Some Like It Hot (15 page)

“I can’t stay where I don’t fit in.”

“What are you talking about? Of course you fit in.”

“It’s the final boarding call. I’ll be back on Monday night.”

“Come to the hotel as soon as you get in. We have to talk about this.”

“Tell Robert…”

“Tell Robert what?”

“I gotta go.”

Concern knotted Charlotte’s chest. “Melanie…” she said, but she was talking to a dial tone.

“M
S
. M
ARCHAND
?” Robert tapped on the open door to Charlotte’s office and he was surprised to find Anne sitting behind the desk, leafing through a photo album.

The woman looked up and broke into a welcoming smile. “Robert, come in, come in.”

“I was looking for Charlotte.”

“She went up to my quarters to get something for me.” Robert knew that Anne had recently moved back to the hotel. She’d been staying at her mother’s house since her recent heart attack. “May I help you?” she asked.

He moved into the room, feeling the old familiar sadness dragging down his heart.

“Is something wrong?” Anne asked, sliding off her reading glasses.

“I need to give you this.” He passed her an envelope.

She opened it up, scanned the letter and then looked up at him, concern in her eyes. “I don’t understand. You’re leaving us?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I know you’re a very private person, Robert, but do you mind my asking why? Haven’t we treated you well here?”

He shifted his weight. This was much more difficult than he’d thought it was going to be. He loved the Hotel Marchand. It was the best place he’d ever worked. He loved the people, especially the Marchand family, and already felt a fierce loyalty toward them. But he had to go.

Maybe that was the problem. He was never meant to be happy. He’d been born into sadness and loneliness and that was where he was meant to stay.

“Everyone has been wonderful. I’m leaving for personal reasons.”

“Do those reasons have anything to do with my youngest daughter?”

He nodded.

“Robert, I’m going to ask you something and I want you to be perfectly honest with me.”

“Yes, Mrs. Marchand.”

“Do you think Melanie is using drugs?”

He met the older woman’s eyes and saw in her gaze both steely determination and exquisite tenderness. She could dish out tough love or tender loving care, whatever was required of her. She was a strong woman, a survivor, and he saw her admirable character traits in Melanie. “No, I do not.”

Anne let out her breath in a soft, ladylike sigh. “All right then, I have only one more question.”

“Still want me to be perfectly honest?”

“Always, Robert. I highly value honesty.”

“What’s your question?”

“Are you in love with Melanie?”

He met her eyes and didn’t flinch. “With a passion that scares me more than anything ever has, Mrs. Marchand. And that’s the very reason I have to resign.”

“I
KNOW IT’S LATE
but I need a place to crash.” Melanie stood on Coby’s doorsteps, the tears she’d cried on the long flight now dried.

Her friend threw his door open wide. “For you, toots, anything.”

She stepped over the threshold and shrugged off her backpack, letting it slide to the floor, then followed Coby into his living room.

“Take a load off. You look like you could use a drink. What’ll you have?”

“Whatever.”

“I’m all out of whatever. How about a rum and Coke?”

She’d had a rum and Coke last night with Robert. At the memory, fresh tears pressed against her eyelids. Had it only been last night that they’d made love? So much had happened, it felt like a decade ago. “I’d rather have wine.”

“Red or white?” Coby called from the kitchen.

“Red.”

“So what’s his name?” he asked, as he sashayed back into the room with two glasses of wine in his hands.

“How do you know this is about a man?”

“Please, toots.” Coby sat beside her on the couch and
crossed his legs. “I know man trouble when I see it. Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“It’s Robert LeSoeur.”

“Somehow I knew you were going to say that.”

Melanie sighed. “But it’s more than just man trouble.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s my family. No matter how hard I try to fit in, I just don’t. A headhunter called me about a position as executive chef at La Chère and I’m here for an interview.”

“Get out! I’m interviewing for that job, too.”

“Oh no, Coby, really?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time we were up for the same job.”

“You’re not jealous?”

“Toots, you can cook circles around me, but let’s face facts, bossing people about isn’t your forte. I, on the other hand—” he made a cracking noise and mimicked cracking a whip “—love it.”

“You’re saying you’re going to score the job over me?” she challenged.

“I’m saying you’re in love with Robert LeSoeur, and as soon as you admit that to yourself, you’ll be heading back to New Orleans.”

“Who says I’m in love with him?”

“You don’t have to say it, toots. You flew all the way up here to get away from him. The man has got to be under your skin.”

“But how can I be in love with a man who can’t talk to me? I confronted him about his cocaine conviction and he didn’t deny it, but claims he took the rap for a friend. That’s all he’d tell me. He says he can’t trust me because I had you investigate him.”

“It’s not very trustworthy behavior,” Coby pointed out.

“Yes, but that was before I really knew him. Coby, there’s something about him. He’s suffered so much but he won’t talk about it. He’s kept himself so shut down emotionally that I think he’s looking for any excuse not to open up to me.” She blinked to keep from crying again.

“If he can’t share himself with you, then I don’t see that you’ve got a future together.”

“Me, either.”

“If only there was some way you could find out the truth,” Coby said. “What if you went to see his aunt?”

“Congresswoman Longren?”

“That’d be the one.”

“But I’m sure I can’t just walk in off the street and get a meeting with her.”

Coby winked. “You’re in luck, toots. I just happen to know where Pamela Longren has brunch every Sunday.”

R
OBERT LAY IN HIS BED
, unable to sleep.

Anne Marchand had refused to accept his resignation. “I never figured you for the type of man who ran out on a friend in need.”

Guilt claimed him then. The only thing that could have been more persuasive was what came out of her mouth next.

“Robert, we consider you part of the family. You belong here. Please, don’t go. We need you. Melanie needs you.”

“Melanie doesn’t need anyone,” he’d replied with a shake of his head. “She’s the most independent woman I’ve ever met.”

Anne smiled. “That’s what she wants you to think. That girl wants to settle down so badly she can taste it. She just doesn’t know how to go about it, and after that mistake she made with David, she’s scared to try again. Don’t let her
push you away, Robert. You’re good for each other. You temper her impetuousness and she’s brought you out of your shell. And yes, I’ve noticed.”

He’d nodded. What Anne had said was true.

“So please, if you really love her, take this back.” She’d extended his resignation. “Stay here. Fight for her.”

“I just don’t see how it can work between us. Our temperaments are polar opposites.”

“But don’t you understand? That’s what makes you so good together. You balance each other out. Like my Remy and me. Melanie’s father was just like her—passionate, creative, impulsive, daring. Believe me, Robert, you’re in for the ride of your life.”

The ride of his life.

Did he really want that?

He’d spent his life trying to be calm and sedate and controlled. But with Melanie he felt decidedly out of control. He felt wild and adventuresome and alive, truly alive for the first time in his life.

If he left now, he would never realize his full potential.

And in his heart, he knew he would never find anyone else he loved as much.

Why didn’t you tell her all this after you made love? Why did you pretend it was just about sex?

He’d done it to protect himself. To keep from being too close, from getting hurt again. But he knew now that risking it all for love was worth the pain.

Robert sat up in bed, turned on the light, fished out his journal and a pen from the bedside table and began to write. He wrote and wrote and wrote, pouring out all his love for her onto the page.

And what if she doesn’t love you back?
whispered the awful shadow of doubt.

In that moment, Robert knew it didn’t matter. Loving deeply was its own reward. He wouldn’t ask her for more than she could give.

“W
HY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME
before that the congresswoman is a knitter and her group meets every Sunday at your restaurant?” Melanie whispered to Coby the next morning. The two of them stood looking out the doors of the kitchen where he worked on Whidbey Island, into the private dining room beyond.

Congresswoman Longren sat at a table surrounded by ladies with basketfuls of colorful yarn at their feet.

“Maybe I would have if I’d known you were hot for her nephew’s bod. Can’t keep secrets from me and expect to be in the loop.”

“So how do I go about this?”

“Never fear, Coby’s here. I’ll do the honors when they’re wrapping up their meeting.”

Thirty minutes later, he was introducing her to Pamela Longren and Melanie was shaking her hand. His job done, Coby slipped back into the kitchen.

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Melanie said. “I work with your nephew, Robert, in New Orleans.”

The woman’s smile widened. Robert’s aunt had the same blue eyes as Robert, the same patrician cheekbones. “Ah yes, he speaks of you often, Melanie.”

“He does?” That piece of information took her by surprise.

“Oh my, yes. He calls me once a week like clockwork. I wish my own son kept in touch that often. I’m afraid you frus
trate Robert.” There was humor in her voice, as if she found the idea an amusing one.

“I do?” Melanie found that hard to believe.

“But in a very good way. Robert’s always played it safe. Never taken many chances. You challenge him and he needs that.”

“Could I talk to you for a little while? I’d like to learn more about Robert’s past.”

“Why don’t you ask him about it?”

“I did. He won’t talk.”

“If he doesn’t want you to know about his personal life, it’s probably not my place to discuss it.”

Melanie felt a slight panic. She couldn’t let this opportunity slip away. “Congresswoman Longren…”

“Please, you may call me Pamela.”

“Pamela, I’m in love with your nephew, but he won’t tell me the truth of his cocaine possession charge.”

“You know about that?”

“I know he was arrested and you had the charge expunged from his record. He told me he took the rap for someone else, but that’s all he would say.”

Pamela’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “After all these years, after what that man did to him, he’s still protecting Jason.”

“Who’s Jason?”

“I have an appointment in the city this afternoon, but if you’re ready to leave the island, we could talk on the ferry.”

“Yes, that’d be great. I’ll just get my coat and tell Coby I’m going.”

Ten minutes later, she and Pamela Longren were sitting at a window on the ferry, sipping hot coffee as it cruised across Puget Sound.

Pamela leaned back in her chair and studied Melanie for a long minute. “I strongly believe you should be hearing this from Robert, but I do know how stubborn and secretive he can be. He has a lot of trouble expressing his emotions. And you made the effort to fly all the way to Seattle and meet me, so I have to believe you must really care about him.”

“I love him with every beat of my heart and I think he feels the same way about me. That’s why I’m here. To prove how much I love him.”

“Did Robert tell you his parents died when he was young?”

“Yes, but he didn’t give me any details.”

Pamela took a long sip of her coffee. “Robert’s mother, my sister Karen, was one of those quiet, solemn women who seem to only see the dark side of life. Even as a kid, she had this gloomy fatalism. Now, as I look back on it, I can’t help wondering if somehow she sensed that she would die young.”

Melanie sat quietly, waiting for Pamela to continue.

“She met Robert’s father, Michael, in college. It wasn’t love at first sight or anything like that. It was calm and rational and sensible. They were good together. Both plodding, methodical, intelligent. But motherhood changed Karen. She had an extremely difficult pregnancy with Robert and lapsed into postpartum psychosis. She was put on medication, and for a while she seemed to be all right. Except that she never really bonded with Robert. I never saw a more solemn youngster in all my life. It’s like he was born old.”

Tears misted Melanie’s eyes.

“Michael tried to be supportive of Karen, but he just couldn’t understand what she was going through, and he gradually withdrew deeper and deeper into his work.”

“Robert told me that his father was a workaholic and his mother was emotionally unavailable,” Melanie said. “That he was practically raised by housekeepers.”

“It’s true.” Pamela sighed. “I was wrapped up in my own career and raising my three kids, and I wasn’t paying much attention to what was happening in my sister’s life. I still feel guilty for that.”

“You can’t blame yourself.”

“I can and I do. In an attempt to shake Karen out of her doldrums, Michael suggested she learn how to sail. Karen loved sailing, so Michael bought her a catamaran. He was happy to see a glimmer of her old self. But it wasn’t just sailing that put the sparkle in Karen’s cheeks. It was her sailing instructor. All that passion she’d repressed over the years bubbled up in this one grand love affair.”

“What happened?” Melanie asked.

“Karen and her lover ran away together, sailing off on an around-the-world adventure, but there was a boating accident and they were both drowned. Robert was just a boy at the time.”

Melanie felt her heart breaking for him. “Poor Robert.”

“His father withdrew even more. Michael was a diabetic, and in his depression over losing his wife first to mental illness, then to another man and finally to death, he didn’t take care of his health. He died of complications from his disease when Robert was twelve. I think if Robert hadn’t kept a journal the way he did, he would have ended up in a lot more trouble.”

“Robert kept a journal?” What Melanie wouldn’t give to read his innermost thoughts during that difficult time in his life.

“As far as I know, he still keeps one.”

She tried to imagine how horrible that must have been for Robert, losing both parents at such a young age, but she could not. She’d been lucky. He’d been truly alone in the world, while she’d always had a big, loving family.

“This is the part I regret most of all,” Pamela said. “I didn’t take Robert in to live with me. I had my own three kids, and at the time my marriage was on shaky ground and my career was taking off. I offered, but he wanted to go live with the Monroes, a family who’d befriended Michael after Karen died. They were eager to have Robert, and it seemed the best solution for everyone. But I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for not insisting he come live with us. If I’d known how things were going to turn out…” Her voice trailed off.

“What happened?”

“Jason Monroe, the father, was chef at a five-star restaurant. He was about thirty when Robert went to live with him and his family. Jason had a wife and two small daughters, and they treated Robert just like he was their own son.”

“I’m guessing Jason was the reason Robert became a chef.”

“Yes. He was Robert’s mentor and taught him everything he knew about the restaurant business. Jason was one of those passionate, creative types—excitable, easily influenced, but with a good heart. Unfortunately, he also had an addictive personality. He worked late hours and hung out with a young, partying crowd, and eventually got hooked on cocaine.”

Melanie could guess where the story was headed.

“By this time Robert was eighteen and working in the restaurant with Jason. The owner found cocaine in Jason’s coat pocket. It wasn’t Jason’s first offense, or even his second. If
convicted, he was looking at serious jail time. Robert couldn’t let the man he’d come to love like a father go to prison, not when he could step up and take the rap for him.”

“I can figure it out,” Melanie said. She knew Robert so well. Her heart filled with equal parts pride and sadness. She wished she could have been there for him, to help ease his pain and loneliness. “Robert came forward and said he’d been wearing Jason’s coat and that the cocaine was his.”

Pamela nodded. “When Jason came to me and told me what Robert had done for him, I insisted on getting the arrest expunged from Robert’s permanent record.”

“When I found out about that, I thought Robert had used his D.A. aunt to cheat the system.” Melanie told Pamela, about her own youthful indiscretions with marijuana and how her parents had made her face the music.