Chapter 1
"Steve, is that really you?"
I was sitting in a food court at a mall, working on the ever-present laptop, waiting for my son and almost daughter-in-law. Even though I hadn't heard that voice in almost fifteen years, I knew instantly who it was. Looking up, I smiled.
"No Kara, it's someone else. What kind of a dumb statement was that?"
She flinched a little, before she noticed I was smiling, and she grinned back. "Gee, you found a sense of humor since I saw you last. Or did you buy one, moneybags? Lord knows you could afford it now."
"I bought it. Got a good deal, too. I wanted Jimmy Fallon's, but the tight bastard wanted way too much. And yeah, life's been pretty good to me for the last few years."
The smile was still there, and it brought back memories of happier times. Mentally, she shook herself. It had been almost twenty years. She should be over it now.
"Still farming?"
She had often made fun of his little hobby farm, absolutely refusing to help, but not above helping spend the money it brought to them.
"No, farming takes time, and that's something that's in short supply for me lately. What about you? Did the recession hurt you?"
Kara took the conversation to mean she was invited to sit, and she pulled out a chair. Damn, she had always had good legs, and even at forty-one, they still drew your attention. Never missing much, she gave me a smirk, glad she had chosen that particular dress to wear shopping. "Still a leg man, I take it. Yes, it did, a little, but I wasn't exactly into a lot of the stuff that was happening at the time, so I came out all right. I'm doing good business now, got eight agents each in all four of my offices, and they hustle. Everybody wants the American dream, and I try my best to give it to them. What about you? If you're looking to upgrade, I got several really nice properties, or maybe a vacation getaway? If you need a hideout, I have a really, really nice two thousand foot cabin on a hundred acres of mostly woods, with an almost fifty-acre private lake that just hit the market. I haven't shown it yet. If I remember right, you like to fish."
"To answer your first question, yes, and you always had the best pair I'd ever seen, with one exception. To the rest of the questions, no, I like what I got now just fine, although I might take a look at that cabin. Email some pictures to me on my business site, and we'll talk. What are you doing in this city anyway? You're a long way from our old stomping grounds."
She smiled: that "I know something but you don't' smile," the one that used to drive me crazy. "I'm here on business, same as you. In fact..."
That was as far as she got when she stopped, looking at the arms that were hugging me from behind, going up to the very attractive face of a young woman. I saw her watching as the girl gave me a big kiss on the cheek. A young man, Hispanic, very good looking in his own right, stood off to the side, smiling.
"Let him go," he told the woman, her red hair falling over his fathers' face. "You might kill him, just from the heat."
"Oh, I think your Papa can take it. I almost wish I had met him first."
I pulled my future daughter-in-law into my lap, tickling her, as she writhed and screamed in English and Spanish, her long legs flailing, her short skirt riding up. Stopping before she gave the old guys at the food court a heart attack, I introduced her to Kara.
"Kara, let me introduce the only woman in the world that could give you a run for your money in beauty and great legs. This is Ashley, my new daughter-in-law. Well, in five days, anyway. That handsome devil trying to stay out of the way is my son, Miguel, although he prefers to be called Mickey. Kids, this is Kara, sorry, can't remember your last name, real estate mogul and my first wife."
Kara's smile slipped. I knew it had always been one of her dreams to have my child, but we divorced, messily, and the next three husbands just hadn't measured up and she wouldn't even consider it. Then again, I was only thirty nine, so she knew the twenty something man couldn't be my biological child. Besides, he was Hispanic. I could see her wondering, had her old honey married a Latin cutie? She took a quick glance at my hand, and for reasons I couldn't define, seemed glad to see my finger bare.
"It's Johnson now. Has been for eight years. I confess my judgement wasn't the best after we parted, so I had to go through a few losers before I found another keeper. It could have been you, you know, if...."
I was a little sharper than I meant to be when I interrupted her. "Kara! Please, let's not go down that road."
Kara was watching me closely, and she saw it. The pain in my eyes, just a flash, and then gone. Damn, after all these years. I was surprised to see the wetness in her eyes, misty with old emotions and memories.
"Sorry. Look, would you like to have dinner tonight? Not to reopen old wounds, I promise. I'd just like to hear firsthand the story of how you ended up where you are from the source and not magazine articles."
I was surprised to find myself even considering it, but before I could speak, Ashley broke in. "Papa, why not invite her to the wedding? Then you wouldn't be alone, and you guys seem to be on cordial terms."
"Ash, I won't be alone. I'll have the whole wedding party. Besides, it's short notice. I'm sure Mrs. Johnson wouldn't be able..."
"I'd love to! I haven't been to a good wedding in years." She suddenly looked at me, noticing my face. "That is, if it wouldn't be a bother. I'd hate to intrude on a family moment."
Looking inwards, I found calm. It was a long time ago. "Please come, and bring your husband. We can tell each other dirty little secrets about you."
A small, pensive look appeared and vanished so fast no one but Ashley saw it. "I"m afraid he isn't with me this trip. It would just be me, if you'll have me. But, Steve, aren't you timing things awfully close? Don't you have to attend a business function the next day?"
Wondering how she knew that, I nodded in agreement. "I'm going to be at the wedding, Kara; I'm not going on the honeymoon with them. I'll be able to make the dinner with no problem. How did you know about that?"
Determining to keep her secret, she just grinned. "Oh, I read a lot, and it's been in the papers recently."
She looked at her watch, frowning. "Speaking of business, I have to go do some. Network, network, network, the life blood of real estate. Here's my card, Steve. If you're serious about letting me attend the wedding, call me. Ashley, Mickey, a pleasure. Your father is a good man."
Taking a chance, she bent down and gave me a soft kiss on my cheek, the first physical contact we had in over twenty years, and walked away. I discovered later, she went to the nearest ladies room, went in, locked the stall door, leaned against it, and tried to control her breathing. Seeing her ex, the one that got away, the one she had hurt so deeply, moved her unexpectedly.
She told Ashley later that it didn't help that I looked so damn good. No, I wasn't ripped, and she spent enough time in gyms to know what that meant, but I was more toned than I had been back then, I had a new stylish hairstyle, still had all I started with and the dusting of grey made me look like the distinguished successful businessman I was. I was a far cry from the young man in overalls and work boots she remembered.
Chapter 2
I sat there, watching those hips sway as she walked away, remembering. Mickey brought me out of my reflections. "So, that was your first wife. Damn, was she a child bride?"
"Don't let the clothes fool you. She's actually two years older than I am, forty-one now. She's just a very well kept forty-one. Appearance was always important to her."
"This is the first I knew about you being married before Maria and Sandy. What happened?" Ashley realized she made a mistake when she saw my face, bringing up all my wives at the same time. She was trying to find a way to back up when I spoke.
"Short version, she traded up. Found someone higher up on the food-chain who made her a better offer and she was off like a shot. They married, divorced seven months later, because she caught him screwing around. Like that wasn't part of his history. Met two more losers, neither of them lasting more than two years. She's been married for a long time to the guy she has now. Maybe she finally found what she was looking for."
Mickey was adding it up as he talked. "So she's been married five times?"
"As far as I know. Maybe more. I don't really keep up with her, but my cousin keeps me informed when I visit. One of the many reasons I don't visit much."