Page 4 of Audon

“She wants to get married soon.” She pouted. “Don’t look at me like that. We’ve been dating for the last five years. And I know she doesn’t like you. She says you’re a bad influence on me.” Tinny snorted. “You do that well. Do your friends know that you do that?”

“No. And I don’t care if they did.” She went to sit behind the desk again to make arrangements to get his tux fitted. “If you can find me someone else to go with me tonight, then I’ll get you off the hook. But you need a tux. You might have to bodyguard me someday, and I want you to look the part. I’m having trouble again with Mr. Jacobson. He really wants me to marry his son.”

Peter Jacobson was a jackass. His father, Pete, thought that the two of them should marry to settle down his son. He thought that with him married, he’d settle down into a respectable person and she’d be able to curb his appetite for getting into trouble. She thought that the only thing that would settle him down was prison, but that wasn’t up to her.

“And I assume you’ve told him no.” She just stared at him while handing over the check for the painting in Lizzy’s room. “I’ll take this to Audon and see if he has a tux. Neither one of you date all that much, so this might be the perfect timing.”

“I’m not dating anyone at the present. I’m a momma.” He winked at her, and she didn’t know what that meant. “You just pay him, tell him how sorry I am and that I’ll pay any kind of fees that he wishes. Also, here is the name of the place you can get your tux fixed up. I’m going to call them and tell them to expect you.”

“Are you sure you want me to do this? I mean, this might keep Mister Perfect away from you.” Good, she told him. “All right, but if you want to get rid of me, just say the word, and I’ll be gone. I think you might settle down if you were to have a man in your life.”

“I don’t need anyone in my life but you and Lizzy. She’s enough to handle right now.” He said she was just a baby. “And all mine too. I wish it were different, but it’s not, so I’m going to do the best that I can with her and hope that I don’t screw her up too much.”

“You’ll do great. I know you will.” She hoped so. She loved her to pieces. “I’m off. If you need me, you know how to get in touch with me. I’ll call you if Audon has any trouble with you paying him so late.”

After Bruno was gone, she went to her office. She’d been using the dining room table as her office since moving in and couldn’t wait until she could get Milly’s office cleaned out. But every time she went in there with the intention of cleaning out the desk, she’d start to cry again and would miss her big sister. As she was waiting for the program to boot up, she thought about how she’d met Bruno.

He’d been her friend in grade school. He’d been small for his age, she’d always thought, but once they got into high school and then college, he’d grown to be a man who was over six and a half foot tall and all muscles. With his bald head and handlebar mustache, he looked like he could bench press trains for fun and eat a buffet of food. And she’d never stopped being his friend since they’d been paired together on outings at school.

Making sure that her investments were doing as well as she hoped they would, she checked on the things that she had going with her sister’s account. Sometime in the near future she’d have to change it over to her name, but there was no hurry. The money from those accounts would go to Lizzy when she went away to college so that she’d not have to work. Just as she was closing down her computer, Lizzy woke up from her nap. She went to the nursery to find her just getting changed.

“Hello, lovely.” She took her from the nanny and decided that she’d give her the bottle that was hers. “Momma is going to work really hard so that you don’t have to. And tonight I’ll get to go out with your Uncle Bruno and hopefully have a good time.”

“Don’t forget, Miss, the young lady has a doctor’s appointment in the morning. What time would you like for her to be ready?” She asked about the appointment. “It’s her six-week checkup. I believe the doctor will be pleased with her progress.”

“I hope so. I’m not going to be happy if I’m screwing up here.” The nanny, she’d forgotten her name, said that they were both doing well. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without your help. I know nothing about babies.”

“You’re doing very well, mistress. I think that the doctor will tell you the same.” She hoped that he’d not think that she’d be better off with someone else. That scared her more than anything. That they’d realize that she didn’t know what she was doing and decide that she was a crappy mother.

After giving her the bottle and burping her, she laid her in the crib to watch her. She didn’t seem to sleep all that much anymore, and Trin loved that. She could sit and stare at her for hours and neither one of them got bored. As Lizzy was dozing off, she touched her fingers to her hand and was surprised when she grabbed it and looked up at her. Letting her hold onto her finger, Trin decided that at times like this, she was going to tell her about her parents.

“Your mom was my big sister. We used to get into so much trouble when we were children. Milly would think of a plan, and I’d figure out how to make it work.” Smiling, she remembered the time they’d both got caught drinking from the liquor cabinet. “We didn’t need any kind of punishment. We were sick enough for that. And believe it or not, neither one of us has touched another drop of liquor since then. Not even a glass of wine.”

When Lizzy finally fell asleep, she got back to work. There was always something that she could do to keep herself out of trouble, but today was different. She had to get ready for the ball tonight and hopefully be able to leave before it was too late. She didn’t like these things and would usually be able to get out of it. Tonight’s dinner was different in that she was one of the key speakers.

It was nearly five-thirty when she heard from Bruno. He had been fitted for his tux and looked like a bodyguard for her. She was all right with that and told him so. His laughter was the last thing she heard as she was hanging up the phone. Now for her to get ready.

In the six weeks since she’d had Lizzy, she’d lost all her baby weight. Exercising daily helped her get her body back into shape. Wearing the dress that she’d picked out was easy for her to do because she’d never been one to be ashamed of her body. To her, she looked a few pounds overweight, but her instructor had told her she was fit and toned and would do well to wear whatever she wanted. The black silk was going to be nice to wear after wearing jeans and sweatshirts all around the house while she got her body back. She was ready to go by six-thirty and was pleased that Bruno was ready to go as well. However, he looked like he was upset about something.

“Patty?” He nodded and then told her that she said she was breaking up with him. “I’m sorry, Bruno. I know that you hate this, but I needed you tonight. I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important.”

“I know that, but telling her is impossible when she gets into one of her moods.” She said again that she was sorry. “I’ll work it out. If it comes down to it, you were right in saying that I don’t love her. I think I’m just realizing today that I don’t care to be manipulated into things, and that’s just what she’s doing. She told me if I went, she’d not be at the house when I got back. It’s my house, and she knows it. If she moves out…well, I think I’d be happier. I hate to say this, but I think you were right in telling me not to let her move in with me.”

“I’m sorry.” He patted her on the leg. “If it makes you feel any better, Pete thinks that Peter should move in with me. The house is too big for just one person to live in, he told me. I think he’s insane for thinking that we’d get along at all. I might just end up in prison for killing him. Though if anyone has been around him, they’d probably get me off for ridding the world of his ass.”

He laughed. “I think you’re right in saying that. I’ve read up on the kid. He’s caused more trouble in a month than I have when I was a kid. However, none of mine required my dad to bail me out. Not that he would have, but that’s because he didn’t like me either.”

“Well, I love you. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” They continued talking about Peter and his dad until they were at the venue. It was a large building but nothing that she’d call special. Just as she was being let out of the car, several cameras started going off, and she nearly fell when the lights blinded her. Wanting to get back into the car, she was saved by Bruno, who paved a way for her to go into the place.

~*~

Audon didn’t know why he agreed to come to this thing. He’d even brought one of his brothers, Penrod, as his plus one so that he didn’t have to deal with a date on top of the rest of the things going on. Had he known there might be an award for working at the hospital all those months doing murals for the walls, he might have skipped out on that as well. He glanced over at Penrod, who was talking with the bartender.

“Have you no shame? She looks barely old enough to date, much less run a bar.” He told him that she was twenty-four. “Right. And I’m in my mid-fifties.”

“You act like it at times. But I wasn’t flirting. I have a beautiful woman at home that I love to distraction. I was just making sure that she was old enough to run this thing and not get the entire venue in trouble.” They both laughed and started to mingle with the crowd. “What kind of award are you up for? I don’t think I ever heard.” He told him. “Philanthropic, huh? Isn’t that the same as humanitarian?”

“Probably, but there is some woman up for that award. Her name is Trinity Banton. She’s been up for the award now four times in the last five years. I guess this is the first time she’s shown up to it.” He asked him why that it mattered. “It doesn’t. Do you remember Bruno Dallas? Big guy with no neck? He’s her escort tonight. He came by my office and finally paid me for the work that was done on the walls of her daughter’s room. I didn’t even remember not getting paid for it. She is the sister to that woman and man that were in that accident that you were on. Where the man had been decapitated.”