The Amber Stone (21 page)

“Jessie, be serious.”

“He’s okay, relax,” she said, taking her sister’s arm and heading for the kitchen.

They found Michelle organizing dishes. “You shouldn’t have brought him in the first place,” she said.

Teresa rolled her eyes. “It was an accident.”

“How can you bring a man to a party by accident?”

“I meant the incident with Olivia.”

“It wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t been staring at Olivia like a salivating dog. Everyone saw it.” Michelle shook her head, disgusted. “So tasteless.”

“I’m sure he had a reason,” Jessie said. “He wanted to explain, but I wouldn’t let him.”

Michelle rested her hip on the counter and adjusted her earring. “Yes, he has an excellent reason. He’s a man.”

“Just give him a chance,” Teresa pleaded.

“And he’s no ordinary man. He’s a handler,” Jessie said.

Teresa turned to her surprised. “How did you know?”

Jessie hesitated, not wanting to tell her sister about the reading. “Dad taught me how to spot them.”

“It doesn’t change anything,” Michelle said. “He’s not to be trusted.”

Suddenly a boy came running through the kitchen and darted into the other room. Jessie’s daughter, Syrah, soon followed, her face red with anger, her baseball cap sitting precariously on her head. “I’m going to get you, Marvin!”

Jessie grabbed her collar, halting the tirade. “Syrah, no running in the house,” she ordered.

The girl wiggled free. “I promise I’ll stop running, once I catch him.” She raced into the other room.

Immediately after, her best friend, Daniel, entered the kitchen, holding up his hands to assure them. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Preston, everything is under control,” he said, then followed the other two children.

“Looks like Syrah’s got your temper,” Michelle said amused.

Jessie didn’t disagree.“Fortunately, Daniel keeps her out of trouble most of the times.”

Kenneth came into the kitchen, playfully wrapping an arm around Jessie’s neck, pretending to strangle her. “I wish you would tell me when you invite live entertainment. People are still talking about Sean and Olivia.”

Jessie pinched him on the arm. He flinched and let go. “This coming from someone who added twenty-five people to my list of seven,” she said.

“The more the merrier.” He turned to Teresa. “I had a nice chat with your new friend. He’s a good guy.”

Michelle folded her arms and tapped her foot. “Don’t you dare encourage her, Kenneth.”

“Why not? He seems like a decent guy.”

She shot him a look. “What did he say to you?”

“We came to an understanding.” He smiled at Teresa. “You have nothing to worry about.”

Michelle threw up her hands. “You’re not giving me any specifics. How can you tell he’s not trouble?”

“I just can. I like him.”

Jessie patted his cheek. “Kenneth, you’re so nice, you’d befriend a rat if it smiled at you.”

He ruffled her hair. “True, I fell in love with you, didn’t I?”

He ducked when she tried to hit him and backed out of the kitchen blowing her a kiss.

“Do you two ever arm wrestle?” Michelle asked, always amazed at the physical nature of her sister’s relationship.

“Sometimes. I usually let him win.”

Michelle shook her head with an affectionate grin. “Kids.”

“Speaking of kids,” Teresa said. “You know it’s oddly quiet.”

Everyone paused. There wasn’t a child’s voice to be heard anywhere. When they left the kitchen they looked around and didn’t see a child in sight.

“Now don’t panic,” Michelle demanded. “They have to be somewhere.”

“Wait, listen,” Teresa said.

Under the hum of adult voices, they heard a faint tune on a flute. The women stared at each other then followed the sound out into the wooded backyard. There they found Sean sitting under a tree surrounded by children, scattered about like fallen leaves, listening to him play his flute. Some rested against his legs, others played with twigs on the ground while the rest sat and stared, captivated.

He abruptly stopped playing. “Then what do you think happened?” he asked the group.

“A dragon comes down and eats them,” Marvin said.

Syrah hit the boy in the arm. “There are no dragons in this story, silly.”

He rubbed his arm annoyed. “So?”

“They use the secret portal,” Daniel said.

Sean nodded. “Excellent and they escape once again.”

“What about the warlock?” Syrah asked.

“Ah, ‘Your days are numbered,’ says he and away he goes to his cave, thinking of new ways to capture the Trayon band.” He began to play again.

“A true Pied Piper,” Michelle said. “We should be worried that—”

“Shut up, Mich,” Jessie said. “He’s great. I wonder how much he charges for babysitting?”

***

“That was truly amazing,” Teresa told Sean on their drive back.

He shrugged. “I saw a little hellion getting ready to tear a boy’s eyes out and thought I’d better do something.”

She frowned. “That hellion’s my niece.”

He nodded. “I’m not surprised.”

“You had them under a spell.”

“I thought I’d seen my wife.”

She paused. “What?”

“That’s really what you want to talk about. What happened. She looked so much like Renee that I couldn’t get my bearings. I’m sorry.”

“She is beautiful.”

“And she scared the hell out of me. It was the second time in two weeks I thought I saw her.”

“I’m sorry I invited you.”

“I’m glad you did. I want your family to know who I am.”

“Even for a short while?”

Sean drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Yes.”

“Do you have siblings?”

He nodded. “Five.”

“A big family.”

“Hmm.”

“And I probably will never meet them.”

“Not if I can help it.”

He slowed the truck and stopped in front of a house that rose like a giant monument on a hill. In the dimming light they saw silhouettes in the windows. “Would you like to live in a house that big?”

“Is this a trick question?”

“No, be honest.”

She thought for a moment then shook her head. “No, too many rooms to clean.”

He tugged on her ponytail. “You’d have a maid, you ninny.”

“A maid.” She rested her arms on the dashboard. “You know we had a maid once, but she quit after a month because she had nothing to do. We did everything ourselves.” She stared at the house for a long moment then sat back and smiled. “I like your house.”

“It’s big.”

“I know.”

“And ugly.”

She playfully tugged on his beard. “Like you and I think it’s wonderful.”

He grinned and started the truck. “I don’t feel like taking you home yet. Let’s go to the cinema.”

“And see what?”

“Whatever’s playing.”

What was playing was one of the worst films they had ever seen called
Woe to Life
. It was so bad, Sean actually laughed through all the dramatic scenes. Even the climactic moment when the heroine lost her entire family in a stove explosion. Teresa nudged him, warning him to behave, but that only caused him to laugh harder. Fortunately, nobody paid attention. The two other couples were high school students too busy making out to care.

“That was dreadful,” Teresa said. They sat in his truck looking at the other cars in the parking lot. Teresa was finishing an ice cream sandwich and Sean a packet of chocolate covered raisins. “But you were worse.”

“I couldn’t help myself. It was so bad it was painful. I couldn’t decide if the script was bad or the acting.”

“It was a mixture of both. When she threatened to kill herself when the waitress bought the wrong order, I thought that was a bit overdone.”

“I think someone trying to kill themselves after watching that movie would be more realistic. The love scene was okay.”

“What love scene?”

“The one in the bathtub.”

“That was a love scene? I thought he was doing some strange form of CPR.”

Sean looked astonished, then laughed. But all his good humor left him when he dropped Teresa home. “I really hate leaving you here. You have a great family. Why aren’t you with them?”

“Uncle Darren and Louisa are my family and they need me.”

Sean lifted a sly brow. “I need you. Want to move in with me?”

She made a face. “No,” she said then got out of the truck.

“Okay, then just stay the night.”

“Another time,” she said. “I have things I have to do,” she added when Sean followed her to the front door.

“Relax, I won’t stay long.”

When they entered the house, they found Louisa sitting on the sofa, her hand in a bag of potato chips. The remnants of a sandwich, bag of Oreos, Twizzlers and muffins lay around her like casualties of a child’s sleepover.

“Louisa, what are you doing up?”

“I was waiting for you.”

Teresa began to clean up the mess. “You shouldn’t eat all this junk food.”

“I was hungry.” She sent Sean a look. “You hardly stop by here anymore.”

“I’ve been busy.”

She patted the seat beside her. “You’re here now.”

“But I can’t stay long.”

“I know I’m the size of a cow, but I’m still a woman.”

“You look great,” Teresa said.

“Hardly anything fits.” She held out her arms. “I had to borrow one of your shirts.”

Sean sent Teresa a look, but she ignored the insult. “We can go shopping. We can buy you some clothes and get your hair done. Would you like that?”

Louisa looked at her unsure. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m there.” She stood up. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

Once she was out of hearing, Sean said, “I don’t like the way she talks to you.”

Teresa shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me. She’s been hurt. I know it’s hard for her seeing us together, especially if…”

“If what?”

She cleared her throat. “I’ve never asked you this before because what you did before we met is none of my business, but…I know you liked Louisa. And she likes you.”

Sean rested his hands on his hips and shifted his gaze to the piano. “And you want to know if I slept with her?” He looked at her. “The answer is yes. Is the baby mine? No.” He folded his arms. “Louisa isn’t nasty to you because of me, there’s another reason.”

“She’s brokenhearted. The father of her child abandoned her.”

“That’s still no excuse—”

“I can handle her. Besides, if you saw how Aunt Margaret treated her, you’d understand why she’s like this.”

“I know and I still don’t like it.”

“She’s never been loved,” Teresa said remembering the vision she’d seen of Louisa as a little girl. “Truly loved. And if I can show her what true love is, she can change.”

Sean shook his head. “I’m surprised you’ve survived this long being so naïve. You put your hopes in the wrong things.”

“So I shouldn’t hope in you? Are you warning me off again?”

He gathered her in his arms and held her snugly. “No. I’ve decided to keep you even closer.”

***

Teresa called Michelle the next day, “It’s an emergency, I need to go shopping with Louisa.”

“How is that an emergency?”

“None of her clothes fit.”

“So what?”

“I don’t want to go alone and I thought a shopping spree would be fun for her.”

“Should I repeat my first question?” Michelle said in a bored tone.

“She’s been unhappy and I’m trying to lift her spirits. Please help, I’ll be forever grateful…unless you have something else scheduled this weekend,” she said, knowing her sister rarely did.

Michelle sighed. “I’ll see if I can string Jessie along. You know how she feels about shopping.”

“Good and schedule something at Kayla’s.”

“At this late date?”

“Pull some strings. I know you can.”

“Doesn’t she know the meaning of the word moderate?” Michelle complained as Louisa tried on a silk maternity dress.

“This is making her happy,” Teresa said.

“Yes, at the expense of
my
checkbook. Why am I paying—”

Teresa patted her sister’s arm. “It’s for a good cause,” she said, not wanting to explain that she wasn’t making enough yet for this little extravagance. She had some of Bess’s money left, but wanted to hold on to it as a reserve.

“I suppose I could write this off as a charity,” Michelle mumbled.

Louisa’s mood improved immensely and she felt like a star when they took her to Kayla’s salon and treated her to a manicure, pedicure, make up tips and a perm.

Afterwards, Jessie took them all to lunch. Jessie tried not to show any expression when Louisa ordered five appetizers and two entrees. After clearing her plate, she excused herself to go to the restroom.

“Well, she is definitely well fed,” Michelle commented.

“She’s eating for two,” Teresa said.

“Right. Two hundred,” Jessie muttered.

“Stop complaining. You know you can afford it.”

“That’s not the point. It’s bad manners to spend someone else’s money with such abandon.”

“Do you know who the father is?”

“She won’t say.”