Beauty and the Feast (23 page)
Stephanie leaned over her desk and wrote down the number. She clicked off without another word.
“You know, Miss Lindstrom, you may be overreacting just a bit.”
“Shut up, Paul. You heard her. She humiliated me in front of my friends and business associates.”
“Well, just playing devil’s advocate here, it’s not as if you didn’t provoke her.”
Stephanie tossed her clutch onto the desk. She’d dragged her escort back to her office. “C’mon, Paul. Get real. She’s nothing but a gold digger. Anyone with half a brain can see that. A poor girl who wants to make it big. She’ll take Gabriel for everything he’s got and break his heart. She’s probably already gotten herself pregnant. Why are men so damn stupid?”
Stephanie’s associate rolled his eyes. He hadn’t noticed anything of the kind. The young woman was very attractive. Farm girl or no, she was obviously intelligent, and she and Gabriel Abbott seemed quite well matched.
“Are you in love with the man?”
Stephanie sighed. “I don’t know. I just know I don’t want him with her. I had a chance with him until she showed up. I’ve had my eye on him for years.”
“What exactly do you think you can do about it? Pretend you’re in high school again and talk behind her back? Start a slam book? Really, it seems like a pointless exercise. They’re a couple. Let it go.”
“No, I don’t want to let it go.” Stephanie sounded like a petulant child.
“Miss Lindstrom, Stephanie, you are a very successful, accomplished, beautiful woman. You could have practically any man in this city panting at your feet. Why waste your time on Gabriel Abbott? Sorry to be so blunt, but he obviously doesn’t want you.”
“But he did, Paul. He did. I didn’t imagine that. What does this… this Eva Raines woman have that I don’t have?”
“I have no idea and I don’t care. I don’t think it matters. There’s such a thing as chemistry. Maybe the two of them have it. I advise you to drop it.” Paul walked to a sidebar and helped himself to a bottle of sparkling water.
“When you become a partner, you may advise me. Until then, keep your mouth shut.”
Paul sipped his sparkling water. “Yes, Miss Lindstrom.”
Stephanie paced in front of her desk for a moment, staring at her cell phone.
“What are you planning to do?”
“I’m going to figure out a way to make her crawl back under the rock she came from.”
“Well, Miss Lindstrom,” said Paul as he set tossed his now empty bottle into a recycling bin, “I’ll say goodnight. I’m going home. Would you like me to send my cab back for you?”
“Wait. Paul, when do you expect to make partner? Six years? Seven years?”
Paul gazed in silence at the woman, careful to keep his face neutral.
“I can make it happen by the end of this year, if you’d like. If you’d do me a favor.”
“What kind of favor, Miss Lindstrom? I’m not a hit man.”
“Of course not. Don’t be silly. I have no intention of hurting the woman. I’d just like to push her a little. Encourage her to show her true colors. You wouldn’t even have to go anywhere near her. At least, not immediately.”
“When you come up with something, let me know and I’ll consider it, but I won’t do anything illegal and I won’t hurt her. Right now,” he waved dismissively, “I’m going home. Do you want that cab or not?”
“No thank you,” replied Stephanie, her voice sweet.
Paul strode from the office and hit the elevator button.
What a fucking bitch.
He was concerned that anything Stephanie came up with could backfire big time and land him in hot water. He’d graduated number one in his law class and he’d worked hard to get where he was. Paul was quite certain he’d make partner within three to four years without her help. The problem was, if he didn’t cooperate, she could get his ass fired and impugn his reputation. Who was the man she’d talked to? She’d called him Eddie. Probably the private investigator she hired from time to time. What was his name? Eddie Jamison? Edward Jamison, that was it. He glanced back over his shoulder. Stephanie’s office door was still shut. He walked quietly to her assistant’s desk and pulled out her rolodex. Edward Jamison. Several of his business cards were stuck on the little ring. Paul quietly removed one and slipped it into his jacket pocket. The elevator door opened and he hurried to get inside before it closed.
The White’s had given Eva the day off. She’d decided to go for a long overdue bike ride and stop by Gabe’s house. She strolled into Gabriel’s garden where she found Luis working in the herb bed. He rose to his feet when he saw her.
“Buenos días, Señorita. Cómo está usted?”
“Muy bien, gracias. Y tu, Señor, y su hermana?”
“Bien, gracias. Y mi hermana? Ella esta muy feliz.”
Eva thought Luis was looking very well. He seemed at peace in the garden, with bees buzzing and butterflies fluttering around his head.
“You and
Señor
Abbott are together,
sí
?” he asked, a hopeful note in his voice. “It’s very good for him. You are very good for him,
Señorita
.”
“I think it works both ways, Luis. He’s very good for me too.” Eva smiled at the man. “I just stopped by to say hello and to tell you that Gabe has given me a key. I wanted you to know so that you wouldn’t think I was taking advantage of the situation. Will it be a problem for you in any way?”
“No,
Señorita
, I am always happy to see you, but I do think, well, I do think the man should marry you. It would be the proper thing to do.”
Eva sat down on a low stone wall and Luis joined her. “He hasn’t asked yet, Luis, and I think it would be a little sudden if he did. We haven’t known each other all that long.”
“Es verdad, pero, yo pienso que…”
“You can say it in English.”
“I think it would be better for him and best for you. It is always best for the woman. Even in this country. It is better to have a man to look after you. And I think
Señor
Abbott would look after you very well.” Luis winked.
Eva laughed. “You are quite a gentleman, Luis. And very old world.”
“Sí, yo soy viejo sabio.”
“Sí, sí señor, mucho, mucho viejo sabio.”
Eva squeezed the man’s hand. “So, Mr. Wise Man, I’m going to check out the kitchen and see if there’s anything I can make us for lunch.”
“Justa lo que necesitaba, Señorita Eva. Gracias.”
“Me too. But first I guess I better find out if Gabe has any food in his house or if I should do a little grocery shopping.”
Luis nodded and returned to his pruning. Eva pushed herself off the wall and headed to the kitchen. Foraging through Gabriel’s fridge and his cabinets, she managed to find a carton of eggs, some mayo, a jar of capers and a loaf of frozen whole wheat bread. Eva put six eggs on to boil while she drained and chopped a couple handfuls of capers and searched for a pepper grinder. When she’d catered for Gabe, she’d brought her own fresh ground black pepper. The water in the pot with the eggs began to boil so Eva shut off the stove. Her mother had taught her when she was a kid that if you want hard boiled eggs to have nice, bright, yellow yolks without that greenish ring around them, you should shut the stove off the instant the water begins to bubble and leave them to sit, covered, for exactly ten minutes. Eva had done that ever since. She checked to see if Gabe had any fruit or even a head of lettuce, but he had nothing in his fruit and vegetable bins, so she walked out into Luis’ vegetable garden and picked a handful of tangy arugula. While the eggs sat, she brewed some black tea, added sugar, and poured it over two glasses of ice.
In ten minutes, Eva ran cold water over the eggs and peeled them. She chopped them coarsely and added a couple tablespoons of mayo, the capers and ground some fresh pepper over all. She tossed a couple slices of frozen bread in the toaster to brown while she mixed the egg salad. Retrieving the bread from the toaster, she spread each slice lightly with mayo, placed a few arugula leaves on the bottom, scooped on a big spoonful of egg salad, and spread it around on over the green herb. She covered the salad with the second slice of bread and cut the sandwich in half, trying not to squeeze all the egg salad onto the plate. She made two sandwiches and then she called to Luis. While he washed up, she carried both plates onto the patio, returned for the glasses of ice tea and scrounged up a couple napkins. She and Luis ate in companionable silence, listening to birdcalls and the hum of insects. When they finished, Eva refused Luis’ offer of help. She insisted that he sit for a few moments while she cleaned up.
“
Gracias por la comida, Señorita Eva
. The sandwich was
muy delicioso
. I must get back to work. A tree fell down in back and I must begin to cut it up.
Señor
Abbott can use it for firewood.”
“
De nada, Luis
. I’m glad you’re okay with me having a key.”
“Don’t worry,” replied Luis with a smile, “I have faith in
Señor
Abbott. He will do the right thing. He’s already met the right woman. That’s a good first step.”
Before Eva could answer him, the man had walked into the garden. Eva had ridden up here today for Luis’ sake, to tell him and get his permission. She knew Gabe was a very private man and he wouldn’t discuss his personal life with Luis. Eva, on the other hand, wanted Luis to think well of her. She didn’t like the idea that he might lose respect for her if she became Gabe’s mistress in his eyes. Luis had lived in the States a long time, but his values were still very old world. She could tell that in his mind, if a man and woman were, well, intimate, it meant that they were either married or getting married. Gabe hadn’t said anything about marriage, although he had said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he’d torn up the check she’d left him for the bicycle repairs and told her to drop the matter. Eva smiled at the memory. As Marsha warned her, Gabe did like to take care of people. Well, his words would have to be enough for now. She had her job in
Napa
. He had his company in
San Francisco
. Besides, she loved the man. She could wait.
Eva made a short list of kitchen essentials, committed them to memory, and left by the front door. She locked up and tucked the key into the pocket of her bike shorts. She sat on the stoop to put her bike shoes back on. She hadn’t heard from Gabe today and she didn’t know if he’d be able to get away, but if he could, she wanted to have something ready for him.
* * * *
“Mr. Abbott,” called Marsha, “Your sister’s on the line. She says she’s been trying to reach you on your cell but it’s gone straight to voicemail.”
“Crap.” Gabe pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He’d forgotten to switch it on when he left Eva’s bed this morning. “Put her through.”
His desk phone rang. “Lise, what’s up? How are you? How are the girls?”
“The girls are fine, Gabe, they’re good. It’s me. I’m spotting and the doctor says I need to stay in bed.”
“Well, if the doctor says you have to stay in bed, then sis, you have to stay in bed. What about the girls? Can David handle them?”
“Mom’s coming to stay with us for a while,” said Elise. “Besides, it’s not the girls I’m worried about. I’ve already enrolled them in day camp for the summer.”
“
Quincy
,” said Gabe.
“Yes,
Quincy
. He gets out of school at the end of this week and he’s supposed to be staying here. It would be okay with me, but Gabe, it won’t be any fun for him. He’ll feel like he’s a babysitter. That’s no way to start a relationship. Father Joe says
Quincy
can stay with him for a few weeks, but the man is still recovering.”
“Sis, I don’t want you to worry about it.
Quincy
can fly out here. I’ll make the arrangements. I’ll pick him up at the airport and he can stay with me in the apartment or we’ll go to the house in
Napa
. It’s not a problem. I’ll talk to Eva.”
“Eva?” his sister asked.
“My…my…” suddenly Gabe didn’t know exactly how to describe her.
“Gabriel,” sang his little sister, “You have a girlfriend. Eva… Is she the woman you were talking about?”
“Yes, we’re…we’re together.”
“So spill, are you in love with her or is this one of your seven-week flings?”
“I’m in love with her, Lise. Does that ease your mind?” Gabe smiled despite his worry for his sister.
“Very. All I can say is, it’s about damn time. I was afraid you were going to become one of those lecherous old bachelors who always has a blond bimbo on his arm.”
“Not a chance, sis. Just waiting for the right woman. This one is about as far from a bimbo as you can get.”
“And she’s the right woman?” Elise asked.
“She’s the right woman for me,” answered Gabe. “So I’ll call Father Joe and set this up.”
“There’s another tiny problem,” Elise interrupted.
“Yes?”
“
Quincy
’s not a ping-pong ball and I don’t want him to feel like we’re bouncing him around. He’s never flown before, Gabe, at least not as far as I know. I don’t think he’s ever even been out of
Chicago
? He could fly back with you and it would all seem on the up and up.”
