Take This Man (7 page)

“Let’s
meet someplace,” Elyse suggested. “It’s safer. If you show up here, we might
get distracted again…” She smoothed the bedclothes to indicate what she meant.

“You
don’t trust me?” There was a definite edge to his voice.

“Maybe
I’m the one who can’t be trusted,” she said, not sure if she was joking or dead
serious.

Adam
appeared to take it as a joke. He smiled again. “How about Romeo’s? Seven o’clock?”

“Not
Romeo’s,” she answered quickly. Romeo’s Italian Restaurant used to be one of “their”
places. Too many memories, too much meaning.

The
smile vanished from his face. “All right. There’s a new place on Second Street
that’s decent. Hanover’s.”

“Hanover’s,”
she repeated. “Seven o’clock. All right.”

“Will
you be there, Elyse?” She heard the tension in his voice.

Anger
sparked, rousing her from sleepiness. She squirmed away from him. “Keep pushing
me, and I won’t be.”

A
sigh left him as he let her slip out of his arms. “When we’re in bed we’re
fine, but we can’t even talk without pissing each other off, can we?”

“I
guess not.” Elyse’s throat constricted. “Maybe tonight’s not a good idea.”

“I’ll
be there,” he told her, determination in his voice. The bed shifted as he stood
up. “I hope you will, too.”

She
watched as he quietly slipped out of the room.

Chapter
Five

Elyse
fell back to sleep after Adam left. When she awoke, much later than usual, she
felt off-center and disoriented. She went for a long, punishing run. When she
got back to the hotel she was exhausted, sore, and starving.

Jason
occasionally made the not-terribly-original observation that she ran to keep
one step ahead of her problems. As Elyse showered and the steaming water pelted
her aching muscles, she wondered what she’d been running from this morning. Her
decision to take Adam to bed?

No.
Even if last night was a mistake, she didn’t regret it. What troubled her now
was she wanted more.

But
there was too much hurt between them. If she refused to see Adam again, last
night could be dismissed as a one off. If she met him this evening at Hanover’s,
she’d only be giving him—and herself—false hope.

It
was better this way. She would spend no more time with Adam during the
remainder of her stay.

Regardless
of how much she wanted him.

Restlessness
and hunger drove Elyse from her room. She tapped on Jason’s door, but there was
no answer, nor had he left any messages on her cell. He must have spent the
night with Coop.

It
was past lunchtime, and though she passed several cute cafes, Elyse decided to
pop into the local Barnes and Noble. Though Albany had its share of charming
independent bookstores as well as chains, it had been a while since Elyse had
treated herself to a nice long browse.

She
was sitting at a small table with a couple of magazines, a cinnamon scone, and
a tall chai when she glanced up. A pretty African-American woman was holding a
beverage in one hand and a book in the other, gazing at her.

“Elyse?”
The woman’s long slender braids swung against her shoulder as she tilted her
head, narrowing her eyes in speculation. “Elyse Zemanski. It
is
you, isn’t
it?”

“Yes.”
Recognition hit Elyse in a flash. “Latisha! Hi!”

“Well,
hi yourself.” The woman looked her up and down. “My goodness, it’s been a
while, hasn’t it? Since high school.”

Elyse
nodded. She and Latisha Hobbs had become friends when Elyse first came to live
with her grandmother. Her mother, Sunny, had sent her there “just for a little
while,” when she planned to follow her latest boyfriend out to Hollywood. He
was in a band sure to hit it big.

“Hey,
before you know it, I’ll be rubbing elbows with all those movie stars,” Sunny had
laughed. “As soon as we’re settled, I’ll send for you.”

Unfortunately,
the boyfriend never hit it big. Even if he had, it would have made no
difference. He and Sunny parted ways before they ever reached California.

The
“little while” turned out to be much longer than Elyse, and certainly Grandma
Wanda, ever anticipated. Wanda was not pleased to have to care for her
irresponsible daughter’s child, but didn’t want the neighbors to think she’d
let Elyse go to foster care—“strangers.” But strangers might have been more
welcoming than Wanda Zemanski was.

It
was a pretty grim household, with Grandma Wanda doling out affection stingily,
if at all. The only thing that made life bearable was the friendship of another
girl who lived in the neighborhood, and the warmth of the girl’s family.

Latisha
was that girl. She was a couple of years older than Elyse, but that didn’t
matter when the two girls became friends, during the summer Elyse moved in with
her grandmother. When autumn came, they attended the same middle school, and
later the same high school. The friendship fell apart when Latisha’s family moved
to a different neighborhood and she began attending a private school.

“So
what have you been up to?” Her old friend asked, pulling Elyse out of her
memories of the past.

Latisha
took a seat, and they filled each other in on their current lives. Latisha was
a school nurse. “At our old alma mater—Summit High. Remember that place?”

“As
if I could forget.” Elyse rolled her eyes. “But didn’t your dad want you to be
a doctor?”

“Oh,
yes,” Latisha sighed. “He was pretty angry at me, didn’t even speak to me for a
while when I told him I wasn’t going to. But he made his peace with it, and me.
And I love nursing. And believe me, it’s never dull at the high school.”

“I’ll
bet.” Elyse felt embarrassed as she mentally compared Latisha’s accomplishments
to her own lack thereof. Her old friend had a college degree, and a respected
career helping others. She was stuck in dead-ends-ville, with neither.

As
the two women caught up a bit more, Elyse learned that Latisha’s mother had
passed away a few years ago.

“I’m
so sorry,” she said. “She was a wonderful lady. I still remember those oatmeal
cookies she used to make.”

“Nobody
made an oatmeal cookie like my Mama,” Latisha agreed. “You know, I have her
recipe, but they just don’t taste the same when I make them.”

She
also mentioned her father was living in Florida now and her brother Juwuan
lived there as well.

“And
don’t think I didn’t know you had a big fat crush on my know-it-all big
brother,” Latisha teased.

“Yeah.”
Elyse sighed dramatically. She remembered Latisha’s tall handsome older
brother. “But he never gave me the time of day.”

“Sorry
to say, you missed your chance. He’s married now, with two little boys. That’s
why I’m here today.” Latisha tapped the cover of the book she’d been holding. “My
nephew’s birthday is coming up, and I thought I’d buy him a book. He loves
dinosaurs.”

Elyse
smiled and nodded. She had no siblings, no nephews or nieces to buy gifts for,
no family at all except for her mother. Sunny, who still drifted from guy to
guy, though they grew tougher to find the older she got. Sunny, who never did
send for her daughter the way she promised, who allowed her to grow up in the
home of a woman who resented Elyse’s very existence.

“How
is your grandmother?” Latisha’s voice was hesitant. Wanda Zemanski had never
really approved of her granddaughter being friends with a black girl, though
she never came out and directly said so. Instead, she sent many poison-tipped unsubtle
hints Elyse’s way.

“Dead.”

Latisha’s
eyes widened in surprise, perhaps not so much at the news as at the abruptness
of the announcement.

Elyse
shrugged in apology. “I know I sound cold. But I never loved my grandmother,
and she never loved me. She only took me in out of ‘duty.’ I find it very hard
to pretend I mourn her.”

Hard
to mourn and harder even to forget some of Wanda’s “loving” comments.
“Your
mother just takes off and goes on her merry way. Doesn’t even think about how
it affects me. No. Nobody thinks about me. You certainly don’t. You’re just
like her, a self-centered brat.”

Latisha
nodded, her face serious. “It’s sad she couldn’t show you the love you
deserved. She must have been a very unhappy woman.”

“I
guess,” Elyse said grudgingly. “She sure made other people unhappy.” She
noticed Latisha had used the word
couldn’t
rather than
wouldn’t
.
Was it possible Grandma Wanda had softer feelings, but didn’t know how to
express them? Not that it mattered now.

“How
were you able to manage after your Gran passed?”

“I’d
already moved out when she died,” Elyse answered. “Shortly after I graduated
high school. I couldn’t wait to turn eighteen, to legally be on my own. I was
working and going to school. So it didn’t much affect me at all. The bank had a
lien on her house, she had nothing much to leave anyone, and what she did have,
she left to my mom.” She smiled bitterly. “Wanda was always complaining about
her heart. I never thought she had one. But I guess she did after all—it was a
heart attack that killed her.”

They
were silent for a moment. Elyse wondered if her friend was shocked by her lack
of sympathy. Latisha came from a warm and loving family—maybe she couldn’t
fathom anything else.

“You
and your family were all that got me through,” Elyse told her. “You guys made
it bearable for me. After you moved away—” She stopped and bit her lip. What
was she doing, dragging up all these hurts from the past?

“I
always felt guilty about that,” Latisha admitted. “I mean, I was glad when my
dad got the promotion and we moved to a nicer neighborhood. But I always felt
like I deserted you—”

“That’s
crazy,” Elyse scoffed, though in fact she
had
felt deserted. How stupid.
Though she’d made other friends in school, none of them took Latisha’s place. “You
weren’t responsible for me.”

“I
tried calling, you know. A few times after the move. I wanted to keep the
friendship going…”

“You
called? I didn’t know.”

Latisha
sighed sadly. “The first few times, your grandmother told me that you weren’t
home. She said she’d give you the message, and you’d call me back.”

Anger
rolled through Elyse in a wave of red. “What a liar. She never gave me any
messages.”

Wanda
could have easily intercepted those messages. When she lived with her
grandmother, she spent as much time as possible out of the house—at school, in
the public library, or at Latisha’s house. When she had to be home, she spent
most of her time in her bedroom, engrossed in her fantasy novels. In them, she
would get lost in imaginary worlds and escape the real one.

The
other woman nodded. “I was afraid it was something like that. But then I wasn’t
sure—I thought maybe you were angry and didn’t want to speak to me.”

“I
can’t believe what she did.” Elyse shook her head, and let out a long breath. “Well,
actually I can.”

“The
last time I called…” Latisha paused, clearly debating whether to finish the
sentence.

“Tell
me, please.” She steeled herself to listen, even as she dreaded what she might
hear.

“She
told me to stop bothering you, you didn’t want to hear from me anymore, and she
was glad my family had moved so her granddaughter wouldn’t have to spend any
more time with
someone like me.
”

“My
God.” Elyse shook her head, sick with disgust and shame. “What a bitch.” She
had no doubt what her grandmother meant by that remark. “I’m so sorry.”

“Afterwards
I was so angry, I made up my mind never to give that woman another opportunity
to humiliate me. So,” Latisha looked down at her cup, “I never called again.”

Elyse
was so angry at her grandmother, and so ashamed, it was difficult to speak. “I’m
sorry, I—”

Latisha
held up her hand to forestall any further apology. “It wasn’t you—it was your
grandma. Like I said, she must have been a very unhappy woman.”

Latisha
had more sympathy for Wanda than Elyse did. She didn’t think she would ever
forgive her grandmother for helping to destroy the friendship.

But
Elyse had done her part, too. Time to face it. “I never even tried to call you.
I know it’s dumb, but I did feel…deserted when you moved. It brought back a lot
of bad feelings, like when my mother dumped me off with Wanda. I guess I was
mad at you, and mad at myself for caring.” She shook her head, remembering the
resentful girl she’d been. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s
sad things happened the way they did,” Latisha said. “But it’s not all bad. Who’d
have thought we’d ever reconnect like we have, here at Barnes and Noble?” She
lifted her cappuccino in a toast.

Elyse
raised her own cup of chai. “Who’d have thought?”