Queen, page 7
Queen grinned. “Oh, but we do,” she said. “Ever played one-eyed cat?”
Three pairs of blue eyes looked up at her in interest.
“What kind of game is that?” Will asked, curious in spite of himself. He’d been all ready to follow Donny’s lead and complain.
“If you’re through cleaning your room, I’ll show you,” Queen said. ‘“Course…you’ve got to face the fact that I’ll probably beat all three of you at once. After all, I’m a whole lot older and taller. You guys can’t expect to keep up with—”
“Shoot! Come on, guys. Let’s show her. No girl is gonna whip a Bonner, right?”
Her taunt and Donny’s cheer had the effect that she’d hoped for. For the moment, boredom, fighting, and unwelcome visitors were forgotten.
They filed out of the house like goslings behind Mother Goose. In no time the game had been mapped out on the front lawn, with a pitcher, a catcher, and a player waiting to bat.
Learning that the entire purpose of the game consisted of hitting the ball and then having to run to only one base before heading back home made it seem easy—too easy, until they tried outrunning Queen Houston’s long legs. They hadn’t taken into account her lean body or her speed…or her willingness to get as dirty as hell.
Whatever it took, she went all out to beat them back to home base. She ate, wore, and spit dirt in an effort to retrieve the ball, then she would spin on a dime and break into a sprint in a heartbeat, determined to outrun the runner back to home base and tag him out, thereby earning Donny’s undying admiration as a woman of merit.
But what won their hearts forever was when Will and J.J. ran headlong into each other. Blood spurted from two different outlets—Will’s nose and J.J.’s lip—and she didn’t even flinch when she doctored their wounds and cleaned up the mess.
The entire backseat of the Blazer was full of bags, some containing food, some containing extras like special soaps and bath powders. Cody knew he’d probably overdone it, but he’d be damned if he’d be accused of being lax by his in-laws. While they were here, he was determined to prove that he could provide everything necessary for common comfort.
He turned in the driveway leading to his house and found that the knot in his stomach was starting to relax. Whether it was because he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do or because he had something and someone to come home to was irrelevant. He was ready for anything now.
And then he saw them.
The play erupted as Donny swung and the ball flew through the air. Cody watched, spellbound, as Queen turned and jumped, as graceful as a cat, and caught the ball in midair. Then he heard their shrieks of laughter as the race began. She and Donny collided on base in a tangle of long arms and legs. Cody watched them roll onto their backs, hysterical with laughter, covered in blood and dust, and knew that he wasn’t ready at all.
He parked and got out, wishing that his arrival would not stop the game. Wishing that he could join in and be the next one to roll Queen Houston on the ground. Before the thought could become deed, he heard the arrival of another vehicle and turned, knowing before he looked who it would be.
“Oh, no.”
There was nothing else he could say. They were here. Just as he’d suspected. Just as he’d feared. They’d come at the worst possible time, unannounced, and in the middle of something they’d never understand.
Chapter 5
It was the unnatural quiet after so much hilarity that first alerted Queen that something was wrong. That and the fact that suddenly she was the only one laughing. Startled by the abrupt silence around her, she began wiping at the dust in the corners of her eyes. Then she looked up.
The two younger boys stood soldier straight above her, their faces strained and pale beneath the grime. Will and J.J. moved aside as Donny bolted to his feet and began brushing at his clothes in an unusually frantic motion.
“What in…?”
Her gaze collided with Cody’s stern expression. He was back, but something was wrong. Surely a simple ball game would not cause all this concern. She looked beyond him, and in that moment her heart sank as she watched a stately, graying couple emerge from a Lincoln and gawk in disbelief at the sight before them.
The grandparents were here. And from the expression on the elder woman’s face, Queen could tell they were none too happy about what they’d just witnessed.
Nothing like a good first impression, she told herself.
Sonofabitch! The word kept replaying itself over and over in Cody’s mind, but he knew that giving voice to it, as well as to his frustration, would not be wise. He was in a quandary as to what to do or say first when Lenore Whittier spoke and the decision was no longer his to make.
“Who…are you?” Lenore asked, staring in glacial disgust at the long-limbed, buxom beauty sprawled at her feet in an ungainly fashion.
The tone of her voice hurt Queen; it was an echo from her past, when the gambler’s daughters had often been judged unfairly. Anger overwhelmed any embarrassment she might have felt as she reached for the ball bat lying by her side.
Lenore Whittier gasped and took a step backward, as if expecting the woman to assault her.
Queen’s eyes narrowed as she read the woman’s expression. Lady, for two cents I’d give you a reason to be afraid. But the fear on the boys’ faces changed her mind. Something had to be done to end this stalemate.
Her fingers closed around the bat. She gripped it tightly and then tipped it on end, using it cane fashion to pull herself up.
“She’s our aunt Queenie,” J.J. said defiantly, and then looked away, unwilling to bear the brunt of his grandmother’s disapproval.
Lenore’s eyebrows rose. Aunt indeed! She gave Cody a look he tried to ignore, and when he would have offered an excuse, Queen saved him from having to lie. She dusted her faded jeans and shirt, brushed the tumbled curls away from her face, and swung the bat up onto her shoulder as she spoke.
“Mr. and Mrs. Whittier, I presume?” Then, without giving them time to affirm her supposition, she continued. “My name is Queen Houston. I’m Mr. Bonner’s housekeeper. Boys, get your gear and put it up, then come back outside and help your father with the groceries.” She handed Will the bat as she addressed the elderly couple again. “Please, follow me. I’ll show you to your room.”
For all her dignity, she might have been wearing a black uniform, white starched apron, and hat instead of a bloodstained shirt, jeans, and scuffed tennis shoes. Queen led the way into the house with a bearing as calm and regal as her name.
Cody was amazed at Queen’s refusal to be intimidated by someone like Lenore Whittier. He smiled in spite of his own misgivings about their visit. He’d already mentally prepared what he would say about the arrest fiasco. Now he was going to have to face questions about a woman like Queen living in the house with him and his boys.
“Hell,” he muttered, and thrust his fingers through his hair.
He watched the seductive sway of her hips as she walked away and wondered what had possessed him to assume that a redhead like her would make his life respectable. He stifled a grin and began carrying in the groceries. God help him, but if he was going to lose what was left of his reputation and sanity, losing it over a woman like that would be the curse of choice.
“Hop to it, boys,” he said, handing each of his sons a bag. “You heard the lady.”
The boys quickly obeyed, glad to be doing something besides standing pinned beneath the disapproving stare of their grandmother.
And so the visit began.
“Surely she’s not sitting down to a meal with us?”
Queen was in the kitchen when she heard Lenore Whittier’s gasp of disapproval in the other room as she took note of the places being set at the dining room table.
“Yes, she is,” Cody said, emphasizing the pronoun in the same manner that his mother-in-law had done. “This is not a formal situation, Lenore. I do not have hired help, I simply hired her to help…if you get my meaning.”
His voice was low but firm. Lenore Whittier glared at her husband, Allen, for moral support and then frowned when he turned away. She recognized his look. His quiet disapproval of her actions angered her even more.
Queen took Cody’s words to heart, blessing him silently for standing behind her when it would have been a smarter move on his part to play up to the grandparents, not alienate them.
Fresh from a shower and a change of clothing, she carried the last of the food to the table, then smoothed a wayward strand of hair back into the clip at her neck and straightened the skirt of her one and only dress.
The purchase had been an impulse during the day she and Will had gone shopping. Short sleeves and a scoop neckline on a calf-length skirt hadn’t seemed too daring. Nor had the loose princess waistline and the soft yellow fabric with tiny white flowers interspersed across the design. It had been an unassuming dress until she’d put it on and transformed herself and the garment into stately elegance.
Luckily for the lady in the shop who’d made the sale, Queen had been unaware of the transformation; she only knew that it was the first new dress she ever remembered owning in her life. She loved the way the fabric moved with her body as she twisted and turned before the full-length mirror, but she had to remember her circumstances and the fact that she had yet to settle into a new life. When she did, then maybe she would be able to indulge in other new clothing befitting her lifestyle. But until she knew what that was, buying more clothes was not possible.
Queen took a deep breath. It was time. She cast one last glance at the dining room table, just to assure herself that everything was in place, and then walked into the living room in time to hear Cody ending the story of his being arrested.
“I suppose I have to understand your point of view,” Lenore Whittier said. “But you must understand mine. How would it look if everyone back home found out that you’d been in jail?”
“But I didn’t do anything wrong, Lenore! For God’s sake, look at it this way: When I was shot down in the Gulf, how would it have looked if Hussein’s army, instead of ours, had gotten to me first? I would have been under arrest there, too, you know. And just as innocent.”
Lenore looked away, unable to defend her stand on the issue any further. Her son-in-law was in the clear, and she knew it.
Queen’s fingers fairly itched to slap some sense into that woman. How dare she blame Cody for something that wasn’t his fault! Then she took a slow, deep breath as she realized what she was thinking. It hadn’t been that long ago when she’d been as ready as Lenore Whittier to brand Cody Bonner a rake and a loser. What had changed her mind?
She took a good look at her employer and knew that it was the man himself who’d changed it for her. She had a sudden urge to walk into the room and take a stance beside him. He looked so alone…and lonely.
She watched him rise from his chair and walk across the room to speak quietly to his sons, reassuring them in the only way he could that they were not responsible for the antagonism between him and their grandparents. His dress was casual, but fitting the occasion, yet even in his most relaxed moments she still sensed how much of the soldier he would always be. Even out of uniform there was no wasted motion in the man. He moved with grace.
But there would be no more stiff collars and perfect creases in his world. After years of uniforms and rules, the last of the starch was gone from Cody Bonner’s life.
Queen knew as she watched him that she was getting in over her head. His face had become almost as familiar to her as her own, and his solid, vibrant presence in the household made getting up every day something to look forward to.
For days Queen had wished for the freedom to trace at will the outline of that proud, straight nose, run her fingers across those fierce black eyebrows of his that hovered above eyes too blue for words, straightening their angry arch with nothing but the touch of her hand. If things had been different, in another time…another place…she might have given this man her heart…if he’d asked. But Queen knew better than to count on dreams. In her experience they had a terrible tendency to shatter. So she did what she’d come to do.
“Dinner is ready,” she said.
Cody looked up at her with relief. Their eyes met, and for a moment he imagined he felt something pass between them, a connection—a bonding of something more than common goals. And then he noticed her dress, and the voluptuous body beneath it, and his eyes widened. It was the only indication he gave as to how stunned he was by her appearance.
Queen saw the slight change in his expression and suspected it was gratitude for her interruption. She’d made a promise to stand behind him in his efforts to reassure the Whittiers that he was a good and decent parent. She would do what she’d promised. After that…She bit her lip and looked away.
The vague and unknown destination that she had had in mind when she’d started her journey no longer seemed as appealing as it once had. Every day it became more and more difficult for her to think of the time when she’d have to say good-bye.
Cody felt her withdrawal and wished in that moment that they were alone. He wanted that feeling back…that sensation of being one with her. For a heartbeat, before she’d looked away, he had felt something he never had before. And when the feeling had left him, he’d felt more alone than he had in years.
Queen stood aside as the group quietly moved past her, into the dining room.
Will looked up and managed a weak smile. Without thinking Queen reached out and gently brushed a lock of dark hair from his forehead and then winked at J.J. and straightened his collar, tickling his neck as she did and teasing a smile into place. The gestures were small but caring, something a mother might do.
Cody caught the byplay between them and tried to tell himself that it wasn’t jealousy he felt as he watched her working her magic on his sons. He could have used a special look or touch himself tonight, but it was not to be. When he walked past, all she did was stare at the floor. He had a sudden, intense urge to shake the hell out of her, just to see how long it would take that white-hot anger he knew she possessed to erupt. At least then he’d have some kind of emotional response from her other than being ignored.
And the evening had just begun.
Lenore let the first course come and go before she began firing questions around the table with the skill of an arbitrator, promptly ruining what was left of all the Bonners’ appetites.
“Donny…do you keep up with your studies? I seem to remember that things don’t come easily to you. You’ll always have to apply yourself, you know. You can’t slack off now, boy. Getting into a good college is so important.”
“It’s summer vacation, Grandma,” Donny said. “School is out.”
J.J. sniffed, then absently wiped his nose with the back of his arm as he reached for a piece of bread.
Lenore gasped and touched her throat as if struggling for air. “Jeffrey James Bonner, decent young men don’t sniff, they blow. And certainly not at the table!”
“Ss-s-sorry, Grandma,” J.J. stuttered, and let the bread fall back on the plate.
Cody took a deep breath and stared at the perfectly groomed matron sitting across from him, wondering what made women like her tick. She was never satisfied, and no matter how hard the boys tried to please her, she always managed to find fault, not praise.
Will stared down at his plate. His shoulders trembled as he waited for the next blow, struggling against the need to cry.
Queen was furious with Cody. How could a father sit and let this happen in his own house? This woman was impossible, and the boys had endured enough.
“Will! You’re not eating! You won’t get up from this table until you’ve cleaned your plate, and that’s an order!” Lenore announced.
“I—I’m…n-n-not…hu-hungry,” he said.
Lenore frowned. “I see you’re still stuttering.”
If children could wilt, Will would have expired on the spot.
Lenore gave Cody an accusing glare. “I thought I told you to do something about that. You should take him to a specialist. Children with defects like his will never succeed…not in this world.”
Queen slammed her napkin down and shoved back her chair as she rose. Her voice was low, her anger barely concealed behind a small smile that never reached her eyes.
“Will doesn’t have defects, Mrs. Whittier,” she said. “And honestly, until your arrival, I’d never heard him stutter. I’m sure whatever caused it will be gone soon…don’t you think?”
Lenore was horrified at being called down by mere hired help. And she hadn’t missed the woman’s subtle attack. How dare she imply that it was her own fault that Will stuttered? She looked to her husband for help, but he suddenly seemed intent on the last bite of roast beef on his plate.
Cody grinned behind his napkin. He wanted to applaud. He was also very surprised by Queen’s sudden defense of his boys, although she had only said what he’d been thinking. It made him realize that he was letting the Whittiers make him lose sight of what mattered most.
Suddenly he didn’t give a damn whether they liked what was going on here or not. By God, they’d already taken him to court and turned him inside out, and he’d still come away with his family intact. They couldn’t hurt him again, not anymore. And it was time they heard it from him…not a damned court judge.
“Boys, you may be excused so you can get ready for bed,” Cody said. “Take turns in the shower, and don’t use all the hot water, okay?”
They nodded and bolted from the table, anxious to escape the strained silence of the room.
“I’ll clear the table,” Queen said. “If you’d like to move to the living room, I’ll bring coffee later.”
“Not unless it’s decaf,” Lenore said. “If it’s not decaf…I won’t sleep.”
“I’ll have whatever you make,” Allen Whittier said suddenly, surprising everyone, including himself, by speaking aloud. “I don’t sleep much, no matter what I drink.” He gave his wife a rare, pointed look.
