Love Songs (46 page)

“From my very unbiased standpoint,” he drawled facetiously, “I think it sounds like a great idea.” He sobered fractionally. “If Phillips gives you any guff about handing over the money, let
me
know.”

“You’ll tie him to the rack on the front page, is that it?” She grinned, delighted at having received Tom’s blessing.

“Something like that,” he teased, growing bolder.

“Tom!” she cried softly. “This is a public restaurant.” Her hand covered his to prevent further mischief, yet she made no move to push it away. Rather, she savored the intimacy of his touch, and let it compensate for the brief chill brought in on the tails of their discussion.
Would
André still be angry? Would he persist in trying to dissuade her from expanding?

At first her worries seemed to have been for naught. When André came forward to meet her Wednesday afternoon he was as warm and chipper as ever. After greeting her with a kiss on the cheek he launched into a dissertation on the glory of the May sunshine and other such pleasantries. Serena indulged him as long as she could. By the time they were well into their luncheon crêpes, however, she felt compelled to touch base on business.

Paving the way for the matter of
Sweet Serenity
and its expansion, she sought to patch up any old wounds. “You’re not still angry with me, are you?”

“Angry? With you? No,” he drawled with deceptive calm. “I was never angry. I was just worried. Especially when I found out you’d left with him.”

“What have you got against Tom?”

“I don’t like your spending time with him.”

“Why not?”

“He makes me nervous. I don’t trust him. If it were me, I’d steer clear of him.”

Serena couldn’t stifle a chuckle. “The two of you sound like little boys in an argument. It’s like listening to a recording.” Puzzled, she frowned. “And I really can’t understand it. Why are you both so wary of each other?”

André shrugged innocently. “He’s got no reason to distrust me. But
I
know what he is. He’s a reporter.”

“
Used
to be.”

“He snoops into other people’s business.”

“Now
that
sounds like you have something to hide,” she commented lightly.

“Me? Of course not! But reporters have been known to ruin people. They tend to foam at the mouth when they catch sight of what may be a story. It doesn’t matter whether their facts are straight—”

“It does!” she exclaimed with a force she hadn’t expected. Quickly she softened her tone. “At least, to Tom it does.” André gave her no time to ponder the crux of her admission.

“You’ve known him for a long time, haven’t you?” he took her off guard.

“In a way. Yes and no.”

“He came from the L.A. area, just like you did. Were you involved with him then?”

“I was a child then, André. I left the West Coast when I was thirteen.”

André nodded, taking in her sudden apprehension. “And what is he to you now?”

The pointed nature of his questions had quickly become offensive. “That’s between Tom and me. I don’t think it’s at all relevant to
us.
” She paused, trying to bring up the subject of expanding as smoothly as possible. “What
is
relevant to us is whether or not I have the money I need to open a branch of
Sweet Serenity.
According to the statements I’ve received I should have plenty to cover whatever I’ll need to get going.”

Serena was more disconcerted by the hardening of André’s features than she was by his subsequent retort. “You’re not still thinking about that, are you? I thought we had agreed to forget about it.”

“Not at all,” she argued. “I’ve spent a good deal of time thinking about it and I happen to think the time is right.”

“The economy is all wrong, Serena. I told you that before.”

“The economy may be shaky, but
I
think
Sweet Serenity
can handle it. Regardless of how tight money is, orders are still pouring in. I know that the rent will be high at whatever location I decide on, but I’m convinced that in the long run the store will turn the same kind of profit that the downtown store does.”

André was firm, his face set in a mask of civility that belied his inner irritation. “Is Reynolds pushing you into this?”

“Tom has nothing to do with it.”

“But he’s in favor of it?”

“He agrees with me that it’s a good idea. But that’s really not the point.
I’ve
made the decision to go for a second shop.
I
take the responsibility for it.”

“Even if it’s against my advice?”

Serena was astounded by the vehemence of his warning. She had expected some resistance from him, but not this. “You’re my investment counselor, André, not my business manager
or
the chairman of the board. I wish I had your approval; after all, we
are
friends. But it was
my
decision to open
Sweet Serenity
five years ago and it’s now my decision to expand.”

“It’s final then?” he asked, momentarily more sympathetic.

Serena smiled. “Nothing’s final until there’s a signature on the bottom line.
You’re
the one who always tells me that,” she teased gently, coaxing him back into a better mood. “I’m going to begin actively looking for locations and figuring out costs from my end. What I’d like is for you to do the same.”

“The same?”

“Could you tally up the amount of money I have to work with? My latest statements haven’t arrived yet and I have no idea what the dividends will show.” When André simply stared silently at her she grew worried. “Is there a problem?”

“No problem.” He shrugged too quickly. “When do you want all this?”

“Next week? Same time? Same place?” She tried to make it sound casual in a vain attempt to stem a vague feeling of unease. Mercifully André rose to the occasion, doing one of his characteristic flip-flops, growing instantly charming again. But Serena gave his grave doubts more thought later that afternoon. Much as she tried, she could find no justification for them.

Indeed, she was more determined than ever to go ahead with her plans. The irony of it was that her involvement with Tom, totally aside from the approval he’d given, pushed her on. She had no idea where the relationship was headed, she knew only that the love she felt for him grew by the day. There was still so much to face and work out, though. In that respect,
Sweet Serenity
was her designated diversion. The planning of the new shop would take hours of her time, hours that, should Tom suddenly vanish from her life, would be her key to survival.
Sweet Serenity
, both parent and child-to-be, was her insurance policy for sanity. Through it she had found identity once; if necessary she would cling to it for her life.

*   *   *

“Someone’s in love!”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Serena.” Cynthia tossed her fire-bright curls back from her cheeks and laughed gaily. “If you could only see your face. You look like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.”

Serena’s blush approached crimson. “Not quite,” she hedged.

“Not quite what? In love? Or caught at it?”

“Not quite either.”

“Serena,” her friend began as though scolding a child, “you’re wearing the evidence, for Pete’s sake. It’s written all over your face, and you haven’t stopped looking around for him since you got here.”

“That’s not true, Cynthia! He won’t be here for at least another hour.”

“Ah-hah! So you
are
meeting him here?”

“He’s picking me up afterward.”

“He’s not playing himself?”

“Not tonight. He’s got a meeting to attend.” Serena bent to lace her sneakers as she recalled Tom’s preoccupation when he’d picked her up at work. They had eaten at her apartment before he had dropped her at the racquetball club. His warmth toward her had encouraged her. As always, the doubts that burgeoned with his absence were quickly chased away. But he
had
been distracted; she had sensed something afoot. When she questioned him about it he stilled her with his kiss and the powerful intoxicant of his embrace. She happily pushed aside all worry.

“You
are
in love with him, aren’t you?” This time, Cynthia was more serious.

Wrenched abruptly from thoughts of Tom, Serena jerked her head up at her partner, then looked down again to fiddle idly with her laces. She made light of it. “Who knows? Love can blow this way and that. Only time will tell.”

Later that evening she feared that time was her enemy. Tom had emerged from his meeting in a shroud of tension that enveloped Serena the instant she set foot in his car. Their conversation during the short drive to her apartment went no deeper than small talk. He was deeply bothered by something, and much as Serena tried to get at its source she could make no headway.

With the panic of a woman in love she concluded that Tom had greater problems with their relationship than she had anticipated. Perhaps there was something more than his failed marriage that tormented him; perhaps there was still a side of him she didn’t know. Yet for the first time in her apartment he made love to her and her fears fell victim to the fierceness of his passion. In his arms she knew him well, understanding him and satisfying him with the same fervor he showed her. For those few thoughtless moments they were in harmony. Soon after it was shattered.

8

“I’ve done some thinking about your plans for
Sweet Serenity
,” Tom began as they lay in bed together, her head nestled on his shoulder. “Maybe you ought to wait before opening a second store.”

“What?”
Serena bobbed up in surprise, but he pressed her back with a determined hand and held her there.

“The branch store. Why don’t you wait a few months?”

“What difference would a few months make?”

She felt his shrug beneath her head. “Rents may have leveled off by then, money may be that much freer.”

“Do you really believe that, Tom? Do you really think a few months will reflect a turn in the economy?” She offered soft skepticism.

“Never can tell.” His nonchalance was more than she could bear, particularly given her doubts of earlier that evening.

“I don’t understand,” she argued in a hurt whisper.

“You were in favor of the idea when we discussed it the other day. Why have you suddenly changed your mind?”

“I haven’t changed my mind about expanding per se. I’m simply suggesting that you may want to wait before taking such a large step. It may be premature.”

“I can’t stand it!” she exploded, overpowering him and sitting up. “Now you sound like André! What is it with you two?” Her gaze narrowed. “Who
was
your meeting with tonight, anyway? You were pretty vague about it before.”

Tom stroked her arm slowly. “It was a matter relating to the paper, Serena. I can assure you, I’ve had no meetings with André. The incident at his party was enough to persuade me to keep him at arm’s length. I only wish you would.”

“He controls my money, Tom. I can’t very well avoid him. And besides, I still don’t see what you have against him.”

Tom said nothing, simply reached up to twist an auburn wave through his fingers. His eyes—those fire-laden eyes—held an enigmatic blend of gentleness and anger. Serena was totally confused.

“This is absurd!” She finally cried out her frustration. “The two of you seesaw and I’m stuck in the middle sliding first one way, then the other.”

“It’s not that way. At least, I had hoped that I had the greater weight of emotion on my end.”

With a sigh of helplessness at the beseeching look in his eyes she let her arms rest on his chest, then slowly settled down on its solid expanse. She breathed in the musky scent of his skin. “Oh, Tom, you know you do. It’s just that, well,
Sweet Serenity
is my passport to security. It means the world to me. Expansion is something I’ve been considering for a while now. Perhaps I’m worried that if I put off the move I may get cold feet myself.”

He held her quietly, ingesting her words, his arm circling her ivory-sheened back. “You’re a very stubborn lady,” he admitted at last, “but I suppose it’s one of the things I like about you. You’re committed to this, aren’t you?” She nodded, rubbing her cheek against the dark mat of hair just below his throat. “Just promise me one thing?”

“Hmm?”

“If Phillips gives you trouble, let me know?”

Startled, she looked up again, only to be beset with perplexity when her memory dredged up a similar warning that Tom had given her last weekend. It was as though he actually expected André to present a problem, and that was the last thing she anticipated. Wary, and feeling as if she had missed a vital clue, she sought to reassure Tom once more.