Return to Me (15 page)

“It’s my damned door; I’ll slam it whenever I feel like it.”

“I can’t believe you. You’re unreal, you know that? I ask you to do one simple thing and you act like a spoiled child. Would it have killed you to keep my parents out of this?”

“Oh?” The hand that wasn’t gripping the doorknob fluttered to her chest. “Help me out here, Mr. Honesty-“

“Don’t start with me-“

“No, really, tell me, Erik, just tell me what right you have to criticize. So they’ve seen me in a bad mood, oooh big deal.” Paige flung her arms out dramatically. “
You
let them think you’re a homosexual for five years. I don’t think you ought to throw stones.”

A gasp from the other side of the door had them both spinning around, Paige shocked and Erik grim.

“Oh, now you’ve done it.” She clucked.

“Just open it.” He sighed, though he reached around her unmoving form a second later, opening the door and bravely facing both of his parents.

“You heard that, huh.” Erik sighed. It was impossible to miss the gray pallor of his  mother’s face. Gene was the first one to break the silence.

“You’re not gay?” He shouted with a barely restrained exuberance that had Paige biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

“No.”

“Son, what on Earth
is going on here? Did you…ah, change back?” Gene’s enthusiasm dimmed only slightly in the face of confusion.

“Change back?” Erik frowned. “I don’t think that’s possible.” He considered.

     “Well, hell, boy you would know better than me.”

    
“Yeah, Erik.” Paige was unable to resist the urge to goad him.

    
“I think you’ve done enough.” He said, turning to favor her with a scowl.

“I haven’t done anything. You, on the other hand, have a guilty conscience.”

     “Well if you-“

    
“He’s saying he’s never been a homosexual.” Erin broke in softly.

    
“But-“ Gene’s brows snapped together.

    
“Mom’s right, Dad. I’m not gay and I never have been.”

    
“Not even a little?” Gene scratched his head and regarded his son with alternating relief and bewilderment.

    
“How can you be ‘a little gay’?” Erik huffed, plowing a hand through his hair. “Where are you getting this stuff?”

    
“I just don’t understand.” Gene grumbled.

    
“I lied. To you and Mom, to Paige, and everyone else. That’s what happened. I’ve never been with a man. I’ve never thought about being with a man. And in case you’re both wondering why Paige is so damn angry at me, it’s because last night I made love to her and let her think she was sleeping with another man.”

    
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Paige exploded, mortified at his bold outburst.

    
“So, there you have it everyone,” He continued ruthlessly. “I’m sorry I’m such a bastard, okay?”

    
“Erik,” Paige ran to catch up to him. “Wait.” She stopped him at the doorway with a hand on his arm. The look in his eyes reminded her of a wounded, caged animal and the pain she saw there clenched on her heart like a fist. “Hey…” She whispered, looking up at him and really seeing him for what felt like the first time in a long while.  “Don’t go, okay?”

He remained silent but allowed her to turn him back to the room, back to his stunned family.

     Paige wet her lips and took a deep breath. “Gene, Erin, I’m sorry you had to find out about…well,” She briefly caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “All of this, I guess, this way. But please don’t think badly of your son. He’s not crazy, or even a liar.” She was conscious of Erik standing beside her, of his intense gaze suddenly fixed on her. “I know that he lied, but…but he did it for me. My step-father was not a nice man-you probably knew that already,” She said, nervously, at Erin’s sympathetic nod. “A lot of people knew it, but what wasn’t such common knowledge back then is that he was a member of the Italian mafia. He tried to isolate me and Erik wouldn’t let him. So, instead of putting his own life in danger, or leaving me alone, he pretended to be gay in order to escape my step-father-and his ‘associates’-notice. No one cared if a homosexual boy was always hanging around me. I understand that now. Maybe it wasn’t the best thing to do, but life’s forced us to make some hard choices and…he did that for me.” She paused and turned to Erik with a brilliant sheen of moisture blurring her vision. “Erik I’m sorry. For not wanting to forgive you…for not truly
seeing
you until it was almost too late. I-“ Her voice broke and the next thing she knew he had taken the half a step to bring them together. With his arms wrapped around her and the warmth of his throat at her lips, she whispered the words that had been on the tip of her tongue for years. “I love you.”

    
“Say it again.” He demanded, pulling back to look down into her eyes.

    
“I love you, Erik. You’ve been with me all along, right in front of me all this time...”

    
“I wanted to tell you so many times…”

    
“Do you remember the night you told me, before we went to Alaska-you had come to my rescue yet again,” She glanced up at him with shining eyes, “I thought you were going to ask me to be your girlfriend.”

    
“I was going to, and then…”

    
“I know,” She pressed one finger to his lips. “And I know it doesn’t matter anymore but I wanted to tell you, you have to know…I would have said yes. That was the night that I started to realize how just how much you mean to me.”

    
“Paige, it’s not too late for us.” His voice was hoarse with emotion, “It never would have been. I think I would have waited two lifetimes for you. I love you so much…” He whispered against her mouth. “Baby you’re it for me.”

     “And you for me.” She whispered back. And for the first time in years, they were finally home.

Coming Soon from Riley Sinclair

Carolina Blue

     She forgot her underwear again;
that's right Brittany eat your heart out, there's a new diva in town.
Could she be called a habitual panty offender? Sure, absolutely and on any other day she would have chalked it up to feeling sexy, embracing the bygone era of the sixties, having a hot date, or just a plain old forgetful nature. Today, however, was not a normal day. Sure it looked like your average Tuesday autumn morning, but the sweet rays of sunshine that her four inch heels were chasing across the pavement were woefully deceptive because on this particular Tuesday Kandi was headed to her very first court appearance-sans panties.

    
Only Kandi knew the heat that she was sure had already stained her cheeks a vivid scarlet had nothing to do with physical exertion and everything to do with impending public humiliation. Unless of course, she were to accidentally drop her purse and bend over and then everyone on Bleeker Street would know exactly why she was blushing like the school girl she was
not
.

    
She passed the time chastising herself all the way down the widely crowded street, trying to ignore the looks from passerby, people who were dressed for success in their best blazers and suits and ties. This was mostly because becoming indignant would have required standing up straight, in all of her five foot four inch semi- nude glory and that was a bad, bad idea at the moment.

   
It was impossible not to wonder about the judge she was about to face. The name on the papers delivered by the county sheriff read ‘Lovall’-Judge Toni Lovall. Kandi made a face as she did an awkward step-hop up the polished concrete stairs of the courthouse, all the while praying that no one was directly below her on the staircase. Toni sounded like a woman’s name, and that basically meant she was in for it. Kandi could see it now-‘her honor’ was probably some Judge Judy look alike with the temperament of a rattlesnake. Was it too late to run? Probably, Kandi admitted in defeat when she spotted the cop seated at the front desk in the middle of the lobby.

    
“Courtroom number four?” She asked with as much dignity as she could summon.

    
“Down the hall.” He pointed to the fork in the layout to his left.

    
Kandi cringed when his facial expression went from indifferent to incredulous. He probably thought she had been busted on charges of prostitution, she thought a little desperately. I’m not like that! She wanted to scream. Except…maybe that wasn’t technically true, a small quiet voice in the back of her mind whispered. So she hung her head and trudged down the hallway, each click of her heels taking her closer to courtroom number four and echoing her own impending doom. Right then, she wished for a lot of things-her mother, time…for what? To do things differently? To change her ways? Kandi paused in front of the heavy door with the number ‘4’ stenciled in faded gold across the glass.

    
She was dreaming impossible dreams again. Her mother was dead, her father was God only knew where, and it was too late for a change of heart. She was who she was-Kandi Mason, former socialite, current fallen angel of the Mason family and a bad girl all the way. She was also screwed-Toni Lovall didn’t look a thing like Judge Judy-she looked worse.

    
The car wouldn’t start. Again. Kendra sighed, resting her forehead on the hot steering wheel and wished she had the energy to scream. This made twice in three months that her ancient Buick refused to start. Through the frustration, she felt a small measure of gratitude. At least she was in her own driveway this time instead of being stranded on the Dan Ryan Expressway; she didn’t think her fragile nerves could have taken the harrowing experience twice in one lifetime.

    
"Monica? It's Kendra. Listen, I'm-"

    
"Where are you? Your shift started twenty-two minutes ago."

    
Kendra gripped the cell phone tighter and raised her eyes to the Heavens, asking for a miracle. Monica Ceros was not a woman to tolerate tardiness from her staff. Kendra wasn’t surprised in the least that Monica was counting the minutes; Monica was probably recording her latest transgression down to the second.

    
"I am so sorry, but my car won’t start. If you'll just give me a little time, maybe I can find a ride."

    
"Kendra, you know that I like you."

    
Since when?
Kendra stared at the phone.

    
"Still, this is your fifth time being late, not to mention the mistakes you've been making as of late."

    
"Is delivering a bowl of soup to the wrong table really so bad?" She cajoled, trying to make light of the situation.

    
"It is when the customer happens to be allergic to shell fish." Monica was not amused.

    
"I'm fired, aren’t I?"

    
"You can pick up your final check on Thursday."

***

     The phone rang an hour later, jarring Kendra from her dismal thoughts. She sprinted for the phone before it could disturb Angel.

    
"Yes, hello?" She was breathless.

    
"Kendra Argil?"

    
"Yes. What can I do for you?" She warily asked.

    
"My name is Todd Litton. I'm a private attorney in Dillon, South Carolina."

    
"Who's suing me now?" She sighed, dropping into a scarred kitchen chair. The man on the other end of the line cleared his throat.

    
"No, you misunderstand me, Miss. Argil. I represent Alana Mason's estate."

    
"Aunt Alana? Estate...then she's-dead?"

    
"Yes, I'm extremely sorry to break the news to you in this way; I assumed you were aware of her passing."

    
"No, I didn’t know. When did she...pass? What happened?"

    
"Your Aunt Alana had a heart attack on Tuesday of last week."

    
"Eight days ago. Her funeral was over the weekend, then?" Kendra felt her own heart sink.

    
"The funeral was held at Sheffield’s on Saturday." Todd confirmed.

    
"I see. Well thank you for calling."

    
"That's not all, Kendra." He rushed before she could hang up. "Your aunt left you part of her estate."

    
"Excuse me?" She hadn’t spoken to her aunt in…she tried to do a fast calculation and came up frowning, half ashamed to admit that her math was a little fuzzy on the subject. Six years? Seven? A very long time anyway.