Insecurity and a Bottle of Merlot (15 page)

Reggie knew the routine. He loved the twice a day walks he and Mia shared. He waited anxiously by the front door, wagging his tail and whining as Mia put the leash on his collar and jammed a baggie in her pants pocket. They took off down the sidewalk doing the usual half hour neighborhood walk.

“There, you’re good for the night,” Mia said, panting as she and Reggie ran the last few blocks home.

She filled Reggie’s stainless steel water dish in the corner by the garage service door, then headed to the bathroom and turned on the water in the over-sized Jacuzzi tub.
This is going to feel awesome.
The jets were set on high, as the water continued to fill the tub. She undressed, stepped in, and sat back, relaxing while the powerful jets kneaded her achy muscles.

Mia heard a key turning the lock on the front door. The hinge squeaked as the door opened and closed.
I’ve got to spray some WD-40 on that hinge
, she thought, as Reggie barked anxiously when he saw Aaron. Aaron laugh and played with him in the foyer. A smile crossed Mia’s face at the sound of those two. She loved them both so much, and was grateful Aaron cared about Reggie as much as she did. Her mind flashed back to Jack and how indifferent he was with her precious dog. Mia never trusted Jack to walk or care for Reggie in the three years she knew him.

“Mia, honey, it’s me. Where are you?” Aaron asked, as he laughed and rough housed with Reggie.

“I’m enjoying a hot bath. I swear I’ve been thinking about this all day.”

“What? You’ve been thinking about a bath and not me?” he joked.

“I’ve been thinking about this bath, and you in it with me,” she teased back.

“I like the sound of that.” Aaron grinned, as he walked down the hallway toward the master bedroom. He came around the corner and stopped at the bathroom door. He leaned against the frame and smiled.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just need to take in your beauty before I ravish you, that’s all. I never thought my life could feel this complete until you came to your senses and divorced Jack.” Aaron ducked as Mia threw the washcloth at him.

“Smart ass,” she said. “Get in here and wash my back.”

“With pleasure, Ms. James.”

Mia watched Aaron strip off his clothes. They lay in a pile on the floor, next to hers. “Just watching you undress gets me going, Aaron. I’m the luckiest and horniest woman in Tarrytown right now.”

“I thought you wanted me to wash your back. Isn’t this a therapeutic bath?” he asked, as he stepped in and knelt down in front of her.

“Oh, it’s definitely therapeutic. You’re going to knead and rub every inch of my aching body,” Mia replied, as she licked his neck slowly all the way up to his lips. She kissed him and pulled on his earlobe with her teeth. Aaron moaned when she found his growing shaft beneath the water and began caressing it.

“God, you drive me crazy.”

“That’s my goal in life, Aaron. I want to drive you crazy. You’re going to lust after me forever.”

“I’ve been lusting after you for twenty years already,” he replied, as he fondled her. Mia moaned when he reached that perfect spot between her legs.

“I want you so much, Aaron.” Mia pulled him in closer, positioning him between her legs. “Just take me, damn it. I can’t hold on any longer. Fill me up, babe.”

Aaron thrust his manhood into Mia and rocked her back and forth as the pounding jets created even more sexual energy between them. They climaxed in a fury of lust, love and hot water.

Mia rested against Aaron’s shoulder, her wet hair draped across his chest. They lay in bed, each sipping on a glass of wine.

“Your divorce will be final before long, honey. Everyone in town knows were together, especially since the party. How about moving in with me? You love my house, probably even more than I do.” Aaron stroked Mia’s hair and kissed her forehead.

“Do you think it’s appropriate, given the timing? This is a small town, and we have our business reputations to think of.”

“That’s true, but it isn’t like we just met. Everyone living in Tarrytown loves you, and they know Jack wasn’t right for you. He was a Manhattan snob that didn’t belong here to begin with. My business is strong and stable. Nobody would judge us, Mia. It’s our life to do what makes us happy. I’m going to marry you as soon as your divorce is final, if you’ll have me. That makes us as legit as they come.”

“Was that a proposal Aaron Daniels?” she asked.

“Nope. When you get a proposal from me, you’ll know it, babe. There’s going to be a city wide party with fireworks and live music.”

Mia laughed. “You’re crazy, Aaron.”

“Yeah, crazy in love.”

Chapter Twenty

“Damn it all!” Vic pouted.

“What’s wrong?” Tina asked, as she painted Sasha’s nails. Sasha chewed off her manicure a few days ago from sheer nerves about the Victorian.

“I just forgot to do something,” she said, as she walked out the front door carrying her cell phone. “I’ll be right back.” Vic didn’t want the girls overhearing the call she was making to Max. She hoped he would finally answer. Vic walked around to the back of the salon and sat at the small table in the shade. She picked the most appropriate chair to sit on. Facing the salon would give her a heads up if anyone came out looking for her. She silently said a little prayer, hoping Max would answer. She pressed the green telephone icon on her cell next to Max Cole, and waited. The ringing she heard was enough to set her nerves in motion. Vic’s mouth went dry.
Damn it, why didn’t I bring a bottle of water outside with me?
The phone rang again. The third ring went to voicemail. Vic remembered it took three rings before his sexy voice picked up, only to be his recorded greeting. It happened again.
Where the hell is he? There’s no way he wouldn’t answer after four days. Even if he is still mad at me, wouldn’t he at least let me explain?
Vic began to feel uneasy about the whole situation. It was herself and Mia that knew Max the longest, and even then, they didn’t know him that well.
Could he be that much of a jerk?
Vic pushed the chair back and got up to go inside, but decided to make a quick call to Mia instead. She tapped her long, hot pink fingernails on the table.

“Chica, I tried Max’s phone again and there’s still no answer. What the hell should I do?”

Mia heard the genuine concern in Vic’s voice. “Jeez, I’m at a loss here. It doesn’t feel right knowing how sweet Max usually is.”

“I’m starting to freak out, Mia. It isn’t about our so called relationship either. I’m worried that something is actually wrong.”

“I’m with you, sister. Come over after work. We’ve got to figure this out.”

“Thanks, hon. I can always count on you.”

“Vic, I love you. I have your back, so take a deep breath. We’ll get to the bottom of things, I promise. Later, ciao.”

“Thanks, out.” Vic was happier walking back into the salon.
Mia will figure this out.
Mrs. Abraham was reading a magazine at the shampoo bowl, waiting for Vic to wash her hair. “Hello, Mrs. Abraham. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long. Let’s get started, shall we?”

***

Mia checked the time. It was five o’clock.
Vic should be arriving any time now.
Too anxious to sit down, Mia chose to pace the kitchen floor. Reggie’s head followed her movements as if he were watching a tennis match. Back, forth, back, forth. He began to whine, sensing Mia’s anxiety. “Sorry, Reg, I’m probably making you dizzy.” She tried to think of a logical reason why Max would avoid Vic at all costs, but she couldn’t come up with anything. The screeching sound of rims scraping the curb in front of her house alerted Mia to the kitchen window. She saw Vic’s car jammed against the curb, the rims scraped for the millionth time. “Eww… that’s not good,” Mia said, cringing.

Vic got out of her car, walked around to the passenger side, and began swearing in Spanish. Mia burst out laughing. “Vic, you’re nothing if you aren’t predictable,” she yelled out the window.

Vic stormed up the sidewalk and into the house, both hands throwing wild gestures in the air. “Son of a bitch. Why do I hit the friggin curb every time I park?”

“Why don’t you just pull into the driveway? There’s plenty of room.”

“How the hell do I know what I’m going to do? Anyway, hi, babe. Let’s have some wine and try to figure out what to do about Max. I swear I’ll go as stark raving mad as a squawking loon if I don’t get the chance to apologize to him and get things back on track.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” Vic said, as she grabbed two wine glasses out of Mia’s liquor cabinet.

Mia had several bottles of Merlot on the table and Chardonnay in the fridge as a backup. They sat at the table and Vic poured.

“Okay… how do we find out if Max is mad and not answering, or if something is actually wrong? He won’t pick up my calls or Mario’s. It won’t work if you call, and he isn’t acquainted with the rest of the clan well enough to even answer the phone.”

“Well, that’s it then. We can block the caller I.D. and have Karen try. He wouldn’t recognize her voice, and she can ask for a non-existent person. It would seem like an innocent wrong number.”

“Yeah, that’s all great, but then Karen would want to know why we’re pulling this charade. I’m too embarrassed to tell her why Max isn’t returning my calls.”

“Shit… you’re right. So if our main objective is to make sure he’s alive and well, we could stalk him like we did to Jack and Sasha. At least we’ll see if he’s okay. That would tell us he isn’t answering his phone on purpose. I’d take it from there after that and act as a mediator.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Of course, I would. The problem is, we don’t have a clue where Max lives. The only thing I remember from him talking casually, is he lives in Peekskill. There’s twenty-five thousand people in that town and we have no idea if he lives in the city or the country. Somehow there has to be a way to track down his address. He only has a cell phone so we can’t look him up in the phone book. We’ve never talked in length about his family, so I’m at a loss if he has any around here. Cole is a pretty common last name too. Shit, we’re screwed!”

“What if we call all the Cole’s in the phone book? Someone might be related to Max. Let’s check it out. Where are your phone books?”

“I’m not sure if I have any. Grab a stool and open the cabinet above the refrigerator.”

Vic found three phone books. She was excited until she saw the dates on them. “Really, Mia? For crap’s sake these are ancient. Where’s the newer ones?”

“They don’t deliver phone books anymore, do they? How old are those?”

“They’re from 2002, 2006 and 2009. What happened to the years in between?”

“Who the hell knows, Reggie probably ate them. Bring 2009 over here and let’s check that one. First, let’s have another glass of wine and settle our nerves.”

“Good plan, mama.”

The room grew quiet as both girls retracted into their own thoughts. The only sound was the constant ticking of the wall clock above the antique kitchen set passed down to Mia from her grandparent’s estate. The wine was slugged down in three gulps. “Pour some more, Mia. I’m afraid to look at the phone books. I don’t want to be let down.”

“I know, I’m nervous too.”

With a little alcoholic confidence stirring them both up, they paged through the C’s and found only four Cole’s in Peekskill.

“That’s depressing, I thought there would be more. This isn’t going to take long. Okay, here goes. Read me the first number.”

Mia read the first phone number as Vic punched it into her cell. It was disconnected. The second number was a recorded message from Alan and Betty Cole. The recording was obviously Betty’s voice, and she sounded to be ninety years old. Vic left a short message saying if they were related to Max Cole, to call her phone number. The third number went to someone whose last name was different. Apparently, that Cole’s phone number had been disconnected years ago and given to someone else. Vic made the last call and a male voice picked up. It turned out to be a third cousin of Max’s named Bobby Cole. He said he hadn’t seen Max since they were in their early twenties because they ran in different crowds. Mia understood what that meant. He remembered back in the mid 90’s Max lived in a small apartment above the hardware store downtown. The family homestead was sold in 1995. Bobby thought Max left town and moved to Utah in 2004. Vic thanked him for his time and hung up. They struck out completely. The girls looked at each other with defeat written across their faces.

“He’s a ghost, Mia, a real enigma. Why don’t we have a damn clue about someone we care for? What the hell is wrong with us?”

“There’s nothing wrong with us, Vic. We’ve only known Max for a couple of months. It takes time to build relationships.”

“I know, but… ”

“But?”

“But… I’m falling in love with him.”

Mia took Vic’s hand in her own. She saw the anguish in her best friend’s face. This Puerto Rican babe, this tough broad, was breaking. Her vulnerabilities were coming out. The hard edge she was so proud of, melted away. Tears fell to the table from both of them.

Chapter Twenty One

“Vic, we’ll find him. Let’s Google how many towns between here and Peekskill have police departments. We’ll call them and ask if there were any serious accidents reported since Saturday after midnight.”

“Will they tell us anything since we aren’t family?” Vic asked.

“I’m not sure, but we have to try.”

Down the hall to the left of the master bedroom, was Mia’s office. It was the same office Jack used to sneak away late at night and send steamy emails to Sasha. That time seemed so long ago, yet Mia still flinched at the thought of it.
Now’s not the time to think of that jerk.
Mia turned on the computer and sat at the large, leather office chair. She pointed to the side chair at the far end of the room. “Grab that chair and sit down next to me.” Vic obliged and Mia began a Google search. She typed in a map search for the towns between Tarrytown and Peekskill. Vic waited with a pad of paper and pen in hand as she repositioned herself in the chair.