If You Want Me (5 page)

Two weeks after surgery, Rosa was released from the hospital. Days after that, she continued to comply with the doctor’s order of bed rest, though she complained and fussed as if lying still would kill her before any activity would.

“Humor us,” Alice told her every time she protested the doctor’s instructions.

“And all these pills can’t be good for me.”

Rosa kicked up the same fuss every time she needed to take her medication. In the beginning, Alice had told her how important it was to take the pills, but ultimately she had started to ignore her mother’s complaints. Considering she didn’t resist swallowing the pills, there was no point in verbally sparring.

Her mother alternated between being demanding and indifferent. There hadn’t been another soft moment like the one in the hospital, when she’d told
Alice that she’d missed her. Instead, the wall between them seemed as insurmountable as it had years ago. Alice didn’t know how to break the barrier between them, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to make the effort for fear it would be a waste of time.

And yet another unfulfilled wish.

Alice and Marie took turns setting the bath for Rosa, preparing food for her, sitting with her while she slept. Alice made most of the low-fat, low cholesterol meals because she’d been making them for years. Marie spent more time sitting. The arrangement was working out well so far.

This Saturday morning, Alice had stayed in bed longer than she’d planned because the past two weeks had finally caught up with her. If it wasn’t for the fact that her belly started growling, she might have been tempted to sleep another few hours. Getting out of bed, she stretched, slipped on a robe, then made her way downstairs.

“Aunt Alice, is that you?”

Mia’s cheerful voice always filled Alice with warmth. She hadn’t seen much of her all week because of school, so she was looking forward to spending this weekend with her. As Alice stepped from the landing into the foyer, Mia flashed her a bright smile from the kitchen table at the back of the house.

“Hey there, sweetie,” Alice said. “Morning, Marie.”

“It’s almost afternoon,” Marie told her. She stood over the stove making a grilled cheese sandwich.

“I know.” Alice sank into the chair beside Mia. “I was extra tired this morning.”

“Can I fix you something, Alice?”

“I’m gonna have coffee to start.”

“No wonder you’re so thin. Skipping breakfast can’t be good for you.”

Alice chose to ignore Marie’s comment. She
did
eat. Just not the moment she woke up.

“Aunt Alice, are you going back to Hollywood soon?”

“Mia,” Marie said, her voice stern. “What did I tell you?”

Alice glanced at Marie, then back at Mia. She understood immediately that something was going on, yet she had no clue what it could be. “No, Mia. I’m not going back to Hollywood yet. Why do you ask?”

Mia’s eyes dropped to the table. “I just wondered.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing else?” Alice asked her, sensing that there was.

Marie placed the plate with the grilled cheese sandwich on the table before her daughter. “Your aunt is not going to have time.”

“Time for what?”

Disappointment shone in Mia’s eyes as she faced Alice. “The acting coach at my theater quit last week. I was hoping…maybe you could be the new acting teacher.”

“Me?” Alice was flattered that Mia had thought of her.

“I told you she wouldn’t be able to do it,” Marie said with a dismissive shrug as she sat across from her daughter.

“Wait a second,” Alice said to her sister. “I haven’t even had a chance to think about it.”

“We’re doing a play in two months. I think you’d
be the best teacher in the world,” Mia said, her voice trembling with excitement.

“Two months?” That was more time than she wanted to spend here, but Mia looked at her with such longing that it was hard to dismiss the idea. Helping out at the theater would definitely help keep her mind off her problems with her mother.

“Why don’t you come to the theater with me today? Check it out. You can decide later.”

“Wow. Today?”

“Mia, you heard your aunt.”

“Please, Aunt Alice.”

Alice hated to disappoint her niece. “I guess I can go with you to the theater.”

Mia beamed then. “Oh, thank you! Everyone’s gonna be so excited.”

“I’m not making any promises.”

Mia continued as if she didn’t hear her. “They’re thrilled that you’re my aunt. Everyone thinks you’re a great actress. Me, I loved you in that TV movie,
Hailey’s Secret.
You even made me cry during that movie. It was like you weren’t really my aunt, but really Hailey.”

Mia’s honest praise made Alice’s heart soar. “That’s my favorite of all the parts I’ve played.” And the one that had launched her career. Playing a woman whose obsession with having a baby had ruined her marriage had garnered her rave reviews.

“I want to be an actress so badly.” Mia threw a quick glance at her mother. Marie sat with her face resting in her palm, her lips pressed tightly together.

“I know.”

“Mom doesn’t like that idea, but I don’t see what’s wrong with it.”

“You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, so I’m sure you’ll do all right.”

“Mom didn’t even want me to take acting lessons, but Dad let me.”

Marie humphed. “That man would say the sky was pink just to argue with me.”

Thirteen years ago, Marie could only sing Chad’s praises. Alice wondered what had gone wrong in their marriage. Marie had never told her. “What time is your class today?”

“One o’clock. I better call Dad and tell him not to pick me up. I can’t wait to ride in the BMW!”

Mia flew from the kitchen table and disappeared in the living room.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Marie said when she heard Mia speaking to her father.

“I’m simply taking my niece to her acting class.”

“I hope so,” Marie said, but her tone was doubtful.

Mia returned. “It’s all set. You can take me to class.”

“Then I’d better get ready,” Alice said, rising. She felt Marie’s eyes boring into her as she casually walked out of the kitchen, heading for the stairs.

“Come on, Aunt Alice,” Mia said excitedly as she jumped out of the BMW.

Alice sat for a moment before opening her car door. It was the same theater her father had taken her to years earlier, the Bartlett Community Theater, a theater owned by and for black folk. Alice felt a moment of fondness at the memory. It seemed fitting that Mia should go here too.

There was so much about Mia that Alice recog
nized in herself. The drive to be an actress at that young an age, and not simply because it was a cool thing to do. Alice could see it in Mia’s eyes—her niece’s passion stemmed from her soul.

Mia was already at the front doors when Alice stepped out of the car. She waved her over. A smile touched Alice’s lips. She knew her niece wanted to ‘show her off’, and it was a nice feeling. At least someone in her family was happy for her success.

Alice joined Mia at the theater’s entrance. Placing her hand on Mia’s shoulder, she opened the door and led her inside. It was dark at the back of the theater, but lights illuminated the stage up front. Parents and children milled around the stage chatting.

Mia took Alice’s hand and tugged on it, hurrying her down the aisle. “Hey, guys,” she announced.

Everyone turned, but given the lighting it would be hard to recognize her and Mia. As Mia hustled forward with Alice and they came into the light, an excited buzz emanated from the crowd.

“Hey, it’s Desirée LaCroix!” one boy said.

Children swarmed Alice and Mia.

“I told you she was my aunt,” Mia told the other children, leading Alice to believe she’d tried to convince them of this fact before.

“Hi, guys.” Alice hugged the children who wanted to get close, smiled at the others who looked at her from wide eyes. She was so absorbed in greeting them that she hadn’t noticed the parents. So when she looked up and met a woman’s eyes, a shock passed through her body.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Carmen Keller,” Alice said. Carmen was an old classmate. They’d been in the same drama class at
school for two years. Never in that time had Carmen said two kind words to her. She had, however, said plenty of awful things.

“Wow. I can’t believe you’re here.”

“Just bringing my niece to her acting class.”

“My son, Jeremy, is taking classes here. I never did bother pursuing acting, but I’ve followed your career. Very impressive.”

“Thanks.” Having no desire to make polite conversation with a woman who had never been her friend, Alice turned. And saw Terry Wright. God, not Terry. Terry had been downright cruel, picking on her whenever he saw her. He and Willie Thompson had been two of her worst nightmares.

“Hello,” he said, offering her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Desirée LaCroix.”

“Alice Watson,” she replied tightly. She didn’t know why it was important, but she wanted him—and Carmen—to know that they were looking at the same Alice they had treated as less than human when they were in school.

“Nice to see you again,” he told her.

Alice bit her tongue and offered him a tight smile.

“We’re all so proud of you,” Carmen said.

There were others. Stacy. Melody. Scott. Not all of them had been mean to her, but none had been her friends. Now, they were all smiling and eager to talk to her.

Mia returned to her after making the rounds with her friends. “What’s happening?” Alice asked her.

“Nothing. Our teacher didn’t come, just like he said he wouldn’t.”

“Oh.” Alice felt a sinking sensation in her gut,
feeling unspoken pressure to fill in where the teacher had left off.

“Why don’t I take you to meet the director of the theater?” Mia asked.

“I don’t know, Mia.”

“Maybe you can just be our teacher until she finds someone new. Please? You’ll be great.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to her. But she may not want me.”

“Who wouldn’t want you?” Mia asked. She took Alice’s arm. “Come on.”

Mia led Alice through the crowd of children and parents toward the right of the stage. Before they could round the corner into the semidarkness, a figure appeared out of the shadows. The person took a couple more steps toward the light, then stopped dead in her tracks.

And Alice’s stomach dropped to her knees.

Tanisha Barrett, her old nemesis, stood two feet in front of her.

“Hi, Tanisha,” Mia said. “Aunt Alice, this is Tanisha, the theater’s director.”

No, not Tanisha. Anyone but Tanisha.

“If it isn’t Desirée LaCroix,” Tanisha chimed, her tone sarcastically sweet.

“Tanisha.”

Tension filled the air between them, but thankfully, Mia didn’t notice. “Tanisha, is there a new teacher yet?”

“Not yet, Mia. But I’m working on it.”

Hearing her niece address Tanisha so familiarly was strange. She’d done the same with Marcus at the hospital. When Alice had been young, she’d never have called an elder by his or her first name. But times had changed.

Yes, times had changed, and she was Alice Watson, successful actress, not the school joke. She squared her shoulders, determined to present the confident image she’d worked so hard to hone.

“My aunt’s back in town and she’ll be here for a while, so I was thinking maybe she could be our new teacher.”

Tanisha chuckled, a hollow sound. “I can’t imagine Desirée wanting to work here.” Her eyes met Alice’s. “A busy Hollywood actress like yourself.”

Tanisha’s voice held a note of jealousy, and Alice couldn’t help it—a sense of power washed over her. Tanisha had always wanted to be an actress, but she had never quite been able to make it.

Alice had to agree with the saying—success
was
the best revenge.

“Actually, I’ll be in town for a while,” Alice told her. “I’d be happy to help out.”

“Oh, that’s right. A bit of trouble in paradise, hmm?”

“Excuse me?”

Tanisha ignored her. “I do appreciate your offer, Desirée, but I don’t think that will be necessary. In fact…Oh, here he is now.”

Alice turned, looking in the direction Tanisha’s eyes went, and her heart instantly went into overdrive.

Marcus Quinn was hustling down the aisle.

Marcus was slightly out of breath after running from the parking lot into the theater. Tanisha had called him at the last minute and asked if he could help her out at the theater today. Why she had
waited until the last minute to ask if he could teach the students he didn’t know, but hadn’t Tanisha always done things last minute? Marcus had never figured her out.

Marcus supposed it was his fault that she still felt she could turn to him. After he and Tanisha had split, he’d continued working at the theater because he really enjoyed working with the kids, despite his feelings for Tanisha. The theater meant a lot to him, and he knew funding was tight, so he didn’t mind helping out when he could.

As he hurried down the aisle toward the stage, he saw Tanisha walking toward him. Then he noticed Alice and Mia right behind her.

The sight of Alice caused him to pause midstride. He hadn’t expected to see her here. He hadn’t expected to see her at all. He’d expected her to be on the first plane back to Hollywood now that her mother was back home.

Yet she was smiling at him from behind Tanisha, as though she was happy to see him.

He continued walking toward them.

Today she wore a long, pink dress imprinted with tiny blue flowers. It was a simple dress, but it hugged every curve of her body and made her look like a million bucks. She folded her arms beneath her breasts, and his eyes were immediately drawn to their full lusciousness. The next instant he glanced away, uncomfortable that he was seeing her in a way he never had years ago.

It was just that every time he saw her, he couldn’t believe how much she’d changed.

Tanisha stepped in front of him. “Marcus, finally.”

“I got here as quickly as I could.”

“What’s going on?” Behind Tanisha, Carmen spoke. “The children fooled around last week because there was no teacher, and you assured us he would be back this week.”