“Because we have the best curse words,” Kathy said.
“And he can use them!” Elise smiled. “Fifteen minutes before Kent and the guests were to arrive, Alejandro told me to go get dressed for dinner. I was a mess and said I didn’t have enough time. He said that even one minute was more than enough time to make myself into the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“Awwwww,” Kathy and Olivia said.
“And he told me to wear red—but more of it than I usually did. Meaning—”
“Your tiny red bikini,” Olivia said. “I like your Alejandro.”
“Me too,” Kathy agreed.
“The dinner party was lovely and delicious. I was in such a good mood that I was an excellent hostess. I entertained and fed them and made sure their wineglasses stayed full.”
“I’m curious as to how Kent reacted to this,” Olivia said.
“He didn’t like it. He was barely above a sulk all evening. And whenever anyone gave me a compliment, he made a snide remark, hinting that I was usually inept. He made it clear that what I’d pulled off that evening was quite unusual for me.”
“Any guest comments?”
Elise smiled. “Oh yes. They took my side. One of the women cut Kent a couple of times. She and I clinked glasses across the table. It was a magical evening.”
“All because of Alejandro,” Kathy said.
“That summer, every laugh, every good happening, was given to me by him.”
Olivia and Kathy looked at each other, then back at Elise. “Was that the last time you saw him before he left the country?”
“Oh no,” Elise said with a grimace. “The next day I managed to make him so angry I thought he was never going to speak to me again—or me him.”
“Anybody want more wine?” Kathy asked. “We may need it because I want to hear every word of this story.”
“Fill ’er up,” Olivia said. They leaned back to listen.
Chapter Ten
As she made dinner, Elise kept looking at the little shopping bag. Kent was going to be very angry when he saw the bill. So far, she hadn’t come up with a plausible explanation. She didn’t think “I wanted to thank one of the gardeners for being so nice to me” would calm him down. She could almost hear him. He’d talk in that kind, patient voice. He was a wise guru and was teaching her about life. “Elise,” he’d say, “you do not buy a five-thousand-dollar gold watch for the gardener. A tip of, say, fifty dollars would be more than sufficient.”
As he lectured, his voice would rise. He’d tell her how she didn’t understand the value of money because she’d never had to earn it. “Everything has always been given to you. My parents and I have had to work for what we have.”
This is where Elise would have to bite her tongue to keep quiet. Her father was the moneymaker. He had an eye for a deal. When he got married, he was aware that his wife was a package deal with her best friend and her husband. Since the foursome got along well, it hadn’t been a burden.
It was Elise’s mother who insisted her new husband give a job to their friends. “So we can buy big houses next door to each other.” Kent’s father was dubbed an executive vice president and put in charge of... Well, no one was sure of what exactly. But he was paid well and the two men were good friends.
Whenever Kent brought up what a hardworking family his was, Elise knew she couldn’t say anything. To stand up to him with the truth made Kent go into a rage—then leave. One time he stayed away for three days.
Tonight she was preparing his favorite meal: meat loaf and mashed potatoes. For all his illustrious ancestry and an Ivy League education, his tastes tended toward the ordinary. Kent’s idea of a good time was a football game and buffalo wings.
She took the meat loaf out of the oven just as she heard his car drive up. She grabbed the shopping bag and shoved it under the pot holders in the towel drawer.
He entered, frowning, and Elise went to him to kiss him hello. “Don’t start on me. I’m not in the mood.”
She stepped away. He’d been this way since the dinner party. Angry, sullen, and as though he was deep in thought about something.
In the past, she would have tried to coax him out of his bad mood, but tonight she didn’t feel like doing that. She went to the kitchen, made herself a plate, then went outside to sit on the little patio to eat alone.
Where was Alejandro? she wondered. In just a few more days, he’d leave to return to his own country. Would he fall in love with some beautiful girl with black hair and a red rose behind her ear? Would he return in the spring or stay there? If Diego had his way, by this time next year, Alejandro would have a new bride and a baby on the way.
She could hear Kent inside the house as he opened drawers and slammed them. He wasn’t used to having to serve himself.
“I have to do something about my life,” she whispered. “Really and truly do something.” Before she was married, she thought that by this time she’d have a child to care for. She’d be one of those dedicated mothers who arranged playdates. She’d be head of the PTA and make sure the other mothers showed up when they were supposed to. She’d—
There were tears running down her cheeks. No children; no job; a husband who could barely stand her. Yet she was constantly being told that she had “everything.”
That night she slept in the second bedroom. She had a fantasy that Kent would come to her and apologize for being “such a beast.” Then he’d make love to her. And in the morning some deep intuition would tell her that she was pregnant.
But he didn’t so much as tap on the door. The next morning she stayed in the room until she heard him leave. He was going to be away for the night and he banged his overnight case against the door frame. It was the first time that she hadn’t packed for him.
When the house was quiet, she left the room and dressed carefully. She put on dark linen pants, a white blouse, and ballet flats. She got the little shopping bag out of the drawer and opened it.
Inside was a gold Cartier watch. It was simple but elegant. When she’d seen it in the shop window, she thought it was like Alejandro. He may seem like an ordinary man, but to her, he was pure gold. She knew she had to give it to him. Something to remember her by. When he wore it, she wanted him to think of her, to close his eyes and remember the laughter they’d shared. Digging together, sitting in her closet while she tossed clothes at his feet, being at the nurseries and pulling wagons full of plants. She wanted to give him something so beautiful that he never forgot her. Even if he married someone else and she never saw him again, she wanted a tiny bit of her heart to be his.
When she left the house with the box bulging in her pocket, she didn’t have to look far for him. He always seemed to stay nearby. In case she fell apart again and was crying? He’d run to rescue her?
First, she went to Diego and invited them to her house at three for a thank-you party.
She didn’t want to keep them after five so they could go home on time.
Diego said they’d be there but he looked cautious, as though he thought she was up to something—which she was. Elise wanted more time with Alejandro. As much time as she could get.
Finally, she went to Alejandro. “Hi,” she said. He stopped shoveling mulch and smiled at her.
She hadn’t seen him since the dinner party, the night they’d all had so much fun. The night Kent had sulked like a spoiled child. The night that Elise had not played her role of being less than he was.
She looked around to make sure they were alone. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me. The party went very well.”
“They liked the food?”
“Very much.”
She sat down on the grass near him and watched as he went back to work. The sun hit his golden-toned skin, glistening off the coal black of his hair.
After a while, he stopped shoveling and turned to her. He didn’t say anything but there was such longing in his eyes that it made her breath catch.