Write to Me Page 4

  “Ma.” Desi gave her a piercing look. “Dating is a euphemism, okay? He’s hooking up with all these chicks. Sleeping with them.”

  “Thank you, Desiree, for explaining that to your decrepit old mother.” Gloria’s tone was crisp as she stirred sugar into her coffee. And she didn’t even take sugar. “I know what hooking up means. And I know what consenting adults do on their dates. Again, what’s the problem? What does this have to do with my friendship with Bryan?”

  “You think that’s all he wants from you? Friendship? Come on. Mami, I know you’re not decrepit. I’d never think of you that way.” Her daughter’s lovely brown eyes were wide and full of concern. “You’re beautiful. But this guy, how do you know you can trust him? What if he only wants to get in your pants?”

  Was that Bryan’s end game? Could it be that crude and blatant? Gloria couldn’t believe that, not after the time they’d spent talking, getting to know each other. “I’ve been there,” she answered. “Men have wanted to get in my pants before. That doesn’t mean they succeed. I can handle myself. I’ve been doing it a long time.”

  Her daughter’s expression softened. For a moment, she looked like the little girl she used to be, the one who loved to have her hair brushed and braided. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Sweetheart, that’s not going to happen. I’m not dating Bryan. What he does with other women is not my business. He’s just a friend.” In a show of nonchalance, she lifted her cup to her mouth. She choked, then coughed. Too hot. The roof of her mouth burned.

  “That’s how guys like him do it. Tell you they just want to be friends. Then when you’re comfortable, when you trust them, they make their move.”

  Her daughter spoke as though Gloria were a dewy-eyed, naïve child. “Desi, please.”

  “Des.” Ashlynn spoke up. “Your mom is right. She’s grown. She can handle herself. Bryan Dunn, from all reports, is a ladies’ man. He might even be a player. But he’s not a predator.”

  Desi shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes. Ashlynn slipped her arm around Desi’s shoulder. “It’s okay.”

  Gloria felt an invisible fist squeeze her heart. It hurt to see her daughter so worried. She was grateful Ashlynn was there to calm her down as well as comfort her. Desi used to turn to her mother for those things, but now her fiancée had moved into that role. And that was exactly how it should be. That didn’t mean it was easy to step aside.

  But step aside she must. For her daughter’s sake and her own. Now that Desi had found her soul mate, Gloria wondered if it was time to pursue a serious relationship for herself. Not that anyone could replace Emilio. He had been her soul mate.

  In her mind’s eye, Bryan appeared. But nothing could come of that. Another woman owned his heart.

  Gloria was startled when the server appeared at her elbow. “Are you ready to order?”

  It was French toast all around.

  ****

  Bryan arrived at the park on Thursday as planned, expecting to find Gloria at the fountain. He didn’t expect to find her sitting with Howard and Letty. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed meeting the couple last week, but today he’d hoped to have Gloria all to himself.

  She waved as he approached their bench. There weren’t many others in the park today, as the sky was gray and the day cooler than normal. Swollen clouds lumbered overhead, ominously threatening rain.

  Gloria stood and handed him an ice cream pop when he got to her side. “Glad you’re here. I was afraid I’d have to eat this before it melted.” She gestured to the older couple occupying the bench. “Look who I found.”

  “Thank you. Hello there.” He nodded at Letty and Howard. Letty smiled in greeting, but Howard was too focused on his ice cream to notice Bryan. He turned to Gloria. “I was worried you might not come today because of the weather.”

  She smiled. “I’m not afraid of a little rain. Besides, I said I’d be here.”

  And she was a woman who kept her word. Who was honest and expected others to be. Guilt speared him, surely not for the last time today. When was he going to be honest with Gloria, tell her the truth? He had to come clean soon.

  Soon, maybe. But not now. Not today. You’ll think of something, some explanation. Something that will keep Gloria from dropping you like a hot rock.

  What that explanation would be, he had not a clue. But he’d worry about it later. Now all he wanted was to enjoy her company.

  Just as he was about to suggest they stroll around the fountain, Howard spoke up. “I have to go.”

  “I told you to take care of that before we left home,” his wife said.

  “Well, I didn’t have to then.”

  “We’ll leave in a little while. You’ll just have to wait.”

  Howard’s lower lip poked out pugnaciously. He folded his arms over his chest. “I can’t wait.”

  “Oh, dear,” Letty murmured fretfully. “Fine. I’ll take you.”

  “Letty.” Her husband frowned at her in disapproval. “You can’t do that. It’s the men’s room.”

  “I’ll take him,” Bryan offered quickly, to save Letty from getting any more flustered. He handed Gloria his ice cream pop.

  “Oh, thank you. We cause you so much trouble.” Letty’s hands fluttered like birds that didn’t know where to light.

  “Not at all. No trouble.” He tossed the words over his shoulder, striding to catch up with Howard, who was already hustling off in the direction of the public restrooms.

  Bryan waited just inside the door while Howard used the facilities. When the older man emerged from the stall, he headed to the sink and turned on the faucet, then washed his hands. As he lathered up, he glared at Bryan. “Well?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Aren’t you going to wash your hands?” Howard regarded him as though he were an uncivilized boor.

  “But I didn’t—” He faltered, then surrendered in the face of the older man’s disdain. “Yes. Washing my hands.” He walked to the other sink and turned on the water, squirted soap onto his palm. Bryan washed his hands quickly, but Howard took his time, smiling and humming a tune. He took so long that Bryan felt the need to gently hurry him along. “Howard? Are you about ready?”

  Howard gave a start and glanced Bryan’s way, blinking in confusion. His eyes widened in fear. “How do you know my name?”

  Bryan’s mood descended in sickening awareness. Howard didn’t remember him. “Let’s go outside. Letty’s waiting for us.” He kept his voice soft so not to frighten the disoriented old man.

  Howard averted his eyes and seemed to shrink in on himself. His shoulders slumped. His arms drew close to his sides. He crept to the wall, then scuttled sideways, putting as much space as possible between himself and the man he didn’t recognize.

  Bryan stepped back, giving the other man plenty of room, and made sure the exit was clear. Howard gave him one last sideways look and rushed out the door as speedily as his shaky legs could get him.

  “Letty!” Howard sounded like a lost lamb bleating for its mother. “Letty, where are you?”

  “I’m right here.” His wife hurried to his side. “What’s the matter? Why did you take so long? Are you all right?”

  Howard sliced a look at Bryan, who had followed him from the men’s room. “That man. He followed me. He knew my name. What does he want?”

  “You know him. He’s our friend.”

  Howard shook his head firmly. “No. I don’t know him.” He clutched his wife’s arm as though he were drowning and she was a life preserver. “Take me home, Letty. I want to go home.”

  Letty patted his hand. “All right, dear. We’ll go home.” Her gaze moved from Bryan to Gloria. “I’m sorry. He gets like this sometimes.”

  “It’s all right,” Gloria murmured, casting a worried look at Bryan. For some reason, he couldn’t find his voice.

  “Are you all right?” she asked as Letty led her husband away, comforting him in soothing tones.

  “Yes. Sure, fine.” But he wasn�
�t really. He felt strange, ill at ease.

  “Letty told me her husband suffers from Alzheimer’s. It’s so sad. It must have been unnerving, Howard not remembering you from one moment to the next.”

  Unnerving. That was the word. She took his arm, and he was glad. He felt a bit like Howard, holding onto someone strong, to keep himself grounded. He smirked to himself. Aren’t you supposed to be the strong one, Dunn, being the man and all?

  “I had to throw your ice cream away,” she told him. “It was melting.”

  “That’s fine.” He couldn’t stomach it now, anyway. “Why don’t we walk?”

  Last week, his jaundiced view of marriage had colored his regard of the older couple. Now he could only think how frightened Howard must have been, believing a stranger had followed him into the men’s room. How terrifying not to recognize someone you’d been chatting with only a few moments before.

  A sad situation, but at least he had Letty. A safe harbor. Someone he could depend on. If Howard were all alone? No longer a sad situation, but a tragic one.

  What will your life be like, forty, fifty years from now? Will you have someone like Howard does? Or will you be as alone as you are now?

  It never troubled him before. He was working, living his life, dating and bedding a variety of women. He’d never felt any need to settle down. In fact, the prospect sickened him, as all he could think of was the glue-trap of his parents’ marriage.

  But not every marriage had to be like his mother’s and father’s.

  Gloria, still holding his arm, strolled by his side. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. She shuddered. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “No.” A fine mist of rain began. He squeezed her hand and nodded toward a gazebo in the distance. “Let’s head over there.”

  Their clothes and hair were damp by the time they reached the structure. Bryan tried not to let his gaze linger on the way Gloria’s pretty sundress clung to her curves.

  She smoothed her shoulder length hair. “It’s frizzing up already. I must look awful.”

  “No.” Without thinking, he threaded his fingers through her dark tendrils. Her hair felt delightfully soft and luxurious. “It’s lovely.”

  Her breath caught, and her hands fell to her sides. Bryan went still. He didn’t want to stop touching her. The air around them felt electric, from the storm or from their mutual attraction. If he took one step closer, he could kiss her…

  Thunder rumbled again, and fat heavy drops of rain began to fall. Gloria stepped back, her smile hesitant. “How have people reacted to your new haircut?”

  He took her cue to put some space between them. “I’ve gotten quite a few compliments, actually.”

  The corner of her mouth lifted. “From your adoring female students, I’m sure.”

  His eyebrows flew upward in surprise. Was there a tinge of jealousy in her voice? The thought pleased him.

  She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have said that. Of course, you’ve gotten compliments. The cut is very becoming, if I do say so myself.” She moved to sit on a wooden bench in the center of the gazebo. “We should talk about the letter.”

  He blinked. “Ah. The letter.” Of course they’d come round to that again.

  “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “That’s why we’re here, yes?”

  No. He didn’t want to waste time talking about the damn letter, but he’d boxed himself into a corner. It was the only way she’d continue seeing him.

  Man up, his better self urged. Tell her the truth. She’ll be pissed, sure, but she’ll get over it. Then you can tell her how you really feel.

  And how did he feel? This whole adventure began with him wanting to get Gloria into bed. He still wanted that, but he wanted more, too.

  Something new for him. Uncharted territory he had no idea how to navigate.

  “You mentioned last time that Courtney’s parents didn’t have a happy marriage,” she said, shifting down the bench as he sat beside her. “Do you think that’s why she’s so skittish when it comes to commitment?”

  He barely recalled saying any of that last week. Amazing, how quickly the lies had rolled off his tongue. And now he was about to add to them. If there was a hell, he was going there for sure. “Her parents made no secret of how much they despised each other.”

  Gloria shook her head sadly. “That’s a shame. Adults think they can make each other miserable and their children won’t be affected. But kids pick up on that stuff so quickly.”

  “Little pitchers have big ears.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Only in this case my, uh, her parents didn’t even try to hide it. They pulled their child right into the middle of it. Mommy would take her aside, say Daddy’s ignoring us. Spending all his time with his work friends. He’d rather be with them than with us. Don’t you think that’s mean of him? Then it would be Daddy’s turn. Your mother’s sick again, huh? Can’t get out of bed? Let me tell you something. She’s not sick. She’s hung over. That stuff she’s always drinking is not grape juice, no matter what she tells you.”

  “How awful.” Gloria’s voice was soft.

  He sighed wearily. “Yeah. And that’s not even the worst of it.”

  Her face looked like a mask, her features frozen in horror. “Did they get physical with each other? Or with Courtney?”

  “No. They prided themselves on being above that. Physical abuse was something for the lower classes, you see. That’s really how they thought. They didn’t mingle with the hoi polloi. No, they believed in psychological torture. They excelled at it and knew exactly how to hit where it would hurt the most. They didn’t care what kind of damage they inflicted. Or who got caught in the crossfire.”

  Strange he’d used the term crossfire, as though he were describing a war. Well, wasn’t it? In a battle between two parents, the children were the always the ones injured the most. Collateral damage. How could anyone claiming to be a loving parent do that to their own child?

  “It’s disgusting.” Gloria spat out the word as though it had a vile taste. “Parents should be protecting their children, not exposing them to poison like that. As far as I’m concerned, it’s child abuse.”

  He nodded. “Yes. I’m sure someone like you, who’s been a loving mother, can’t imagine doing that to her child.”

  “No,” Gloria murmured. She quickly shook her head. “Oh, I wasn’t perfect by any means. I remember how guilty I used to feel after my husband died, when I had to work and I couldn’t be there when my daughter got home from school. I’m lucky my mother-in-law could be there.”

  “Your husband’s mother.”

  “Yes. She was a godsend after we lost Emilio. My parents, too, and my brother. He became a second father to my Desi. But my mom and dad worked full time, and my brother was starting out in his career. Rosa took care of Desi every day after school while I was working and taking courses.”

  “Sounds like she really came through for you.”

  “Oh, absolutely. I’d come home dead tired, and the house would be clean, the dinner made…she’d even surprise Desi and me with a treat. Flan, our favorite dessert. She was a tiny little thing, five foot nothing, but she was one strong lady. Desi called her Abuelita. ‘Little grandma.’ The two of them really bonded. And I don’t know what I would have done without her.”

  Her voice trailed off and she shivered. Bryan noticed goose bumps on her bare arms. The heavy rainfall had subsided as quickly as it began, but the air was chilly.

  Bryan slipped his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “You’re cold.” There was nothing sexual in his intent. He’d only meant to sympathize and share his warmth, but as soon as she settled against him, he felt superheated.

  She leaned into him for a few moments, then pulled back as though guessing what her proximity did to him. “I’m fine, really.”

  “My apartment’s not far from here.” The invitation popped from his mouth without him planning it. “We could go there for a hot drink while our c
lothing dries.”

  From the way she tilted her head and peered at him, he thought for certain she’d refuse. Maybe she suspected him of putting the moves on her, but seduction wasn’t foremost on his mind—until he fell under the spell of her dark eyes.

  But she surprised him. “All right.”

  Chapter Five

  Bryan took Gloria’s hand, and together they left the gazebo and the park. His place was four blocks away, far enough for them to get drenched when the clouds opened again to deliver a short, furious pounding of rain.

  By the time they reached his apartment, their hair was flattened to their skulls and their clothing plastered to their skin. Gloria’s teeth chattered. As Bryan unlocked his door, he tried not to focus on the way her nipples bunched against the thin fabric of her sundress.

  “Please come in.” He gestured her inside and swept his arm toward the sofa. “Have a seat.”

  Gloria shook her head, looking as forlorn as a wet cat. “I’m soaked. I don’t want to ruin your furniture.”

  He cursed himself for letting her stand there shivering. “Hold on.” From the bathroom, he fetched a fresh bath towel and draped it around her shoulders. As she wiped the wetness from her face and hair, he grabbed a towel for himself. Scrubbing the terry cloth against his scalp, he stalked to the bedroom and pulled a silk bathrobe from the closet. An almost forgotten Christmas gift from his mother, he never wore it. Never had reason to, but now he was glad he hadn’t tossed it.

  He brought the robe back to the living room and handed it to Gloria. “Why don’t you go into the bathroom, take off your wet clothes, and put this on. There’s a dryer in the laundry room we can use.” He hesitated. “Will it be all right to put your dress in the dryer?”

  “It’ll have to be.” She smiled. “No, it’s fine. Thank you.”

  When she retired to the bathroom, he hurried to his room to strip off his wet clothes. Even his underwear was damp. Leaving his wet things in a lump on the floor, he quickly changed into a dry T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants.

  He returned to the living room and found her in his robe, which though knee-length on him, fell to mid-calf on her. The sleeves drooped far beyond her wrists. She must have used his comb, because her hair was neatly smoothed back from her forehead and down her shoulders. Wet hair and baggy robe didn’t matter. She was luscious.