Not That Kind of Girl (32 page)

Nobody said anything for a moment. Then Lucio cleared his throat. “She holds herself like a woman who is well loved. You can always tell, you know. She is on fire inside yet she is tranquil on the surface, as tranquil as a queen.”

Teeny spoke first. “That was damn near poetry, man.”

“I have been doing the crosswords,” Lucio explained.

“So is that what’s happening here?” Rick asked, his voice low and serious. He propped his elbows on his knees and leaned closer to Eli. “Are you in love with her?”

“Most definitely,” he said.

“Have you told her?” Teeny wanted to know.

“I have shown her, which was the only way Roxie would believe it,” Eli said. “She’s had the words before but without the follow-through.” He found himself smiling. “I guess you could say I gave her the follow-through first, so that when she hears the words from me, she’ll have no doubts.”

“But a woman needs the words, too,” Lucio said.

“She’ll get them,” Eli said. “I plan to tell her tomorrow. In fact, I plan to ask her to marry me tomorrow.”

Every one of the rockers stopped moving. No one said anything for a long moment.

“There must be something in the damn water around here, y’all running around asking women to marry you like you’re under some kind of spell or something.” Teeny shook his head, then turned to his best friend. “What was it for you, Rick? Three weeks after you met Josie? Less?”

Rick scrunched his lips together, thinking. “Less.”

Teeny glanced at Eli next.

“Yeah, it was fast. A couple weeks. But that’s only if you don’t count all the times I’ve run into Roxie in the past.”

“They don’t count.” Teeny leaned toward Lucio. “And you?”

Lucio scowled in concentration. “I do not remember when I asked Genevieve to be my wife, because in my mind I was asking her the moment I laid eyes on her.”

Teeny raised an eyebrow.

“All right. It took me exactly eight weeks,” Lucio replied.

“You were dragging your feet compared to these two,” Teeny said, puffing on his cigar.

“Do you have a ring and everything?” Rick asked. “What is your plan?”

Eli smiled, looking down at his boots in embarrassment. His plan might sound a bit risky, but in his gut he knew it was the right thing to do. “Well,” he said with a sigh, meeting the gazes of his friends. “My sister brought my grandmother’s ring to my house the other night, so I’d have it with me here in San Francisco. I hope to ask Roxie at the hearing, right after the ruling in her favor, in front of everyone.”

Lucio choked on his port. “That is a ballsy thing to do, my friend.”

“In front of Raymond Sandberg?” Teeny laughed. “That’ll be worth the drive, right there.”

Rick tapped his fist on Eli’s knee. “You sure about this?” he asked. “You know, we’re talking about Roxie Bloom, right? She’s not the world’s most stable, predictable woman.”

Eli grinned. “I’ll take my chances.”

Chapter 19

They pulled into the parking lot of the nondescript cinder-block building at Fifteenth and Harrison. Eli took a quick survey of the cars, but he didn’t see any sign of his mom and Sondra, Rick’s SUV, or cars belonging to Ginger and Lucio or Bea.

“Nobody’s here,” Roxanne said, her voice thin and shaky as she swiveled her head around, scanning the lot. “My God, what if something’s happened to Josie? Or the baby? Or Ginger? Or
her
baby?”

“Your dog is as stable as you are,” Eli said, repeating his mantra.

Roxanne looked at him and blinked a few times. Then smiled. “I know. I will stay balanced at my core. I will remember to breathe. I will visualize the optimum outcome.”

“Sweet thing.” Eli ran his hand down her shiny, dark hair. “You’re going to do fine. Listen, your entourage may not make it on time. Things like that happen. The traffic is terrible. Just keep your balance, no matter what. Are you following me?”

She nodded.

“Remember why you’re here.”

“I’m here to save my dog.”

“That’s right. And remember who you are.”

“I’m Roxanne Bloom, warrior priestess.”

Eli grinned. “Now you’re talking.”

They both looked down at Lilith, sleeping peacefully on the seat between them. “We can leave her here for a while and bring her in just before the hearing starts. Would you like to do that?” Eli asked.

Roxie shook her head. “No. I don’t want her to freak out alone. She could open her eyes and see this place, and remember what happened to her here, and she could go completely—”

Thankfully, Roxanne stopped herself. She sniffed and tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “Yes, well, she wouldn’t do that because dogs don’t carry around past trauma the way humans do. They live in the present. And the only thing that would make her nervous today is if I were nervous today. Which I’m not.”

“Exactly.”

“How about we leave her in here for a few minutes?”

“That’s an excellent suggestion.” Eli cupped Roxie’s pretty chin in his palm and kissed her lips softly. He gazed into her eyes. “Nothing swirling around in this place can affect your core stability. No one can take that away.”

She nodded, her chin in his hand.

“You and Lilith are surrounded by an invisible shield of love and calm. Everything bounces off it. The only thing that can penetrate it is more love. More calm. Which I’ll be sending you.”

“Right.”

They entered the hearing room together. The first thing Eli noticed was that the Sweeping Lady was seated in the complainant’s witness section. He immediately sensed Roxanne’s energy spike.

“She’s here to tell the hearing officer what she saw the day of the dog bite.”

Roxanne nodded her head and took a deep breath.

“Let’s sit over here.” Eli guided Roxie to a seat in the front row on the right side of the courtroom, then sat next to her. He leaned in so he could whisper in her ear. “See the little box there?”

Roxanne’s eyes shot over to a single chair perched on a raised platform. The platform was surrounded by a solid panel of wood with a hinged doorway built into one side.

“That’s where you’ll sit with Lilith while you’re waiting for the hearing officer to call you.”

“Okay.”

“Here she is.” Eli nodded gently toward the front of the room as a uniformed female police officer walked in. She was probably in her mid-forties, short and stocky, with her black hair pulled back in a no-nonsense bun. But she had a big smile on her face as she greeted the bailiff.

“I’ve had one other case with her,” Eli said. “Her name is Sergeant Donna Liu. She’s real levelheaded.” He smiled down at Roxie. “This is great news for us, Rox.”

She nodded. “Thank God.”

“Let me go say hi to her real quick.”

*   *   *

Roxie clasped her hands on her lap to keep them from trembling. This was it. The moment had come. No matter what comforting words Eli had, she knew that there was nothing outside of herself that would make a difference at this point. Everything had to come from inside her today—the strength, the calm, and the confidence and bearing of a pack leader.

Roxie actually smiled to herself. Just then, she realized that everything she’d been through in her life—the abandonment and the rejection and the tough breaks—it had all been worth it because it had made her who she was,
right at that moment
. She was a tough and stable woman who was going to spend the next half hour of her life on the highest possible plane of being, no matter what shit was thrown at her.

“Psst. Bloom.”

Roxanne turned around, her body sagging in relief at the sight of Bea, two rows behind. “Where’s Rachel?” she asked.

Bea shrugged. “At the hospital. She needed to be with Gloria.”

“Of course,” Roxanne said. “Is Mrs. Needleman okay?”

“For now,” Bea said, smiling sadly.

“Where’s everybody else?”

“On their way,” Bea said, taking a quick glance around the room. “You ready, Rox?”

Roxanne smiled at her. “Absolutely.”

“I know you’ll do great,” Bea said.

Just then, Roxie saw Carole and Sondra enter through the double doors at the back of the hearing room. Roxie waved them forward, introduced them to Bea, and then turned back around to continue her mental pep talk to herself. Knowing Bea was here had given her a second wind.

Eli came back, gesturing to his mom and sister in greeting and draping an arm around Roxie as he returned to his seat. Just as they’d decided it was time to fetch Lilith, the energy of the hearing room changed, and Roxanne’s eyes focused over Eli’s left shoulder. It was Raymond. Or was it? He looked like … Roxie suddenly remembered how Mrs. Delano had described him: looking like he’d been thrown under a bus. She hadn’t exaggerated.

He was wearing a neck brace, the edge of the white bandage visible at the top. His left arm was in a cast and hung limp inside a sling. It looked like he was in pain as he swung a briefcase onto the table. He fell into the chair, then exchanged a few words with Mrs. Delano and …
the pizza guy
? When had he shown up?

“I take it Raymond’s here,” Eli said, not turning around. “You look kind of perplexed.”

Roxie’s eyes shot to Eli’s face. “He brought the pizza delivery kid in as a witness!”

“That doesn’t change anything, Rox.”

“And Raymond is wearing a neck brace and his arm is in a cast! And I can’t tell …” She peered over Eli’s shoulder again for another look. “I honestly can’t tell if he’s faking all this for sympathy or whether something else has happened to him, because he sure as hell didn’t look this bad leaving the ER. What’s he up to?”

Eli frowned. “I’ll take a look and tell you what I think.”

*   *   *

Eli turned. Instantly, a sharp pang went through him. This was Roxie’s former lover? This was the man she had hoped to marry? This old guy pushing himself to a stand had brought the spirited Roxie Bloom to her knees?

He kept looking, inexplicably fascinated by Raymond Sandberg. And confused. The man’s energy was frayed. He carried himself as if he were embarrassed. This was not the powerful, cocky man Roxanne had described.

Eli stared, mesmerized, as the older man in a wool sweater vest, button-down shirt, and no tie tried to unhinge his briefcase with one hand, cursing under his breath as he struggled to accomplish the simple task. Then he reached in for a stack of papers and spread them out on the table in front of him.

He must have sensed he was being watched. He turned, looking Eli right in the eye.

And that’s when Eli knew.

Raymond Sandberg didn’t even acknowledge Eli. He certainly didn’t recognize him. Then he limped toward the hearing officer’s bench. Eli tried to listen to their conversation, but the words seemed to ebb and flow along with the pulse now pounding in his ears.

Eli heard enough to recognize the deep, soothing tone of Sandberg’s voice. Then he noticed how Sandberg tapped the tip of his shoe onto the floor while talking. When the sergeant said something he found amusing, Sandberg lowered his head and bit the inside of his mouth. And there! Eli stared at Sandberg’s mostly bald head, and saw that the blond hair that remained carried a bit of curl in it.

Eli stood. He was numb.

“Are you going to get Lilith?” Roxie asked.

He didn’t look at her. “Yes. I’ll be right back. Don’t let them start without me.”

Roxie chuckled.

Very, very slowly, Eli raised his eyes to his mother. What he saw on her face answered all his questions. He continued walking to the double doors. Their talk would have to wait. Everything would have to wait. He had a phone call to make.

*   *   *

“Hurry! Faster!” Ginger screeched.

Lucio kept his voice calm when he responded to his overexcited wife. “You have spent our entire married life telling me how good it is that I’m slowing down and staying put, and you want me to go faster?”

“Yes!”

“Josie is not the only woman who is pregnant,” Lucio reminded her. “You also are pregnant,
guapa,
and I do not wish to crash the car into a light pole trying to get one pregnant woman to the bedside of another pregnant woman.”

“But—”

“You heard Rick. I put him on the speakerphone for this precise reason—I wanted you to know what is going on so that you would not worry.”

“But, oh my God. If—”

“Josie had the breaking of the water. They are on their way to the hospital. Everything is under control. This is not an emergency.”

“And Roxie!” she wailed, not listening to a thing he said. “Oh, my God! Roxie’s going to have to deal with the dog hearing and Raymond Sandberg all by herself!”

“She is not by herself. Eli is there. Bea is there.”

“I’m texting Bea to tell her what’s going on.”

Lucio took the longest, most lung-busting breath he could manage. “Put the phone down, yes? We can text her from the hospital, when we have information to pass on.”

Ginger said nothing.

“The most important thing is for you to calm yourself,” Lucio continued, taking the corner cautiously. “I do not want you to have the breaking water, too.”

More nothing.

“Right,
pelliroja
?”

Lucio glanced to his wife. Her eyes were huge and her mouth was slack.

“What is wrong?” he asked, terror seizing him.

Genevieve nodded down toward her shoes. In a soft, scared voice she said, “My water just broke.”

“¡Hostia! ¡No me jodas!”
Lucio hit the gas so hard he nearly gave them both a case of whiplash.

*   *   *

“I don’t care what he’s doing. This is an emergency.” Eli waited, cell phone to his ear, shoving his way through the glass entrance doors and out into the parking lot.

“Milton Horvath, here,” the deep voice said.

“This is Eli Gallagher.”

Silence.

“I need you to answer one question for me—immediately.”

“All right.” The man’s voice sounded strained. “But I think it might be better if we met for a drink somewhere. I’m free now. I can meet you wherever you are.”

“No!” Eli caught himself, dragging a hand through his hair, spinning on the heels of his boots. This was no time to lose his balance, not when Roxie would be stepping into the ring in just minutes, not when he’d be handling Lilith’s leash in seconds. He steadied himself. “I need you to be completely honest with me.”