Midnight Promises (13 page)

Karen merely smiled. “As welcoming as always, I see,” she said.

Wincing, Adelia drew in a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m in a nasty mood and you were the first person to cross my path. Please, come in. I could probably use some civilized company to help me remember my manners.”

Karen, her expression undaunted, which was a change from the past, stepped inside, then held out Selena’s party dress.

“I thought I should return this,” she said.

Adelia regarded her ruefully. “You probably should have cut it to shreds. I can’t believe my daughter behaved so badly. Is Daisy okay? I haven’t let Selena go by Mama’s after school. I didn’t want to take a chance on those two getting into it again.” She shrugged. “Besides, Selena’s grounded for a month and that shouldn’t include any of Mama’s after-school treats.”

Karen smiled. “I appreciate your concern for Daisy’s feelings.” Her expression turned serious. “How is Selena? Elliott’s been worried about her, too.”

Now, there was a complicated mess, Adelia thought. If anything, Selena’s state of mind was even more precarious with Ernesto absent.

“She’ll be fine,” she said eventually.

“And you?” Karen asked hesitantly.

Adelia frowned. “Why would you ask about me? What did my brother blab to you?”

“It wasn’t blabbing,” Karen replied with a frown. “He’s concerned, that’s all.”

“Well, there’s nothing to be concerned about,” Adelia insisted. “Ernesto and I will always have our ups and downs. He’s a volatile man, and, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I have a temper of my own.”

Karen nodded. “I know we’re not exactly friends, Adelia, though I’d like us to be closer for Elliott’s sake. Still, I am a halfway decent listener, and thanks to what I went through with my first husband, I have some experience with a troubled marriage. At the least I could be a sounding board, if you ever need one.”

“I have sisters and a mother,” Adelia replied, then cringed at the dismissive sound of her words, as if Karen didn’t measure up on whatever scale she used for who qualified to listen. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I do appreciate the offer.”

Karen shrugged. “It’s always on the table.” She leveled a surprisingly steady look into Adelia’s eyes. “And you might want to keep in mind that I may have a perspective they don’t have, given their quick tendency to make judgments.”

Startled by Karen’s perceptiveness, Adelia chuckled. “You get that, do you?”

“I was on the receiving end of it,” Karen reminded her. “Believe me, I get it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Adelia said, meaning it. She sensed that one of these days she was going to need an objective ear as she poured out all the problems in her marriage. Karen might be the very best person to hear her complaints. She looked her in the eye.

“I think maybe I’ve misjudged you,” Adelia said quietly. “I’m sorry for that.”

“And maybe I kept my defenses in place for too long around you,” Karen said, giving her hand a squeeze. “We both love Elliott, and he sees something special in both of us. That ought to give us a starting point, don’t you think?”

Adelia smiled. “Actually I do.”

Karen looked pleased. “Well, I’d better run. I’m due at Sullivan’s. I’m working the late shift today. Give Elliott a call. Maybe you all could take the kids out for dinner together on neutral turf this evening. I’m thinking McDonald’s. He thinks I don’t know he takes Daisy and Mack there, but I know all about it. Never trust a seven-year-old with a secret.”

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Adelia laughed. “Tell me about it.”

In fact, that’s what scared her about the current situation that her own children would go blabbing to everyone that daddy hadn’t been coming home. And when that news leaked, all hell was likely to break loose in her family.

7

E
lliott’s suggestion that they have dinner at Rosalina’s again on the Saturday after margarita night caught Karen by surprise.

“It’s all arranged,” he assured her. “Mama said she’d keep the kids overnight and take them to church Sunday morning.”

“But you’re usually exhausted on Saturdays,” Karen replied. “And I have to work during the day, so I’ll probably be beat, too. Are you sure you want to go out? We should probably spend the evening with the kids.”

“They love spending the night at Mama’s, and I want some private time with my wife,” he’d told her. “We’ve both had a busy week, and we vowed to make time for each other, didn’t we? I’m determined to stick to our plan.”

She’d acquiesced because it was obviously important to him that he keep his word about making these so-called date nights more frequent.

Now that they were at Rosalina’s, though, she wondered about the wisdom of coming on a Saturday. It had been so long since she’d been out on a Saturday night, she’d forgotten what it could be like. The friendly place was filled with families and teenagers on dates. The noise level was crazy. She met her husband’s gaze.

“If you were counting on quiet and romantic, I don’t think this is the place,” she said.

“Anyplace with you is romantic,
querida.
This will be fine.”

Surprised that he wanted to stay, she shrugged and followed him to an available booth. When he sat beside her, rather than across from her, she chuckled. “I think I’m beginning to see your strategy. If it’s noisy, you have the perfect excuse for sitting practically on top of me and whispering in my ear.”

He laughed. “Caught me,” he said unrepentantly.

They placed an order for salad, pizza and icy mugs of beer, then settled back into the booth, Elliott’s arm draped around her shoulder. She slanted a look at him.

“Okay, mister, what’s really going on?”

He tried his best to look innocent, but he couldn’t quite pull it off. Eventually, under her unrelenting gaze, he gave up.

“We need to talk about the gym,” he confessed.

Karen stilled at his somber tone. “You haven’t said much about it since you all got together the other night. Is there a problem?”

A part of her honestly hoped there was. Maybe if the others called it off, she and Elliott could move forward with their own plans for increasing the size of their family. Even as the thought crossed her mind, though, she knew how selfish it was. This business venture obviously meant a lot to him and, he clearly believed, to their family’s future.

Elliott took a sip of his beer, then nodded. “I don’t think it’s a big problem, but you might.”

That didn’t sound good, she thought, though she was trying to remain at least neutral until she heard the rest. “Just tell me.”

“The start-up figures are finalized, and they’re a little higher than we anticipated,” he admitted.

“How much higher?” she asked tightly, already seeing that this conversation was likely to deteriorate faster than a match burned out. “And what does that mean for you? You’re already talking about using almost everything we have in savings, Elliott.”

“We have a little more,” he said, holding her gaze. “And we have some equity in the house.”

Her heart honestly seemed to stop in her chest. “You can’t be serious,” she said incredulously. “You want to take all of our savings
and
get a second mortgage on the house? Not a chance, Elliott. I mean it. That’s our home. I won’t let you put it at risk.”

“It’s just a few thousand dollars extra,” he argued. “It’ll be short-term. We’ll put that money back in within a few months, tops.”

She continued to regard him with disbelief. “It’s not just about a few thousand dollars. It’s our home! Our safety net! After what Ray did, how could you give serious thought to doing anything like this? You know how many times I came close to being evicted and out on the streets with two kids. You know how close I came to having to declare bankruptcy. What would make you think I’d ever consider anything that might put my family in that position again?”

“Just hear me out,” he pleaded.

“No,” she said, trying to push him out of her way so she could leave. Unfortunately he was like a block of granite, close to impossible to budge. Since she couldn’t leave, she settled for reminding him, “My name is on the deed to the house right along with yours. The bank will never okay a loan without me signing off on it, and I won’t. I promise you, Elliott, I won’t do it.”

She could hardly bear to look at the hurt in his eyes when she said it, because she needed to cling to every ounce of anger coursing through her. Someone in this family needed to be sensible, and obviously it was up to her.

“Karen, be reasonable. We agreed to talk about these decisions. That doesn’t mean you get to make them unilaterally.”

“Nor do you.”

He sighed. “True, but if you would just listen, you’d see that this whole thing is solid. Cal’s done some market research.”

She lifted a brow. “He’s talked to some of the dads from school, I imagine.”

Elliott winced, proving the accuracy of her guess.

“My point is that there’s a need for this gym. What we’re putting into it is a pittance compared to the rewards.”

“The
potential
rewards,” she corrected. “There’s nothing certain when it comes to business, Elliott. Serenity’s not a huge town. The economy’s still weak. People don’t have a lot of disposable income.”

“I’m sure people said the same thing to Dana Sue when she wanted to open Sullivan’s in a town where Wharton’s burgers were considered the equivalent of haute cuisine,” Elliott replied. “And look at what Ronnie’s done with his hardware business, even though the last hardware store in that space was failing. He had a unique vision and he made it work.”

She couldn’t argue with either example, but they didn’t change her mind.

“Still not convinced?” he guessed. “Then take a look at The Corner Spa. Maddie, Helen and Dana Sue had zero experience with running a spa, but it’s got a statewide reputation. This gym will have me. I’ve spent years in the fitness business. I know a lot of people. I have a reputation for knowing what I’m doing.”

Since she could tell he wasn’t going to let her escape until he’d had his say, she tried to relax. “Elliott, I’m not questioning your expertise as a personal trainer. I’ve seen the results you can get for myself, after all. This isn’t about believing in you.”

He cupped a hand under her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “Yes, it is. Opportunities like this don’t come along every day, Karen. Can’t you please take this leap of faith for me? For us?”

She heard the plea in his voice and wanted desperately to give him her full support, but how could she? What if they were ruined? She wasn’t sure she could go through anything like that again.

“I want this for you,” she said, trying to make him understand. “If I had a crystal ball and could see into the future and know that this was going to be a huge success, or even a solid break-even business, I’d back you a hundred percent. But life doesn’t work that way.”

“You’re letting fear overrule reason,” he accused.

“I probably am,” she agreed candidly. “I just don’t see another choice. Maybe I could live with you using the last of the savings, but not the equity in our house. That’s a deal breaker for me. If the others have so much faith in this, let them pick up the slack. As you said, most of them have thriving businesses. Their financial lives are more stable than ours.”

“They offered,” he admitted.

“Well, there you are,” she said, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. “There’s a solution. I’m not single-handedly destroying your dream.”

“No,” he said wearily. “Just my pride.” He stood up then. “I need to go for a walk. I’ll be back before our food comes.”

“Elliott!” she called after him, but he either didn’t hear her or, more likely, ignored her.

She sat there in a daze, wishing she could just walk out but knowing that wasn’t an answer. As difficult as this conversation had been, they’d needed to have it. And, amazingly, she’d learned something about herself, something that almost brought a smile to her lips. She’d held her own. That alone was worth celebrating.

She only hoped she didn’t lose her husband because of it.

* * *

Elliott paced the jammed parking lot at Rosalina’s for ten minutes, pausing only to slam his fist into the hood of his car from time to time, hoping to work off his temper.

Karen was right. He knew she was, at least from her perspective. He’d handled this all wrong from the beginning. Maybe if he’d brought her into the conversation from the outset, when Erik and the others had first approached him with the idea, she’d be more predisposed to be enthusiastic.

What was he supposed to do now? He wasn’t going to walk away from this. Every time he got together with the guys, his excitement grew. Despite his own devil’s-advocate stances the other night, he was convinced the gym would be successful as long as they managed their investment and their expenses prudently.

But as determined as he was, he also knew he didn’t dare go behind Karen’s back and seek out a loan against their home. Even he could see that not only would the deception destroy all trust between them, but it probably would be financially foolish.

“You look like a man who’s just had a very uncomfortable conversation with his wife,” Cal said as he approached Elliott in the parking lot.

Elliott sighed. “You have no idea.”

Cal laughed, though the situation was hardly worthy of amusement. “I think I do. Maddie and I had just sat down across the room when we spotted you. I could tell it wasn’t going well and had a pretty good idea about why.” His expression sobered. “Elliott, if this project is going to put stress on your marriage, maybe we need to rethink it.”

“No,” Elliott said. “I want to do this. I think it’s my chance to do something bigger than just exercise classes or personal training. I love working with people, but having a business, a club in which I have a personal stake, could ultimately give Karen and me the financial stability she’s desperate for us to have. It’s ironic really that she’s so afraid of the short-term risk, she can’t see the long-term potential at all.”

“Can you blame her?” Cal asked reasonably.

“Of course I don’t blame her,” Elliott said in frustration. “I know exactly where she’s coming from. Ray burned her. He burned her bad.” It suddenly struck him that Cal had said something about Maddie. He hadn’t seen her out here, though. “Where’s Maddie, by the way?”

“I left her in there talking to Karen. Maybe she’s had time enough to get through to her. Want to go back in and check? I don’t know about you, but I’m starved, and I doubt either one of them will bring us take-out here in the parking lot.”

Elliott regarded him with surprise. “Maddie’s ticked off, too?”

“She thinks we’re a bunch of male dolts who’ve mishandled this from the beginning, so she’s in there sympathizing.”