you’ve helped us.” Kelvin rested a hand
on her shoulder.

Erikka stared at his hand until he cleared
his throat and moved it. “Darlene did the hard work of fund-raising
and getting the grant.”

“You showed her how to write for those
grants. You know—” Kelvin broke off and sat in the chair next to
Erikka and lowered his voice. “I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you
for other jobs. I do have a lot of influence since I’ve been part
of this community for so long. Plus, they are very impressed with
you, Erikka.” Kelvin nodded solemnly.

“I’m not interested, thanks anyway,” Erikka
said. The effort to be polite hurt.

Kelvin waved and smiled to people who came
into the room. “You think about it.”

He got up and walked over to three men
standing just inside the door. Kelvin worked the room as more board
members came in. Erikka had to give him points for being smooth.
Mr. Community Service had his act down. Big- city operators had
nothing on these small-town players, she mused. Darlene came in and
watched his every move.

Erikka tried to distract her. “Malik got to
band practice okay?”

“Uh-huh.” Darlene continued to watch Kelvin.
She started when Erikka poked her with an elbow. “I mean, yes.
Malik’s friend Jordan picked him up.”

“What did you tell me once? Sometimes things
happen for the best.” Erikka tugged her in the opposite direction
of Kelvin. “Come sit next to me.”

Darlene followed her, all the while making an
effort not to look for Kelvin. “You’re a lot younger than me.
Choices get real narrow after forty.”

“Give yourself more credit. He—”

Erikka broke off when a woman approached. She
helped Darlene focus on exchanging chitchat. When Kelvin strolled
over, Darlene gazed at him as though everyone else had
disappeared.

“Hello, ladies. I was just saying ‘Amen’ to
all the compliments folks been giving your niece, Miss Darlene,”
Kelvin said.

Erikka caught herself just as she was about
to roll her eyes. Apparently she was the only one unimpressed.
Darlene smiled and nodded. The other woman beamed and gave him a
head-to-toe approving glance.

“Wonderful that we can talk about good news
for a change. Isn’t that right?” The woman looked at Darlene, who
was still looking at Kelvin. Her eyebrows went up.

“You want something, ma’am? We have fresh
coffee.” Erikka put a hand on the woman’s arm and pointed across
the room to a table.

“My doctor says to stay away from
caffeine.”

“We’ve got decaf, apple juice, and soft
drinks. Tried to think of everybody.” Erikka launched her effort to
sidetrack the woman. She sighed with relief when someone called the
woman away.

“How have you been doing?” Darlene’s fixed
smile covered the hint of desperation in her question.

“Busy at work and at home. Carolyn keeps me
hopping with home projects. You know how wives can be.” Kelvin
shook his head and laughed. He spoke loud enough so those nearby
could be part of the conversation.

“Don’t I,” a man agreed, with a good-natured
groan.

Darlene blinked as though she’d been struck
across the face. “I understand. Some things have to come first,”
she said softly.

Kelvin’s only response was a slight nod. He
walked away and sat down at the table with the other board members.
Darlene looked around the room like she’d lost her bearings. Erikka
ached for her aunt. Feeling more like a sister than her niece,
Erikka wanted to protect Darlene from more hurt.

“If everyone would take their seats, we’ll
start the meeting,” the president of the board announced.

“Excellent timing,” Erikka mumbled. She
pushed Darlene ahead of her toward their seats.

Erikka’s concentration on silently consoling
Darlene slipped when Gabriel came in. Several people noticed him,
and murmurs swelled. The president tapped his gavel, and things
settled down again. Gabriel’s gaze found Erikka almost immediately.
He smiled, but stood against the wall. After a time no one seemed
to notice him. Two hours later the meeting was over. Gabriel
threaded his way through the crowd to Erikka and Darlene.

“How are y’all?” Gabriel dipped his head
toward Darlene.

“Hello.” Darlene gave him a brief smile, and
then looked away.

Erikka put a hand on his arm when Gabriel
seemed to back up. “Hi. You remember my aunt Darlene.”

“Yes, of course,” Gabriel said. He seemed
unsure he should have come.

“Excuse me, but I need to talk to Ms.
Crandall over there.” Darlene wandered off in the general direction
of Kelvin.

“It’s not you. I’ll tell you later,” Erikka
said, low and fast, just as two people pressed closer. She watched
Darlene make a circle toward Kelvin. Her target moved away, ending
up closer to Erikka and Gabriel.

“I’m used to being avoided or stared at.
Well, almost.” Gabriel gave a brave smile. Still, he appeared ready
to walk.

“Well, well. Gabriel Cormier. I’m sure
surprised to see you here,” Kelvin boomed. He clapped a large hand
on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Good to see a member of the Cormier family
take an interest in the community.”

“Have we met?” Gabriel kept his tone cordial
even though his eyes didn’t smile.

“Not formally. Now don’t stand too still or
I’ll draft you onto one of our committees.” Kelvin rubbed his chin
as though thinking up ideas for Gabriel.

Gabriel folded his arms tightly against his
chest. “With my business I don’t think—”

“Right,” Kelvin said. “I work with the
preservation committee. You know antiques and carpentry. Perfect
fit.” He grinned widely with satisfaction.

“I’m sorry, not much time for volunteer
work,” Gabriel said.

“Look, forget about what people say,” Kelvin
dropped his voice and guided Gabriel away. “I’ll make sure you get
treated with respect. Ricky got in plenty of fights way before that
night. Took a swing at my baby brother once. A wonder he didn’t get
himself hurt sooner.”

Gabriel’s brown-and-gold eyes sparkled with
revulsion. Kelvin had turned a tragedy into criticism of the dead
boy. Erikka suddenly wished Gabriel would revert back to his old
ways and smack the chump down.

“I’m too busy expanding my business,” Gabriel
said. His voice deepened as his neck muscles worked. He turned to
walk away. “Excuse me.”

A man with iron gray hair confronted him.
Talk around them died away. “Guess you don’t remember me.”

“Yes, sir, I do,” Gabriel looked at the man
without flinching.

“You seem to be doing well. Life is still
good to the Cormiers.” Landry gave him a head to toe glance.

“How is Mrs. Landry?” Gabriel asked
quietly.

“Still missing her son,” the man replied
flatly.

Gabriel nodded slowly. “I’m sorry,” he said,
his voice barely audible. He seemed to brace for an onslaught of
emotion from the man.

Mr. Landry grunted. “Sorry don’t fix a damn
thing.”

“You’re right. Excuse me. I’ll see you
outside,” Gabriel said to Erikka as he strode out.

Erikka hurriedly retrieved her notebook
computer and briefcase. She was about to leave when she caught
sight of Darlene. “You going to need me for anything else
here?”

“I’m fine.” Darlene’s smile seemed stretched
to the limit.

“You sure?” Erikka glanced at Kelvin. He
seemed in no such distress.

Darlene followed her gaze, and then looked at
Erikka again. “No, but don’t worry. I’ll cope.”

“If you’re sure.” Erikka took one step.

“I’m so ready to get out of these clothes and
relax. I’ll be fine. Talk to you when you get home,” Darlene
replied, and went back to chat with other board members.

Erikka watched Darlene continue to act as
though her heart wasn’t breaking. She went out to the parking lot.
Gabriel leaned against his truck.

“Follow me to Darlene’s, and we’ll ride
together.” Erikka was not feeling the need to be alone. Sitting
next to him even on a short drive would be a balm to her jangled
nerves.

“Where are we going?”

“Anywhere we can have something tall and
cold,” Erikka said, and went to her car.

The short drive to Darlene’s house took only
fifteen minutes. Erikka parked her car, and then climbed into the
cab of his Dodge truck. They went to a small seafood caf6. A
waitress showed them to a booth with red vinyl seats and a view
through a wide floor-to-ceiling window. With two lemonades ordered,
they exchanged a glance and sighed at the same time.

“Some night,” Gabriel said.

“Was that the first time you’ve spoken to a
member of Ricky’s family since—it happened?” Erikka said
quietly.

“Since I got back, yeah.” Gabriel wore a
thoughtful expression for several minutes.

Erikka decided to let him turn over the
encounter in silence. He seemed too composed, but Erikka did not
push him to talk. The waitress came back with two tall glasses of
icy lemonade with straws. When she offered to add a dash of
strawberry syrup, both agreed. Erikka drank first, with the kind of
quick gulp she’d used when downing a cocktail. Not the same, but at
least she wasn’t thirsty. She added more sugar.

“Hmm, now that’s good.” Erikka drank until
half of the lemonade was gone.

Gabriel shook his head. He took a small sip
through his straw. “Rough day at the office, huh?”

“You could say that. Some relationships are
like land mines. One wrong step and boom.” Erikka swirled around
the ice in her glass.

“Interesting analogy. Care to explain?”
Gabriel sat back in a listening pose, arms crossed.

“I can trust you.”

“Glad you think so. Considering how close
we’ve become. Or maybe you’re still working on it?” Gabriel sat
forward.

“Let’s get into that issue a little later,”
Erikka said, and blushed at the steady gaze from his striking eyes.
“Anyway, my aunt is hooked on someone who is unavailable. Looks
like he plans to stay that way even though she thinks otherwise. I
think he likes playing and still being able to go home to his wife
at the end of the day.”

“A lot of married men do.” Gabriel drank more
lemonade and waited.

“The dogs. Okay, okay. I see the look. Women
know what they’re getting into,” Erikka said.

“For the most part,” Gabriel replied with a
nod.

“This gets worse. I saw him with another
woman, not his wife either.” Erikka let out air as though she were
a balloon. “Thank God I can finally tell somebody.”

“What about telling your—”

“My mother? Do I look crazy? Don’t say it,”
she added quickly, when an impish gleam lit his eyes.

“I wasn’t going to make such an obvious
joke.” Gabriel’s full mouth twitched up in a hint of a grin.

“Sure you weren’t. Anyway, Roz and my
stepfather are having problems. She’s got her own troubles. My
cousin Monique can’t keep a secret from her mother. Aunt JoAnn is a
one-woman daily news network.” Erikka gave a grunt, thinking about
her family.

“So, you’re going to tell Darlene that this
guy is cheating on her, and his wife.” Gabriel made the statement
as though sure of Erikka’s decision.

“I may not have to,” Erikka said, relief
coursing through her veins. “He pretty much dumped her already. He
hasn’t called in weeks. At the meeting, he sort of hinted that it
was over, in a roundabout way of course.”

“But they could get back together,” he said
with a lift of one shoulder.

“Thanks for kicking down my sand castle,”
Erikka retorted. She winced because he was right. Darlene would
probably take Kelvin back in a heartbeat.

“Sorry you’re all tied up about your family.
You can’t fix things, though.” Gabriel put a hand over hers.

“I know.”

“They’re grown-ups. In fact, they’ve got more
experience than we do,” Gabriel added.

“Not that years add wisdom. You’re right. I
just need to be supportive.” Erikka tapped her right foot beneath
the table.

“Right.” Gabriel watched her for a few
moments.

Erikka glanced at him, and then concentrated
on the lemonade left in her glass. She started thinking about
her-self and past affairs. Suddenly Erikka doubted her decisions of
the past few weeks. What was she doing there? What did she really
know about Gabriel? Lord knows she’d been wrong before.
Spectacularly wrong. Not just about the men but about her reasons
for being with them. Gabriel put both hands on her forearms, which
rested on the blue Formica tabletop. Erikka looked into his eyes.
Gabriel’s touch was all warm reassurance.