Perfect Match (52 page)

She sat almost in a daze, but said, “I never use my middle
name. How did you know it?”

“I’m going to tell you in just a minute.” As he knelt down
in front of her, he reached for her right foot, removing her shoe. He got
closer, counting, “One…two, three, four, five zigzag stitches. That’s
wonderful.” He looked up at her, his eyes beaming. “I know a lot about you, and
I’ve fallen in love with you, Catalina.”

She had a worried look on her face. “You are freaking me
out. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea me coming over here.”

“Look, I’m as shocked as you are, but I can explain it. I’ve
admitted I never took the time to learn anything about you, Madison, but I know
a lot about you, Catalina. And what I know, I love.”

“You can’t possibly know
anything
about me. For three
years you looked through me or past me.”

He nodded. “You’re right, but I know how you place your
toothpaste cap on a tissue, while brushing your teeth; I know when you sit down
for breakfast you always take two bites of toast, and a sip of coffee, before
you touch your eggs.” He was smiling. “I know you tap your fork twice on the
edge of your plate when you finish a meal. I know you snap the elastic of your
bikini panties once with your thumb when getting dressed. I know—”

“Stop! You can’t possibly know any of that unless you’ve
been spying on me or stalking me. Have you?” Her voice had an edge.

“No, none of that. Have you read Selena’s novel?”

“What’s that got to do with any of this?” She pushed a hand
through her gleaming hair.

“Everything. Have you read it?”

She sighed. “I read a few of the early chapters, but not her
final manuscript. I haven’t found the time.” She shook her head, exasperated at
the craziness of this visit.

“Well, I’ve read the final draft three times. As I read
parts of her novel in the hospital, I fell in love with the characteristics of
the female protagonist. Apparently Selena didn’t give her a name until the day
of her surgery. That night I glanced at the file she’d given me, and saw that
she’d named the protagonist. I had no idea who Catalina was but I liked the
name, and loved the woman. Before Selena was prepared for surgery, I asked her
if Catalina was a real person, and her last words to me were, ‘you’ll figure—.’”

He paused looking at Madison’s quizzing facial expression.

“Madison, Selena has been trying to match us up, ever since
she met me. I can prove it.”

Silence, as they looked at each other.

 “Let me go with you to the hospital. Please.” He held his
breath.

She twitched the left corner of her mouth, while thinking,
this is the kookiest man I’ve ever tried to get to know, and Ramona was kinky
to suggest it.
Dear Lord, religious advice has fallen to a new low
. But,
she decided. “Your car?”

“Don’t have a car. My license was revoked for six months.”

“What happened to your Corvette?”

“I liquidated every asset I had. I have enough capital to
sustain the business for about three months, and then I’ll be on the streets
with a tin cup selling pencils.”

He took her hand, “Come with me, while I put on another
shirt.”

As they walked to his bedroom, Madison had a sobering
thought. “If your business fails, are you going to want to be CEO at
Fallington?” Worry rode her words, and it showed on her face.

He pulled a blue shirt off the hanger, slipped it on, and
turned to her, embracing her. “No. Absolutely not. You are probably the smartest
woman I’ve ever met. You are the best person to run that company. My
grandmother thinks so, and so does Rodney. Besides, you earned and deserve that
position. Understand?”

She nodded, and then took a step back, looking at his small
bedroom.

“Umm…I’d heard through the grapevine that you had a
king-size bed.”

“D.R. had one, but not me. Jerome built the twin-bed frame
for me, before I came home from the hospital. I stayed in the small room over
their garage, the lot behind this one.” He dropped his loft keys and change in
his right pocket.

“I have a queen-size.” Why did I say that, she thought, but
her head tilted and there was a flash in her eyes.

“You’re a very tempting woman, Madison, Catalina. I’m not
sure what name to use.”

She laughed.

“I could combine the first three letters of each name and
call you MadCat.”

She gave him a hard look, with hands on her hips. “You
better stick with the other two.”

As they walked back toward his great room, she said, “I see
you have a professional decorator’s touch.” Her eyes scanned the curtain swags
over windows, and the art work on the walls.

“I can’t take credit. Two women did this.”

She stopped, still gazing at the walls. “Oh.” She was
silent, rolling her lips inward, withdrawing emotionally.

“Two of my co-workers, a black woman and a Hispanic woman.
Imogene and Helena have Associates Degrees from the community college. Both
were out of work, but highly talented. Helena’s husband works on the site
crews. Excellent worker.”

“I thought maybe you had some new girlfriends.”

He laughed. “Remember, I’ll never be D.R. again. I like
being Roscoe.”

She turned looking up at him, with a soft smile. “You’re
becoming a very fascinating man.”

On their drive to the hospital Roscoe learned that Selena
loved Krispy Kreme donuts, and he insisted they should get a half-dozen.
Madison relented. She loved them also.

He pulled details of her frustration with ‘cleaning up’ the
wreckage he’d caused at Fallington. He told her of remaining problems he
thought she might encounter, and offered some suggestions that would save her
future surprises and headaches. She was grateful for the heads-up. She ran some
plans by him of how she wanted to grow the company. He was further impressed
with her smart ideas.

“Do you think I can pull that off?”

“You’ve demonstrated that you can. I’m in awe of the
reversal you pulled off with the Chinese suppliers. You are one tough lady.”

She held up a fist, cut a slanted glance, and said, “Better
not forget it.”

He laughed. His eyes dropped to her tanned legs. While
driving her dress had hiked up to mid-thigh. He turned to her. “Mind if I pay
you a compliment?”

She wiggled in her seat. “I’d love that.” Her smile revealed
gleaming teeth.

“I’m enjoying being with you. I’m thankful you came by so we
could talk,” he hesitated a moment, “and I love looking at your long legs.”

A smile spread across her face, as the car stopped for a red
light. She turned to him, watching the traffic signal peripherally, while her
left hand dropped to her thigh, sliding her dress farther up. Her look was
sexual. “It is too soon for you to get me all hot and bothered, while driving.
That could be a dangerous thing. If you thought your past was good, you’ve
never experienced the heat of a Hispanic woman.” Her look lingered, as she
licked her lips. She turned back to the wheel. “Green light.” She gunned the
car, smiling with an edge of confidence.

“I can see I’m in for lots of torture.”

Her throaty chuckle spiked the beat of his heart.

Roscoe had placed a call that finally got through to Dr. Hertford,
explaining that he and Madison had talked through the misunderstandings, and
both had the full interest of Selena. Hertford had agreed that they could
visit, but the nurse on duty was to make them leave at the slightest negative
reaction from Selena. Madison was beside herself that she was going to see her
daughter.

Roscoe tapped on Selena’s hospital door, and pushed it open
when he heard, “Come in.” He stepped inside and walked to her bed.

“How’s my favorite writer?”

He could tell she wanted to smile. “How did you find out I’m
in the hospital? I’m not changing my mind, Roscoe.” She crossed her arms,
shaking her head.

“First of all, I can’t reveal my sources, and secondly, I’m
glad you’re not changing your mind. Nothing like having your mind locked in
concrete is there? That means everything is settled, and you never have to
think again. How blissful.”

“You don’t have to be smart about it.” Her mouth became a
straight line.

“I was just agreeing with you.”

He let silence wash over the room before saying, “So have
you decided what to do with the kidney, donate to someone else? I was reading
the other day that kidneys can be donated more than once.”

The reality of his question struck hard. She was silent,
nervous.

“I thought I’d drop by and let you know that I met Catalina,
and I really like her. She’s a very lovable woman…in every way.”

“That didn’t happen and you know it. You’re just trying to
cheer me up and that’s not going to work.” She thought a moment. “Okay, then
tell me how you met her.”

“She came to my business down in Rainbow Village.”

Selena was shaking her head. “Catalina would not be
wandering around in that section of town. Sorry, Roscoe, you’re making all this
up.” She folded her arms over her chest and set her jaw again.

He looked around the room, stood up. “I’m thirsty. Going to
see if I can swing a drink from the nurses’ desk.”

“Ha! Since you’re one of their favorites, they’ll probably
serve you some witches brew or some of that stuff they’re trying to pour in
me.”

“Be back in a minute.” He left the room, walking a few feet
from the door, whispering to Madison, waiting in the hall. She was a tangle of
nerves wanting so much to see and hold Selena.

Selena elevated the head of her bed, staring straight ahead,
knowing that Roscoe’s attempt to cheer her up was a bunch of gibberish. Yeah,
he’s a nice guy, and mom’s a nice woman, and the doctors and nurses, are nice,
nice, nice. Everybody is so freaking nice, but nothing ever fits together. She
blew out an angry puff of air.

She sat up straighter when she heard two sets of footsteps
approaching her door. She knew one set was Roscoe, but she grew nervous when
she heard the high heels tapping. She didn’t recognize them. They were heavy
and determined. Oh, Dear God, crazy Roscoe has picked up some thick-legged
woman on the street, and thinks she’s Catalina. He is really way off base. What
a mess I’ve made of everything.

The last two high-heel steps were natural, as Madison and
Roscoe entered Selena’s room, smiling.

He said, “Couldn’t find the nurse, but found Catalina in the
hall.”

Selena stunned, said, “Mom? What?”

“Hi, Sweetie. Hope you’re feeling better.”

Selena’s look went back and forth at them. Her face was a
smiling puzzle. “I thought you…are y’all gonna fight? I mean, how’d this come
about?”

Roscoe said, “I told you I’d found Catalina.”

“I thought you were trying to trick me.”

Madison said, “Sweetie, I went by to see Roscoe, after
church. We talked about a lot of things. I found him to be…intriguing.” She
tilted her head up.

“So what else? Tell me more.”

“I learned that Roscoe doesn’t know anything about Madison,
but he seems to know lots of private things about Catalina.” She placed her
hand on Selena’s shoulder. “So…what all did you tell this man about Catalina in
your novel?”

“Mom, I promise I only told the good things. He’ll have to
figure out all the other stuff about you.”

Roscoe laughed. “You mean there’s more to this puzzle?”

Madison nudged him in the side, but gave him a sweet smile.

“What else? You know I want to know all the details.”

Roscoe cleared his throat. “Your mom and I talked about that
and reached an agreement.” Madison was nodding her head. “If you agree to
follow the doctor’s instructions, when we come back to check you out of the
hospital, the three of us will have a nice meal, and we’ll give you all the
details, but you’ll have a lot of explaining to do also.”

“Did you agree to that, Mom?”

Madison was still nodding her head. “And we brought just the
thing to get you started eating.” She held up the bag of donuts she’d concealed
in a brown grocery bag.

“You know my Achilles heel.”

After they left Selena in good spirits and her promise to
follow the doctor’s orders, Madison took Roscoe back to his loft. They visited
a while longer, as they sipped tea around his kitchen table.

He gave her the concept of how he’d structured the business,
the idea of everyone being a CEO, the pay scale, the long hours, and the
commitment he expected from everyone, including him. He laughed, “I’ll probably
be lucky to clear twenty-thousand dollars this year.”

“You could pay yourself more couldn’t you?” Worry crossed
her face.

“I want to roll as much profit back into the business, so we
can grow faster, buy equipment that we need, stuff like that.”

She shook her head. “That is so unlike you. I’m amazed at
how you’ve changed.”

“It’ll do me good to have to pinch pennies.”

She looked at him with a soft smile. “It’s pretty hard.”

He reached over and took her hand. “I need to experience
that. It’ll help me appreciate what other people have felt.” He paused. “And it
will remind me of what I put you and Selena through.”

When she got ready to leave, he walked her down the steps.
They stopped at the bottom landing facing each other. She said, “Since you work
such long hours, I guess I won’t get to see you until next Sunday.”

“Maybe you could drop by and bring a sandwich at lunch or
supper during the week. I’d like to call you, if that’s okay.”

She nodded her head, smiling. “I’d like that.”

There was a moment of silence. He took a step, and let his
arms surround her. She leaned against him. She looked up and said, “I feel a
little awkward because you are much more experienced at…at…” She gave a slight
shrug. Her eyes were watering.

He was shaking his head. “Madison, you’re looking at a man
who has experience in selfishness, in taking. I want to learn how to be
considerate, appreciative, and giving. I want to learn that with you. I want to
learn how best to love those things I know about Catalina. I want to love
having breakfast with you, taking a walk with you, sitting and laughing with
you.”