Two Rivals, One Bed, page 15
“Wake up, sleepyhead.”
Her eyes slowly batted open, a move Victor decided he could see every morning for the next fifty or so years.
“Here, wash your face.”
Maeve sat up, reached for the towel with a yawn. “What time is it?”
“A little after ten?”
“What?”
Victor laughed. “I make no apologies for wearing you out last night. But your body needed the rest.”
“And I need a bathroom.”
She stood and looked over his shoulder. “What’s that?”
“Breakfast. Hurry up.”
Maeve returned to the room wearing a towel, with water trickling down from her still-damp hair. Victor had pulled up the spread, turning their love lair into an equally private picnic.
Maeve sat across from him. “I’m starved.”
She picked up one of several silver domes. The aroma of a veggie and sausage quiche filled the air. For the next several minutes, they concentrated on food—filling plates and satisfying appetites. Once finished, Victor moved everything back to the tray and pulled Maeve into his arms. He inhaled the jasmine in the shampoo she’d used on her hair and forced his body not to react.
“You know you did this on purpose.”
Maeve’s head jerked up. “Did what?”
“Brought me here. Didn’t you say you were born and raised in Illinois?”
“Yes. And?”
“You knew what kind of storm we were in for, were certain that once up the mountain we wouldn’t be able to get down it. You planned to take advantage of me all along and just needed a reason to justify it in your own mind.”
“You are so off base.”
“I’m reading your cards and you know it. But it’s all good, though. I’ll be your captive anytime.”
“All right, captive. Shut up and kiss me.”
For once, the lip-lock exchange didn’t lead to making love. Instead, the two got dressed, made mugs of steaming hot cocoa and sat in front of the fireplace to get to know each other more.
“When’s your birthday?” Maeve asked.
“October ninth. Yours?”
“February twenty-second.”
“Right around the corner.” Maeve nodded. “I should throw you a party.”
“You’d do that?”
“Yeah, as long as you and I are the only guests.” Maeve gave him a look. “Hey, I can’t help it if I want to keep you all to myself. Will you come back to Costa Rica to celebrate?”
“I’d love to.”
“So how old will you be, forty?”
He dodged a punch.
“Twenty-nine, thank you very much. So you’ve got that forty-something lane all to yourself.”
“Ha! Not quite, darling. I just turned thirty-four.”
“How many serious relationships have you had?”
“Define serious.”
“Mutually exclusive. Long-term. Engagements. That sort of thing.”
“None really.”
“You’re kidding.”
Victor sipped his chocolate while running through his index of romantic entanglements. “There’s one girl I dated off and on for years. She got married a few years back, then divorced. We started seeing each other again, but only casually. I don’t think I’m the marrying kind.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Why, you want to marry me?”
“No.”
He reached for her. “You’re just going to use my body for mind-blowing sex and then throw me to the wolves?”
Maeve nestled against him. “Something like that.”
Victor wrapped his arms around her as a comfortable silence descended. A Bill Withers tune popped into his head, causing him to smile. Indeed, if getting used felt this good, Maeve Eddington could use him up. He wouldn’t complain to anybody. At all.
Twenty-One
It was late Monday evening when Maeve got into her car and headed down the mountain. Being extra cautious, especially after the conversation with Cornelius, Victor decided to order a car service so the two of them could arrive back in town separately. Neither put the possibility of prying eyes being everywhere out of their minds. They were too close to being able to date openly to take any chances. A week from now, two weeks max, the case should wrap up and Maeve and Victor could go on with their lives. Together. She’d celebrate her birthday in his country. Maeve hadn’t been this excited about a relationship since...in a very long time. She couldn’t wait to share her happiness. As soon as she left behind the two-lane road and reached the interstate, she began returning a slew of missed phone calls, beginning with Reign.
“About time you called!” was Reign’s hello. “Didn’t you get any of my messages or texts saying I had something very important to tell you?”
“Yeah, well, I have something important to tell you, too. Besides, Mom knew I’d gotten snowed in. I’m sure she told you guys.”
“I knew about that. Saw the news and knew that power went out, too. But that was Friday night. Mom said power was back on the next day.”
“I’m sorry for not calling back. There’s a lot going on.”
“Jake told me about Hubert stealing the money, and that the case would be dismissed.”
“It’s not all wrapped up and tied with a pretty bow just yet but all indicators point in Hubert’s direction as the culprit, enough to at least get us off the hook. But that’s not the biggest news from the weekend.”
“No, I’ve probably got that.”
“I doubt it.” Maeve couldn’t stop the smile that broke out on her face. “I’m in love.”
The briefest of pauses and then, “Maeve, you need to know that—”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said, Ms. Celebrate in Every Position? The one who encouraged me to let go of the past and trust love again? Well, I did and I am, sis, and let me tell you, it’s amazing.”
“I’m really happy for you, Maeve.”
“You don’t sound like it.”
“It’s just that—”
“That what? I didn’t call you sooner or respond to your texts?” Maeve continued in a rush of euphoria. The more excited she became, the faster she talked.
“I wanted to, believe me there were so many times over the weekend that I thought about what you’d said. I know it’s the big sisters who usually get credit for helping the younger ones but this time our roles were reversed. You helped me push past my fear and really open my heart. Now it’s bursting with joy. I can’t remember ever being this happy. Victor is amazing, sister. And not just the physical part but emotionally, intellectually—”
“Lionel’s here.”
“You wouldn’t think a guy like him has a sense of humor but...”
As though in slow motion, what Reign last spoke finally caught up with Maeve’s hearing. “What did you say?”
“Lionel. He’s returned home, divorced and determined to win you back.”
“What?”
“That’s why I blew up your phone with back-to-back calls! He came over Friday, unannounced, just as the storm hit. Talked with Mom and Dad for hours. Ended up spending the night.”
“Shut. Up.”
“We spent most of Saturday in the game room, him spilling his heart out all over Mom’s prized Persian rug, apologizing over and over, especially to Desmond, who treated him like a brother, and saying what a mistake he’d made.”
“And they accepted it?”
“Not really. They grilled him pretty hard but all he’d say was that there was more to the story than we knew years ago and that you deserved to be the first one who heard it. He’s convinced that once you do, all will be forgiven and you two will ride off into the sunset. He begged for your number. We didn’t provide it, of course.
“Maeve, you there?”
“I can’t believe this. Just when I finally feel like I’m over his ass. Why’d he have to come back now?”
“I agree. The timing sucks.”
As the news continued to sink in, Maeve’s shock turned to anger. “If he thinks he can waltz back into my life and take up where we left off, he has another think coming. I’m not sure I even want to see him, much less hear the pathetic explanation he’s had five years to create on why he broke off our engagement with a text.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
“And the nerve of him to show up at the Estate uninvited! Mom and Dad should have turned him away, forced him to make an appointment.”
“As close as they are to his parents? They’d never do that.”
“I know.”
Images from the past rushed into Maeve’s mind. How at one time she and Lionel practically lived at each other’s houses. How much she’d loved his parents. How easily Lionel had fit into the Eddington clan. College and the challenge of a long-distance relationship, the planning of their wedding part of the glue that held them together. Graduating, returning to Point du Sable and home-shopping. The Fourth of July weekend that changed everything.
Maeve’s call-waiting indicator pinged. She looked at the dash.
Victor. Just. Great. There was no way Maeve could talk to him while on such an emotional roller-coaster ride.
“I’m getting a headache.”
“Sorry to ruin your great weekend.”
“Not your fault. I’m almost home. Let’s talk then.”
Back in Point du Sable, Maeve talked and talked and talked. With Reign. With Derrick and Mona. With Desmond and Jake. Separately and together, they mulled over the unexpected reappearance of Dr. Lionel B. Young, Maeve’s high school and college sweetheart, first lover and ex-fiancé. Finally, drained and with a tremendous workload for the week ahead, Maeve shut down the topic and for the second time that weekend forced her mind away from a man to concentrate on the case. Law had not only long been Maeve’s passion but now, as when Lionel jilted her, work was her saving grace. An email to the judge requesting a dismissal of the lawsuit had been sent over earlier that morning. Maeve completed the paperwork for the official filing, which she’d present to the court clerk tomorrow morning. She opened her office email account, forwarded some to her assistant to handle, including setting up a lunch meeting with a potentially lucrative corporate account, and answered others from colleagues or longtime customers. Finally, she sent Victor a text.
Hey handsome. Saw you called. Sorry, couldn’t return it. Crazy busy. It’s back home and back to business so...see you in court. :)
Maeve read it a second time, and then a third. Convinced that it held the right balance of flirtation and seriousness, the complete opposite of how she really felt, she pressed Send and hoped that he wouldn’t try to call her again tonight. She hoped a good night’s sleep would help her gain a better perspective of how to juggle a past love with her potential future happiness.
It didn’t, so the following morning Maeve did the next best thing—a Mona move. She dressed for success. The funkiness of the wide-legged winter white suede pantsuit she chose was toned down with a navy shell, low-heeled navy ankle boots, a single strand of multi-colored Tahitian pearls and her straightened hair pulled back into a ponytail tightly secured at the nape. She slid on a favorite navy mohair coat, threw a printed raw silk scarf around her shoulders and on the way to the courthouse listened to a self-affirming, life-invigorating anthem for women, the latest by Jan Baker, a neo-soul standout. She arrived at the classically inspired Point du Sable Courthouse in the center of the town square feeling unsure of her personal life but in control of what was getting ready to take place in the judge’s chambers.
Maeve parked her car and hurried inside. The day was overcast, the temperature, freezing. The heels of her cute boots click-clacked across the black-and-white tile. She stopped at the security station, greeted the officer, removed her coat and placed her purse and briefcase on the short conveyor belt. On the other side, she gathered her things and quickly proceeded down the hall to the judge’s chamber. After a light tap on the door, she opened it and went inside. As chambers went, Judge Keller’s was quite spacy. Yet, as soon as she looked up, all she saw was Victor. His presence took up the entire room. It was hard to think, to breathe. The certainty gained during their snowbound tryst was shattered. The feeling she’d had coming down the mountain, that life was sweet and perfect and that she knew exactly how to proceed, no longer there.
Lionel’s back.
Those two words had changed everything. Brought back all the emotions she’d experienced with him in the almost seven years they’d spent together, even longer if you counted their childhood. That fact had helped Maeve realize why it was so hard to shake him. She’d known and loved Lionel practically her entire life.
She wasn’t aware she’d stopped just inside the door until Victor began walking toward her. He opened his arms for an embrace. She sidestepped him.
“Hello, Victor.”
A pause and then, “Good morning, Counselor.”
Because she’d continued farther into the space, Maeve missed the look of hurt and confusion that flashed in Victor’s eyes. Again, he walked to her, close enough to speak softly. He placed a gentle hand on her arm so that she couldn’t walk away.
“After our last...meeting... I thought a mere handshake inappropriate.”
“We’re opposing counsel. One could say it would be inappropriate for us to touch at all.” With that, she took a step back, tried to gain her equilibrium in her personal space.
“The judge is late?”
Victor eyed his watch. “We’ve got a couple minutes.”
“This shouldn’t take long.”
Maeve began to remove her coat. She felt rather than saw Victor come behind to assist. Her body stiffened of its own accord. She hoped he didn’t notice.
He did.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she lied, reaching for the coat he now held and placing it on a nearby coat-tree before sitting down.
If Victor’s expression was any indication, he didn’t believe her for one minute. Maeve felt that if she could keep the meeting in professional and not personal waters, they could get through it okay.
“Have you spoken further with your clients?”
Victor eyed her a beat longer before going along with her obvious attempt to redirect the conversation.
“They know about today’s official filing of the motion to dismiss. Hubert isn’t happy with my decision. Wanted to replace me with Cornelius, as you know. Did you ever return his call?”
Maeve shook her head. “I texted him, explained my busy schedule and underscored what you’d shared about the case. He seemed okay with it.”
“If you ask me, I think his feelings for you run deeper than friendship.”
“Who asked you?” A smile reduced the sting of her words and thawed the atmosphere. Perfect timing as the judge entered amid those smiles.
“Good morning Attorneys Cortez, Eddington.” Judge Keller, a black robe thrown over a sweater and jeans, took her seat behind a massive oak desk. “I understand that we’re here today to entertain a motion to dismiss?”
“That is correct, Judge.” Maeve handed the judge a folder. “Here is the physical copy of that which was mentioned over the weekend and emailed this morning.”
The judge took a quick moment to scan the document.
“Any argument?” she asked Victor.
“Not at this time, however, I’d ask that the case be dismissed without prejudice in the event additional information that could change this week’s decision be brought to light.”
“At this time, you both agree that one or more of the plaintiffs were involved in absconding with the money outlined in the lawsuit, that one of the heirs, and not anyone from Eddington Enterprise, is responsible for its disappearance?”
“That is correct, Your Honor,” Maeve said.
“Yes, Judge,” Victor agreed.
The judge looked at Maeve. “Given this strong probability, will there be any countersuits such as defamation or criminal charges filed on behalf of Eddington Enterprise?”
“The exact steps to be taken once the case has been dismissed have not yet been discussed. Because the case seems to have been kept under wraps, we’ve not experienced public slander or damage to the company’s professional reputation. I would like a meeting to be scheduled with the claimants so that the details of this matter remain private, possibly through an NDA or gag order from the court.”
“Any objection to that?” Judge Keller asked Victor.
“I’d like to be present at that meeting.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll review the materials you’ve provided and make a decision this week. Is there anything else?”
Maeve felt Victor’s eyes on her. She looked straight ahead. “That’s all for me, Judge Keller.”
“Nothing for me at this time. Oh, one thing. With this case being finalized, at least for now, I will most likely be returning to Costa Rica. I’d like to request that sufficient notice be given for any subsequent meetings taking place here in Illinois.”
“That’s reasonable, Counselor. There is also the option of attending the meeting via video conference, although—” the Judge fixed Victor with a look that Maeve thought less than professional “—we’d much rather see you in person.”
“I appreciate that, Judge,” Victor replied in that silky voice that brought moisture to women’s lady parts. Maeve could have smacked him. And the judge.
“Then court is adjourned.” The judge banged her gavel and rose from the chair. “Be careful out there you two. I hear another storm is on the way.”
Looking at Victor, Maeve couldn’t have said it better. In fact, the storm was already here.
