Sweet Silver Bells. Rochelle Alers

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СКАЧАТЬ the fingers of his right hand over his heart, he managed to look contrite. “I’m so very sorry, Miss Eaton, but will you do me the honor of sharing dinner with me?” He lowered his hand. “Is that humble enough?”

      “It’ll do—for now,” she said, biting back more laughter. Even though she thought Joseph slightly arrogant, she had to add charming to his other obvious assets.

      * * *

      “Do you like Italian food?”

      “I love it.”

      “Then Italian it is,” he said with a wide grin.

      “Do you want me to bring anything?” she asked.

      “No. I have everything I need.”

      “Tomorrow night at seven,” she repeated.

      Turning, she walked the length of the hallway to her apartment. Crystal felt the heat from Joseph’s gaze on her back, and seconds before she slipped the card key into the slot, she turned to find him watching her. He hadn’t moved. Their eyes met, gazes fusing for a nanosecond; she glanced away, opened the door and then closed it behind her.

      Kicking off her shoes, she placed the card key on the table in the entryway and set her handbag on the leather-covered bench seat next to the table.

      Walking on bare feet, she made her way into the living room. Flopping down on an inviting club chair, she rested her feet on the matching ottoman and closed her eyes at the same time her cell phone chimed. Pushing off the chair, Crystal went to retrieve the phone from her handbag.

      Swallowing back a groan, she tapped the screen. “Hello, Mother.”

      “Why did I have to wait almost twenty-four hours just to hear your voice?”

      Walking back to the chair, Crystal sat down again. She’d promised her mother she would call her once she arrived in Charleston, but she didn’t because she didn’t want to hear Jasmine go on about her latest breakup. “Mama, please don’t start.”

      “Please, Crystal. You know better than to call me by that tacky title.”

      She rolled her eyes upward even though Jasmine couldn’t see her. “How are you today?”

      “Wonderful. I’m leaving for the airport to fly out to Vegas to meet Philip. He called early this morning to say he wants me to join him.”

      Crystal clenched her teeth to keep from spewing curses. She didn’t want to believe she’d driven down to Miami to console her mother just to have her reconcile with her latest beau the very next day. “What happened to you breaking up with him, Mother?”

      “I changed my mind. Of all of the men I’ve dated, Philip is someone I’d actually consider marrying.”

      “He must really be exceptional if you’re willing to give up your alimony payments.”

      “I did say consider.”

      Crystal stared at the chipped polish on the big toe of her right foot as her mother talked incessantly about the plans Philip had made for them. “I told him I wanted to take a flight over the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon,” Jasmine continued without pausing to take a breath, “but he said he’s not certain whether we’ll have enough time.”

      “When are you coming back?”

      “Wednesday night. Enough talk about me. Have you seen Xavier and his adorable baby daughter?”

      Smiling for the first time since answering the phone, Crystal said, “Yes. But Lily’s not a baby anymore. She’s a toddler who’s walking, talking and potty-trained.”

      “I really miss seeing Raleigh’s family.”

      She registered the longing in Jasmine’s voice. “Remember, Mother, you divorced Daddy, not the Eatons. Whenever they invite you to family reunions, you always decline. And I’ve lost count of those who’ve asked about you year after year.”

      “I don’t come because I can’t abide those tramps hanging on to Raleigh as if they can’t breathe without him. He needs to be told to stay away from strip joints when looking for a new wife.”

      “You’re preaching to the choir, Mother.” Crystal didn’t understand how her father could take up with women who were the complete opposite of his first wife. Jasmine had more class in her little finger than all of her ex-husband’s ex-wives collectively.

      “I know you don’t like talking about it, but why don’t you ask Xavier to introduce you to some of his single guy friends? If you’re going to spend a couple of months working in Charleston, you should have some fun, too.”

      Crystal rolled her eyes upward again. “I came here to work, not look for a boyfriend.”

      “There’s nothing wrong with a little casual dating.”

      “I’ll think about it, Mother,” Crystal lied smoothly.

      Two months was hardly enough time for her to meet and become romantically involved with someone, and what Jasmine termed as casual dating usually meant seeing someone for a month. It would take her more than a month to truly feel comfortable enough to take their casual dating to the next level.

      “Hold on, darling. The gatehouse is ringing me.” Seconds later, Jasmine said, “I have to go. My driver is here.”

      “Have fun, Mother.”

      “I will. Love you, darling.”

      “I love you, too.” She ended the call, staring at the live fern in a painted glazed pot on a corner table. The words her mother found so difficult to say when Crystal was a young girl now came so easily from Jasmine. She’d wanted Jasmine to be like the mothers of her friends and cousins who got up and prepared breakfast before seeing their children off to school. Or when she came home after classes, she wanted to find freshly baked cookies waiting for her as she sat down to do her homework.

      What she did remember was Jasmine sleeping late, chain-smoking and visiting her therapist, while handing over the responsibility of taking care of her daughter to a series of nannies. Once Crystal turned eight, there was no longer a need for a nanny or babysitter; she had unofficially moved in with her uncle Solomon and Aunt Holly.

      Shaking her head to banish painful childhood memories, Crystal pushed off the chair and climbed the staircase to the upper level. Restlessness assailed her, akin to an itch she couldn’t scratch. She needed a full-body massage. She didn’t know why, but she always experienced unease whenever Jasmine called her because she never knew what to expect. Why, she mused, couldn’t they just have a normal mother–daughter discussion without Jasmine bringing up the topic of dating?

      What the older woman did not know was that she did date, although it had been a while. Over the years she’d dated a few handsome and not-so-handsome men, those who were well-to-do and others whom she suspected lived from paycheck to paycheck. Their looks and the size of their bank accounts were never prerequisites for Crystal to agree to go out with them. It was always their confidence and manners—the latter taking precedence over the former. Even before she was old enough to date, her mother had lectured her constantly about СКАЧАТЬ