Calmer Secrets: Calmer Girls 2 (Calmer Girls Series) Read online

With an air of reluctance, he turned from the window. His troubled gaze bore down on her.

  She took a quick breath. “It’s a mystery to me why Ronnie does half the things she does, and I'm her sister, for heaven’s sake.” An unexpected prickle of disloyalty nudged at her conscience when she remembered the earrings Veronica had overwhelmed her with on Christmas morning. “But I do know the kind of person you are and I saw you here today with Henry. You should be in his life. You would make a terrific father, if you ask me.”

  “You always knew the right words to say to me,” he said in a quiet tone. “Even in the hospital that day, before you said goodbye.” His hand touched hers, then clasped it. His grip warm and tender, it sent a tingle singing up her spine to the nape of her neck.

  “You knew what was best, what I needed to become a whole person again. And refusing to move to Halifax with my old man would have been a mistake. How you knew I needed my freedom, to begin dealing with the nightmare of losing my mother.” Without another word, he bent down and kissed her, his mouth firm, and his hand holding hers to keep her there.

  For a moment, she froze, dumbfounded. Then as if by reflex, she found herself kissing him back, as if those long years had dissolved and they were lovesick teenagers again. His arms moved around her, pulling her close to him, holding on as if he feared letting her go.

  She came to her senses. Tearing her lips from his, she shrank away, shaking her head. The last thing she needed was a thank-you kiss for setting him free. And as breathtaking as these kisses were, they had both moved on. She had to think of Kalen. And Cherise.

  He released her, his expression dark and smoldering. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did such a thing.” He bit his lip and stared at the floor.

  “Me neither,” she whispered. She stepped back. “Ben, I think there's something that you need to know.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Oh? What would that be, Samantha?”

  Ben waited as she bit the soft inside of her cheek. Hesitating for another moment before telling him about Kalen, she opened her mouth to speak. She never got the chance.

  “He fell asleep before the light went out of the room,” Darlene said, rejoining them. “That's one thing about our boy, Ben. He sleeps as sound as a beach rock.”

  The phone rang again. “I'll get it,” Samantha said, eager to intercept the call, in case it might be Kalen. And it was. Closing the kitchen door to prevent being overheard, she told him to meet her around the corner in front of the convenience store on Pennywell Road. The last thing she wanted to do was explain Kalen to Ben, with Kalen present.

  “I have to take off now,” she announced, picking up her jacket she'd draped over the back of a chair and pulling it on. She turned away from Ben and glared at Darlene with imploring eyes and an almost imperceptible shake of her head. She hoped her mother got the message to keep silent about her boyfriend.

  “How long are you in town for?” she asked Ben. “Hey, I forgot to ask. Is your dad here with you?”

  “Yes, he is. We're staying at my Aunt Valerie's in Mount Pearl until next weekend. Maybe I'll see you again before we leave.”

  “Maybe,” she said with a diffident smile. “I'll be in town until next Sunday as well.” She had a weird misgiving leaving him there with chatty Darlene, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  ***

  Samantha gave the interior of Kalen's new bachelor apartment a quick appraisal. It was the main floor of a newer bungalow on Hayward Avenue, tastefully decorated with vertical blinds, walls painted a modern shade of warm taupe, and a floor of glossy oak hardwood. A rustic fireplace with rough-hewn limestone on one wall of the living room faced a rich coffee-coloured leather sofa. She peeked inside the kitchen, impressed to see an entire suite of stainless steel appliances, including a dishwasher. She didn’t know anyone who owned stainless steel appliances before now, familiar with them only from home décor magazines and television cooking shows.

  “Wow! Are you sure you can afford all of this?”

  “Come see the bedroom,” Kalen urged, taking her by the hand. She allowed herself to be led down the hall to the master suite. She let out a gasp at the sight of its queen-size bed, a walk-in closet, and an adjoining bathroom with double sinks and a deep Jacuzzi tub.

  “Oh, my goodness,” she breathed.

  “So how soon can you move in with me?” He grabbed her in an embrace. His face glowed with happiness.

  “How about right away? Who needs to graduate, right?” she said, laughing, before he kissed her long and hard. After several minutes, she disentangled herself from his arms. “Be honest, though, did you land a fabulous new job, or did you win the lottery?”

  He bounced backwards on the bed, stretching crossways on top of the white comforter. He folded his hands behind his head and beamed from ear to ear. “Come lie down with me.”

  Samantha complied, lying on her side, her legs drawn up in a fetal position between them. “Seriously, Kalen. How could you manage to pay the damage deposit on this gorgeous place?”

  “Easy,” he said. “I told you about my Nan's passing. What I didn't tell you is she left me a small nest egg.”

  “How nice.”

  “She was shrewd enough to keep the money in trust in my name so the government couldn't get their mitts on it when Pop moved into the nursing home.”

  “I see. It must have meant a lot to her to do that for you.” As teens, she'd accompanied Kalen on a couple of visits to his grandparents’ home, and she remembered how his nan had kept giving him things: money and food, mostly. She’d made a big show of hiding what she was doing from his pop, sidling up with a wink to slip cash into his coat pocket on the sly.

  “Without a doubt, God love ’er,” he said, kissing Samantha on the forehead. “It’s just a small inheritance, only a few thousand, but that I can surely use. I thought about a newer car at first, but then I figured I needed a crib of my own more, you know, without the roommates and the lack of privacy.”

  “But how long do you think the money will last, without a job? The rent must be high, compared to splitting the cost with Gerry and Mel.”

  “Now, don't you go worrying, too. You sound so much like Rita. Spring is almost here now, sure. This is going to be my year. I can feel it.”

  Samantha bit her tongue, wondering why he thought the approaching season would be any different from the last. The construction industry had suffered a sharp decline in Newfoundland since the cod moratorium and the economic downturn. And although things were beginning to pick up and the province looked with optimism to the burgeoning oil industry, its contribution to the economy was yet to be realized.

  “I expect to get a heavy equipment job as soon as the construction season gets underway.”

  “I hope so, for your sake.”

  “There's also Cold Plate. We should get a lot more gigs this summer. That reminds me, we're booked to play for three nights next weekend at Rock City. When do you head back?”

  “Sunday. I'd love to see you perform on Friday or Saturday night, though.”

  “I'd love to see you perform right now. Buck naked.” He tickled her knees and ribs while he tugged at her clothing, sending her into peals of laughter. She batted his hands away, but it proved futile. Before long they were making love with abandon, turning the bedclothes into disarray, then moving on into the Jacuzzi for a second go-round. Making up for lost time while they could.

  Afterwards, Kalen told her he would be out in the living room catching the end of a hockey game. “They haven’t disconnected the cable yet from the previous tenant, so we’re laughing.”

  Samantha told him she'd join him in a few minutes, but yielding to the lazy afterglow, she found it hard to get out of bed. Soon, she drifted off to sleep.

  She woke with a start later. She didn't know how much time had passed, but her stomach grumbled with hunger. She remembered the pea soup at her mother's she’d neglected to eat; Ben Swift had driven supper clear out of her mind. Padding
out through the hall to find Kalen, she heard him talking to someone.

  He stood in the foyer, leaning against the doorjamb, talking with another young man Samantha had never seen before. They stopped their conversation when they noticed her, but not before she saw the man give Kalen a folded wad of cash.

  “Anyway then, I'll see ya 'round,” he said, closing the door as the stranger left. He threw Samantha one of his trademark boyish grins. “I ordered lasagna and garlic fingers. Hungry?”

  “Starving. Who was that at the door?”

  “Oh, a buddy who owed me money. Come sit, the game's gone into overtime.”

  Plopping beside him on the leather sofa, Samantha spotted the new phone on the glass coffee table. She picked it up and flipped it open. “So here it is. Mel mentioned you had a cellular phone. Cool.”

  “When did you talk to Mel?” he asked, his attention on the television screen in the corner of the room.

  “I called your old apartment earlier. She told me about your moving and your new phone because I asked if you had one hooked up yet.”

  “Oh, she did, did she?” He grunted. “Some chance of surprising anyone with that blabbermouth around.”

  “Aw, no harm done. I still got a big jolt when you showed me your new digs here. I never dreamed of such a classy home. What is the rent for a place like this, if you don't mind me asking?”

  “Well, the landlord told me the previous tenant paid eight-fifty a month, some business fella from the mainland who only needed it for a couple of years. After he left, my landlord had trouble getting anyone willing to pay as much, so he dropped it to seven-fifty, then down to six-fifty this month. Wicked, wha?”

  “That’s a steal for this place!”

  Kalen jumped to his feet and cheered. “They scored! Game over! The Red Wings live to fight another day. Yes!”

  After the food arrived and with their hunger quelled, Kalen picked up his Gibson acoustic guitar from the corner next to the fireplace. Strumming a few times and giving the strings a minor tuning, he settled on the familiar intro to Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, a song he knew Samantha loved from an earlier evening they'd spent together. She had told him it gave her goosebumps whenever she heard it on his stereo. His voice was warm and pitch-perfect as it resonated, filling the living room. His gaze fell on her every minute or so, and a seductive smile flirted around his mouth when he saw how absorbed she was in his performance. He didn't use a pick but strummed with his fingers, making it all the more soothing and sultry.

  Leaning her head back on the leather upholstery and tucking her legs under her, she watched as he closed his eyes, the veins in his neck swelling with effort when he strained to hit the high notes. To be serenaded, cherished and loved – what girl would object to this? As his voice rose in volume, a sharp pang of tenderness for him bloomed in her chest, leaving her weak.

  Never could she have imagined he would arouse these emotions in her, back in the days of their high school friendship. She'd liked him because he proved his loyalty over and over to her when she first moved to town, the new awkward kid in the neighbourhood who needed someone she could trust. And, of course, he was funny and fun to be around. She wondered if he had wanted more from her in those days, but with her heart belonging to Ben and then broken by him, he’d probably guessed friendship was all he could ask from her.

  When he finished the song, he put the guitar aside and dropped his arm around her shoulders. “You approve, I take it?”

  “Are you kidding? You floored me.”

  “I’ll try to sing it to you with the band next weekend.”

  His phone rang, the unfamiliar ring tone and its vibrations competing with one another on the coffee table. He flipped it open, winking at her as he said hello.

  “Yes sir…alright. Yep, I'll be here.” He gave the caller his address and ended the call. “Another buddy of mine.”

  “Sounds like he's coming over?”

  “Uh, yeah, he's around the corner and on his way, but it will only take a minute. This time I'm the one owing a guy money.” He chuckled. “Why don’t you find us something to watch while I take care of it?” He handed her the remote control.

  Samantha nodded. She surfed the cable channels in a distracted fashion, her mind elsewhere. She daydreamed of what it would be like to live here with Kalen when she returned for good from the west coast, degree in hand. She smiled, thinking of the personal objects and much-loved accessories she would bring to help furnish their love nest, her own decorative touches that would add her distinct signature. She didn't have much in the way of possessions, but imagining her favourite classic books and her framed artwork on display here filled her with happiness. In an instant, the world had broken wide open with exciting possibilities for them both.

  Then why did Ben still loom in the back of her brain like a stubborn spectre? Why had he kissed her earlier this evening? And why in the world had she found herself returning his kiss? She tried to shut out the memory of his bottomless brown eyes, his clean, rugged scent, and the soft but urgent message his lips had conveyed on hers. He had been her first love, of course, and had left an indelible stamp on her school-girl heart. Though she had matured and moved on with Kalen, she could hardly expect to free herself of “Ben-thoughts” altogether. But would these residual emotions always take possession of her, whenever and wherever they might meet? Being the father of her nephew almost guaranteed him a place in her life. They were sure to bump into each other again and again. Kalen or no Kalen.

  Cherise or no Cherise.

  She would have to rein it in, she promised herself. Kalen was her boyfriend now, in every way. So why did she hesitate to tell him about seeing Ben this evening? Why did she want to keep it secret? This was one question she didn't have a clue how to answer.

  ***

  “Where's Ronnie today? Working again?” It was the next morning, and Samantha had arrived home from Kalen's.

  “Found herself another new man, she did,” Darlene said, folding laundry on the dining room table. “I met the latest flavour of the month when he came to pick her up. Bruce something or other. They went ice skating at the arena.”

  “Another one. Wow.” She pulled a bath towel from the overflowing basket, shook it out and folded it neatly against her. “Did Ben get to talk to her last night after I left?”

  Darlene let out an annoyed grunt. “Oh yes, talk they did. And shout. And argue. I had to tell them to keep it down, or they might have woken up Henry. He sleeps sound, but things were getting out of hand.”

  Smoothing a fluffy hand towel on her chest, Samantha folded it and placed it on the growing pile. “From what Ben told me, I think he has good reason to be upset with her.”

  “I’m well aware. He told you how she returned the money and other stuff for Henry?”

  She nodded. “Did she have any explanation for him? As to why?”

  “Nothing that made any sense to me. She kept harping on the fact she did fine on her own and didn't need anything from him or Mr. Swift. But Ben told her it was his moral duty to help. Besides, he wants a relationship with his son, now that most of his physical and emotional healing is behind him.”

  “He does have a right, doesn't he?”

  “It’s apparent that he must think so. Told her he'll go to court if he must. That's when their entire conversation went sideways.” Darlene finished stacking the towels in the laundry basket and hoisted it to her hip.

  “Got ugly, did it?”

  “She asked him why he would want to, why he didn't simply stay away and forget all about them as he had done all along. Without strings or obligations. She didn't want them tied to each other in any way, so why did he. That sort of thing.”

  “For Henry's sake, is why!” Samantha said, her voice rising. “He has a right to know his father!”

  “I agree. Which is why I let Ben take him.”

  Samantha’s mouth fell open. “You what?”

  Darlene nodded. “I let him take Henry. He showed up here
again today after Ronnie left and asked if he could take his son out to see his family. In Mount Pearl.” She walked toward the hall with the basket. “Being put on the spot like that, I found it hard to refuse.”

  “Momma! Ronnie's going to have friggin' kittens when she finds out!”

  “I can handle her,” Darlene said as she walked down the hall toward the linen closet.

  Well, well, well. Henry was with his daddy again. She hoped her nephew enjoyed himself among the strange new family members. She had no doubt Mr. Swift, his sister Valerie and her young children would all fall in love with the dear little imp.

  When she'd kissed Kalen goodbye earlier, he’d told her he had stuff to do the rest of the day, including another practice session with the band tonight. He’d also said he didn't expect her to wait around on him, and they could get together for dinner somewhere on Sunday night. For a moment, she felt miffed, thinking how long she’d pined for him at school, and now he’d cancelled on her. And only her second night in town? But, she reasoned, this would give her time to catch up on her own stuff, and play with Henry when he returned. Kalen wasn’t the only boy demanding her attention!

  After Cash came home, she ate a lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches with him and Darlene. They were finishing up when Veronica arrived, figure skates strung over her shoulder and new boyfriend Bruce in tow. When he took off his coat, Samantha gave him the once-over out of the corner of her eye. He was a big brute of a guy, with massive arms and shoulders so well-defined with bulging muscles, they made his head appear too small, in her assessment. All brawn, no brains? She scolded herself. Now, Sam, no need to be nasty. You know it’s wrong to judge a book by its cover.

  “Where's Henry?” Veronica asked, glancing around. “I'm heading to Gina's with him now. Already ate his lunch, did he?”

  “I would say he’s had it by now,” Darlene said as she placed their bowls and plates in the dishwasher.

  “What are you talking about, Momma?”