Lessons From a Younger Lover (6 page)

Gwen faced a barrage of mixed emotions as she drove to Chantay's apartment. Where had her calm life gone? And why was the usual placid, handle-any-circumstance Gwen on a perpetual emotional roller coaster? She wanted to blame her period, but it wasn't due for another two weeks. Of course, part of it was her mother's move and another part was her divorce from Joe Smith. And as significant as these events were, it chagrined her that they weren't the main reasons for her turmoil. She hadn't seen Ransom for several days, but he was never far from her mind.

Determined not to think about him, Gwen reached for the radio knob and turned up the sound. She'd brought along her favorite CD for this very reason—so she could tune out any unwanted thoughts and keep her mood happy. The
Greatest R&B Hits of 1984
CD switched from one song to another, and Gwen tapped out a beat on the steering wheel as she sang along to a Rockwell classic. As she thought about who might be watching her, a pair of coal black eyes swam into her consciousness.
Dangit. What's the matter with me?
she thought. Gwen considered herself a self-contained, practical adult, not prone to flights of fancy or childish crushes. That she couldn't seem to shake a man who obviously thought he was God's gift was getting on her nerves. Peeved, she punched the CD track button again.

“…and now it's solid…solid as a rock!”

Ashford and Simpson could normally take Gwen straight back into junior year and the Showtime skating rink with Chantay and company. But now all that thinking about something solid did was take her back into the memory of that hard chest she ran into on her first visit to Kristy's. She tried not to react, but her body wouldn't listen. A squiggly feeling fluttered inside her va-jay-jay. She squeezed her thighs together, getting angrier by the minute at the man who'd cast his spell over her and awakened a sexual hunger she hadn't known existed.

“Jesus Christ! Is there nothing that can stop me from thinking about that man?” She punched the CD button once more and New Edition had a message for her. She smoldered at first but by the time the cutesy chorus came around, she couldn't help but laugh at the answer that seemingly came from above. Yes, she definitely needed to cool it immediately. Gwen laughed out loud, pushed the repeat button, and jammed with her teenage heartthrobs until she pulled into Chantay's driveway.

Gwen stood amazed as she eyed the young woman who stood almost as tall as she. “This can't be Sharonna,” she exclaimed, as a totally disinterested teenager shifted from one foot to another.

“Mama, dang. Can I go with Niecy 'nem? I've asked you twice.”

“And if you ask me again the answer will definitely be no, how 'bout that? And did you say hello to Gwen? You probably don't remember her from Mama's funeral last year, but this is my best friend from high school, best friend in the world. You'd better recognize and show some respect!”

“Hi,” Sharonna said, with all the enthusiasm of a meat-lover in a vegetarian restaurant.

“You're becoming an attractive young woman, Sharonna.”

“Yeah, and she's grown into a hot-to-trot boy chaser too. She can't like the good ones, always has to go after the hardheads.”

Gwen didn't comment, remembering how nice guys like her brother had finished last with Chantay as well.

Sharonna said nothing either, just squirmed as the question of whether she could go with her friends threatened to erupt from her mouth yet again. Knowing if she stomped off, that would surely get her an ix-nay on the all-may, she walked over to the living room and slouched down on the couch.

“Get your butt on out of here and don't make me have to come looking for you!”

The last part of Chantay's sentence was to Sharonna's back, as her daughter covered the distance between the couch and the front door in two seconds flat. Her “bye” came after the door was already closed.

“She's just like you,” Gwen said, laughing.

“I know. That's what I'm afraid of,” Chantay replied. “I made sure she's on the pill but still….”

“She's sexually active?” Gwen tried not to be judgmental, but thought sixteen too young for intimacy.

“Girl, please, for at least a year. Be glad you don't have kids. Especially living here in LA.”

“Things sure are different than when we were growing up.”

“Hmph. Not too…”

Gwen fixed Chantay with a questioning look. “How old were you?”

Chantay sighed and walked behind the bar counter into the kitchen.

“Can I get you something? You want a glass of wine?”

“No, I never drink and drive. What else do you have?”

Chantay poured a glass of orange juice for Gwen and for herself a glass of wine. While talking, she motioned them over from the combination dining room-kitchen area to the living room, where bright sunlight streamed in through the patio doors.

“Girl, I thought you knew Mike took my cherry when I was fifteen.”

Gwen was shocked. “No!”

“What, you thought Robert was the first?”

“Ooh, girl, stop. The last thing I need is a reminder that you and my brother did it.”

“You always were kinda prudish, weren't you?”

“With two brothers acting like bodyguards, threatening their friends if they hurt me, what do you expect?”

“What about after we graduated, when your brothers weren't around? Joe was what, only your second or third lover? And you never talked about y'all's sex life. Must not have been that good.”

“Contrary to what you believe, Chantay, sex isn't everything.”

“Trust, you're just talking nonsense 'cause you haven't had that kitty petted right yet.”

“Uh, I think that's a good note on which to change the subject. Are you coming with me to the shop?”

“No, my neighbor's going to redo my braids.”

“I thought that was part of our hang-out time, getting our hair done,” Gwen protested.

“I'll still get a mani/pedi and a facial. That's about how long it'll take for you anyways.” Chantay paused and took a long swallow of merlot. “So give me the update.”

“On what?”

“What else? Ransom!”

Gwen got up from the couch and peered through the patio door into the August sunshine. “Why did I ever even ask you about him?”

“Because I'm your friend and you want my advice on catching his fine ass. If he's anywhere close to the man you described…baby! You'd better strike while the iron is hot.”

“I'm not going to strike anything. I only asked about him because he didn't look like any of the families we grew up with.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And I find him exasperating; he acts as if he knows I'm going to give in to his flirtations and that just makes me more determined to stay away.”

“I see.”

Gwen came back and flopped on the couch. “Obviously you don't. He's probably screwed half the women in town, and I never was the type who wanted to be at the end of a long list. You remember how many of our classmates used to lie and say they'd had me just because nobody had. And you know the mantra Mama drilled into me every week. Keep your panties up and your dress down, hon, else you'll end up on the—”

“Front page of the
Sienna Sun
!” Gwen and Chantay finished together.

“How old is he?”

Gwen shrugged her shoulders. “Younger than me. Now that you mention it, he's probably quite a bit younger than me. Strike two.”

Chantay rolled her eyes. “For a woman married ten years, you sure sound naive. The younger they are, the better, girl. All that stamina, plus you can train 'em.”

“No, Chantay,
you
can. Any child I teach will be in my first-grade class room. This is a moot conversation because of strike three—I'm still married. Have you forgotten that?”

“No, but I wish you would. Because you're not really married, just waiting to go before the judge to make your divorce final. Does it look like Joe is waiting until the divorce is official? He barely waited until the ink was dry on your petition. Oh, my bad. He didn't wait. He started screwing his little Mitzi mistress before there even was a petition.”

“Are you trying to piss me off?”

“Wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last. Sure you don't want one glass of wine before we leave?”

Gwen turned the corner onto her block and was surprised at what she saw: Adam's Porsche parked by the curb in front of her mother's house. A slight frown formed on her face as she parked behind it. What was he doing here? Had she rebuffed him to the point where he'd gotten school administrators to rescind their job offer? Gwen needed this job, not just for the money, but for her sanity. She tried to remain calm as she opened her car door and walked up the steps, but by the time she put her key in the front door lock, she was a bundle of nerves.

“Where the hell have you been?” was the unexpected greeting that met her own incredulity in the audacity of the man before her.

“What do you mean, ‘where have I been'? What are you doing in my house?” In a rare move, Gwen walked toward Ransom instead of away from him, pointing her finger at his chest.

Crossing his arms over his chest in a gesture as defiant as his wide-legged stance, Ransom glared. He looked like a gloriously adorned stallion warrior, even wearing jeans and a simple T-shirt, but Gwen fought hard against this unwanted observation. Thankfully, her anger pushed past the usual paralysis that gripped her whenever she came within feet of this man.

“You are the most conceited, bullheaded man I've ever met, and that you'd have the nerve, the balls, the unmitigated gall to come
to
my house, let alone
in
my house, uninvited, bothering my mother…wait. Where is my mother?”

“So, you've finally gotten around to thinking about someone besides yourself. She's at the hospital. Let's go.

“She passed out,” Ransom continued as he led a bewildered Gwen to the car, opened the door, and helped her in. “I was repairing Miss Mary's back porch steps when she came running. She'd dialed nine-one-one, but was beside herself and couldn't remember what she'd done with your cell number.”

Gwen said nothing, reached for her cell phone. She couldn't think, even to dial information for the hospital number. Then she realized she didn't even know which hospital her mom was in.

“Where'd they take her?”

“Bradley Memorial. We'll be there in five minutes.” Her wide-eyed question asked so desperately squeezed Ransom's heart. He reached over and took her trembling hand in his. “It's going to be okay.”

His voice was the soothing one he used to tell Isis her ouchies would heal. If this were Isis, he'd take his daughter in his arms, squeeze her tight, and rock her until she fell asleep. He wanted to do the same thing to the woman beside him.

“Where's Miss Mary?” Gwen's voice was timid, strained. “I should have been here,” she whispered, as tears threatened.

Guilt racked her as she thought of the fun, carefree afternoon she'd spent with Chantay. After their beauty shop appointment, they'd gone to a spa for massages and then out to eat. She'd called her mother from the restaurant and everything was fine: Miss Mary was over and they were playing gin rummy. That's why taking in a movie once they'd left the restaurant hadn't seemed like a big deal. Until now.

“She rode in the ambulance with your mother.”

Gwen's brows furrowed in confusion and worry. “Where's Adam?”

“What?”

“Adam. Where is he? And why are you driving his car?”

“This is my car. I've let Adam use it the past couple weeks.”

“Why in the world would you do that?”

Ransom looked over quickly. She didn't know he and Adam were brothers? He scowled, thinking of something else. It was just three or so weeks ago that Adam had asked to borrow the Porsche. Was Gwen the woman he was trying to…? “Is there something going on between you and him?”

“I don't know that that is any of your business.”

“Actually it is.”

“And how is that?”

“Because I know Adam and I like you, and if he thinks he's going to…treat you the way he does most women, there's getting ready to be a problem because I won't let that happen.”

The hospital was just ahead. Gwen's focus went immediately back to her mother. But as they turned into the parking lot, she found herself asking, “How do you know about Adam?”

“He's my brother.”

Gwen didn't have time to absorb this shocking news. The Porsche had barely stopped rolling before she was out of the car and running through the short hallway to the hospital's front desk.

“I'm here to see about my mother, Lorraine Andrews?”

The nurse clicked a few keys on the computer keyboard before replying. “She's still in with the doctors. If you'd like to have a seat, I'll let you know as soon as she's been moved to a room where you can visit her.”

“I need to see her now!”

“Please, Miss…what's your name?”

“Gwen, Gwen Smith. I'm her daughter. I need to see for myself that she's okay.”

Just then, Miss Mary, who'd been sitting in the waiting room opposite the nurses' station, walked up to Gwen. “Calm down, baby,” she said, even before reaching her. “The doctors are with her now and we can't go in there.”

Gwen hugged Miss Mary and tried to keep her composure. “What happened?”

“We were in her house talking and watching TV. Then all of a sudden, Lo said she felt light-headed. I got up to get her a glass of water. When I came back, she was slumped over on the couch. I couldn't wake her. I couldn't get her to…” Miss Mary felt tears threatening and couldn't go on. “She's going to be all right,” she finished lamely, although at that moment neither woman believed that was true.

Gwen looked helplessly at the nurse, whose tawny-colored eyes were full of compassion. “I do understand, Miss Smith. But your mother is being examined by two very capable doctors. Just try and stay calm…and maybe say a prayer or two?”

When Gwen's stormy yet worried facial expression remained unchanged, the nurse stood. “Tell you what. I'll go in and take a quick peek myself so I can give you a personal update. How's that?”

Gwen nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Nothing could happen to her mother, not now. She could barely deal with the changes that had already taken place. Gwen turned toward the hall the nurse had gone down and ran a worried hand through her hair.

“It's okay,” Ransom said, coming up behind her and taking her gently in his arms. For once, she didn't pull away, but rather turned into his comforting embrace. No words were spoken; none were necessary. At this moment she needed a shoulder to lean on and didn't care whose. And she wouldn't dare admit how glad she was that it belonged to the stranger named Ransom.

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith?” The warm voice that interrupted the peaceful interlude with its mistaken salutation jerked Gwen back into both the reality of the moment and the inappropriateness of what had just happened. She didn't want to lead this man on. But that was a matter for later.

“Oh no, we're not…I mean…yes, I'm Gwen Smith.”

“Dr. Rolette here.”

They shook hands. “How's my mother?”

“We're going to have to conduct more tests before we have an answer. For now, her vitals are stabilized and she's breathing on her own.”

“On her own? You mean—”

The doctor placed a comforting hand on Gwen's arm. “Your mother wasn't responsive when the paramedics arrived at her house. They had to use methods to help her breathe until she could do so on her own.”

Gwen's shoulders slumped and she fought to control the tears. As much as she wanted to fold herself into the hard body standing next to her, that was not an option. She needed to be strong.

Miss Mary sensed Gwen's vulnerability and took her hand. “What do we need to do?” Mary asked.

“Nothing right now. You can go in to see her. She's resting comfortably. What we want to do is transfer her to a larger hospital in the Los Angeles area, one with more sophisticated equipment than what's available here. Have them do a more extensive physical, a CAT scan, and MRI.”

Gwen looked down the hall. “What room is she in?”

The doctor answered Gwen's question. “But don't stay too long,” he added. “Rest is what Mrs. Andrews needs right now. In fact, she may be sleeping. If so, don't wake her. Just know she's okay.”

Gwen nodded, whispered a thank you, and began walking quickly down the hall. Ransom followed after her, and Miss Mary worked to catch up.

“Ransom,” Gwen said, as she stopped and turned, “could you do me a favor and give Miss Mary a ride home? I'm sure she's exhausted. I'm going to stay here with Mama until she wakes up, and then catch a cab when I'm ready to go home.”

“I don't like leaving you here alone,” he responded.

“I can catch my own cab,” Mary added.

“Please, I know you guys mean well, but I'm really okay to handle things from here. I'm going to call my brothers and I'm sure Robert will come right away. I'm okay, really.”

Ransom pulled out his cell phone. “Give me your number.” He looked at her with determined eyes, and without the usual flirtatious smile that accompanied this request.

Gwen complied. “Can you also write it on the board in Miss Mary's kitchen when you get there? That way, she'll have it right in front of her should she ever need to contact me again.”

Ransom nodded, and after looking at Gwen intently, took her in his arms. This time Gwen was stiff, back on guard. After only seconds, she pushed away. “Thank you,” she said without emotion.

She turned to Miss Mary and gave her a longer, more enveloping hug. “I'm in your debt,” she whispered to the slight, older lady. “Thank you so much.”

As she hurried down the hall, Ransom called after her. “Hey, Gwen!”

She stopped and turned around.

“You're in mine too.” The flirtatious, confident smile had returned.