Taking Tiffany (12 page)

Tiffany

I MOTIONED TODD into the kitchen and asked him to sit in one of the chairs in front of the island. Before I had a chance to offer him anything, my dad and the sergeant entered the room.

Todd stood and held out his hand. “Sir,” he addressed my dad. He turned to greet the sergeant. “Sergeant Campbell, nice to see you again.”

I finally got a chance to look at Todd. I’d rushed him through the house earlier and hadn’t notice his appearance. His hair was 
adorably
 messed up, and he wore a smudge of pink lipstick on the corner of his mouth. I made a valiant effort not to laugh, but he heard my squeak and narrowed his eyes.

“Sorry,” I whispered. I walked over to him and wiped the lipstick off.

He knew exactly what he looked like. Eyes turned heavenward, it looked like he wanted to disappear. “This is twice now,” he muttered.

I let my eyes creep over to the two men, focusing on my dad. To my surprise, they were both trying to keep a straight face.

Dad looked back and forth from me to Todd, still smiling. “It looks like this might be a challenge keeping you two apart.”

Todd’s eyes widened before he nodded his agreement. “Yes, sir. It will be.” There’s that honesty again.

“You can call me Jerry. Especially since you’ll be here a lot.”

“Oh, Dad! I love you!” I flung my arms around him so I could give him a big hug.

“I trust your judgment,” he assured me.

Sergeant Campbell cleared his throat and asked, “Everyone ready to get started? I have a lot of questions. We’ll need to see if we can come up with a list of suspects.”

Two hours and a couple hundred questions later, Todd and I were able to take a break on the back deck. We sat next to each other in two lounge chairs pointed out toward the lake. He reached over and held my hand.

“It’s beautiful here. I can see why you didn’t want to move.” He grinned and winked, which made my stomach do all sorts of fluttery things.

“It was pure laziness,” I confessed. “But, in my defense, I haven’t had a reason until now.”

“Oh?” he asked.

“Well, we’ll need some privacy…after all this is over.”

“We could always hang out at my condo.”

“Are you trying to talk me into staying here? You like this view that much?” I joked.

“I enjoyed getting to know your father today. He’s a great guy.”

“He is pretty wonderful. You remind me of him in a lot of ways.”

“Really?” He squeezed my hand.

 “Yes. You’re both determined and successful with a strong work ethic. You both have a great sense of humor. I think you saw a little of that today. He comes off gruff sometimes, but he enjoys a good laugh. But what I really appreciate is the way he loves my mom. It’s always been that way. He’s all in.”
     

“I’m all in, too, Tiffany.” He leaned over and brushed his lips over mine. The tingles started again. I moved closer, needing just a little bit more. Maybe a lot more, but out here in the open, I’d have to settle for less.

“Hello!” My mom’s cheery voice echoed down to the lake where we were seated.

“Are you ready for Mom?”
She'd been at a friend’s house, helping in her garden.

“Bring it on,” he joked, but he didn’t know what he was in for.

My mom was a whirlwind of activity and emotion. I never knew which side of her I’d get at any given hour.

“Todd!” She opened her arms and rushed him. It looked like we’d be getting the emotional mom today.

He stood quickly and greeted, “Mrs. Thompson, it’s so nice to meet you.”

He didn’t even have a chance to hold out his hand before she grabbed him in a hug. I hoped he wasn’t getting overwhelmed.

“No! You must call me Clara! I hear you’re a special friend of Tiffany’s.” She looked at me to make sure what she said was okay. I nodded, so she continued. “We’ve been hearing all about you for ages. It must be a year, right, Tiffany?”

 I shouldn’t have nodded. She thought she had full power to speak.

“Oh, Mom, it hasn’t been that long.” I tried to communicate with my eyes—
you need to be quiet now.

“Oh, yes. It was last year after the Valentine’s Day charity event, when Braydon stood on the table and won his Jain back. Oh! That was so romantic. You two worked together with the cards, remember? All we heard about afterward was Todd this and Todd that.” She paused and said, “We’ve been expecting you for some time now.”

I put my head into my hands. It was a good thing I loved my mother so much, otherwise, I might have planned her demise.

Todd laughed and said, “Tell me more, Clara,” and shot me a smirk. He was enjoying this.

“No! No more, Mom,” I pleaded.

“Maybe I could get out your baby pictures instead?”

“You’re joking.”

“But you were so beautiful. I’d bet Todd would enjoy seeing them.”

“I would, Clara,” he assured her.

Mom looked back at me, trying to gauge how angry I’d be if she brought the pictures out. She took in our relaxed positions on the lounge chairs, the two half-full glasses of wine, and our happy demeanor. Decision made, she said, “I’ll be back in a few minutes!” and headed back to the house.

“You encouraged her,” I accused.

“I did.”

“You will suffer for this, you know.”

“Nah. Looking at pictures of you will not be suffering.”

“No, I meant
I’ll
make you suffer.” I laughed.

He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed it softly. “I think I’d like your brand of suffering.” He was being naughty, and I liked it.

“So, what shall I do to you?” I had so many ideas.

“This one is my favorite!” Mom returned and flopped into a chair next to Todd, settling in for the viewing show. Her timing was suspiciously like Dad’s. They always seemed to interrupt right before the good stuff got going. “Tiffany is three in this album. She just started preschool at a beautiful little school on Mercer Island called Creative Learning Center Montessori. Have you heard of it?”

He shook his head.

Please don’t tell him to take our future children there
. 

Instead, she said, “The teachers and the staff were wonderful. They doted on Tiffany and took all these pictures during the school day. Look, in this picture she’s doing abstract division at four years old! Tiffany’s always been smart, you know.”

“I did. I knew she was smart the first time I met her.”

Mom looked at me and smiled. I knew that smile. She liked Todd. A lot. And now, I was sure she was picking out the names of her future grandchildren. Mom needed to pull back on the reins. Maybe I could distract her with Jain’s baby.

“Did you hear Jain named her baby Tiffany?” I asked.

“Yes! Brian, Braydon’s dad, told us on our fishing outing. What a nice compliment to you, honey.”

“I’m sure they had other reasons besides just me. They said they loved the name. So, I guess the compliment goes to you in the first place.”

She smiled and her eyes lit up. “I just thought of something!”

“What?” I asked with trepidation. When my mom had that look in her eyes, there was no stopping her.

“Let’s have a baby shower for Jain! She didn’t have one, right?” Her eyebrows lifted, waiting for my answer.

“No. Little Tiffany came a bit early. I think they had a small one for her at her work, though.”

“Pfft.” She waved me off. “We’ll throw a big party for them. We could have it here at the house. I can invite everyone from…”

All I heard was white noise after that. I peeked at Todd. He kept a respectful, interested expression firmly in place while my mom went on and on about the party.

“And, your dad said I needed a hobby, so this is perfect!”

Jain would be my mom’s new hobby. I wondered how I was going to break it to her.

Angela

Three Months Earlier

THE DAYS TURNED into months and had taken on a rhythm, like a song that started out slow and soft, went crazy hectic in the middle, and ended softly again. I heard the classic song “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen playing in the office, and it made me smile, because it was a perfect example of the tempo of my day.

 I’d wake up, get Ivy out of bed, and we’d hit the showers in the main building. Dr. Keep-Info-To-Himself neglected to tell me there was a water heater at the orphanage, just not in the huts. Dottie filled me in during my orientation, and a few choice words were directed at the doctor soon after.

Once we were showered, we’d walk together to the cafeteria to get my required cup of tea and Ivy’s bowl of cereal. That’s when the pace picked up. I was in charge of gathering the five-to-eight-year-olds together for their first class that started at nine. Strangely enough, I found teaching them to read almost…fun. Once they memorized the sounds, it was just a matter of blending them together. Their little faces would brighten when it all came together. It was hard, at first, to comprehend the joy of such a simple accomplishment, for both the children and myself.

We’d break for lunch in the cafeteria then go right back to class. The afternoons were dedicated to math, my favorite subject. Sometimes, we’d go outside and count rocks and use them for addition and subtraction. Paper was scarce, so we made the best of it. The kids didn’t seem to mind.

My next assignment entailed dinner prep, an entirely new skill for me. My parents always employed a professional chef to prepare our meals. The only time I could remember going into the kitchen was if I wanted a drink of water, otherwise we were served by the staff.

 The first time cutting carrots, I almost chopped off my middle finger. Dottie quickly dispatched me to Dr. Stefan for stitches. He offered to kiss it to make it better with his usual smirk, but I left the injured finger up for a moment, giving him my answer. He chuckled and rolled his eyes again. He seemed to do that a lot with me.

After dinner, the nighttime prep began. Getting fifty children ready for bed was a huge undertaking. For the most part, they were agreeable, but some needed the extra glass of water or another hug.

 By nine p.m., I was done for the day. This was the special one-on-one time I enjoyed with Ivy. She opened up and started talking a few weeks after she arrived. As it turned out, English was her first language, which indicated she’d been in a state-run facility for a long time. She had bits and pieces of Romanian, but one of the other teachers worked with her to develop her skills.

Ivy finally trusted her surroundings enough to let go of my hand for longer and longer periods of time. She even had a little friend, Ava. But she still needed to sleep in my hut. We tried to move her in with the other children, but when she had a melt-down of epic proportions, everyone decided it would be harmful to her development if she were to move. She had trust issues that wouldn’t go away anytime soon. If I were honest with myself, I liked her rooming with me. The soft sound of her breathing lulled me to sleep. Not that I had any problems going to sleep; the days exhausted me, but in a healthy type of way.

If my eyes weren’t closing on their own accord, I’d pull the blankets over my head, turn on the flashlight, and read a little. Dottie had a full library, and she loaned me some of her favorite books. I’d never thought to read for pleasure before, but I delved into the classics and loved every minute of it. Reality TV was a thing of the past.

“Angela! Angela! Wake up! You won’t believe it!” Dottie sat on the end of my bed.

“It’s Saturday. Go away!” I pulled the blankets over my head. This was my one day to sleep in.

“It’s not just Saturday, it’s Christmas Eve. There’s a huge truck outside filled with gifts for the children.” She was so excited, I was sure she would hyperventilate.

“Calm down, Dottie." I laughed and said, "Take it easy, girl.” 

All the commotion woke Ivy. Excited voices from outside filled the room. I grabbed my boots and warm jacket and headed out to take a peek. When the weather turned in Romania, it came hard and fast. It was freezing cold outside, minus-two degrees, and a couple inches of snow blanketed the ground.

“An anonymous donor sent gifts for everyone! Even all the staff!” She fanned herself, even though it was cold. The huts had battery operated heaters, but they only cut the chill by a fraction.

Dottie grabbed my hand. “Oh, Angela. Gifts for the children!” she said before bursting into tears.

I hugged her and rubbed her back. “Now, now, Dottie.” Dottie and I had become close in the past few months. I hated to admit it, but my parents were right. Both Dottie and her husband, Jerome, were the most honest, hard-working people I’d ever met. “This is a good thing.”

“I know! I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I was just so…so worried this year. As you know, things have been tight. The gifts of pencils and paper weren’t enough. The children have been through so much and deserve so much more.”

“They have you.” I straightened in surprise. That wasn’t something I’d usually say. I didn’t give compliments.

“Aren’t you sweet!” She placed her hand on my cheek.

Don’t say that; you don’t know what I’ve done.

“Let’s go.” I didn’t want to talk anymore. I reached over and took Ivy’s hand and we went outside. A huge truck with its ramp down parked in front of the main building. Two men were unloading what looked to be hundreds of gifts. The kids surrounded the men, and their happy squeals of delight could be heard for miles, I was sure.

Dottie directed traffic, shouting orders to keep everything organized. “Okay, everyone, pick up a gift and bring it into the main room next to the tree.”

An hour later, all of the packages were stacked neatly by the tree. The children, though, were out of their minds with excitement. Except for Ivy. She stared at the gifts as if she didn’t know what they contained.

“Do you think Ivy’s ever received a gift?” I asked Dottie.

Her face clouded, and with a lowered voice she said, “I don’t think so. Look at her. She’s not excited like the others.”

Oh, Ivy.

“Okay, well, there’s a first time for everything, right?” I said.

Dottie’s smile was a little sad, but she said, “That’s right.” Then added, “Should we start now or after lunch?”

We looked back into the room, and the children were like those Mexican Beans, jumping up and down and sideways, out of control.

“Call the doctor. We need sedatives,” I joked.

“You called?”

I jumped about a foot. “You startled me! I thought you were working in town?”

Stefan donated his time to the orphanage, but he operated a practice in the small town of Rau Sadelui.

“I took today off, because, you know, it’s Christmas Eve?” He arched a brow.

“Don’t you have patients?” He was irritating me again.

“Yes. Lots of them.”

“You enjoy annoying me, don’t you?” I asked

He shrugged and walked farther into the room.

I turned to Dottie. “He’s infuriating!”

Giving me a pat on the shoulder, she said, “I know, honey.” A wink and a smile followed.

“Angela?” I could barely hear Ivy’s voice over the shrieking children.

“Yes, Ivy?”

“What are gifts?”

It was confirmed. My stomach sank, and I felt like my heart was breaking. I was angry, too. I wanted to scream and cry at the unfairness of it. I had so much at her age. Anything I wanted or asked for—it was given to me. If it didn’t come quick enough, I’d throw a fit, and, sure enough, it would appear within a day. I hadn’t deserved any of it. Ivy deserved everything, but received nothing. She was a gentle spirit, a lovely person, and became lovelier each day that passed. 

“A gift is a present you give to someone to show them you care,” I told her.

“Here.” Doctor Annoying plopped a wrapped package in my hands, startling me again.

“Quit doing that!” I handed the gift back to him. “I’m not your servant. You put it under the tree yourself.”

“It’s for you.”

“Me? Who’s it from?”

He took a deep breath and shook his head. I was pretty sure there was an eye roll involved as well.

“You? You got me… I mean, why?” I stuttered, feeling like an idiot.
A stray emotion that I might have called happiness started to surge before I was able to repress it.

“Okay, everyone! Line up—we’re doling out the presents!” Dottie yelled.

I was glad for the interruption, because Stefan had me rendered speechless. He and I would often talk on his days volunteering at the orphanage, sometimes for hours. We’d sit on one of the benches and laugh about the funny things the kids would do or say. But I thought he just put up with me. He couldn’t like me. I was the spoiled, rich girl.

I’d spent most of my time since childhood pretending I didn’t need someone to love. Why bother? If my own parents viewed me as an inconvenience, why would anyone else ever be willing to love me? It was safer not to put my heart out there, only to be hurt when the inevitable happened.

I waited while the children opened their gifts, all the while holding on to my present from Stefan with moist hands. Dottie instructed the children to open each present one at a time to enjoy the moment. The moments were stretching into an eternity it seemed. Halfway through, it was Ivy’s turn. With shaking hands, she unwrapped her gift carefully. Her mouth dropped open when she unveiled it.

“It’s me,” she whispered as she held up the custom-made doll with the same slight cleft lip on her left side.

“She’s beautiful, just like you,” I told her.

She took it out of the packaging, eyes full of wonder. Closing them, she pulled the doll to her in a hug and smiled.

Joy.

Dottie put her hand on my shoulder and whispered into my ear, “I wish the donor could see this.”

I nodded, because I couldn’t speak.

“It’s your turn,” Ivy said, intently focused on my gift.

I glanced over to Stefan. His vibrant blue eyes were on mine—studying me, waiting for my reaction. I unwrapped the paper and folded it, putting it over to the side.  We could use it later for some arts and crafts. Opening the box, I peered inside and laughed when I found the clip-on light for reading.

“How did you know?” I asked.

He tilted his head toward Dottie.

She raised her hand and said, “Guilty!”

Two books were at the bottom of the box. The first one was
Pride and Prejudice
.

Dottie laughed and said, “I told him to get that one for you. It’s the only one I don’t have in my library. It’s great; you’ll love it!”

The second book was
The Wizard of Oz
. I smiled, knowing why he gave me this particular book. He often referred to me as ‘Dorothy’ to annoy me. This time, though it didn’t. I opened the flap and the inscription read, “You’ve left Kansas, now what will you do?”

What will I do? I don’t know! 
Overcome by panic, I needed to leave the room.

I thanked Stefan and told Dottie, “I’m going to start the lunch prep. I’m sure everyone’s worked up an appetite.” I scurried out like the coward I was.

I needed time to think, and the best place was the kitchen pantry. It was a ten-by-ten-foot room, lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves on each side. It held all the canned and dry food. A long table sat in the middle of the room, perfect for me to pace around.

The door shut behind me, making me jump. “You’re doing it again!”

Stefan stood against the closed door leading to the kitchen. We were alone in the pantry.

“I know it was you. Don’t even try to deny it.” He continued, “Abel got the red truck he’s been talking about incessantly. Daria received the hair ties and bracelets she wanted. I knew for sure, though, when Ivy opened her gift.” He shook his head.

“I don’t have to admit to anything.” I refused to say any more. He needed to leave—now.

“I have a question I’d like to ask,” he said, walking toward me.

I backed up against the table. “What?”

“If I asked to kiss you, what would you say?”

“Wha… I mean, no. I’d say no.”

“Why?” He stepped closer.

“Because I’ve sworn to hate you for all eternity,” I answered.

“You’ve already read the book,” he said. A slow half grin pulled at his lips

“You’ve read
Pride and Prejudice
?”

“A couple times,” he answered. “Would it help if I told you I hate you, too?”

“It might.” Butterflies made an appearance low in my belly. I thought I’d killed them, but his voice, the way he looked at me, helped those winged creatures rise from the dead.

He moved forward and stopped before we touched. Leaning down he said, “I hate the way your hair glistens in the sun.” His eyes creased as he smiled. He took a lock of my hair and gave a little tug.

“I hate when you annoy me.” I replied.