Love Me Now (17 page)

“When's the last time I fired you?” he asked.

“Two weeks ago,” she said, smiling happily.

“So I guess it's about time I fired you again.”

She laughed. “Come on, big brother, you know that Iceman stuff won't work with me. Remember, I know you too well. You're all mean and stern outside, but inside, where it counts, you're a softie. Wait…is Mamma Lou involved in this?”

“No, at least I don't think so. Why, what do you know?” he asked, his voice strained with added concern.

“So tell me about her. Was this the urban-legend third date or something?”

“What do you mean urban-legend third date?”

“Come on, you know that you can barely stand two dates at most with any one woman. Anything more than that and it's an urban legend.”

“It wasn't a date.”

“A booty call?” she questioned. Trey looked at her fiercely. “And touchy about her, hmm, interesting. But a nanny, really, Trey, isn't that a bit clichéd?”

“She's not a nanny,” he said as he sipped his coffee. He instantly grimaced.

“Oh, that's right. She's a children's clothes designer.”

Trey glared again. “Don't you have a job to get to?” he asked, then turned to put cream and sugar in his cup.

“I just got fired.”

“You're hired again, now go to work.”

Regina smiled. Working for her brother wasn't exactly what she intended to do for the rest of her life, but it was something until she decided what she wanted. He was an impossible boss, demanding and intimidating. Those fortunate enough to work for him did it at one hundred and ten percent every day. “Keep that up and I won't give you her message.”

Trey instantly turned. “What message?”

“Tell me about her first,” Regina said.

“You can be such a brat sometimes.”

“That's what younger sisters do. So tell me about her. She designs children's clothes. What else?”

“What else did you talk about?”

“This and that, you know, girl talk.”

“Girl talk again, huh. Could you be a bit more specific?” he asked.

“You're stalling,” Regina said.

Trey sighed, knowing that even after all these years, he'd never get the best of his sister. “Fine, we met yesterday. Mamma Lou thinks we're dating.”

“So Mamma Lou
is
involved in this,” she said, chuckling. “Okay, tell me, what would make Mamma Lou think you're dating?” Regina asked.

“Kenya was here when Mamma Lou stopped by to see the twins. She assumed, so I let her. What's the message?”

Regina looked at her watch. “You're right. I need to get to work. I've got a conference call first thing.” She stood, walked over to the sink and rinsed out her cup. “Thanks for the coffee,” she said then left.

Trey shook his head as he watched her walk out of the kitchen. His sister could be the biggest pain at times. She constantly insisted on butting into his life.

He grabbed his cup and sat down at the counter. The newspaper was in shambles, as usual, when Regina read it first. He sorted through the jumbled pages and found the business section. As soon as he settled to read the financial review, Regina stuck her head back in. “Tell him that I enjoyed doing business with him.”

Trey didn't bother looking up, but he did smile. It sounded just like her. Then, remembering the night before, his smile broadened. Her impetuous, insatiable appetite was unexpected, but well-received. He never expected to find himself so completely taken with a woman. But there was something
about her that had captured him. Yeah, his sister was right, she was definitely something special.

He sipped his coffee and made a few phone calls. The peace and quiet afforded him a few minutes to attend to business. Afterward he turned on the kitchen television and watched a few early-morning business programs. But to his surprise he found the complete silence distracting. He missed the twins already.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang. He hurried to answer. Louise and Colonel Wheeler stood with Jonathan and Johanna.

“Good morning, we're here,” Louise said enthusiastically.

“Hey, come on in,” Trey said happily. “Hey, little guys, how are you? Did you have a good time last night? Where's my hug?” He opened his arms. Both Johanna and Jonathan, dressed in pink and blue rain slickers, respectively, grabbed him. Slightly damp, he stood up and bounced, causing them to squeal and laugh. He turned them around quickly then headed inside.

Louise followed Trey and the twins, and Colonel Wheeler followed her, carrying several overnight bags. Trey placed the twins on the floor beside two toy rocking horses. The twins immediately ran over and jumped on.

“So how were they?” Trey asked.

“They were little angels, of course,” Louise said, helping them remove their rain slickers. Colonel Wheeler started chuckling. Louise glanced over to him. “Although they had poor Otis here running around all morning.”

“It was my pleasure,” he said. “But remind me never to play ball with those two again. They're like little Energizer Bunnies. They never get tired.”

“Yep, made that mistake yesterday,” Trey said, laughing. “I finally tossed the ball behind the sofa. I believe it's still there.”

“Now you tell me,” Colonel Wheeler said.

Johanna got off the horse and ran into the living room. Jonathan followed her. Louise followed them both. “How about some coffee?” Trey asked Colonel Wheeler.

“Now that's what I'm talking about,” Colonel Wheeler said happily. “Lead the way.”

They went into the kitchen. Trey poured Colonel Wheeler a cup of coffee and topped off his own. They sat down at the kitchen table and talked about the twins, then politics, then business and sports. The exuberant conversation finally slowed as Trey poured two more cups. “You know she adores you, don't you?” Colonel Wheeler asked in that respectful fatherly tone he had.

“Who?” Trey asked, taken off guard by the sudden change in topic.

“Louise. She wants the best for you.”

Trey smiled. “I adore her, too. She's a sweet lady, but don't tell her I said that. It might ruin our ongoing opposition.” Colonel Wheeler chuckled and nodded. “I know she adores and wants the best for me, but does that necessarily have to mean marriage?”

“You sound just like I did at your age. Man, I fought like the devil to stay single. It worked, too. No complications, no drama and no commitments. I loved being free as a bird to come and go as I pleased.”

“See, that's it right there,” Trey declared. “Freedom—is that too much to hope for? Yeah, I see my family and friends all getting hooked up, but it's not for me. I'm not that guy.”

“Want to hear a word of wisdom from an old freedom seeker?”

“Sure.”

“We're all that guy. Sometimes we just don't realize it in time to do something about it.”

“Regrets?” Trey asked.

“No, no—no regrets, just missed opportunities.”

“What do you mean?”

Colonel Wheeler smiled and shook his head pensively. He signed heavily. “I've known Louise for a lot longer than most realize.”

“Really? I presumed you met years ago on the island after her husband died. How long have you known Mamma Lou?”

Otis smiled. “I don't remember not knowing her.”

He paused. Trey smiled, letting his comment rest with both of them. The simple words held power—
I don't remember not knowing her.
For the first time he actually saw how much Otis Wheeler loved Louise Gates.

“Yes, we did meet after her husband died, but that was our second meeting,” he finally continued. Trey looked surprised. “Yes, we'd known each other years before that, before she married Jonathan, before she moved to Crescent Island.”

“You were lovers,” Trey surmised, less surprised than he expected to be.

Colonel Wheeler sighed then looked away.
“Lovers
…the word sounds so inadequate. That summer we had something so strong it defied words. Boyfriend, girlfriend, lovers—those words couldn't nearly describe our love. What we had was far more than that, than anything. I loved her with a passion that was more than my life. The sun rose and set on her as far as I was concerned. She was—
is
—everything to me. But the military was my life and foolishly my freedom was too important to me. I thought loving her meant losing it, so I panicked. I was a fool.”

“Wow, that's deep.”

“Oh, yeah, it was deep, all right. We had that kind of love that most people only dreamed about—all-consuming passion. I burned for her. From the first instant I laid eyes on her.” He paused again.

“What?” Trey asked curiously.

“I saw her but she didn't see me. Tuskegee, Alabama. She was with some friends at a restaurant. I watched her damn near the whole time she was sitting there. Man, she was a vision. Dressed in lavender, I'll never forget. She laughed and the beauty of her spirit captured me instantly. Just as she was about to leave, I walked up and introduced myself.”

“And it was love at first sight, right?”

Colonel Wheeler laughed. “Hell no, she nearly ripped my head off. Oh, she had a temper that day. See, opening lines weren't exactly my strong suit back then. There was no manual on pickup lines.” Trey joined in the laughter. “No, she disliked me on sight, had something to do with a small thing called reputation.”

“You were a player,” Trey guessed.

“I handled my business,” he said tactfully.

“So what did you do?”

“I wooed her. Man, I spent every cent I had on flowers and candy. She sent every last thing right back to me. I didn't know what to do. She was in my blood by then. I couldn't think of anything but her.”

“How long did all this take?”

“Three, maybe four days,” Colonel Wheeler said.

“That's all? Four days doesn't seem like a lot of time to know that it's really love,” Trey said, astonished by the short duration of time.

“Trey, if you hear nothing else, hear this—love, real love, when you feel it inside won't be about time or duration or opportunity, it's about knowing.”

“Knowing.”

Colonel Wheeler nodded. “Knowing without a doubt, with every fiber of your being, that that person is put on this earth to be with you and only you. You can mess it up with foolish
nonsense. But believe me, you will never experience the joy of true love without trying.”

Trey nodded his understanding. “So what happened?”

“I stopped running around like a fool. I realized that I'd fallen in love the first time I saw her. She didn't need all that stuff I was sending. So one afternoon I grabbed a couple of vending machine sandwiches. I found her sitting on a park bench reading. I sat down and honestly talked with her. We must have sat there for hours. I'll never forget that day, it rained cats and dogs.”

“Did it work?”

“It wasn't meant to work. You see, I didn't do it to win her, I did it to know her. I just needed to hear her voice. We spent the rest of the weekend together. In three days I knew I was in love.”

“Three days.”

“That's all it took. Love isn't about time, it's about the heart.”

“But then you lost touch,” Trey said. “The war?”

“No, I walked away, too scared to commit,” he said.

“But what about being in love?” Trey asked.

“Louise wanted a future with me and I wanted my freedom. It was the worst decision I ever made. I kept up with her life over the years, her marriage and children. Then Jonathan died. I retired and moved to Crescent Island.”

“So when are you headed back?”

Colonel Wheeler laughed out loud. “Subtlety isn't exactly your strong suit, is it?”

“That's not exactly how I meant it,” Trey said.

“No need to apologize, it's not the first time I've been asked that question. I remember your cousin J.T. had that same idea in mind. Every time Louise showed up, he'd break into a cold sweat. She has that effect on men.”

“Yes, she certainly does. This may be a crazy question, but have you ever considered asking her to marry you? Maybe
she's been playing matchmaker setting people up because no one ever did it for her.”

“I asked a few times, about a thousand or so. She always says the same thing. Our time is past.”

“I don't think so,” Trey said.

“Neither do I, but I'll keep asking.”

“And one of these days maybe she'll say yes.”

“Careful there, Trey, you're beginning to sound like a romantic.”

Trey laughed. “Yeah, I guess I am at that.”