Keeping Her Love (7 page)

As soon as she could make more than a peep, she screeched out, “RAPE! MURDER! Help, help me!”

Shit,
Rhett muttered internally. Instead of backing off, Rhett took the opposite approach by unlocking the van door, pulling her out onto the street, and detaining her there. When the light did change, most people buzzed by in their cars as they leered out their windows. Those who were blocked by Rhett’s ‘traffic stop’ simply honked their horns and attempted to maneuver around.

“You want help, you old hag? I’m calling the police!” Rhett announced, holding her by the scruff of her neck. She tried to twist and turn to get out from under him, but his grip was too strong. When she planted her sharp teeth into his skin, he let out a high-pitched yelp.
 

She leapt from his grasp, but before she could land herself back into the van, a man with a low voice called out, “What is all this?”

Next came the shining lights of blues and reds, followed by the brief horn of a cop siren. Rhett turned and saw that he wouldn’t need to call the police after all—a black heavy-set cop on a motorcycle was approaching them.

“Office, so glad to see you,” said Rhett, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. The fortune teller had the look in her eyes like she still wanted to make a run for it. The policeman scared her, but she wasn’t dumb enough to try and out-drive a crotch rocket with a clunky old van on narrow San Francisco streets.

“Hands up, sir. Ma’am, I’m going to need you to park on the shoulder nice and slowly,” the policeman commanded.

They both grudgingly did as commanded, with Rhett walking his way back towards the promenade in front of impatient drivers as the old fortune teller double parking next to a limo. By the time Tula arrived, there were four police officers present and a few squad cars.

“Rhett! What’s going on?” Tula asked, her forehead full of worry lines. He was standing in the middle of all the commotion, kept safely away from the fortune teller. “Why did you run off like that? Why are there police here?”

The police officers in question eyed her with a mixture of desire and curiosity. One of them, a tall man with short-cropped blond hair, asked, “Do you know this man, ma’am?”

“He’s my fiancé!” She responded.
 

“I was chasing after that old bat,” said Rhett to Tula. “I don’t know if you noticed, but she was getting her stuff into the van and running off. There was some guy in the back that the police found, too.”

Tula looked over and saw a lanky teenager with frizzy black hair. He had the same eyeliner on that the fortune teller did, and had a depressingly guilty expression on his face.

“Was the ring found?” Tula asked. “Are you getting arrested.”

“
A ring,
you say?” The black police officer inquired of her.
 

“Yes!” Tula responded. “Was it found? This woman played a trick on me to steal it away. I don’t even know how she managed to get it off my finger, but by the time we walked away, we realized that she had taken it.”

“What does the ring look like?” The officer asked.
 

Giddy with excitement, Tula responded. “It’s got a round ruby in the center with a diamond halo. Inside is our names—it’s inscribed with ‘Rhett and Tula forever.’”

“Well, you’re in luck because we shook her down and found something like that, along with a lot of other junk.” The officer turned to one of the other men and produced the jewelry between the tips of his fingers. Tula jumped up in delight, taking it back to place firmly on her finger.

An officer with brown hair and dark sunglasses mentioned, “This woman has been around for a while. We let her out and she goes right back to her same old song and dance. Every few months we hear about tourists who have been tricked out of their valuables. You’re both very lucky that you got them back. If she hadn’t been tracked down, the ring would have likely been lost forever. There’s a chance we could have found it at a pawn shop, but no guarantee.”

“Do you guys need me to stay for questioning?” Rhett asked. “There were people who saw me…
stopping
her.”

The black cop waved him off. “Don’t even worry about it. It’s not like she hasn’t been caught before for the exact same thing. Enjoy your Valentine’s Day in San Francisco.”

Rhett went to Tula, and they joined in an embrace. Kisses were shared, and the cops smiled as they looked on at the happy couple. As Rhett and Tula walked away back towards the Ferry Building, their emotions were sky high with happiness.
 

“I can’t believe that you caught her!” Said Tula, hugging his arm tightly. “I thought that the ring was good as gone.”

“Me too,” responded Rhett. “I mean, I would have been more than happy to buy you another one. But when I saw her, something just bubbled up inside of me. I had to stop her.”

“My strong, sexy man,” stated Tula with a saucy smile.

Rhett looked down at her and felt himself blush.
 

“I’m so turned on right now after all that. But unfortunately, I’m also really hungry. We haven’t eaten since we woke up this morning.”

His stomach gurgled at the mention of food. After the high adrenaline, the last thing on his mind was having sex. He wanted nothing more than to dig into a nice meal and relax on a lawn somewhere.
 

“We’ll find somewhere in the Ferry Building to eat,” said Rhett. “Then maybe we’ll watch the boats come in and leave the pier. Does that sound nice to you?”

“Uh huh, of course. I can’t wait to see what it’s like inside.”

Tula very much enjoyed her trip inside the Ferry Building. There was a giant selection concerning food, and she had so much fun looking at all the different little shops that she couldn’t decide on where they would eat. Eventually they settled on waiting in line for a nice Asian fusion place, watching the bay as they waited for their names to be called.

Everything had turned out so well. They enjoyed their meals, spent some more time shopping down at Union Square, and then got on the BART to go home. The day had gone by so fast after the exciting events earlier in the day, and the two of them were exhausted. When Tula began resting her cheek on Rhett’s shoulder on the ride back to the car, he knew that making love was probably out of the question that night. Not that it bothered him too much considering how perfect the day was, but it would have been nice to complete the day with more intimacy than they were accustomed to in the last few months.
 

When they finally reached their stop in Concord, Rhett decided to be gallant by lifting Tula up with all of her shopping bags and delivering her to the Camaro. Rhett was glad to see that the car was all in on piece, waiting for him under the light of a lamp pole.

Maybe I should get a cheap little Japanese car for when I go to the Bay Area,
he thought as he laid Tula on the brown leather seat.
Nah. I mean, we don’t come here that often. Everything seems to have gone well enough.

Tula curled up on the passenger seat, pulling her white peacoat more closely to herself. Rhett went to his trunk, grabbed a little flannel blanket, and then gently threw it over her. She squinted her eyes briefly at him, smiled, and then pulled the blanket close to her as she passed out again. The ruby ring shone in the light next to the blanket; right where it belonged, on her beautiful finger. He shut her door, got in on his side, and then started the car up. The ride home was as quiet and peaceful as could be expected. He didn’t want to turn on the radio and potentially disturb Tula from her sleep, so instead he sat with his thoughts.

It’s been so weird for the last while,
he thought.
All of it strange, I feel like everything went without a hitch when Tula and I first started dating. It was like a wonderful dream. Now… Well, things are fine between us, but the strangest things keep happening ever since.

He stared out at the white lights on the opposite side of the freeway, wondering if he should fully form the thought he was thinking. Then he gazed at his hands on the wheel—hands that had grappled around the neck of an old woman. He tried to keep his focus on the road in front of him.

Hopefully nothing more unusual happens. Maybe it’s just a lot of strange flukes. I feel like there’s some kind of weird government conspiracy out there watching and trying to mess with me. Why me, I don’t know. I just can’t shake the feeling that this has all been some kind of setup.
 

Max… Okay, yes, Max. He’s never shown affection for me. Something in my gut tells me that he’s had something to do with all of this. The oven bullshit, the reception area cancellation, the jackhammer on Valentine’s Day morning… There’s something going on with that guy. I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but it’s super strange. Then again, I’m making huge assumptions. Tula’s parents had seemed nice enough to me when we first met, but I’m wondering if they’re having second thoughts about me.

They were the ones who had called us about the oven. Tula’s mom is sure getting uptight about all of the wedding stuff. With all the things Tula is telling me about her crazy cousin in Sacramento, I don’t even want to know what’s coming ahead concerning the wedding planning madness. Would Tula’s mom cancel the reception location on purpose? She seemed to make a huge deal out of the Baptist church nonsense. I guess I’ll have to keep an eye on her.

And then there’s Tula’s dad. I don’t have a lot of dirt on him yet. Hell, he could have done any of those things, though I guess I think of him mostly in the context of what happened this morning. I’m sure he doesn’t like the thought of a man nailing his daughter, especially under his own roof. Tula and I have been so good this whole time, though. We haven’t actually done anything wrong. At least, nothing sexual. Not that there’s anything wrong with sex.

Rhett sighed again as he ran all of this through his head.

I don’t know. I honestly don’t want to think about it. I want it all to blow over. No more bad things. I’m making giant assumptions about Tula’s family, and that’s totally unfair. Max kind of acts aloof around everyone, but for the most part he’s never around. Tula’s mom has been super kind to me, and has gone out of her way to help us find a place for the ceremony and reception. And Tula’s dad… He makes small talk with me and is generally a nice guy. I can’t go mentally pointing fingers at people. It’s not fair.
 

Chapter 4

From February on to April, not much of importance occurred. But then again, Tula and Rhett were so busy with their lives that they didn’t see much of each other. Someone had up and quit at the garage, causing Rhett to pick up more than a few double shifts. Karma’s Bakery had been given a spotlight in a big-name magazine, meaning that the little joint was often in high demand. Subsequently, Tula was often asked to come in early and leave late to handle the recent demand. When Karma passingly mentioned something about opening a second shop and putting Tula in charge of it, she was put in a crossroads of sorts.

She entered Rhett’s room as soon as he had gotten home after an exhausting day at work. They both had grey patches under their eyes and walked like zombies, but still enjoyed being in the presence of one another.

“What should I do?” She asked him, some marzipan stuck to her hair. “This could be really great for me—more responsibility and a pay raise. But I’m afraid that I’ll be so caught up with Karma’s business that I won’t have time to start my own.”

Rhett shrugged, sitting back in his leather computer chair as he faced her. “It’s something you have to figure out for yourself. Karma’s Bakery is the way it is, for the most part, because of you. It would be more of a risk to open your own place, but it would be all yours. If you want to remain a manager for Karma, you’ll be able to go home every night without having to worry about everything.”

“I already
do
worry about everything,” she said with a sigh as she sat down on the firm, plain bed. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this. Managing gives me good experience, but I don’t want to get too worn out working at that place. Karma is a great guy, but he already asks a lot of me. And I still haven’t told him that I want to open my own place. I don’t even know how I could tell him at this point. I feel like it’d break his heart to hear it.”

Rhett couldn’t much argue with that. Putting himself in Karma’s place, there wasn’t much else he could feel about a worker wanting to leave the roost and go into open competition. “Business is business, Tula. You can’t let emotions get in the way. If something were to happen to the bakery, he would let you go in an instant. And anyway, if he can’t be happy for your success, he wouldn’t be a very good friend, would he?”

Her lower lip pouted a little and she gazed down at the grey comforter. “I don’t know how I could get through this. I feel like I’m getting in deeper and deeper with him. Once I leave, he’s going to have a hard time keeping everything up to the standard that I had. No one at the bakery has the skill I do. And then he’s going to have to worry about all of his customers potentially coming to my shop instead of his.”

“Karma will be okay. He’s no dummy. I mean, he was smart enough to hire you.”

Tula sent him a compromising smile.
 

“You’re not planning on opening your own bakery for a year from now, right? And we don’t even know where we want to start our life together. Stop worrying so much. Do what you have to do to make your own life happy. You don’t need to worry about keeping everyone satisfied.”

Another questioning look shot his way.

“Don’t look at me like that! Some selfishness would do you good. You can’t be nice all the time. Nothing would ever get done.”

She laid back on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling. “I suppose you’re right. I can be a little too nice, can’t I?”

Rhett joined her on the bed and crept up towards her. “It’s one of your best qualities, but also something that holds you back a bit. Don’t forget that you deserve to get the things you want in life. As long as you’re being as tactful as possible, it’s not wrong to want to spread your wings and do as you wish. Right?”