An Offer He Cant Refuse - By Christie Ridgway Page 0,112
him too long as it was," Rachele said. All that time telling herself he loved her, when all that time he hadn't wanted love and hadn't wanted to give love back. What a fool she'd been.
"Let's think of something else," she said, tugging Cal down another path. "Let's think about the future. You can help me pick a career. What do you think I should do? Radio
DJ? Chef? Or should I fall back on my childhood dream of becoming a professional in-line skater?"
They'd reached the man-made lagoon that Tea had partially shielded with trellises to hide the crumbling retaining walls. Filled with nervous energy, Rachele jumped on top of the rock ledge and wavered to keep her balance. Cal grabbed her hand to steady her.
"Tea fell backward into the water here the first time Johnny and I met her," Cal said, squeezing her fingers. "You don't want to fall in her footsteps."
She smiled down at him. "Now you're funny." Then she sighed. "But to tell the truth, I'm actually thinking of following in her footsteps."
"How so?"
Twin moons reflected in Cal's glasses. Rachele hesitated. With her father's true colors now revealed, she hated the idea of losing the only other man in her life. She drew in a breath, let it out. "I've been thinking about going to design school in L.A."
The moonglow in Cal's lenses made it impossible to read his expression. "That's what Tea did?"
"Yeah." She started walking atop the ledge of the lagoon, and Cal walked beside her, his feet on solid ground.
"It would be hard to leave Palm Springs," Rachele continued, "and... everyone here." The valley had cupped her in its warm hands all her life.
"It's not far," Cal pointed out.
"A world away, if I lived on my own. Right now, though I'm out of my father's house, I'm practically living with Tea's mom, and she and her sisters are around all the time."
"They'd still be there for you when you need them." Cal walked a few more steps alongside her. "I'll still be there when you need me."
Rachele's heart bobbed down, then back up. "Really?" she whispered.
"Really."
"Do you think I should go?"
"I think you should do what you want. What will make you happy."
"But what if something goes wrong? What if I fail? What if I end up losing..." She wanted to say you but didn't have the guts.
"I'm a gambler by profession, Rachele. I make my living by calculating odds. Nothing's one hundred percent fail safe. You know that."
They were words that could have set her free. Should have set her free. Her father's love and his assumed loneliness had tied her to Palm Springs. But now that she'd seen his true indifference to her, she should be taking chances and making tracks from the place in order to make her own life.
But without any kind of tether she worried she might float away and never find her way back. Could she count on Cal or Tea and her family to be the anchor she seemed to need in order to fly free?
Her shoe wobbled on a loose stone. She wavered, then felt the ledge beneath her feet crumble. With a little shriek, she lost her balance. Cal caught her against his chest as rocks tumbled to the ground around his high-tops.
He felt solid and warm and she hung onto him. With her mother gone from this world and her father gone from her life, she probably clung too hard. Cal stiffened in her arms and she flushed, embarrassed by her neediness. She loosened her hold and struggled to get free of his clasp.
He swung her outward so that she landed safely away from the now-broken ledge. "Oh, God," he said, turning his back on her to look down at the destruction. "Oh, God."
Rachele frowned. "It's all right. Johnny has to have the lagoon repaired if he wants to keep it, Tea said. I didn't break it or anything."
When Cal didn't move, she put her hand on his arm.
He jumped, then spun toward her. "Let's get out of here, Rachele." His hands grasped her shoulders and he pushed her backward.
"What's the matter?" His shoulders were broad and she had to lean around him to assess the damage to the lagoon.
It didn't look any worse than it did on the far end, where other rocks had fallen as well. She squinted, something odd catching her eye.
"Oh, God," she said, echoing Cal.
Chapter Thirty-Four
"Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone"Doris Day lullaby of Broadway (1951)