Lock and Key (32 page)

I raised my eyebrows at her. “You lost me at tasty bits,” I said.

“Me too,” said Bear. Dawes glanced at him and shook with laughter

A grin curled Alicia’s lips. “Honey, when was the last time you spent money on yourself in the lingerie department, hmm?” she asked.

Actually, I had always enjoyed splurging on nice underthings for myself and had a number of choice pieces. But something told me not to let on, and not in front of Dawes and Bear for God’s sake. I only shrugged my shoulders at Alicia.

“That’s what I thought.” Alicia frowned at me. “We’re going to get you something fine, something steamy, something high class. I don’t think Butler’s had any high class tail since Caitlyn. He’s never going to let you go once I’m through with you.”

I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of Alicia having her way with me. I was older now, set in my ways, and I really wasn’t in the ‘let’s go shopping with my BFF’ sort of mood at the moment. Especially after seeing Ruby earlier. She had been paler, frailer, weaker, distracted.

“Don’t give me that face, Sister,” Alicia said. “You deserve some fun. Let me treat you.”

“Alicia, you don’t have to…”

“Stop!” Alicia flipped up a hand at me. “I want to.”

I sighed and sank back against my seat. Alicia was wrong. Only Butler could fill that hole inside himself, nobody and nothing else could do it. Living with my mother and Ruby had taught me that.

“Who’s Lenore?” I asked.

Dawes grinned and let out a heavy exhale.

“Forget that mall shit, Sister. Lenore’s stuff is top of the line,” said Alicia. She’s got the hottest boutique in three towns. It’s all high quality, and she designs it herself, and a lot of it is handmade. You and Butler both deserve it, and I’m going to make sure you get it.” Alicia let out a throaty laugh. “You’re going to get laid but good when you get up there!”

“Alicia, I already did,” I said. Little did she know it was hardly the stuff dreams were made of.

“Yes, but every man likes a show of appreciation. Trust me, we’re going to hear both of Butler’s heads explode all the way down here. Yours, too.”

Dawes’s head rolled back in laughter. Bear grinned as he fiddled with the radio.

Alicia leaned forward and tapped Dawes’s upper arm. “Am I not right, honey? You’re a man. Bear? Come on, you two… am I not right?”

“You’re a goddess!” Dawes said and threw me an amused glance in the rear view mirror.

“She knows what she’s talking about, Sister,” Bear said.

Alicia grinned. “Damn straight.”

“Speaking of which…” Bear said. “Last night Suzi finally let me…” He caught my frown and let out a deep, rumbling laugh. “Well, anyway… it finally fucking happened. Thanks to Alicia.”

“Really?” Alicia asked. “Excellent!”

Bear turned in his seat and grinned at her. He rubbed his chest like a self-satisfied gorilla.

“And did
Suzi
enjoy it?” I asked. “Whatever
it
was?”

“Fuck yeah,” said Bear.

“Sister, you don’t argue with the goddess,” Dawes said.

“Obviously not,” I said.

Alicia made Dawes and Bear stay in the car in front of the store much to their disappointment. I recognized the black hanging sign from when Lock and I had coffee at Erica’s. Lenore’s Lace was decorated like a gothic version of the inside of Jeannie’s bottle in
I Dream of Jeannie
. Violet, teal, fuchsia and mandarin orange swags of gossamer fabric flowed down from the walls. Large pieces of stained glass in the front window filled the interior with other worldly colored light. Moody synth music blended with wind chime elements floated through the boutique. A spicy earthy scent wafted through the air from an incense stick that glowed on a small table in the center of the room.

Lenore was a striking older woman with dyed blue-black hair, cat-lined brown eyes and colorful tattoos all over her chest and down her arms. Her gaze carefully scanned me up and down like a laser beam, and she smiled slowly. Alicia immediately made herself comfortable on a small lemon yellow sofa and explained to Lenore what I needed. Or what Alicia thought I needed. Thus, the quest began.

Lenore pulled tens of delectable pieces out for me to try on as Alicia sipped on green tea and either nodded her approval or made faces. Lenore outfitted me with a matching bra and panty set that was truly glorious. Delicate sheer black fabric with lilac swirls embroidered on the front of the panty and on each demi-bra cup. Lilac trim and elegant thin satiny straps finished off the pieces. The demi-bra made my girls look their irresistible finest, and the matching and very revealing sheer panty was cut high on my rear. I was impressed. Lenore and Alicia insisted on another set in a sexy midnight blue with a matching demi-bra decorated with beige embroidery along with a crotch-less panty this time.

“You’re going to love that panty, Grace,” Lenore said. “He definitely will.” She grinned at me over my shoulder as we both looked at my reflection in the mirror.

I relaxed eventually and allowed myself to enjoy the girl time, but my stomach took a dive every time I thought how it would be Butler’s hands and mouth ravishing these delights over my flesh and not Lock’s.

“Try this.” Lenore handed me a short stretchy slip nightie in a luscious plum color trimmed in black satin. I squeezed into the form-fitting fabric and modeled it for the women. Thank God for all my years of yoga and Pilates.

“That does wonders for your skin color,” Lenore murmured. The otherwise sheer slip had only a skimpy halter of satin covering my breasts. Lenore had paired it with a matching thong.

“Fantastic,” Alicia said.

Lenore also had kinky ensembles of course, but I refused to try them on. Alicia laughed at me. “Next time, you’re getting that black topless corset with all the straps.” I rolled my eyes at her.

Lenore’s workmanship was very fine, and her prices equally extraordinary. She wrapped each piece I had decided to take in lilac tissue paper and rang up the bill on her cash register. Alicia poked through a selection of vibrators and sex toys that lined a long shelf.

I nudged her with my elbow. “You can forget about it.”

Alicia smirked. “I’m looking for me, honey. I love this shit.” She held up a package of anal beads. “Ever tried these?”

My eyebrows snapped together. I shook my head at her.

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Alicia said. “Now I know what I’m getting you for Christmas. You are going to thank me big time.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me, and we both burst out laughing.

“By the way, what did you convince Suzi into doing with Bear, anyhow?”

“Anal sex,” Alicia said. “Poor thing was so nervous about it. I get it… Bear is pretty big, from what I hear. But I explained what it was like, talked her through it. Oh, and I got her these really nice oils and a—”

I squeezed Alicia’s arm. “You are such a good den mother.”

Alicia grinned at me as she dug in her purse. She absently handed Lenore a wad of cash. Lenore tapped on her register and handed her the change with the receipt.

“Thank you,” I said. “This was fun, Alicia. It’s really sweet of you.”

“I want you to be happy, Sister. You just got to be open to new opportunities.”

Would Alicia ever learn that copious amounts of sex would not cure all of life’s ills? Although, it does ease the pain temporarily.

Lenore handed me the purple, rectangular shopping bag with her name scripted in black over it. I took the thick ropy handles in my fingers. Alicia snapped her hand bag shut and beamed a tight smile at me.

A chill vibrated through my insides. I remembered that brittle smile. It was the one she always flashed while dishing out her primal Old Lady authority at the skanks who’d hang out at the club. But never to me, never before. Alicia and I had started out together, “reigned” together.

I know what this is.

This shopping trip was right off the club expense account for Operation Butler. Just another pretty lie cast like a fishnet over my chaotic emotions. This was Jump and Alicia’s attempt to prettify my having to lie to Butler in and out of bed in what they knew was my conflicted mind. The mind they were currently a little suspicious of, as well. Yes, this was Act Two of the coercion: a vanity splurge in the name of sisterhood and a second chance romance fantasy for lonely me and lonely Butler.

No way in hell was I going to wear this lingerie.

I flashed Alicia a smile right back, turned on my heel, and headed outside. Dawes and Bear glanced up at me. I flung open the door of the Cherokee and tossed the bag in the back seat.

My cell phone buzzed in my jeans. I tapped it open.

“Hey, Alex.”

“Grace—”

His voice dragged on my name and then abandoned it in the air. My blood froze. “Alex, what is it?”

He made a noise in the back of his throat. My chest constricted at the struggle in his voice.

“You need to come back to the hospital, Grace.”

“What’s going on?”

Alex let out a slight moan.

“Oh no, no…”

“Grace, please.”

I pleaded with God. I pleaded with the universe.

Alex cleared his throat. “Bring Jake to the hospital. Bring him now. He needs to see his mother. He needs…”

“Alex?”

“Come now, Grace.”

I touched the end call button on the screen of my phone and gripped the hard electronic rectangle tighter. I stared at it. It was no longer a phone, just a loathsome object. A brutal black shiny object of torture straight from hell.

“Sister, you okay? What is it?” Dawes asked. He swatted Bear on the arm and leaned over him. “Sister?”

My heavy eyes cut to his. “Got to pick up Jake and go back to the hospital.”

Is that my voice?

Bear snapped out of the Cherokee. “Get in, babe, come on.” He guided me into the backseat. He put my phone in my handbag and then darted towards Alicia who was chatting with Lenore in the doorway of the shop.

Dawes got out his phone and tapped on the screen. “Mary Lynn? Listen… get Jake ready, we got to bring him to the hospital to see his ma. Be there in five.”

“The cancer has taken a very aggressive turn. It’s metastasized through her lymph system and spread to the membrane around her heart. At this point her one lung is in danger of collapsing.”

Dr. Braden’s lips moved. His clear voice floated over me. Everything separated into pieces.

“It’s a very aggressive disease.”

The pieces broke.

“Mrs. Quillen? Do you understand?”

My mouth was ridiculously dry. I took in air through my nose. “And there’s nothing else we can do?”

“I’m sorry. We’re making her comfortable with painkillers. There’s a room available at our hospice, just a couple blocks away. She’ll be taken there within the hour, I believe.”

Hospice.

“Do we know how…”

“You should be with your sister now.”

Dig’s remains and Ruby’s rather aggressive turn. Remains and aggressive turns. The ingredients of my existence.

“Thank you, Doctor.” I stood rooted in the hospital hallway and stared after Dr. Braden in his crisp white coat and fancy white sneakers until he receded from my line of sight.

“Grace, go in and see her,” Alicia whispered. “We’ll be right here with Jake.” My gaze darted down to my nephew who was holding Wes’s hand. He pressed his head against Wes’s long arm, his round hazel eyes full of water, his lips sealed in a squiggly line.

“I’ve got to call Ray,” I said and fished in my bag for my phone. I found it.

Dawes plucked my phone from my fingers. “Who’s Ray?” he asked.

“Her father,” said Alicia.

“I’ll talk to Ray,” Dawes said. He jerked his chin at me.

Bear squeezed my arm. “Go on in to your sister. We got this covered. Want me to call Boner? He and Lock went to Deadwood today. Should be on their way home by now.”

I blinked up at Bear and nodded. My teeth jabbed at my lower lip. Ruby couldn’t be leaving us this fast. This wasn’t real. This was someone else’s life playing out in mine.

I opened the door to Ruby’s room and forced my heavy feet to move across the speckled beige floor. Alex looked up at me, and his hands raked through his hair. His strained eyes were dark against his pale skin.

“Talk to her. She’s in and out.”

I nodded and sucked in air.

The door clicked behind me.

“Ruby?”

Her one eyebrow jumped, and so did my heart. My hand smoothed over her forehead. “I love you, Ruby. Love you no matter what, so just suck it up, honey.”

The edges of Ruby’s lips curled up then fell.

“It’s me, Sleeping Beauty.”

Her eyes fluttered open slowly. “Grace.” Her dry lips formed the word.

I willed the tears to stay put behind my eyes.

“Ruby…”

Her cold fingers wrapped around mine. “You gotta promise me…”

“Anything—”

“My baby.” Her chest rose. “Have to help Alex take care of…”

“Yes, yes, of course, Rube!” I said. My knuckles swept over her cheek.

“Promise…” She struggled for air. “He needs you, you gotta make sure—”

“Shh. I promise, Ruby. I’m going to stay and help Alex raise him. I'll never leave Jakey. Never.”