Touch Me and Tango (8 page)

Parker and Miles had only met three years ago, although
they’d both grown up on Long Island’s North Fork and their shared attachment to
it was one reason they’d become close. Parker was descended from a line of
farmer-fishermen who’d worked the Peconic Bay since the 1800s, and Miles’s
ancestors were ex-slaves who arrived in that same century and worked the oyster
beds at Orient Point. Miles owned a charter fishing boat. Like Parker, he was
one of those men who just had to run his own business.

“Manhattan,” Parker said. “Her mother’s got a house out
here.”

“Then you know her?”

“Sort of.”

Miles tilted his head. “Sort of?”

“I used to work for her parents over in the fancy part of
the Cove. They divorced. Mother moved here permanently, daughter left town. She
was twenty-one. Hasn’t been back since.”

Miles patted his mouth with a napkin and shoved his empty
plate to the side. “Got a feeling you’re telling me the facts, but not the
story.”

Parker hated talking about this kind of stuff. That was
something females did. He’d lived with two sisters and a mother who readily
shared their day-to-day woes. But not Parker. He specialized in incoming only.
Ever since his father died he’d filled the role of the manly caretaker. The
household problem solver who listened but remained quiet about his own
dilemmas.

Luckily Natalie showed up, pouring coffee refills. She was
like a third little sister to Parker, having been Casey’s best friend since
childhood. Her cherubic face and rounded body reflected her love of food. Just
when Parker thought he’d gotten away, she leaned toward him and said, “Look
who’s back in town. Ms. La-di-da.”

“Ah, she’s not so bad.” He kept his face as blank as he
could, relieved that his sister had never told her friend about his secret
relationship with Tanya.

Miles gave him a puzzled look. Natalie rolled her eyes, and
moved on to chat at another table. A mama tending her flock, since the majority
of customers were locals.

Tanya walked toward the door, paper bag in hand. Her eyes
widened when she saw Parker. She detoured to his table. “I sent you a text.
Don’t tell me you didn’t get it.”

Parker brushed aside her question. “This is my friend Miles.
Miles, this is Tanya.”

“Nice to meet you. Sorry to intrude.” She gave him a quick
nod and turned to Parker. “So what’s up? Are we going or not?”

He feigned his most therapeutic tone. “Did you know one in
four suffer from hypertension?”

“Don’t play me, Parker. I text you a question and all I get
from you is the twenty-four hour forecast?”

“Sorry. Next time I’ll send you the complete seven day
report.”

Tanya gave him a candy sweet smile and slowly raised her
middle finger.

Miles winced and cleared his throat. “Running late. Gotta
go. Later, Parker.” He picked up his check and stood. “A pleasure, Tanya.”

“Likewise.”

Parker felt Natalie gaping at him. And some of the men had
to be wondering why this stunning new woman in town was hovering over Robinsin
Crusoe. Standing so close he was totally distracted by his desire to touch her,
to be wrapped in her legs the way he’d been so many times. He forced himself to
say something. “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll buy you lunch.”

She slid onto the bench. “Thanks.”

Natalie herself came to their table. “You’re Tanya
Gentilliano. I used to see you at Amanda’s vintage clothing shop back in the
days when Parker’s sister worked there.”

“Wow, we were teens then. Feels like another lifetime.”

“This is Natalie, by the way,” Parker said. “It’s her
place.”

Tanya lifted her paper bag. “Got my mother some of your
apple turnovers. She loves your food.”

Parker said, “You’ll love the Mediterranean salad. It’s got
all your favorite stuff in it.”

“Okay.”

Natalie cast a curious glance at Parker. He pretended not to
notice and ordered a bluebery cobbler for himself.

When Natalie left, he murmured, “Maybe we should notify the
press.”

“About?”

“Tanya Gentilliano returns from overseas tour. Seen having
lunch with the local gardener.”

“Cut it out, Parker.”

“Well, you gotta admit it is a first.”

She frowned. “Not this again. What was I suppposed to do? My
father would’ve fired you or worse if he’d found out we were seeing each other.
Don’t start punishing me ten years later. If you had—”

He cut her off with a stop sign hand. “Let’s not do this.”

“You started it.”

“Takes two to tango.” But she was right. He’d started it.
After he’d sworn to himself he would stay cool and keep the upper hand, here he
was doing the same old dance.

The food arrived. A heavy silence hung in the air between
them as they ate. Parker listened to the scraping dishes and chattering voices,
aware that he might be providing gossip for some of the locals. “Maybe we should
stick to talking about the weather.”

“Okay, I get it,” Tanya said. “So your text message was
saying we had to delay the project because of the weather. I thought you were
just angry at me.”

“No. That’s more like something you would do. I’m not that
childish.”

Her dark eyes flashed with fire. “I can’t believe I actually
put a make on you the other day,” she said, her voice a harsh whisper.

Parker grinned. “Believe it. I was there.”

She pursed her lips and rested her fork next to her plate.
“Let’s stick to business. Those were your terms, right?”

“Right.”

“When are we going?”

“Weather’s clearing. We could go tomorrow.”

“I can’t go Saturday or Sunday.”

“Monday then. I’ll pick you up at six.”

“In the morning?”

“Pardon me, Princess. Make it nine.”

After three days of rain and last night’s thunderstorm, the
sun returned bright and hot on Saturday. Perfect day for planting his peach
trees. Parker finished digging the last hole and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Lifting each young tree at the base where its roots were covered in a ball of
soil, he set them carefully into the ground.

He’d always wanted an orchard. And even though his skimpy
row of fruit trees could hardly be called an orchard, he smiled in satisfaction
at his latest addition to “Parker’s Paradise,” as his sister liked to call the
dilapidated farm he was gradually turning into a home.

He brushed his hands against his faded, grass-stained jeans,
grabbed a garden hose and doused his naked torso before watering the new tree.
At the sound of a car pulling up, Reef and Skipper went bounding off. The shift
in their barks told him it was someone they knew and liked. He tried not to
hope it was Tanya, but he couldn’t help himself. That same old thing was
happening again. He had to pry his mind away from thinking about her every
minute.

“Well, if it isn’t Robinson Crusoe.” His sister Casey
strolled toward him on a gravel path he’d made between spirea and butterfly
bushes, Skipper and Reef loping at her side.

“Watch what you call me, chubalug. I’ve got a high powered
water pistol in hand.” Parker knew some folks in town called him Robinson
Crusoe because he lived alone here and spent more time talking to plants than
to people. But he didn’t really care. This life suited him. He had a couple close
friends, a few women he dated. Made a decent living caring for people’s lawns
and creating gardens to make their yards look handsome. What more could he
want?

He pushed away the thought that came roaring to the surface.
An image of the tiny box still sitting in his dresser drawer. It held the
diamond ring he’d scrimped and saved to buy Tanya over a decade ago.

Casey patted her protruding belly. “Okay, so I’m jealous
because your all bronzed and diesel-cut while I’m just pasty and pregnant.”

He grinned and gave his sister a quick hug. “Actually, you
look cute. Kind of like a walking corn muffin.”

She poked him in the ribs. “How about some iced tea for the
fat lady?”

“Coming right up.” He shut off the hose and sauntered into
his L-shaped house.

Casey took a seat at a picnic table beneath a large oak.
When Parker returned with two tall glasses of iced tea, he noticed his sister’s
creased brow.

“You look worried. Something you need?”

“It’s not me, bro. It’s you I’m worried about.” She took the
glass he handed her. “Natalie told me you had lunch with Tanya Gentilliano and
seemed to be planning something together.”

Parker shook his head and straddled the maple bench next to
her. “Natalie is such a gossip.”

“You’re a fool if you start hooking up with her again.”

“I’m not. I’m working for her mother. She has this… special
job.” Even if he hadn’t promised Eva to keep it a secret, he wasn’t keen on
telling his sister about the search for Harry Rubikoff’s steamer trunk.

“Oh, please. Eva Gentilliano and her daughter think they can
cajole every man into—”

“Not the mother. All those years I took care of their yard
she’d never been anything but kind to me. And when I saw her laid up in the
hospital she seemed sort of stressed and lonely.” He tried to keep his tone
light, but his decision to help Mrs. Gentilliano hadn’t come without some
internal questions of his own. He’d once sworn a bitter oath to never again set
foot on the Gentilliano property. And Casey knew it.

“Tanya’s going to be here for quite a while.”

He gazed up at the lime green buds on the tree overhead and
forced himself to take a calming breath before saying in a casual tone, “What’s
it to me?

Casey paused, sipping her tea. He felt her concerned eyes
studying him. She’d been there to witness the torn-up mess he’d turned into
after Tanya dumped him.

“Fair warning: she may not be able to pay you. I saw Tanya
today, too. She came to the Performing Arts Academy looking for a job. She said
her mother is broke.”

“Did you hire her?”

“Not at first. But then Julio, my ballroom instructor, saw
her and went nuts. Begged me to sign her on as his teaching partner.”

“Who is this Julio dude? Is he gay?”

“No.” She smirked. “Must you stereotype? You never heard of
Baryshnikov or Mario Lopez? Two of the biggest ladies’ men? Julio likes women.
And they luuuv him. That’s one reason I hired him. I knew he’d draw ladies into
the ballroom classes.”

“Good build?”

“Ripped. But why should you care? You just said Tanya didn’t
matter to you anymore.”

Parker backed off, realizing he sounded like a jealous
idiot. His hand tightened on his glass. Here he was again. That same guy who’d
made a fool of himself falling in love with Tanya and actually expecting her to
love him back.

Casey checked her watch. “I can’t stay. I’ve got to face
room full of miniature ballerinas in twenty minutes.”

Parker smiled, thinking that only a year ago his sister had
called him in tears when it looked like she would lose her small dance studio.
And now she was the owner and director of the North Cove Performing Arts Academy.
“Your due date’s so close. Are you sure you should still be teaching?”

“Absolutely. My delivery will be that much smoother if I
keep active.” She tapped his hand. “Listen, Mom asked me to tell you to stop by
this afternoon. She needs you to run some errands for her.”

“Will do.” He walked Casey to her red SUV parked on the
grass near the long dirt drive that led to the street. She looked up at him.
“Why don’t you come to dinner at our place tonight?”

“Got plenty to eat here, thanks.”

“But you always eat alone.”

“Ah, now you’re insulting Skipper and Reef.”

Casey slid into the driver’s seat, her pregnant tummy barely
fitting behind the wheel. “What if Tanya’s at the house when you go there to do
the gardening?”

“Stop worrying about me.”

“Like you never worry about me.”

“I’m allowed. I’m the big brother.” He grinned and mussed
her chestnut curls the way he used to when they were kids. Casey laughed and
swatted his hand.

As she drove away, he walked back to his greenhouse,
purposely avoiding the lilac garden. Grateful it was too early for their
fragrant blooms to intoxicate him.

They arrived at the sun’s first light. Like hungry sharks
circling, desperate to be the first to claim their chunk of the meat. Tanya
shook her head in amazement as she sipped her coffee at the kitchen table. An
elderly gentleman and a silver haired woman in pink-rimmed sunglasses cupped
their hands to the window, peeking in at her.

“Who are these people? It’s five thirty, the sun’s barely up
and the sale’s not scheduled till seven.”

Tanya’s mother sat across from her, crutches resting against
the table. “Animals. Just say house sale and they descend like vultures to pick
the bones of someone’s decaying past.”

Uh-oh. Her mother was in one of her angst-ridden, drama queen
moods. But then, many of the valuables they would be selling today were items
that had special meaning to Eva. Like her grandfather’s bent wood rocker. Or
the cut glass punch bowl she’d been given as a wedding present. Still, Tanya
knew her mother would snap at her like an angry lion if she tried to offer
comforting words. “Too bad the outer gate is totally broken now. That would’ve
at least kept them waiting in the street.”

The sound of car doors slamming in the U-shaped drive that
bordered the front porch signaled more coming. And they meant business.

Boom, boom, boom
.

Her mother swiveled round in her seat. “It’s the back door.”

Tanya walked over and lifted the curtain that covered the
door’s window.

A short stocky lady in a Star Trek cap stood on the other
side of the glass. With a gleaming smile, she made a gesture for her to open
the door. Who
are
these people?
“We’re eating our breakfast,” Tanya said. “Sale starts at seven.”