Gotta Get Next To You (35 page)

“There now. No bloodshed and the sky didn’t
fall,” Gran said.

“We didn’t kiss and make up either,” Andrea
said in a dry tone.

“You will.” Gran spoke with confidence. “You
will,” she repeated.

“No more nudges from you, Miss Mavis.” Andrea
shook a finger at her. She sat on the top step of the porch.

Gran sighed noisily and stopped knitting.
“Stubborn since you were a baby.”

“You don’t know what happened between us, and
it’s not up for discussion,” Andrea said quickly when Gran’s mouth
flew open. ‘Trust me, we’re better off apart.”

“My lips are sealed,” Gran said.

“I doubt that,” Andrea quipped.

Gran raised one eyebrow at her. “No need to
get smart, missy. You’ve made your point. You’re grown and it’s not
my place to interfere.”

“Thank you.”

“Maybe I was wrong to get you two together in
the first place.” The click of needles punctuated Gran’s
statement.

“You were trying to help. Besides, nobody
held a gun to my head and made me go out with him.” Andrea gazed
off down the road in the direction Lee’s car had gone.

“You’d think I learned my lesson with
Charlene. Sometimes I think most of what happened was my fault.
Your mama does have good intentions at times.” Gran heaved a deep
sigh.

“That’s ridiculous, Gran. Did you know she
went to John Mandeville to get me this job?” Andrea made a hissing
sound. “I should have figured that one out.” “She was trying to
help,” Gran said.

“I was dumb enough to actually consider
meeting with that creep.”

“Charlene wanted you back home. So did
I.”

Andrea turned around. “You knew? But I
thought you despised him.”

“What harm did it do? You were tired of
Chicago and wanted to come home. He got you a good-paying job.”
Gran rocked faster.

“John Mandeville has his finger in the pie.
He’s got fat contracts with the state, including one with the
clinic.” Andrea frowned as though the man stood in front of
her.

“I don’t think Charlene knows any of that.
How did you find out?” Gran asked.

Andrea started to answer, and then caught
herself. She’d said too much already. “I was reviewing contracts
and asked some questions. The point is he tried to use me.” “I
don’t think that was the main reason he hired you, cher.” Gran
shook her head slowly.

“I never thought of you as naive, Gran,”
Andrea said. “How much money are we talking about?”

“Several thousand dollars at the clinic
alone.” Andrea tilted her head to one side. “Why?”

“John Mandeville loves being rich like his
daddy and granddaddy before him. Them folks chase a dollar like
hunting dogs after a rabbit,” Gran said with an expression of
disapproval.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Andrea put
in.

“John Mandeville is powerful. If push comes
to shove, he doesn’t need you to help him. Besides, that little
money is nothing to him. He’s worth millions.” Gran stared at
Andrea.

“You’re trying to tell me he decided to get
paternal after almost thirty years? Please!” Andrea waved a hand as
though dismissing her point.

“I’m saying he didn’t have to listen to
Charlene.”

“So why did he? Guilt? I find that hard to
believe,” Andrea replied.

“Life is complicated and people are even more
complicated, Andrea.”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me.” Andrea
thought of the men in her life. “I learned about that thirty years
ago from Charlene.”

“Don’t be so hard on her.” Gran heaved a
sigh. “Maybe if I hadn’t been so strict, Charlene wouldn’t have
been so wild.”

“You were trying to help her. In fact, you
might have been too easy on her, considering.”

“No, cher. I didn’t talk to Charlene, I
ordered her around when I should have listened.”

“Even Charlene admits that she was a
handful,” Andrea said with a half smile.

It seemed Gran did not hear or see Andrea.
She wore a faraway expression. “She was willful, that’s true. But I
could have been a little less willful myself. I pushed her to marry
Louis, and look what happened. Lord, Lord,” she said softly.

Andrea turned around to stare at her.
Something in her voice struck a strange chord. “You said that
before. What did you mean?”

Gran blinked rapidly and avoided looking at
her. “It’s best you talk to your mama about it.”

“We can’t,” Andrea said. “At least we’ve
never been able to.”

“Then it’s time you did,” Gran said.

“You’ve always told me the truth. Now I’m
asking you to tell me what you meant.” Andrea left the steps and
sat in the chair next to Gran.

“Charlene should be the one to tell you.”
Gran chewed her lower lip. It was obvious she felt tom.

“But she won’t. You know how I hate secrets.”
Andrea gripped the smooth wood of the chair’s arm. “I feel like my
entire life has been ruled by ugly secrets.”

“This doesn’t really involve you directly.
There are things that go on in a marriage that don’t concern
any-body, even the children.” Gran paused as though considering how
or whether to continue.

“Daddy tried to make Charlene happy. I
remember him doing all kinds of things to please her.” Andrea spoke
quietly to coax her.

“That’s your childish memory, cher. Guess it
looked that way to you.” Gran did not look at Andrea. She wore a
slight smile. “You were so crazy about Louis.”

“He was gentle and loving.” Andrea gazed at
Gran. “Every little girl’s dream daddy; and a devoted husband.”

“Mais yeah, on the surface he was that,” Gran
mum-bled.

“Everyone has a few faults.”

“Sometimes a man can love too hard. Matter of
fact, I don’t know if you could call it love. Louis wanted to
possess Charlene.” Gran shook her head again. “Charlene can’t be
boxed in by anybody. I learned that when she was a baby.”

“I don’t see how loving someone with all your
heart is a bad thing,” Andrea said.

“Loving someone is a joy. But Louis was ...
what’s the word?” Gran was silent for a few seconds. “Obsessed. He
was obsessed with holding on to Charlene.” “That sounds harsh,
Gran.” Andrea was stunned by the force of her words.

Gran stared at the ground. “I’m gonna confess
some-thing I never told anybody. I kinda thought it was possible
Louis wasn’t really your daddy. But since him and Charlene had been
together and she said so ...”

“And you wanted them to get married because
he was a good man.” Andrea finished for her.

“Like you said, he was so in love with
Charlene. He’d do anything for her.” Gran closed her eyes. “It
turned out to be the worst thing for both of them. Charlene
couldn’t stand the way he clung to her. Louis got to drinking and
using drugs.”

“What?” Andrea gasped. The world seemed to
spin out of control. “That just can’t be. I would have known...”
Her voice died away at the sorrowful expression Gran wore.

‘To you he was a sweet, lovable man. But he
had an-other side.”

Andrea closed her eyes and tried to steady
her breathing. “If this is what Charlene told

you—”

“No, cher. I’m telling you what I know for
myself,” Gran cut her off in a gentle yet firm voice.

Both women sat still and did not speak or
look at each other. The only sounds came from around them: the
whirring of the ceiling fans and birds calling to each other. The
occasional car rushed by on the road. Andrea neither heard nor saw
any of it. She was too engrossed in trying to absorb Gran’s
revelation. Gran spoke first.

“I’m sorry, cher. Your mama is gonna hit the
roof when she finds out I told you.”

Andrea’s face ached from tension. She fought
hard not to scream. “Was Daddy drunk the night he died in the car
wreck?”

Gran did not answer right away. First she
reached out and grasped one of Andrea’s hands. “He’d just left a
bar. There was a lot of alcohol in his blood, along with
cocaine.”

“So all these years I’ve only known half the
truth,” Andrea whispered.

“Your precious memories were all you had left
of him, cher. Your mama didn’t want you to lose those, too.” Gran
squeezed her hand tighter. ‘Talk to her about it.”

Andrea looked at her sharply. “There’s more,
isn’t there?”

“It’s been a long time since we faced the
pain. Talk to her,” was her only reply.

Gran stood as though the effort was almost
too much. Her steps seemed stiff as she walked into the house.
Andrea could have pressed her for more, but did not. She’d heard
more than enough for now. Her view of the past had been turned
upside down in seconds.

The afternoon slipped into evening without
Andrea noticing. She rocked back and forth slowly. Soon the flash
of headlights appeared as cars whizzed by on the road. Gran came
out.

“Come on inside, baby. Let’s look at some
television. You can spend the night here with me.” Gran put an arm
around her shoulder.

Andrea lifted Gran’s hand and kissed it.
“Thanks,

Gran. But I better go home. I don’t have
anything to wear to work.”

“Stay home tomorrow. You deserve to
rest.”

Andrea’s thoughts rushed back to the present
and Lee. She didn’t have the luxury of withdrawing into a shell of
self-pity. It wasn’t her style anyway.

“No. I’ll be fine, cher,” Andrea said. She
wore a shaky smile as she looked up into Gran’s eyes. A tear
slipped down her cheek.

Gran pulled her from the chair and into her
arms. Andrea buried her face in the cotton fabric of Gran’s dress.
Gran smelled of lemon and nutmeg. She hummed an old Creole song
soothingly as Andrea cried.

Lee kept his composure even when he saw
Andrea at the clinic. It took every ounce of control not to rush to
her side. She looked drained. Her smile was brittle as though it
would shatter at the least pressure. Each time staff approached,
she rubbed her forehead before answering their questions.

“You okay?” Katy gazed at her with a
concerned frown. She placed the back of her hand on Andrea’s
forehead. “You look weak to me. Something’s wrong.” Lee tensed when
Denny stopped sorting forms to look around. ‘Too many long days.
I’ve tried to tell her about that,” he put in quickly.

Andrea’s gaze darted to Lee, then away. She
brushed Katy’s hand away. “I’m all right.”

“Boss, you got that stressed-to-the limit
pallor,” Katy insisted. She took Andrea’s wrist and checked her
pulse. “Cut that out,” Andrea said irritably. She shook free

of Katy’s grasp. “Anybody would think I’m at
death’s door.”

“Yeah, and black folks don’t turn pale,”
Denny joked. Still, he stared at Andrea with interest.

“Denny’s right. Too many late nights, babe,”
Lee put in. He walked close to Andrea, wearing a sly grin.

Katy’s eyebrows shot up. “Re-ally?” she said.
She and Denny exchanged glances.

Denny laughed. Amusement replaced the
watchful look in his eyes. “Good move, man.” He winked at Lee.

“Can we talk in my office?” Andrea’s voice
was taut. Her brown eyes were bright with fury as she looked at
Lee.

“It’s kind of an open secret anyway, Andrea,”
Katy said. “So don’t be too hard on him. Miss LouAnn’s niece’s
daughter lives down the road from Miss Mavis and she saw
y’all—”

“Right, right,” Andrea cut her off and looked
at Lee. “My office.” She marched down the hall ahead of him.

“Duck and weave, bro,” Denny said to Lee, and
laughed again. “Yell if you need to be rescued.”

“I can handle her.” Lee wore a cocky
grin.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Katy tossed in.

Lee mused that Katy might well be right. He
headed for Andrea’s office expecting an explosion. When he walked
into the room, Andrea stood in the middle of the floor, shapely
legs apart and arms crossed. Her red skirt fell just above the
knee. Andrea was crisp and professional in a classic white linen
shirt and navy blue blazer. But at that moment she wore the
murderous expression of a warrior princess. She looked beautiful
even if she did want to strangle him.

“Close the door,” she commanded. The door had
barely clicked shut when she spoke again. “Just what the hell do
you think you’re doing?”

Lee walked around her to stand at the window.
He parted two slats in the blinds, and then faced her again. “Lower
your voice, babe.”

“I’m not your babe,” she snarled. “And how
dare you treat me like your hoochie in front of my staff!”

“I did not,” Lee said mildly.

“ ‘Too many late nights, babe.’ ” Andrea
mimicked him by imitating his deep voice and performing a
swaggering walk. “Why didn’t you just announce we had nonstop sex
all weekend?”

Lee started to laugh, and then choked it off.
“Ahem, I wish I could have.”

“I don’t think juvenile humor is called for,
Mr. Matthews.” Andrea’s voice seemed to strain with the effort not
to shout.

Lee struggled to get serious again. “You’re
right. I apologize.”

Andrea lifted her head and stared at him.
“For what? You’ve done so much lately. Seems to me you toss out
apologies a little too quick and easy.”

“I’m sorry I had to lie to you. I’m sorry
that Denny is in danger. And I’m sorry if I’ve done anything to
hurt you. The last person I’d ever want to hurt is you,
Andrea.”

At this distance the sweet smell of her was
too faint to satisfy his need. He took a step toward her and she
stepped back. A fist seemed to tighten around his heart in that
instant.

“No, stay right there. Don’t try that oily
charm on me this time.” Andrea voice shook and she looked
uncertain.

“How long are you going to punish me? That’s
what it is, you know. Being without you is pure hell,” he said. His
throat felt raw with emotion.

Andrea hugged herself as though for
protection. “This isn’t the time or place. We’ve got this
investigation going and—”